NOTES for Num 4:1-49

As we read in the previous chapter, the Levites had a special status and a special ministry. Now we learn how they were to carry the dismantled Tabernacle of the Covenant through the wilderness. And just as yesterday we spoke of the typological meaning of the Old Testament Levites, today we should consider how this special status of the Levites concerns you and me. Following the same typology, we will see that we are called to a task no smaller—and indeed greater—than that of “the sons of Levi according to their families.” For with the coming of Christ, carrying the sanctuary through the wilderness becomes a calling to carry His image and His glory in the heart. Is this not what the Apostle speaks of in 2 Cor 4:6-7? Is this not the calling to be God-bearers that we can read about in the book of Numbers when we read it through the prism of New Testament revelation?