And the Lord spake unto Moses is the opening of divine instructions to Moses concerning the assigned duties of the Levites in caring for the tabernacle. This direction was given soon after Israel left Egypt, when Moses had been qualified by special providence to stand at the head of the armies and to establish perfect order and thorough discipline. The holy tabernacle was not left to be borne, erected, and taken down indiscriminately by any tribe that might choose, but the sacred work was divided among specific groups, each responsible for its own part.
A special family of the tribe of Levi was designated to bear the sacred ark under a specified order, while others of the Levites were specially appointed to bear the tabernacle and all its furniture and to perform the work of setting it up and taking it down. Each tribe pitched and marched under its own standard bearing the sign of its father's tribe, moving only as God signified by the pillar of cloud resting over the tabernacle and by certain trumpet sounds given through Moses and Aaron and his sons. There was no confusion of sound, but definite directions came from the head officer of each company, so that none who were attentive were left ignorant of what to do.
Failure to comply was punished with death, for if any man from curiosity or lack of order got out of his place and touched any part of the sanctuary or its furniture or even came near the workmen, he was to be put to death. Only chosen persons who could appreciate the sacredness of the work were to do it, and willing ignorance was as great a sin as transgression after hearing, because all had the same opportunity to know. Faithfulness in this assigned service of erecting, taking down, and carrying the tabernacle and its sacred furnishings did not entitle the Levites to claim the priesthood or higher authority. These arrangements are God-given, and Israel's ordered service under them remains the pattern from which order and organization are to be learned, for God has not changed but is the same God of order in the present dispensation as in the former.
And the Lord spake unto Moses is the opening of divine instructions to Moses concerning the assigned duties of the Levites in caring for the tabernacle. This direction was given soon after Israel left Egypt, when Moses had been qualified by special providence to stand at the head of the armies and to establish perfect order and thorough discipline. The holy tabernacle was not left to be borne, erected, and taken down indiscriminately by any tribe that might choose, but the sacred work was divided among specific groups, each responsible for its own part.
A special family of the tribe of Levi was designated to bear the sacred ark under a specified order, while others of the Levites were specially appointed to bear the tabernacle and all its furniture and to perform the work of setting it up and taking it down. Each tribe pitched and marched under its own standard bearing the sign of its father's tribe, moving only as God signified by the pillar of cloud resting over the tabernacle and by certain trumpet sounds given through Moses and Aaron and his sons. There was no confusion of sound, but definite directions came from the head officer of each company, so that none who were attentive were left ignorant of what to do.
Failure to comply was punished with death, for if any man from curiosity or lack of order got out of his place and touched any part of the sanctuary or its furniture or even came near the workmen, he was to be put to death. Only chosen persons who could appreciate the sacredness of the work were to do it, and willing ignorance was as great a sin as transgression after hearing, because all had the same opportunity to know. Faithfulness in this assigned service of erecting, taking down, and carrying the tabernacle and its sacred furnishings did not entitle the Levites to claim the priesthood or higher authority. These arrangements are God-given, and Israel's ordered service under them remains the pattern from which order and organization are to be learned, for God has not changed but is the same God of order in the present dispensation as in the former.