"Thou shall give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service. And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites. Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their service, and four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none; because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders."
The princes brought their offering to the Lord, and the Lord accepted it. Having accepted it Himself it was His to give to whom He would; and He chose to give it to the Levites, for they in a special manner were His, and devoted to His service.
The tribe of Levi was in one sense the poorest in Israel. In dividing the land among the tribes, no territory was allotted to them. They will have territory by-and-by, when the Lord comes (see Ezek. xlviii. 12-14), but never have they had any yet. Cities to dwell in, and suburbs, were given them here and there, in all the tribes of Israel, but of earthly portion that was all.
And yet they were the richest tribe in Israel, for the Lord Himself was their inheritance. When one of the other tribes was taken into captivity, he had to leave his inheritance behind; but the godly Levite was as rich in Babylon as in Palestine: death itself could not rob him of his portion. Happy indeed are they who share the Levite's lot! When the Lord Jesus comes again, those, surely, who have stored most in heaven, and have least to leave behind on earth, will render their account with the greatest joy.
"To every man according to his service." The Lord did not say, divide it equally among the families of Levi. There were six wagons, and three families of Levites; but four wagons were given to Merari, two to Gershon, "but unto the sons of Kohath he gave none." At first sight this division appears unfair; but it was and still is the Lord's plan to give "to every man according to his service." It fell to the lot of Merari to carry the heaviest materials of the tabernacle; the boards, the bars, and the pillars with their heavy sockets of solid silver,[E] and all the instruments; the pillars of the court, likewise, with their brazen sockets and pins, and their cords,—these formed Merari's weighty burden.
The duty of Gershon was to convey the curtains, hangings, coverings and cords of the tabernacle, and the hangings of the court; for this service, two wagons were as sufficient help as the four were for Merari.
But what of Kohath? His burdens were not light: the ark, with its covering the mercy-seat, and the cherubim of gold overshadowing it, the table and the candlestick, the altars and the vessels of the sanctuary, and all their coverings, these were entrusted to his sons. Heavy they were indeed, but no help had they, "because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders."
Sometimes the children of God are tempted to murmur when their service seems heavy and but little help is forthcoming: they may perhaps compare their lot with that of others for whom larger provision has been made. But God makes no mistakes; according to their service He divides the help, and those who are called to the holiest service are those who can have least assistance. Such are privileged to carry upon their own shoulders sacred burdens that may not be shared with less privileged ones. There was One Who trod the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with Him; and one who was very like to his Master tells us, "At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me.... Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear." Those who would be near the Master in the glory must here drink the cup of sorrow with Him and be baptized with His baptism.
The burden-bearing of the Levites was not to last for ever: once in the Promised Land that service ceased. Nor will our opportunity of burden-bearing be for long; the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour will soon summons the watchful and waiting ones to meet Him in the air. A million a month in China are dying without God; now we may seek to win them; now we may suffer to win them. May none of us lose the opportunity of self-denial and service while it lasts!