8580. Think about that number as we read through chapters 3-4 today. We will get back to that in a moment.
Firstborn
What stood out to me was how God had set all the firstborn apart for Himself. He had done this; we are told, since the night of the original Passover.
Think about how often young ladies who get pregnant choose to abort their child. Later in life, they may have other children. We had a speaker from New Life Clinics come share her testimony and she had aborted her first born. She still languishes with that pain today.
When we take that life, we deprive ourselves of all the joy and love that every person brings. Yes, we eliminate the heartbreak and sorrows, but every person I have ever heard talk about having went through that process, suffered from it. They didn’t eliminate the heartache; they expedited it.
Instead of feeling the sting of rejection from a teenage son who decides he wants to do things his way, after seventeen years of happy memories, they forsake all that and suffer the loss immediately.
Getting past ourselves, however, we need to realize we are stealing from God, that child He had set apart. If you subtract the impact all those individuals would have had on society, it is easy to understand why we are such a mess today.
These were to be the leaders, spiritual leaders in our communities. And now, they are not.
Before that, in Numbers 3:7, we see that these people, set apart by God, are to “perform duties for the whole community”. When we lose the leadership, we see the ruin of the community they would have led.
The sanctuary
Then we focus on the sanctuary. This is the place where God would meet with the leaders He had appointed.
Don’t confuse this with the church. The church is not the building. People are the church, but here he is talking about the sanctuary.
This was such an important area. We hear about the meticulous care that went into constructing it, breaking it down, and moving it.
That is where the 8580 comes into play. That is how many people it took to move and care for the sanctuary.
Today, most congregations have about 20 percent of the people doing the work. It takes a large team to accomplish all that needs to be done.
Look at how organized and precise each role was. They left the bread on plates as they covered them with the blue material and then the leather. After this, they place the poles in. These were not the people who would move it, just prepare it to be moved.
The Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites came in and carried the things assigned to them. They were not permitted to even look at the other things.
I have heard people start to burnout and complain that they always have to do this or that, while other people only need to help in an easier area.
God did not want the Merarites who were carrying the frames and posts to look at the Gershonites and scoff that all they had to carry was the curtains. People can be petty.
We should all realize it is a blessing to serve God in whatever area He assigns us to.
The church is a body. We can’t all be feet. Feet get to go places, but some of us must be shoulders. Everyone loves to look deep into eyes, but we can’t all be eyes. Some have to noses and deal with the smells.
For the love of God not money
Not all are to be paid either.
We see Moses gave Aaron the redemption money for his sons. Not all Levites had the same duties or the same rewards.
Someone sold us this idea of communism. That everyone deserves to work the same amount and have the same rewards. This is nonsense.
We all have specific duties to perform, and whether we do, God chooses who and how He wants to bless us.
Moses and Aaron did not have to carry poles or even utensils, but they had the responsibility of determining if a family member needed to be terminated if they did not perform their given assignment.
I would rather labor under a heavy piece of lumber than condemn a relative to death for looking around the room to see what others were doing.
My take away from these two chapters is that we all have roles to play and when we all carry our weight, the Lord can accomplish amazing things through us.
When I talk to people about their hopes for our country, or their church, or individual families, they all have big dreams, but are they all willing to take on the burden?
