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Context No. 1646 of 4322 · Numbers

Context · Reflection

Numbers 3:27-32: in context

27Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites. These are the families of the Kohathites. 28According to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred keeping the requirements of the sanctuary. 29The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the south side of the tabernacle. 30The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. 31Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, the screen, and all its service. 32Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be prince of the princes of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the requirements of the sanctuary.

This passage describes the duties of the Kohathites, one of the Levite families. To them was entrusted the care of the most sacred objects of the tabernacle: the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the holy vessels used in the service, along with the screen. They were assigned their place around the tabernacle and their particular, weighty responsibility, the carrying and guarding of the holy things, under the oversight of the priests.

The Kohathites were given a specific and sacred trust: the care of the holiest objects of Israel's worship. It was a weighty responsibility, and a high honor, to be entrusted with the ark and the holy vessels, the very things at the heart of Israel's meeting with God. And it was a particular charge, theirs and no one else's; each Levite family had its assigned duty, and this was the Kohathites'. There is dignity in that, and also seriousness; to be entrusted with holy things is both an honor and a responsibility to be discharged with care and reverence. There is a principle here that reaches to us. Each of us is entrusted by God with something, a service, a responsibility, a charge that is ours to steward; and much of what we are given is, in its own way, holy, meant for God's purposes and to be handled with care. The question the Kohathites' duty raises is whether we treat what God has entrusted to us as the sacred trust it is, discharging it faithfully and reverently, or carelessly, as if it were merely ours to do with as we please. Whatever God has placed in our charge, our work, our relationships, our gifts, the people or tasks committed to us, is a trust to be stewarded well, handled as the Kohathites handled the holy things, with care and reverence, aware that it is a charge received from God. To be entrusted with something is both an honor and a responsibility; and the faithful steward treats what God has committed to him as the sacred trust it is.

Do I treat what God has entrusted to me, my work, my responsibilities, my gifts, the people and tasks committed to my charge, as the sacred trust it is, stewarding it faithfully and with care, as the Kohathites carried the holy things, or carelessly, as if it were merely mine to do with as I please?

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