The Levites who were
responsible for care and moving of the Tabernacle were given carts and oxen to
carry the Tabernacle parts as they moved from the desert to the Promised Land.
That is all of the Levites except the Kohathites. According to verse 9 Moses did not give any [oxen or carts] to the
Kohathites, because they were to carry on their shoulders the holy things, for
which they were responsible (9). Why I wondered? Because they were
responsible for carrying the sacred holy and most holy articles of the
Tabernacle?
I had to think about this
for a while. Why was God making this distinction? It seems that sacred things
are handled in a special way.
God, where does this touch
me? We don’t have a tabernacle/temple anymore?
The NT says that we are the
temple of the Holy Spirit (1Cor 6:19) and the church is God’s temple (1Cor
3:16). Hmmm…
God seems to be whispering
to me that brothers and sisters who bear the image of God and have the Spirit
within them should be handled in a special way. As I think through the NT I have
read over the years, I remember admonitions to treat others with kindness,
gentleness, bearing with and forgiving them. The fruit of the Spirit tumbled in
my thoughts…treat others with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness and self-control.
Then there is the church,
the body of the Christ indwelled with the Spirit of God. I must treat her
specially as well. I must be careful to carry her with my hands, not load her
into a cart. I need to see that she is preserved not destroyed, cared for not
damaged…
And so my meditations
whirled as I pondered the Kohathites carrying sacred things rather than
transporting them in carts.
Lord, thank
You for Your body, the Church, and for sisters and brothers of the church. I
hear You calling me to honor and care for them And to be careful as I ‘handle’
them. Lord, may I honor You as I honor and care for them. Through Jesus, I pray.
Amen.
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