Scripture Daily

Context No. 2139 of 4322 · Numbers

Context · Reflection

Numbers 4:42-49: in context

42Those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, 43from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting, 44even those who were counted of them by their families, were three thousand two hundred. 45These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses. 46All those who were counted of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel counted, by their families and by their fathers’ houses, 47from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting, 48even those who were counted of them, were eight thousand five hundred eighty. 49According to the commandment of the LORD they were counted by Moses, everyone according to his service and according to his burden. Thus they were counted by him, as the LORD commanded Moses.

As the Levites are counted for their service, the account concludes with a phrase that governs the whole census: everyone according to his service and according to his burden. Each Levite was numbered and assigned his own particular work and his own particular load to carry in the service of the tent of meeting. The Merarites carried the frames and bases; the Kohathites the holy things; the Gershonites the coverings. Each had a specific service and a specific burden, individually appointed, and each was to bear his own.

The phrase everyone according to his service and according to his burden captures something worth noticing: God assigned to each Levite his own particular task and load. The work of the tabernacle was divided, distributed, so that each had his own appointed service and his own appointed burden to carry. No one carried everything; no one carried another's load; each bore his own, the specific service and burden appointed to him. This reflects how God distributes his work, and the burdens of life, among his people. Each of us has our own assigned service, our own particular calling and work, and our own particular burden to bear. We are not all given the same task or the same load; God appoints to each his own. And there is a call in this to bear faithfully our own assigned service and burden, rather than refusing it, or coveting another's, or resenting that ours differs from someone else's. Each will bear his own load, Paul says; there is a burden that is ours to carry, appointed to us, which we are called to bear faithfully. This has two implications. First, it calls us to accept and bear our own assigned burden, the particular load appointed to us, rather than resenting it or wishing it were another's. Each Levite bore his own; and we are to bear ours, the specific service and burden God has given us, not comparing it to another's or refusing it. Second, it warns against comparison. We can look at another's service or burden and think ours heavier or lighter, less honorable or more, and grow discontent. But each was assigned his own; God apportions to each what is his to bear. Let each walk, Paul says, in the calling to which God has called him. This calls us to faithfulness in our own particular service and burden. Rather than coveting another's task, resenting our own, or comparing our load to others', we are called to bear faithfully the service and burden God has appointed to us, everyone according to his own, trusting that the God who assigns each his portion has given us what is ours to carry. Alongside this, of course, stands the call to bear one another's burdens in love; but each also has his own load, appointed by God, which we are called to carry faithfully as our own particular service to him.

Do I resent my own assigned burden, or covet another's service, or grow discontent comparing my load to someone else's, and can the Levites, each counted and assigned everyone according to his service and according to his burden, teach me to bear faithfully the particular service and load God has appointed to me, accepting it as my own rather than refusing it or wishing it were another's, trusting the God who apportions to each his portion?

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