Word of Salvation – February 2010

 

Numbers 4 – CARRYING TENT PEGS FOR GOD – by John Westendorp

(Sermon 4 in a series on Numbers)

 Scripture Reading: Numbers 4

Singing: Book of Worship 161 / 215 / 148 / 23a

Introd: I learnt early in life that there is a lot of social status attached to the work we do.

I grew up in a church that consisted largely of blue-collar workers.
We had lots of trades people and factory workers in our church community.
A neighbouring church was made up of mainly white-collar workers.
I recall that at youth events young people from the two churches didn’t always get along.
We thought they were snobs and they thought we were a bunch of yobos.
Some of our dividedness was over social status.

 

But also within our local youth group there was a pecking order.
I recall one young man who didn’t do too well at school so he left to find work.
But his work was with the ‘night cart’ – the truck that emptied toilet pans – pre sewerage days.
You can try to give that work a bit of class by calling yourself a sanitation engineer.
But that doesn’t really cut it in a world that wants social status.
And so there were always people who looked down on him because of his work.

 

Another blatant example of status was from my years in the computer industry.
I joined that fledging industry long before there were IT courses at universities.
People in data-processing prided themselves in being an elite group of workers.
We were computer programmers and systems analysts… and that gave us status in society.

I still recall the stunned amazement when I announced that I was going to become a pastor.
I was going to give away this wonderful position of standing in the world of commerce.
And for what? To be a clergyman…!
Someone whose social status was way down there with used car salesmen.

 

If there is any chapter of the Bible that would lend itself to this kind of social bigotry it is Numbers 4.

 

A] TENT PEGS ARE NOT ABOUT STATUS.

 

1. In this chapter the affairs of the tabernacle are being arranged.

It’s all about who carries what… whenever the Hebrew camp and the tabernacle move on.
That work is totally dedicated to the tribe of Levi and here we see how that work is now divided.

 

First off there is Kohathite clan. They have the most important jobs.
Their calling is to carry the furniture of the tabernacle. The ark… the table… the altar.
Well… they’re not actually allowed to touch any of those things… the priests do that.
But once they are wrapped up the Kohathites carry the tabernacle furnishings and utensils.

 

Next there is the Gershonite clan. They have the next most important job.
Their calling is to carry the tabernacle itself… the huge tent that made up the tabernacle.
So they carry the curtains that separate the Holy of holies from the rest of the tabernacle.
The sides of the tabernacle, its roof coverings, the ropes… all carried by the Gershonites.

 

And then finally there is the family of Merari. They are given the lowliest of tasks.
After all those other important things someone has to take care of the odds and ends.
So they are allowed to carry the frames and crossbars on which the curtains hang.
The posts and the bases are their responsibility… they are allowed to carry the tent pegs.

 

But Numbers 4 is not about status – even the smallest job is indispensable to God’s work.

If there are no tent pegs there will be no tabernacle for worship. It’s all important… tent pegs included.

 

2. But can you imagine how social status could come into play here?

It’s a situation fraught with the dangers of social discrimination.

Just imagine a chance meeting between a Kohathite and Merarite? ”So what’s your job?”
“Me? I help carry the altar on which Israel’s offerings are brought? What about you?”
”Well, it’s not much of a job really. I just carry my share of the tent pegs.” “Really…?”

 

But this is not about social standing. In fact Numbers 4 upsets our standards of status.

And not just the status that comes from the job we do either. It removes all reasons for pride.

 

Think about some of the features here in this chapter.
First… this chapter is about the Levites… so was Numbers 3.
But Levi is not one of the most impressive tribes… it’s one of the smaller tribes.
Yet two whole chapters in Numbers are devoted to the role of the Levites in Hebrew society.
No other tribe in Israel gets that sort of coverage.
When it comes to status and standing in society we act as if big is better.
God has a different standard – it is not about status – the small tribe of Levi is chosen.

Secondly notice that the Kohath clan gets the most important job.
But Kohath was not the oldest son of Levi… Gershon was the firstborn.
And yet God in His sovereign choice passes the Gershonites by and chooses the Kohathites.
With God it’s not about the status that comes with biological seniority.
God is absolutely sovereign… and He calls whomever He wishes to do what He wants.

 

And so we read that God required that all Levites aged from 30 to 50 be involved.
Why 30 to 50? Well because we all know that life begins at 30…?!?
No! Because God wanted men in the prime of life – men of maturity and responsibility.
I’m not suggesting that everyone under 30 is immature.
But perhaps by the time we get to 30 we definitely realise that it’s not about status.
And maybe by then we have a stronger vision that our life’s work is a calling from God.

 

And so for forty years in the wilderness these families carried out their God-assigned tasks.

Tasks that were passed on from father to son with the Merarites carrying the tent pegs for God.

 

3. It’s good that this morning Scripture gives us this wonderful divine perspective on life.

Our tendency today is still to glorify the important positions in society.
You know how it goes in the world around you.
”What do you do for a crust?” “Me? I’m a scientist with the CSIRO. What do you do?”
”Wow! You’re a scientist? Me? I just drive a garbage truck.”
No! You don’t just drive a garbage truck.
God has called you to serve Him in the community sanitation program of this city.

 

Maybe it’s especially the stay-at home mums who cop the status thing in society today.
How many of you stay-at-home mums have been asked: Do you work…?
As if looking after a family full-time isn’t work. As if you laze around watching TV all day.
So with some embarrassment you admit: I’m just a housewife.
No you’re not just a housewife… God has called you to be a domestic engineer.
And it’s one of the most challenging and most needed tasks in our society.

 

In the church too we sometimes struggle with status issues… like the church at Corinth.
They raved about those with special spiritual gifts… and they looked down on others.
We need that reminder of Paul in Romans 12.
That we think of ourselves with sober judgment.
God is not just concerned with princes and governors… not just with preachers and elders.
He calls us to the simplest of tasks… just carrying tent pegs for His glory.
Doing the church cleaning… and serving after church in the kitchen.

 

B] TENT PEGS ARE ALL ABOUT SERVICE.

 

1. If it’s not about status then what is Numbers 4 all about?

Well, there’s a strong clue in the chapter itself: The focus is on service.
In our English Bible the verb ‘to serve’ occurs 15 times (NIV). And 18 times in the Hebrew text.
It’s not about status… it’s about service.

 

Over and over in these verses we read that they served.
That’s said of the Kohathites (just once – in verse 4 – which our NIV translates as ‘work’).
This is the service of the Kohathites in the tent of Meeting… the care of the most holy things.
It’s said as much as five times of the Gershonites in verses 21 to 28.
This is the service of the Gershonite clans as they work and carry burdens.
The verb ‘to serve’ is used a further three times of the Merarites in verses 29 to 33.
This is their duty as they perform service at the Tent of Meeting…!
And in case we didn’t get the point it‘s repeated another six times in the counting of the Levites.

 

Over and over it is repeated: these people served.
But whom did they serve? Obviously, they first of all served God.
The point is that there is no glamour in carrying tent pegs… it’s not a high status job.
But when you do it as a service for the Lord that makes a huge difference.
That transforms the most lowly task in the church into a ministry.

 

Perhaps it’s not accidental that serving is mentioned more often for the Gershonites and Merarites.
When you’re carrying the Ark of the Covenant you don’t need to be reminded of the privilege.
But when you’ve got to lug tent pegs through the wilderness it’s a different story.

 

However, this was not just a service to God… it was also a service to their fellow Israelites.
Keep in mind what has preceded this story in Numbers 3.
There Israel’s firstborn sons represent Israel as a nation devoted to God’s service.
But the Levites then take the place of the firstborn to actually do that service.
So the Levites serve on behalf of the people.
And now in Numbers 4 we are told just how they served on Israel’s behalf.

But they also served the people directly.
The Tabernacle is Israel’s place of worship… and these Levites facilitate Israel’s worship.
So these Levites serve God… but they also serve the nation.

 

2. There is then this beautiful balance in Numbers 4.

On the one hand there is a huge difference in the various jobs each clan does.

On the other hand there is this common theme that all of it is a work of service to God and the nation.

 

There is no doubt that the Kohathites have the most important job.
That is reflected in their much longer job description – it takes twenty verses to spell out.
But… their task is a service.
The Gershonite’s job description takes just 8 verses.
The matter of the curtains and covers is easily dealt with. But again… it’s a service.
And by the time we get to the tent pegs the Merarite job description takes a mere 5 verses.
But again the point is that this too is a service. They all serve.

 

Can you imagine what would happen if some Merarite lost the vision of his work as a service?
This guy has been carrying tent pegs through the wilderness for twenty-five years.
And he’s had enough. So he quietly dumps them in some ravine when no one is looking.
And the result? The tabernacle doesn’t get put up that night.
And that evening for the first time in twenty-five year’s there’s no evening sacrifice.
No! It’s a service. My tent pegs play a role in my nation’s worship of God.

 

3. Today I want to apply this teaching from Numbers 4 to our worship.

In church bulletins the event of gathering together as a church is often called a worship service?

That’s not accidental.
We come here this morning not to get an emotional high from some lively singing.
We are gathered here in this auditorium not to spend a pleasant time with our friends.
We are here this morning to serve… to serve first of all our God:
To offer to Him the praise of our lips and the worship of our hearts;
To honour Him by listening to His will revealed in His Word.
We are here to serve Him in our prayers… and by bringing Him our gifts.

And this morning whether you are here as a Kohathite… an elder or deacon…
or whether you are here as a Gershonite… a member of our music team…
or whether you are just a tent-peg carrying Merarite… a pew-sitter…
we are here to serve… to serve our wonderful God for the gift of His Son.

 

This is a worship service… but that service is also to our brothers and sisters.
Worship is a twofold service we engage in. It is serving God and serving each other.
We are involved in ministering to one another this morning.
Let me illustrate that with a couple of examples. One from experience, the other from the Bible.

 

I once phoned my mother on a Sunday evening and asked how worship had been that day.
She replied, “Okay I guess, but I’m afraid some of my congregation made a liar out of me.”
I was intrigued. She said: This morning the attendance at worship was pathetic.
And we were asked to sing Psalm 22: “Amid the thronging worshippers…!”
She said: “I felt as if those who stayed away were helping to make a liar out of me.”

 

The Biblical example is from Ephesians 5:19 where Paul says:
”Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.”
Your praise is not only to God… your praise is also to encourage your brothers and sisters.
When you stay away from worship you miss an opportunity to serve your fellow believers.
When you don’t sing in worship… or when you just lip-sync a song… you are not serving.

 

If I had time this morning I would apply Numbers 4 also to our daily work.
The service here in the tabernacle was by this priestly tribe of the Levites.
But we Christians have been made into a Kingdom of priests by Christ our Lord.
And all our work is now a service for Him… even if it’s just carrying tent pegs for Him.

 

C] GOD FOR WHOM PEGS ARE CARRIED.

 

1. I want to touch on one other theme from Numbers 4.

By now you will have got the point that this is a divine ordering of affairs.
This division of labour was not thought up one night by Moses and Aaron over a glass of port.
They didn’t appoint a committee to investigate how tabernacle work could best be done.
No! Numbers 4 begins with the words: The Lord said to Moses and Aaron…!
It was the Lord God in heaven who gave each of those Levites his respective task.

 

We ought to be aware that this is true of this whole tabernacle business.
It was not designed by a team of Hebrew architects.
It was not planned by Moses and Aaron who borrowed some ideas from Egypt and elsewhere.
And then asked God to come and live in this temporary temple that they had designed.
No! God drew up the blueprint. God designed every aspect of it.

 

The big picture is that this tabernacle was God’s temporary dwelling place here on earth.
He the Maker of heaven and earth chose to live in it in the midst of His journeying people.
And so He designed every single detail of that tabernacle… His temporary dwelling place.

 

2. But there is a special reason why God designed the details of the tabernacle the way He did.

And the reason for that is that that this tabernacle represented Christ.
The book of Hebrews spends two chapters explaining that.
Hebrews 8 & 9 points out that the Tabernacle was a shadow of things to come.

 

I don’t have time this morning to take you through all the details.
There are some excellent studies available on the subject.
Let me just mention a couple of things to make the point.
There was a table in the tabernacle on which fresh bread was put every day.
It foreshadowed the fact that Jesus is the bread of life.
There was an altar on which burnt offering were made morning and evening.
A reminder that one day the perfect sacrifice for sin would be made by Jesus.

 

But there is another way in which the tabernacle reminds us of Jesus.

Today many religions have a god who is remote and unreachable.
Islam’s god, Allah, is such a remote and distant god. A transcendent god, far above us.

But there are also religions that have a god who is close and personal. An immanent God near us.
The Norse gods of Valhalla were like that. God’s who fought and feasted like human beings.

 

The God of Numbers 4 is both.
He is the awesome God who lives in heaven in light unapproachable.
But He is also the God who is near… right there in the tabernacle in the wilderness.
And that tabernacle that brought the distant God close to Israel pointed to Jesus.
Jesus is Emmanuel: God with us.
John tells us that when the Word became flesh He tabernacled among us.

 

Do you see how the tabernacle foreshadowed Christ?
That meant that the service of these Levites was really the service of Christ.
It was as if in that tabernacle Jesus Christ Himself was with His OT church in the wilderness.

 

3. I mention this because of an important little detail in Numbers 4 verse 20.

We’ve just been told there about the important work of the Kohathites.
But then there comes this warning:
The Kohathites must not go in to look at the holy things, even for a moment, or they will die.

 

The problem is that this God who calls people into His service is not a ‘safe’ God.
It’s all very well to speak of carrying tent pegs for God.
But we need to understand who is this God is for whom we are carrying tent pegs.

 

C.S. Lewis made very clear in The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe that this God is not a safe God.
In The Narnia Chronicles the lion, Aslan, is the Christ figure.
Susan talks to the Mr. Beaver about Aslan.
Susan asks: “Is he…quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion!”
””Safe?” said Mr.Beaver, “Who said anything about safe? Course he isn’t safe… but he’s good.”

 

I mention this because we live in an age when we are increasingly casual about approaching God.
Increasingly worship services are seen as casual affairs.
The coffee is laid on and you can duck out at any time to get yourself a cuppa.
And there is little sense of worship as a service to a holy God.
The God for whom we carry tent pegs is a consuming fire.

 

But wonder of wonders, the tabernacle points us to Jesus through whom we now come to God.
So we must do justice to both of these teachings.
We have an awesome God who we are called to serve… a God who is a consuming fire.
But just as Israel came to God at the Tabernacle we now come to Him in Christ.
It is for that God, awesome, yet close in Christ… that we are called to carry tent pegs.