“Workers at the Tabernacle”

More than a year had passed since the people of Israel left Egypt, but they had gone no farther than Mount Sinai.

They had stayed there forty days and forty nights while Moses was on the mountain getting the Two Tablets of stone from God, with the Ten Commandments written on them. But Moses had angrily thrown down the two tablets and broken them because the people were worshipping the gold calf.

Then they had waited forty more days and nights while Moses went back up the mountain with two new tablets and the Lord again wrote His Ten Commandments on them.

Afterward they had waited forty more days and nights while Moses’ went back up the mountain with two new tablets and the Lord again wrote His Ten Commandments on them.

Afterward they waited while the Tabernacle was built and while God spoke to Moses’ inside the Tabernacle, giving him many new laws for the people of Israel to obey.

But at last the time had come to leave Mount Sinai and to continue the journey to the Promise Land of Canaan.

The Israelis were divided into twelve large groups, called tribes. Each group was descended from one of the sons of Jacob. One of the groups was the tribe of Joseph, for instance, and another was the tribe of Benjamin.

The Lord told Moses’ and Aaron to count all the men of Israel who were able to be soliders. There were 603,550 of them.

The men of the tribe of Levi were not counted along with the others, because the Lord didn’t want them to go to war. He chose them to stay near the Tabernacle to take care of it. Whenever God told the Israelis to move to a new location, the men of this tribe took down the Tabernacle and carried the different parts, and whenever the people of Israel stopped and made camp, these men set the Tabernacle up again.

The Tabernacle and all the things in it were Holy, and no one except the priests and Levites could enter it. If anyone else did, he was killed.

There was much work for these men of the tribe of Levi to do. Besides sacrificing the two lambs every day, the people brought many other offerings. Wood was cut to burn these. Water was brought for washing.

The ashes were taken away from the altar, and the yard where the offerings were killed was cleaned.

Aaron and his sons could not do all these things by themselves, so God chose the Levite tribe to help them. Moses’ and A men Aaron counted 8,580 men of the Levite tribe. These men began to help the priests by working at the Tabernacle.

The twelve leaders of the tribes now brought presents for the Tabernacle in six wagons pulled by twelve oxen. Moses gave the wagons and the oxen to the Levites to carry the different parts of the Tabernacle when the people of Israel were travelling.

Two wagons were used to carry the heavy curtains; four other wagons carried the boards covered with gold for the sides of the Tabernacle, and the brass pillars that stood around the court. But there was no wagon to carry the ark, the gold lampstand, the gold altar, and the bronze altar; for God said never to carry these in wagons. They had to be carried on the shoulders of the men of the tribe of Levi.

All this time the pillar of cloud stood over the Tabernacle. During the day it was the color of a cloud, but every night it became a pillar of fire. It came there on the very first day when Moses put up the Tabernacle, and there it remained above the roof of the inner room, called the most holy place. It stayed there except when the Lord wanted the people of Israel to move. Then it lifted and waited for the people to get ready to follow, and as the cloud moved forward, the people walked behind it.

As long as it was moving, everyone followed, but whenever it stopped, everyone stopped and set up the camp. If the cloud stayed over the Tabernacle only one day, they stayed only one day. If it stayed two days, they stayed two days; or if it stayed a whole year, they stayed a year. But when ever the cloud lifted, whether by day or by night, they travelled. It was the Lord who made it stay or go, and He was guided the people through the wilderness.

The Lord commanded Moses to make two silver trumpets for the priests to blow when Moses wanted to call the people together, or when they were about to start travelling.

While travelling, the people of Israel carried the banners and flags and marched like an army. Each tribe kept in its own place, and each one had a captain in charge of it.

The Levites carrying the different parts of the Tabernacle were surrounded by the other tribes. Wherever the cloud stopped, and the Levites set up the Tabernacle again.

The Levites put up their family tents next to the Tabernacle, and the other tribes put their tents all around them, farther away from the Tabernacle than the Levites.

Questions:

Why did the Israelis stay so long at Mount Sinai?

What work did the Lord have for the tribe of Levi?

How was the Tabernacle carried when the people moved to a new place?

Tell about the cloud.

Numbers Chapters 1&2&3

Have a wonderful day full of blessings, joy and peace. See you later.