Numbers 3:27-32

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day you and I, we get together, we have a little bit of coffee, we get into God's word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2024, Lord willing, we'll make it through Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Hebrews. So glad to be with you this morning. Why don't we have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's word.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day, and we thank you for your word. We pray that you would please help us. Help us, Lord, to understand your word. Help us to love you. Help us to walk in your ways. In Jesus's name, amen. I just noticed this is a little bit bright. Give me one second here. Let's see. There we go. A little bit better. Something like that. Okay. Numbers chapter three, beginning at verse 27.
From Kohath came the family of the Amorites, Amramites, sorry, Amramites. the family of the Israelites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzziahites. These were the families of the Kohathites, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and above. there were 8,600 keeping charge of the sanctuary. The families of the children of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle, and the leaders of the father's house of the families of the Kohathites were Elisaphan, the son of Uziel, Their duty included the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary which they ministered, the screen, and all the work relating to them. And Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, with oversight of those who kept charge of the sanctuary." So we need to ask ourselves, A, what's this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to these words? So, A, what is this about? Well, yesterday we talked about the Gershonites, right? There's three sons of Levi. So you had the Gershonites, And now we come to the Kohathites, so the sons of Kohath, right?
And so what are these people in charge of? Well, the Kohathites are in charge of all the actual furnishings and utensils in the temple, or in the tabernacle. So the ark, the showbread, the lampstand, the utensils, the altars, they're in charge of carrying all that stuff, right? They're carrying some of the most holy things, right? They're the ones that, remember, almost every single thing We went through the tabernacle, had rings on it of gold and you would put long acacia poles that were overlaid with gold through the rings so they could carry things on their shoulders. The Kohathites are the ones who are going to carry these things. So, you have the sons of Kohath and then interesting in verse 32, Aaron, remember, has four sons, two of whom, Nadab and Abihu, die because they offer strange fire to the Lord.
We looked at that previously. But now Eleazar, one of his sons, is specifically charged with being in charge of all these different Levites, right? So one of the priests is in charge of making sure everybody else is doing their job. There's an organizational structure here. The Lord himself is giving an organizational structure for how there's going to be oversight, how things are going to be taken care of, and things like that. So, what's the best verse to summarize this? Well, In my Bible, same problem as I had last time. You know, how do you figure this out? Well, I think I would underline verse 27, just because this is the line of the Kohathites, right?
These 8,600 people. I didn't mention that they're the ones who are going to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. So you've got now on the west side, you've got the Gershonites. On the south side, you have the Kohathites. And so now we have the Kohathites and they're there and they're in charge of, and this is where I have lots of little things underlined, you know, the ark, the lampstand, the table, the altars, all those little things underlined. The point is, right, this is what they're in charge of. Well, what does this call us to do?
Well, in the same way, I think there's organizational structures today, right? But who's the chief priest in charge of all of it is Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ has set shepherds over his people. And there are, I think, levels of oversight that we see, even that Jesus has established in the new covenant church. And so I think, you know, even that seeing that there are people who are charged with being in charge of specific things, that they have been gifted different abilities to handle different things. And so we use our giftings to God's glory in the way that he has appointed for us. But this is not just saying, hey, fall in line, get in line, go in order, you know.
But the Kohathites were blessed. The people of Zebulun didn't get to do this. The people of Asher didn't get to handle the Ark of God. They could be covetous of their position. And maybe the Kohathites could be covetous. Actually, we're going to find out the Kohathites would become covetous of Aaron and his sons.
But I think a right attitude to have is to say, Lord, thank you. Thank you that I have any place in your kingdom. Thank you that I get to be anywhere near your tabernacle. This is a blessing that God is giving us work to do for his kingdom. And so in your life, do you sit there and maybe you wish that you had a different place in the church, a different place in the kingdom, a different place in a ministry or an opportunity of some other sort?
My question is, are you being faithful with what you have now? This is one of the things that I'm going to be honest with you, right? I have to remind myself as I hear different pastors and they complain about their small churches or they'll complain about stagnating ministries and things like this. And I wonder, Lord, am I being faithful? Am I being faithful with what you've given me now?
Not all of us are entrusted with great things. Some of us are entrusted with little. Are we faithful with what God has given to us? Do we follow after him? Do we serve him and what he's given us with joy and with thankfulness? It's a good God. He doesn't give us more than we can handle. So are we being faithful with what he gives?
That's great. Father, we thank you so much. that you have made us a nation of priests. Lord, you have called us, your people, to worship you and to serve you. What a great joy. Lord, we pray that you would please make us faithful, no matter what our station in life would be. Lord, we pray that we would be found good stewards, working for your kingdom and your glory. Please help us, God, we pray. And we pray that no matter what, that we would remember that you have invited us to come to your tabernacle and to enter into your throne room of grace for the veil has been torn and our King Jesus Christ sits in the holy place now. Lord, we pray this in Jesus's name. Amen. Well, may God bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ and I'll see you next time. Bye.
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