And these are the numbered of the Levites, after their families of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites.
Numbers 26 counts a new generation on the edge of the promised land. Then it stops to handle Levi on its own — not by fighting men, but by the three families that came from Levi's sons. Why does this one tribe get its own list, and why are Gershon, Kohath and Merari named again here?
The census of the other tribes had two purposes: war and land. Levi fits neither, and the way they are counted shows it.
The Levites were counted separately from the other tribes, because they had no property of their own as an inheritance. They were also not required to go to war, but to serve the Lord. So their count did not start with men of twenty years old, but with boys one month old (v.62). Training in the things of God is to begin almost from birth, while training for physical war needs the strength of a grown man.
Levi received no land. Their food came from what Israel brought to God.
The priests had all the offerings and sacrifices that a man was allowed to eat. The Levites had the tithes from all Israel. The one was fed from within, the other from outside. But both received from the Lord, for He was their inheritance. Otherwise they were miserable: what else did they have?
These three names mark out three jobs. Each family carried its own part of the tabernacle — God's tent among Israel — and each name means something.
The tribe was divided into three families: Gershon, which means "stranger"; Kohath, "assembly"; and Merari, "bitterness." Gershon's care was the curtains, Kohath's the holy vessels, and Merari's the boards, sockets and pillars of the tabernacle.
Merari's share was the heavy frame of the building — the part people give up on.
His name — Merari, "bitterness" — points to the painful nature of this kind of service. Self-love will break down under it, or run off into some odd path that is easier on flesh and blood. In our own day the family of Merari has shrunk to a very small number, and their work has been done very badly. Who cares about these boards and bars, these pillars and pins and cords? Who thinks about God's plan and pattern, and all the small details He has appointed?
The Levite list in this chapter is not a clean record. It includes Korah's people, who led a revolt, and two of Aaron's sons who died under judgment.
We now find the families of Levi listed on their own, with their number. Besides the three main families of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, we find the Korahites, who also belong to Kohath, but whose history gives them an exceptional place. From Kohath come Aaron and his priestly house, Moses, and Miriam as well. Aaron's four sons are named, and the death of Nadab and Abihu. Nowhere is evil more obvious than in the tribe of Levi; nowhere is the victory of grace over it clearer.
The totals make the same point in plain arithmetic:
Despite the rebellion of Korah, who was a Levite, the tribe grew from 22,000 (ch.1:39) to 23,000 (v.62). So we learn that the Lord does graciously recover from failure, and we must not be discouraged when we do fail.
Levi's history began badly. Jacob sentenced Simeon and Levi to be divided and scattered, and that sentence became Levi's blessing.
The children of Levi came from the third son of Jacob, and from him came Aaron and Moses too, a double picture of Christ. His name means "joined," and it fits the history of the tribe exactly. Their first father was joined to Simeon in acts of violence, and this brought on them, as discipline, the sentence, "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." Yet in the end it is true blessing. Levi, in whom this is carried out more fully than in Simeon, is only more fully blessed by it. He is joined to the Lord, and the Lord becomes his portion. If he is scattered in Israel, it is as spiritual seed to bring forth fruit to God all over the land.
- Joined. Levi's name means "joined." First the tribe joined Simeon in violence; in the end it was joined to the Lord, who became its portion.
- Counted apart. Levi is listed on its own because it had no land to claim and no war to fight — only the Lord to serve.
- Counted from a month old. Training for God's service starts at birth; training for battle waits for a man's strength.
- Divided three ways. One work, three shares: Gershon carried the curtains, Kohath the holy vessels, Merari the boards and pillars. The dullest share is the one people drop first.
- Grown, not shrunk. Levi's record holds Korah's revolt and the death of Nadab and Abihu. Yet the tribe left the wilderness larger than it entered. Grace recovers what failure spoils.
These are the families of the Levites the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. -- And Kohath begot Amram.
Numbers 26 counts a new generation on the edge of the promised land, and the record pauses to list the families of Levi. Why is this tribe counted on its own, and why these five names — including the sons of the rebel Korah?
Levi is not folded into the fighting totals of the other tribes. Commentators tie this separate count to the one thing Levi existed for:
The Levites surround the tabernacle. This declares that they are taken up entirely and only with the service of God. They are not left for war, or for any purpose on earth other than God's own sanctuary.
The verse names only some of Levi's branches. One name on the list stands out because of its history:
We now find separately the families of Levi, and their number. The tribe as a whole was divided into three main families: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Within Gershon, the family of Libni stands out; within Kohath, the family of Hebron; while Merari's two sons have gained an equal rank. The list also adds the Korahites, who came from Kohath too, but whose history gives them an exceptional place. Finally, of Kohath also come Aaron and his priestly house, Moses, and Miriam... Nowhere is evil more obvious than in the tribe of Levi. Nowhere is the victory of grace over it more plain. Once known, these depths and heights are well suited to produce effective ministers and joyful worshipers, the kind of people this tribe pictures.
The same writer reads the family names as a connected lesson. Kohath's own name speaks of gathering, and his sons' names trace what follows from it:
Kohath's first son is Amram, "people of the Exalted One" — a beautiful name, if we connect it with that gathering to Christ which his own name seems to speak of. The next is Jitzhar, "oil," the undoubted type of the Spirit as the Anointer. Then we have Hebron, "union," as some put it, "communion," as we have interpreted it elsewhere. Either way, it is clearly the effect of the Spirit's work.
The Mahlites and Mushites of this verse come from Merari. Their names speak of the cost of serving God's people:
Last of Levi's three sons we find Merari, "bitter," with his two sons, Mahli, "sick," and Mushi, "yielding"... His work is mainly what we may call church work. And who that has taken it up has not found the bitterness that Merari's name expresses? A man who could not feel it would be poorly fitted for ministry.
The last line of the verse points to where Israel's leader and priests came from. Commentators see God's choice of this tribe as unearned:
The high place of the tribe of Levi shows the sovereignty of God. God's grace shines out fully in His choice of this tribe. He could not have chosen this tribe because of a worthy character. We read in Jacob's prophecy words concerning Simeon and Levi which reveal their sin... "Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel" (Genesis 49:7). Yet out of this tribe Jehovah took Moses to lead His people. He took Aaron and his sons as priests. He took the whole tribe, instead of all the firstborn, for the special ministry.
Korah led a rebellion, and judgment fell. That his family appears on this list at all is the point:
We need only recall the terrible crisis in Israel's history when Korah's sons were saved as through fire. Compare Numbers 16 with Numbers 26:11. Mercy that day triumphed over judgment... Even if testimony to Jehovah fails for now, God cannot stop being God and infinitely good. And who is more suited to sing than the rescued sons of the rebellious Levite?
Later, this spared family received two duties in God's house:
Descendants of Korah, the grandson of Kohath. Their two main duties were the service of song and keeping the doors of the sanctuary.
- Curse — Levi's story starts with anger and cruelty, and a word of scattering over the tribe. Nothing in its character earned what follows.
- Grace — yet from that same tribe God took Moses as leader and Aaron's house as priests. He took the whole tribe in place of Israel's firstborn.
- Calling — God counts Levi apart from the armies. The tribe exists only for the service of His sanctuary, not for war.
- Character — the family names read as a picture of that service: Amram, "people of the Exalted One"; Hebron, "union" or "communion"; and Merari's line, "bitter," "sick," "yielding."
- Song — the Korahites, spared when judgment fell on their father, still stand on the roll. Later they receive the service of song and the keeping of the sanctuary doors. Where evil in Levi shows most, the victory of grace shows most.