They were a workforce of 8,580, men aged between 30 and 50 at the peak of their prime. What an asset to any employer! To put it in context, the pottery firms in North Staffordshire employ 8,500. It’s not a huge number like employers like Tesco or other retail companies, but it’s not an inconsiderable number either.
What did they do, these men in the prime of their life? Was their work hugely significant? You bet. So significant it’s recorded in the Bible for us to learn about thousands of years later…
But when you read about the actual work, it’s easy to skip over this chapter (Numbers 4) with a glazed look in our eyes. The actual work done by these magnificent men involved sorting out the transportation of the ark of the covenant and the Tabernacle during the wilderness wanderings. Day in, day out, they were responsible for covering the items such as curtains, utensils, the lampstand and altar and carrying them, along with the crossbars, posts, bases, tent pegs and ropes which were all part of the worship of God.
The Kohathites, Gershonites and Merarites were given this sacred job. They weren’t the ones to go out in battle. Their job looks to us nowadays rather like ours: repetitive, mundane, brain-numbing and pretty boring, if we are honest. And yet it was sacred work, appointed by God.
Yesterday, I had the privilege of leading a military funeral at our church for a 94 year old Goldthorpe man (Tom Nowell) who had served in the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment in the Korean War in the 1950s. Many former army colleagues as well as a large number of other regimental people came to the funeral to pay their respects. A military funeral, it turns out, owes a lot to Old Testament heritage.
Standard bearers carried the distinctive flags of different regiments, lowered and raised at specific times in the service. This wonderful man, John Hammond, played the bugle at the funeral:
He arrived at 9.20 a.m. in civilian clothes, took the time to change into his uniform, and practised his bugle assiduously in the quiet of a small room. His actual role in the funeral took less than 5 minutes, to play the ‘Last Post’ and the ‘Reveille‘, with consummate sweetness and utter professionalism. Yet this was his role, his work, and he did it perfectly.
An army of church volunteers (well, a small corps, maybe) performed their own roles skilfully and professionally: greeting people, showing them to seats, making drinks, serving food, tidying away, pressing buttons to make music play. By 2.30 p.m., the building was restored to its usual order, with no fuss or bother. It reminded me very much of these faithful Israelites, taking down the Tabernacle paraphernalia, packing it all up and moving on.
Is this work exciting? No. Is it special? Most certainly. It is special because it honours God and His people and because He tells us that anything we do in His name will not be forgotten, even giving a cup of cold water to someone in need. Don’t be disheartened by the ordinary and the mundane. God is there in the detail.