No? Just me?
Alrighty then…
The sons of Kohath were called to bear the things of the tabernacle on their shoulders. When the high priest had everything all set and wrapped and ready to move to the next place, the sons of Kohath were the ones who carried everything.
Numbers 4:15 “And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.”
So Aaron and his sons had to clean up and tear down, and wrap up everything from the tabernacle when they were ready to move, and Kohath’s sons would carry it all to the next place.
I was reading in Numbers 7 recently and it really stood out to me that the sons of Kohath could have felt like they were getting a bum deal. Here carts and oxen are being handed out to both of the other sons of Aaron (Gershon and Merari)…
“(9) But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders.”
Some days don’t you feel like a son of Kohath?
Like, “Why am *I* the one who has to carry everything? How come THEY get carts? And how come they get oxen too? Why do I always have to handle all the holy stuff from the tabernacle? And how come it has to be on my shoulders when dragging it would be easier?”
We can sometimes feel like we’re the only one without a cart. Like we have to bear all the hardships, and everyone else gets to cruise on by us on their oxen-drawn carts.
And it can even seem like other people experience God in a deeper way than we do, even though their burdens seem light and easy.
Numbers 4:18-20
(18) Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites:
(19) But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden:
(20) But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.
The sons of Kohath got to carry the holy things, but they weren’t allowed to see them. They weren’t allowed to help wrap them up, or handle them. Or even be in the room when they were wrapped. They just had to carry them.
And you know what? The things from the tabernacle were much too precious to just be thrown on the back of a cart like common goods. (Think flour sacks, laundry, foodstuffs.) They were holy. They had been designed by God for a special purpose, and weren’t for just anyone to be responsible for.
Did the sons of Kohath know WHY they had to carry the stuff for the tabernacle? Nope. At least we’re never told in scripture why. But it glorified God. It was a huge responsibility and honor.
Maybe God is calling you to do a hard thing. Maybe he is calling you to bear a burden on your shoulders when everyone else around you got carts and oxen. You may never know why God has chosen you to bear the burden you have, but it is a holy thing. It can glorify God. It is serving a purpose.
Never doubt that our good God is working. Never doubt that He is helping you through whatever you're facing, and that He will use it for your good, and the good of others who are watching you walk through it.
See, the awesome thing about the sons of Kohath is that they weren't alone. They had each other. There wasn't just one son carrying everything all piled on his shoulders. They were all bearing burdens. But they didn't all have the same burden either- some carried candlesticks, some lavers, some censers, etc.
The same is true about our family in Christ. We don't all have the same burden, but everybody's carrying something. Find your sons of Kohath. Let them know you have a burden too, and walk the journey together. Don't try to take their burden from them, as that is their lot, and you have your own to carry. But you can make the journey easier just by being present.
Many times we get through hard things because we know we aren't alone. How much faster do the miles pass when we're in fellowship, and singing joyfully, reminding one another about who God is, and what He has done?
(And by the way, oxen poop. Like, a lot. [And it smells bad.] And they have to be fed, and watered. And tended to when they are injured or ill. And cart wheels break. And carts tip over...)
No one's journey is without difficulty, even if it looks that way to you.
2 Cor. 4:5-18
(5) For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
(6) For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
(7) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
(8) We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
(9) Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
(10) Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
(11) For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
(12) So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
(13) We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;
(14) Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
(15) For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
(16) For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
(17) For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
(18) While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
The sons of Kohath were called to bear the things of the tabernacle on their shoulders. When the high priest had everything all set and wrapped and ready to move to the next place, the sons of Kohath were the ones who carried everything.
Numbers 4:15 “And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.”
So Aaron and his sons had to clean up and tear down, and wrap up everything from the tabernacle when they were ready to move, and Kohath’s sons would carry it all to the next place.
I was reading in Numbers 7 recently and it really stood out to me that the sons of Kohath could have felt like they were getting a bum deal. Here carts and oxen are being handed out to both of the other sons of Aaron (Gershon and Merari)…
“(9) But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders.”
Some days don’t you feel like a son of Kohath?
Like, “Why am *I* the one who has to carry everything? How come THEY get carts? And how come they get oxen too? Why do I always have to handle all the holy stuff from the tabernacle? And how come it has to be on my shoulders when dragging it would be easier?”
We can sometimes feel like we’re the only one without a cart. Like we have to bear all the hardships, and everyone else gets to cruise on by us on their oxen-drawn carts.
And it can even seem like other people experience God in a deeper way than we do, even though their burdens seem light and easy.
Numbers 4:18-20
(18) Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites:
(19) But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden:
(20) But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.
The sons of Kohath got to carry the holy things, but they weren’t allowed to see them. They weren’t allowed to help wrap them up, or handle them. Or even be in the room when they were wrapped. They just had to carry them.
And you know what? The things from the tabernacle were much too precious to just be thrown on the back of a cart like common goods. (Think flour sacks, laundry, foodstuffs.) They were holy. They had been designed by God for a special purpose, and weren’t for just anyone to be responsible for.
Did the sons of Kohath know WHY they had to carry the stuff for the tabernacle? Nope. At least we’re never told in scripture why. But it glorified God. It was a huge responsibility and honor.
Maybe God is calling you to do a hard thing. Maybe he is calling you to bear a burden on your shoulders when everyone else around you got carts and oxen. You may never know why God has chosen you to bear the burden you have, but it is a holy thing. It can glorify God. It is serving a purpose.
Never doubt that our good God is working. Never doubt that He is helping you through whatever you're facing, and that He will use it for your good, and the good of others who are watching you walk through it.
See, the awesome thing about the sons of Kohath is that they weren't alone. They had each other. There wasn't just one son carrying everything all piled on his shoulders. They were all bearing burdens. But they didn't all have the same burden either- some carried candlesticks, some lavers, some censers, etc.
The same is true about our family in Christ. We don't all have the same burden, but everybody's carrying something. Find your sons of Kohath. Let them know you have a burden too, and walk the journey together. Don't try to take their burden from them, as that is their lot, and you have your own to carry. But you can make the journey easier just by being present.
Many times we get through hard things because we know we aren't alone. How much faster do the miles pass when we're in fellowship, and singing joyfully, reminding one another about who God is, and what He has done?
(And by the way, oxen poop. Like, a lot. [And it smells bad.] And they have to be fed, and watered. And tended to when they are injured or ill. And cart wheels break. And carts tip over...)
No one's journey is without difficulty, even if it looks that way to you.
2 Cor. 4:5-18
(5) For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
(6) For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
(7) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
(8) We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
(9) Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
(10) Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
(11) For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
(12) So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
(13) We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;
(14) Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
(15) For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
(16) For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
(17) For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
(18) While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
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