Numbers 4:1-49

The Old Testament Book of Numbers

In the Desert

Numbers

Marion Adams

Chapter 4

The duties of Kohath’s *clan – Numbers 4:1-20

v1 The *LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, v2-3 ‘Kohath’s *clan is part of Levi’s *tribe. Prepare a list of the men in their families. Register all those men who are between 30 and 50 years old. Only count those men who can work in *God’s Tent.

v4 Kohath’s *clan will be responsible for the most *sacred objects that people use to *worship in *God’s Tent. v5 When the *Israelites are ready to move the camp, Aaron and his sons must go into *God’s Tent. They must take down the curtain that is in front of the *Ark. They must cover the *Ark with it. v6 They must put a special cover of leather over this. They must put a blue cloth on the top. Then they must put in place the poles that they use to carry the *Ark.

v7 Next, Aaron and his sons must cover the table for the bread that they offer to the *LORD. They must use a blue cloth. They must put on it the plates, dishes, bowls and jugs. These are the jugs for the wine that they offer to the *LORD. Some bread must be on the table always. v8 They must put a red cloth over all of this. They must put a special cover of leather on the top. Then they must put in place the poles that they use to carry the table.

v9 They must cover the *stand for the lamp with a blue cloth. They must cover all the lamps, trays, holders for oil and snuffers. (A snuffer is a tool. People use it to cover a lamp so that the flame disappears.) v10 They must wrap the *stand and its equipment in a special cover of leather. Then they must put it on a *frame to carry it.

v11 They must put a blue cloth over the *altar of gold. They must put a special cover of leather on the top. They must put in place the poles that they use to carry the *altar. v12 Then Aaron and his sons must take all the objects that people use to *worship in *God’s Tent. They must wrap the objects in a blue cloth. They must put a special cover of leather over them. Then they must put the objects in a *frame to carry them.

v13 They must remove the ashes from the *altar of *bronze. They must put a purple cloth over it. v14 On the cloth, they must put all the equipment that people use at the *altar. This includes the pans for the fire, the forks for the meat, the shovels (a type of tool) and the bowls. They must put a special cover of leather over it. Then they must put in place the poles that they use to carry the *altar.

v15 When the camp is ready to move, the men from Kohath’s *clan must be ready to carry all these things. But they must wait until Aaron and his sons have covered all the *sacred objects. The members of Kohath’s *clan must not touch the *sacred objects. They will die if they touch the *sacred objects. These are the duties of Kohath’s *clan. They must carry the *sacred objects whenever the *Israelites travel.

v16 Aaron’s son, Eleazar the priest, must look after the oil for the lamps and the *incense. He must look after the grain that people offer to God. Also, he must look after the oil that the priests use to *anoint people. He is responsible for *God’s Tent and everything that is in it.’

v17 The *LORD said to Moses and Aaron, v18-19 ‘Do not cause the end of Kohath’s *clan. Do not let its members die. This will happen if they come near to the *sacred objects. So Aaron and his sons must go into *God’s Tent with Kohath’s *clan to prevent this. They must tell each man what to do and what to carry. v20 But the men from Kohath’s *clan must not go into *God’s Tent in order to look at the *sacred objects. If the men from Kohath’s *clan just glance at the *sacred objects, they will die.’

Verses 1-3 There were three groups of families in Levi’s *tribe. These were Gershon’s *clan, Kohath’s *clan and Merari’s *clan. Each *clan had different duties. The priests told them what to do.

Moses counted all the men in Levi’s *tribe who were between 30 and 50 years old. These men had to work in *God’s Tent and in the yard that surrounded it. They had to take all the parts down and to carry them whenever the camp moved.

Verses 4-6 Moses counted Kohath’s *clan first. They were responsible for the most *sacred objects in *God’s Tent. But the priests had to cover these *sacred objects before Kohath’s *clan saw them. Only priests could look at the *sacred objects. Anyone else would die if they looked at the *sacred objects.

The most *sacred object was the *Ark. There were two rooms in *God’s Tent. The *Ark was in the smaller room. This room was called the *Most Holy Place.

A curtain divided the smaller room from the larger room. The larger room was called the *Holy Place. The priests wrapped the *Ark in this curtain. They put a cover of leather over this. The *Hebrew word that we translate as ‘leather’ means ‘the skin of an animal’. But we do not know to which type of animal the skin belonged. Experts think that it was probably an unusual animal.

Lastly, the priests wrapped the *Ark in a blue cloth. Probably, the colour blue reminded the people of heaven (see Exodus 24:10).

There were rings on the *Ark. The priests put poles through these rings. When the camp travelled, four men lifted these poles onto their shoulders. They carried the *Ark in front of all the *Israelites as they marched. This showed that God was leading them.

Verses 7-15 Next, the priests wrapped all the *sacred objects that were in the *Holy Place.

There was a special table in the *Holy Place. There were 12 loaves of bread on it (see Leviticus 24:5-9). This was the number of the *tribes of *Israel. The loaves showed that God was with all the *Israelites. On every *Sabbath, the *High Priest took away the old loaves. He put new loaves on the table. There was bread on the table always. This showed that God was with his people always.

The priests covered the special table first. Next, they covered the *stand for the lamps. This *stand was very important. We shall write more about it in the notes on chapter 8:1-4. Also, they covered the *altar of gold. The priests did not *sacrifice animals to burn on this *altar. Instead, they burned special *incense.

Then, they covered the *altar on which the priests burned *sacrifices of animals. Also, they wrapped all the things that they used with the table, the *stand for the lamps and the *altars.

The priests had to prepare everything so that it was ready for Kohath’s *clan. The men from that *clan had to carry these objects on their shoulders. The poles made it easier for the men to move all the objects. They carried the *sacred objects on poles so that they did not touch them.

Verse 16 Aaron’s older son, Eleazar, had a very important job. He had to make sure that everyone obeyed these instructions. He told everyone what to do in *God’s Tent. Also, he carried the different oils, the *incense and the grain for the *sacrifices.

Verses 17-20 Again, God warned Moses and Aaron. Only the priests could look at these *sacred objects. If anyone from Kohath’s *clans saw the *sacred objects, they would die.

God is *holy completely. When we *worship him, we must remember this. We can come near to God only by means of Jesus, God’s Son. Jesus became the only *sacrifice for our *sins that God accepts. When we *believe in Jesus, God allows us to come near to him. In fact, he invites us to come near to him!

The duties of Gershon’s *clan – Numbers 4:21-28

v21 The *LORD spoke to Moses. The *LORD said, v22-23 ‘Also prepare a list of the men in the families that belong to Gershon’s *clan. Register all the men who are between 30 and 50 years old. Only count those men who can work in *God’s Tent. v24 These are the duties of Gershon’s *clan. v25 The men from this *clan must carry *God’s Tent, its curtains and its two outer covers. They must carry the curtain for the entrance v26 and the curtains of the yard that surrounds *God’s Tent. Also, they must carry the curtain and *ropes for the entrance to the yard. The men from Gershon’s *clan are responsible for all the equipment that belongs with these curtains. They must look after all these things. v27 Moses and Aaron will tell them what to do and where to carry these things. v28 These are the duties of Gershon’s *clan in *God’s Tent. Aaron’s son, Ithamar the priest, must direct them in this work.’

Verses 21-28 Gershon’s *clan was responsible for all the curtains and *ropes in *God’s Tent. This included the curtains that surrounded the *Most Holy Place and the *Holy Place. Also, it included the outer covers of leather.

Gershon’s *clan was responsible for the curtains and equipment of the yard, too. God allowed the men from Gershon’s *clan to touch these things. But the priests, especially Ithamar, watched them and gave them instructions.

The duties of Merari’s *clan – Numbers 4:29-33

v29-30 The *LORD said to Moses, ‘Count the men who are in the families that belong to Merari’s *clan. Register all the men who are between 30 and 50 years old. Only count those men who can work in *God’s Tent. v31 These are the duties of Merari’s *clan. The men from this *clan must carry the *frames of *God’s Tent and its bars, poles and bases. v32 They must carry the poles, bases, pegs (like thick nails – see note below) and *ropes of the yard that surrounds *God’s Tent. Merari’s *clan is responsible for all the equipment that belongs with these things. Each man in Merari’s *clan is responsible for particular things. Tell each man which things he must carry. v33 These are the duties of Merari’s *clan in *God’s Tent. Aaron’s son, Ithamar, will direct them.’

Verses 29-33 Merari’s *clan was the smallest *clan in Levi’s *tribe. Their duties may not seem as important as the duties of Kohath’s and Gershon’s *clans. Merari’s *clans were responsible for the equipment that supported *God’s Tent. This included the pegs. The pegs were like thick nails. People hammered the pegs in to the ground. They tied *rope round each peg. They attached the other end of the *rope to the corner of the tent. This held the tent’s cover in place over the *frame.

If any of this equipment broke, *God’s Tent would fall down. The *Israelites needed all of it, even the smallest parts. So the tasks that God gave to Merari’s *clan were as important as the other *clans’ tasks. The *clans worked together to serve God. *Christians must work together to serve God, too. Every task that we do for God is necessary. God has important work for every *Christian to do.

Moses counts Levi’s *tribe again – Numbers 4:34-49

v34-49 Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the people obeyed the *LORD’s command. They counted Levi’s *tribe by *clans and families. They registered all the men who were between 30 and 50 years old. These men were able to work in *God’s Tent. There were 2750 men from Kohath’s *clan. There were 2630 men from Gershon’s *clan. There were 3200 men from Merari’s *clan. This made a total of 8580 men. They had duties to serve and to carry *God’s Tent. Moses, Aaron and the leaders told each man what duties he had to do. This is what the *LORD had told Moses to do.

Verses 34-49 In this second *census of Levi’s *tribe, Moses and his helpers counted the men who could work in *God’s Tent. The beginning and end of this passage emphasises again that Moses and the leaders obeyed God. However, later in the book, we shall read about how the *Israelites did not obey God.

LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. In Hebrew, it is Yahweh. This name means something like ‘I am’ or ‘always alive’.

Lord ~ one who rules. God is the Lord who rules everyone.

Hebrew ~ the language of the *Jews.
sacred ~ special for God. ‘Sacred’ means that something is separate from other things, for God’s purposes only.
worship ~ to give honour to God and to thank him. Sometimes, people worship false gods.
Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.
Ark ~ a wooden box that contained things that were special to the Israelites. God said that he would meet his people at the Ark. It was a *symbol that God was there in a special way.

Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.
stand ~ an object that supports another object, for example, a lamp.
altar ~ a special table where the priests burned animals or other gifts as a *sacrifice to God (or, to a false god).
bronze ~ a kind of metal.
incense ~ a substance that people make from plants. It has a good smell when people burn it.
anoint ~ to pour oil over a person. This shows that God has chosen that person for a special purpose.'Most Holy Place ~ the smaller room in *God’s Tent. The Ark was in that room.

Ark ~ a wooden box that contained things that were special to the Israelites. God said that he would meet his people at the Ark. It was a *symbol that God was there in a special way.

Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.
holy ~ what God is like. God’s character: perfect, completely good with nothing bad in it. Separate from sin.

sin ~ the nature of all people since Adam chose not to obey God. People’s lives are not acceptable to God because of sin. ‘Sins’ are states, attitudes and acts that are not acceptable to God. A person sins whenever that person is guilty of a sin.
Hebrew ~ the language of the *Jews.
Sabbath ~ the Sabbath was the 7th day of the week (Saturday) which was special to the *Jews. It was the day on which the people had to rest from work (Exodus 20:8-11).'High Priest ~ the most important priest.
holy ~ what God is like. God’s character: perfect, completely good with nothing bad in it. Separate from sin.

sin ~ the nature of all people since Adam chose not to obey God. People’s lives are not acceptable to God because of sin. ‘Sins’ are states, attitudes and acts that are not acceptable to God. A person sins whenever that person is guilty of a sin.
sin ~ the nature of all people since Adam chose not to obey God. People’s lives are not acceptable to God because of sin. ‘Sins’ are states, attitudes and acts that are not acceptable to God. A person sins whenever that person is guilty of a sin.
census ~ an official list which records the number of people in a particular place.