and they brought their offering before Jehovah, six covered waggons, and twelve oxen; a waggon for two princes, and an ox for each; and they presented them before the tabernacle.
The tabernacle was finally standing, anointed and set apart, and the first move toward it came not from a command of God but from the leaders of the twelve tribes. They brought carts and oxen — ordinary working things that God then records in close detail.
The offering met a practical need. The tabernacle was finished, Israel was about to travel, and the whole tent had to travel with them.
Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle. He anointed it and set it apart, along with its furnishings and the copper altar outside (v.1). Now, to be fully ready for the work of moving the tabernacle from place to place, they needed a way to carry it. So the leaders of each tribe gave an offering for this purpose (vs.2-3).
No instruction had gone out for wagons and oxen. The leaders moved first. God then directed where the gift should go.
The princes of Israel come forward to bring their freewill offerings in six covered wagons, each drawn by two oxen. No command had been given. With a willing heart they gave from what they owned for the service of the sanctuary. The Lord accepted the offerings and then directed that the Gershonites and Merarites should receive the wagons and the oxen for their service.
The title given to these men is itself tied to generosity. What looks like a rank turns out to describe a heart — and one God Himself produced.
This book shows us service — not just doing certain things, but freely offering up yourself, a living sacrifice. The word "prince" in verse 2 of our chapter means generosity. "My people shall be willing." (Psalm 110) "Willing" and "generous" are the same word… Again, in 2 Corinthians 8:5, Gentiles had been made willing — "they gave themselves first to the Lord." First the Lord recognizes and owns them; then comes the generosity. Grace worked it in them, and God calls it their own free choice.
(The ESV translates Psalm 110:3 as "Your people will offer themselves freely.")
Carts and oxen were farm equipment, not sacred vessels. That is part of the point.
"Accept these from them." (v. 5.) The Spirit of God shows them exactly what is needed. Since it is already what is in every man's heart, they share it all in common, and each one still has his own privilege. Here is the privilege of taking ordinary, everyday things and offering them to the Lord for the service of the tabernacle.
A wagon from every two leaders and an ox from each meant no single tribe could claim the gift. They arranged it between them.
The princes gave with a common understanding, each offering the same, and they gave the wagons jointly… They gave tribe by tribe. These were Israel's gifts in the complete unity of the twelve — none missing from that ordered unity.
Moses did not split the gift evenly. The families with the heaviest loads received the most. The family carrying the holy vessels received nothing.
If God has called people to do His work, He will provide all they need to carry it out. The Gershonites and the Merarites had clear proof of this. Their work on the march was harder than that of the Kohathites. Moses gave two wagons and four oxen… to the Gershonites, and four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarites. Both of these great families were cared for, and the one with the heaviest burden had the greatest help.
The family left with no wagons was not the poorer for it.
The wagons and oxen were given to the sons of Gershon and Merari. Theirs was the most showy, outward service, but it was less close to God, and so it had less real honour. Kohath had to carry things on their shoulders. There might be less to see in that service, but we value most what we carry on our shoulders. If God has called us to Gershon's service, do it well.
The chapter goes on to repeat these details at length.
The Holy Spirit wrote down the details of the offerings and the repetitions so that we may know one thing: Jehovah takes notice of the devotion and sacrifice of His people. He keeps a record of it all. The same eye that followed the princes as they came to the tabernacle with their wagons saw the two small coins the poor widow put into the treasury. That same eye sees us. He will not forget the least service done for Him.
- Willing — God commanded no wagons and no oxen. The leaders gave first, and grace produced the willingness God then credits to them.
- Ordinary — carts and oxen were plain working tools. Giving them for the service of God's dwelling made them an offering.
- United — one wagon per two leaders, one ox each. The gift was a joint act of all twelve tribes, with none missing.
- Matched — Moses divided the gift by workload. The heaviest burden got the greatest help, and the shoulder-carriers got none — yet theirs was the higher honour.
- Recorded — the same care that fills this long chapter with names and totals also noticed a widow's two small coins.
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
The leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel bring the Lord a gift of wagons and oxen. At this point God speaks, and His word turns their free gift into an assignment: Moses is to take it, then hand it out for service, man by man.
Nothing in the law had asked for wagons. The offering came out of the givers' own hearts, and God's first word about it is acceptance.
The princes of Israel come bringing their free-will offerings. They bring six covered wagons, each drawn by two oxen. No command had been given. With a willing heart they devoted part of their possessions to the service of the sanctuary. The Lord accepted the offerings. He directed that the Gershonites and Merarites should receive the wagons and the oxen for their service.
Wagons and cattle are farm equipment, not sanctuary furniture. Yet what God tells Moses to take is just what the work needed. They all shared in the giving, and no giver lost his own part in it.
The Spirit of God suggests to them just what is wanted. Since it is what is in every man's heart, they share it fully together, and each man still has his own privilege. It is a privilege to take ordinary, everyday things and offer them to the Lord for "the service of the tabernacle."
The gift was not split into equal shares. It matched the load each family had to carry.
If God called people to do His work, He will provide all that is needed to carry it on. Of this the Gershonites and the Merarites had clear proof. Their work, when on the march, was heavier than that of the Kohathites. Two wagons and four oxen came from the offering of the princes of the twelve tribes, given when the tabernacle was set up. Moses allotted these to the Gershonites, and four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarites. God thought of both of these great families, and the family with the heaviest burden had the greatest help.
The sons of Kohath carried the ark and the holy vessels, and they received no wagon at all. Commentators read that empty hand as honour, not neglect.
The wagons and oxen are divided among them according to their service. The Merarites get two thirds of all, the Gershonites one third, and the Kohathites none. This does not seem to be, and yet is, an equal distribution. The burden of the Kohathites is too sacred to hand over to the oxen, who handled it badly at a later time. Their shoulders cannot be freed from that demanding honour. So it often is with us. The most heavily loaded are simply the most trusted, and in the sharing out of burdens there is more equality than there seems.
Another writer spells out the later failure hinted at there. A cart was right for some loads and wrong for others, and centuries later King David forgot the difference.
The sons of Kohath were to carry the holy vessels, including the ark, on their shoulders, so they needed no wagons or oxen. David overlooked this when he went to bring back the ark, after it had been in the hands of the Philistines. That is how the disaster with Uzzah came about. Later David recognised his mistake, as we find recorded in 1 Chronicles 15:13. God had to be sought "after the due order."
The unequal shares raise a question about envy among God's servants. One writer answers it head-on.
God has no such principle as balancing matters and keeping men in good temper by giving them all the same portion. If there were, practical grace would be at an end. Instead, God places every one of us in a different position, according to His wise and sovereign will. That is what puts faith and love to the test. There is no such thing as two alike... What gracious man would resent another for being unlike himself? Instead, he would take honest and hearty joy in what he saw of Christ in another, which he did not have himself... May the Lord make us rejoice, not only in what He has given us, but also in what He has withheld from us and entrusted to others!
- Willing — the wagons came without any command. The offering began in the givers' hearts, and God accepted it.
- Taken — God tells Moses to take the gift. Everyday property becomes sanctuary equipment when the Lord receives it for His service.
- Given — a gift to God does not stay at the altar. He hands it on to the workers, so one man's gift becomes another man's power to serve.
- Measured — the portions match the load. The family with the heaviest march got the most help, because God supplies whatever the work He gives needs.
- Unequal — the Kohathites received nothing, because their burden belonged on their own shoulders. Different portions are not favouritism but trust, and grace can rejoice in another's place.
Take it of them, and they shall be for the performance of the service of the tent of meeting, and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to each according to his service.
God has just set up His dwelling, and the princes of the twelve tribes have brought six covered wagons and twelve oxen. Now the Lord tells Moses to take the gift and hand it on to the Levites, giving each man what fits his own work.
The Lord's first word is about receiving. One writer finds two things in it at once — something shared by all the people, and something personal (the older wording is "Take it of them"):
"Take it of them." (v. 5.) The Spirit of God suggests to them just what God wants, and since it is what is in every man's heart, everyone shares in it together, and each one has his own privilege. There is the privilege of taking ordinary and common things, and offering them to the Lord for "the service of the tabernacle."
The gift was voluntary. The word translated "prince" itself carries the idea of a generous, willing heart:
Prince, in verse 2 of our chapter, means liberality. "Your people will offer themselves freely." (Psalm 110; the older translation reads "My people shall be willing.") "Willing" and "liberal" are the same word... Again, in 2 Cor. 8:5, Gentiles had been made willing — "they gave themselves first to the Lord." First the Lord recognises and owns them; then comes the generosity. Grace worked it in them, and God calls it their own voluntary will.
The Lord accepts the wagons "that they may be used in the service of the tent of meeting." Moses then divides them to match the load each family carried:
The Lord then instructed Moses to give these to the Levites who needed them. Two carts and four oxen went to the sons of Gershon, and four carts and eight oxen to the sons of Merari (vs.6-9), for they had twice as much to transport as the sons of Gershon. This is a good reminder to us. When God gives us any service to do for Him, He will always supply what we need to carry it out.
Another writer sees God's care for the strength of His servants in the way the wagons were shared out:
God thought of both of these great families, and the one with the heaviest burden had the greatest help. What consideration was there in this!... Bearing burdens required strength, and God would not overtax the strength of anyone called to labour for Him.
The gift travels from the princes, through Moses, to the Levites who carry the heavy loads:
The Gershonite and the Merarite had a place where they endured much of "the burden and heat of the day." Yet the Lord met them there in grace with a very rich reward, for "God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name." And so, if they had to labour and toil among their brothers, their brothers also served them in a way full of blessing.
The portions were not identical. One writer sees the difference as a test of faith and love:
There is no such principle as God balancing matters and keeping men in good temper by giving everyone the same portion. If there were, there would be an end of practical grace. On the contrary, God places every one of us in a different position, according to His wise and sovereign will. That is what puts faith and love to the test. There is no such thing as two alike... A gracious man would take an honest and hearty joy in what he saw of Christ in another, which he did not have himself.
Kohath received no wagons at all. One writer still calls the share-out equal:
This does not seem, and yet is, an equal distribution. The burden of the Kohathites is too sacred to hand over to the oxen, who made bad work of it at a later time. Nothing can lift that honour, and its labour, off their shoulders. So it often is with us: the heaviest-laden are simply the most trusted, and in the distribution of burdens there is more equality than appears.
Another writer compares the two kinds of work:
Gershon and Merari had the most showy and outward service, but it was less intimate with God, and therefore had less real honour. Kohath had to carry on their shoulders. There might be less appearance of service, but we value most what we carry on our shoulders.
- Willing — no command lay behind the offering. Grace produced it, and God still calls it their own free choice.
- Accepted — ordinary wagons and oxen, handed over to the Lord, become fit for the service of His house.
- Supplied — when God gives a task, He provides the means. The family with the heaviest load got the most help.
- Measured — each Levite got what matched his own service, not an equal share. God's sovereign will sets the differences, and they test whether we can rejoice in what He gave someone else.
- Shouldered — Kohath received nothing, because what they carried was too holy for a cart. The heaviest-laden are the most trusted, so the share-out is fairer than it looks.
And Moses took the waggons and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites.
The wagons and oxen came from the leaders of Israel, and Moses now hands them to the Levites who had to carry the tabernacle through the desert. That raises two questions: why God supplies His work through the gifts of His people, and why one family of Levites received nothing at all.
The wagons were not sacred objects. They were ordinary carts and working animals. God's word turned them into equipment for His dwelling.
"Accept these from them." (v. 5.) The Spirit of God suggests to them just what is wanted. And since it is what is in every man's heart, everything is held in common while each one still has his own privilege. There is the privilege of taking ordinary and common things, and offering them to the Lord for "the service of the tent of meeting."
The gifts reached the Levites whose work was hardest.
Yet if the Gershonite and the Merarite had to take a place where they bore much of "the burden of the day and the scorching heat," the Lord in His grace met them there with a very rich reward. For "God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name." So if they had to labour and toil among their brothers, their brothers ministered richly to them.
God did not leave the Levites to find their own transport. The help matched the size of each load.
The Lord then instructed Moses to give these to the Levites who needed them. So Moses gave two carts and four oxen to the sons of Gershon, and four carts and eight oxen to the sons of Merari (vv. 6-9), because they had twice as much to transport as the sons of Gershon. This is a good reminder to us. When God gives us any service to do for Him, He will always supply what we need to carry it out.
The care also showed in what God would not ask of them.
God thought of both of these great families, and the one with the heaviest burden had the greatest help. What consideration there was in this! Nor was this a single instance of it. Bearing burdens required strength. Now God would not overtax the strength of anyone called to labour for Him.
The sons of Kohath carried the most precious things of the sanctuary, and they got no cart. Commentators read this as honour rather than neglect.
When we thought about Numbers 3 and 4, we saw that the sons of Kohath had the privilege of carrying all that was most precious among the instruments and furniture of the sanctuary. So they did not receive any of the princes' offering. It was their high and holy service to bear on their shoulders, and not to use wagons or oxen... The Kohathite did not want the aid of a wagon or an ox in his elevated service. His own shoulder was to bear the precious mysterious burden.
Seen that way, the uneven distribution turns out to be even.
The wagons and oxen are divided among them according to their service. The Merarites get two thirds of all, the Gershonites one third, while the Kohathites get none. This does not seem, and yet is, an equal distribution. The burden of the Kohathites is too sacred to hand over to the oxen, which did the job badly at a later time. Nothing can lift this hard honour off their shoulders. So it often is with us. The heaviest-laden are only the most trusted, and in the sharing out of burdens there is more equality than there seems to be.
The most public job is not the highest one.
The service of Gershon and Merari was the most showy and outward, but it was less close to God, and so it had less real honour... If God has called us to Gershon's kind of service, do it well. One priest was as near to God as another; there is no difference in priesthood. But in service God gives to every man individually as He wills.
Why would God not give everyone the same?
There is no such principle as God balancing matters and keeping men in good temper by giving everyone the same portion. If there were, practical grace would be at an end. On the contrary, what tests faith and love is that God arranges every one of us in a different place according to His wise and sovereign will... What gracious man would feel sore with another because that man was unlike himself? Instead he would take honest and hearty joy in what he saw of Christ in another, which he did not have himself.
- Given — Leaders offered ordinary carts and oxen, and God's word turned them into equipment for His sanctuary.
- Supplied — What God assigns, God funds: the family with double the load received double the help.
- Measured — The help matched the work, and so did the limits. God does not overtax the strength of anyone He calls.
- Withheld — Kohath's empty hands were an honour, not an oversight. The holiest load stayed on human shoulders.
- Tested — Unequal portions are no accident. God's wise arrangement draws out either envy or joy in what Christ has given another.
Two waggons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service;
The twelve leaders of Israel brought six wagons and twelve oxen to the tabernacle. God told Moses to give them to the Levites who carried the tabernacle through the desert, and verse 7 records the first share: two wagons and four oxen for Gershon's family, measured "according to their service."
The shares are not equal. Each family got what its own job needed, and Gershon's smaller share matched a lighter load.
The sons of Gershon received two wagons and four oxen and the sons of Merari four wagons and eight oxen. The gift was according to the service into which Jehovah had called them. The Merarites had to take care of the heavy boards and the Lord provided the means to carry the burden and render the service. For all service into which He calls His people, He also provides the strength and the means for the service.
The same principle works the other way too. The family with the heavier load got the greater help.
If God called people to do His work, He will provide all that is needed to carry it on. Of this the Gershonites and the Merarites had clear proof. Their work, when on the march, was harder than that of the Kohathites... Care was taken for both of these great families, and the one which had the heaviest burden had the greatest help. What consideration was there in this!
Gershon's load was the fabric of the tent, and both the load and the family name carry a meaning.
Gershon and his sons had charge of the coverings and the fine linen. Gershon means exile, a stranger. The fine linen is typical of righteousness. The coverings and hangings divided off and separated the different parts of the tabernacle, so they must mean separation. His service shows us that we are separated ones and strangers in the world. We must show this separation by practical righteousness.
Gershon carried the part of the tent that everyone outside could see.
Gershon's work was to carry the tabernacle and its coverings through the empty, howling wilderness... What, then, are we to understand by the covering of the tabernacle? I believe, in a word, it pictured the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was that which would meet the eye.
Gershon and Merari had wagons; Kohath had only their shoulders. That contrast warns us against judging service by how visible it is.
These wagons and oxen were given to the sons of Gershon and Merari. Theirs was the most showy and outward service, but was less intimate with God, and therefore had less real honour... Kohath had to carry on their shoulders. There might be less appearance of service; but we value most what we carry on our shoulders. External gift produces external honour. If God has called us to Gershon service, do it well. One priest was as near God as another, there is no difference in priesthood; but in service God gives to every man individually as He will.
Two wagons to Gershon, four to Merari, none to Kohath. The split looks unfair until you see why Kohath's hands were empty.
The wagons and oxen are divided among them according to their service. The Merarites get two thirds of all, the Gershonites one third, and the Kohathites none. This does not seem, and yet is, an equal distribution. The burden of the Kohathites is too sacred to be transferred to the oxen... and their shoulders cannot be released from the toilsome honour. So with us often: the heaviest-laden are but the most trusted, and in the distribution of burdens there is more equality than seems.
The wagons did not drop from heaven. They came from the leaders' freewill offerings, and that generosity refreshed the men who carried the tent.
Grace had filled the hearts and affections of the princes. It did not only fill them; it overflowed. That overflow was meant to refresh the spirits of the homeless Gershonite and the sorrowful Merarite. The Kohathites, on the other hand, had no part in these gifts. And why? Because their service, as we shall see, was in itself a rich reward indeed.
- Called — God assigns the service first; Gershon's task was set before any wagon arrived.
- Equipped — What God calls a person to, He supplies: "the gift was according to the service into which Jehovah had called them."
- Considered — The heaviest load drew the greatest help. Gershon's two wagons matched a lighter charge than Merari's four.
- Shared — The help came from the leaders' overflowing generosity, and it went to those who carried most.
- Trusted — Visible service wins visible honour. But Kohath's empty hands were the greater trust: "the heaviest-laden are but the most trusted."
and four waggons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, -- under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
Here Moses hands out the wagons and oxen that Israel's tribal leaders had just given. The sons of Merari receive twice as much as Gershon, and a priest oversees their work. Why the uneven split? Why does a third family get nothing? And what does "according to their service" mean?
The two shares here are not random. Merari's load on the march was the heavier one, and the help matched it.
If God calls people to do His work, He will provide all that is needed to carry it on. The Gershonites and the Merarites had clear proof of this. Their work, when on the march, was heavier than that of the Kohathites. Care was taken for both of these great families, and the one which had the heaviest burden had the greatest help.
The wagons did not start with Moses. They came from the tribal leaders' own giving, and they went where the marching was hardest.
Grace had filled the hearts and affections of the princes. It did not only fill them; it overflowed. That overflow was meant to refresh the spirits of the homeless Gershonite and the sorrowful Merarite. On the other hand, the Kohathites had no part in these gifts; and why? Because their service, as we shall see shortly, was in itself a rich reward indeed.
Merari's four wagons look like the biggest share. Set beside Kohath, who gets nothing at all, the sums work out differently.
The wagons and oxen are divided among them according to their service. The Merarites get two thirds of all, the Gershonites one third, while the Kohathites get none. This does not seem to be an equal distribution, and yet it is. The burden of the Kohathites is too sacred to hand over to the oxen, which made bad work of it at a later time. Their shoulders cannot be freed from that hard honour. It is often the same with us. The most heavily laden are simply the most trusted, and in the sharing out of burdens there is more equality than there seems to be.
This share of work carries a meaning beyond the wagons. Writers read Merari's charge as a picture of the work that steadies God's people, and they note what the family name means.
Merari's service has to do with the house of God, the church of the living God. It has to do with holding up Christ as the way of access to God. And it has to do with supporting, strengthening and steadying His witness in the world. He represents the workman, as Gershon represents the "stranger", the pilgrim, and Kohath the one occupied with Christ. His name, Merari, means "bitterness". It speaks of how painful such service is. Self-love will break down under it, or run off into some strange path that is easier on flesh and blood.
Merari did not set his own terms. His work ran under one of Aaron's sons, and commentators draw out what each line of oversight pictures.
As we try to give the New Testament answer to these things, we have thought that the service of Merari suggests what we may call a practical ministry. The service of Gershon suggests a doctrinal ministry. Both were under the hand of Ithamar. But the service of Kohath, under the hand of Eleazar, suggests a devotional ministry about the greatness and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then all would come under the hand of Aaron as the High Priest. He carried the responsibility to see that everything was done according to the mind of God, given through Moses.
A cart was right for Merari's load. Later David used a cart for a load God had not assigned to it, and it ended in disaster.
The holy vessels, including the ark, were to be carried on the shoulders of the sons of Kohath, so no wagons or oxen were needed for them. David overlooked this when he went to bring back the ark after it had been in the hands of the Philistines, and so came the disaster with Uzzah. Later David recognised his mistake, as we find recorded in 1 Chronicles 15:13. God had to be sought in His own appointed way.
- Given — the wagons began as a free gift from the tribal leaders. That overflow went to the families whose march was hardest.
- Measured — "according to their service" is the rule for the whole share-out. The heaviest burden got the greatest help, because God supplies what His own work needs.
- Equal — Merari's double share and Kohath's empty hands are not favouritism. Kohath's load stayed on shoulders because it was too sacred to hand over, and the most heavily laden were the most trusted.
- Weighty — Merari pictures the workman who supports and steadies God's witness. The name means "bitterness", and such work is painful.
- Overseen — the whole service ran under a priest's hand, so that everything was done according to the mind of God.