God gives a description of the relative service of the priests and the Levites in Numbers 18:1-71And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. 2And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness. 3And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die. 4And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you. 5And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel. 6And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the Lord, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. 7Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest's office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest's office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. (Numbers 18:1‑7). Here we have a divine answer to the question raised by the children of Israel in the previous chapter, “Shall we be consumed with dying?” (Num. 17:1313Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die: shall we be consumed with dying? (Numbers 17:13)). “No,” says the God of all grace and mercy, because Aaron and his sons with him “shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar; that there be no wrath anymore upon the children of Israel’’ (Num. 18:55And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel. (Numbers 18:5)). Thus the people are taught that in that very priesthood, which had been so despised and spoken against, they were to find their security.
But we have to notice that Aaron’s sons and his father’s house are associated with him in his holy privileges and responsibilities; the Levites were given as a gift to Aaron, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation and to serve under him. This teaches us a lesson much needed by Christians at the present moment. All service, to be intelligent and acceptable, must be rendered in subjection to priestly authority and guidance. “Thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee” (Num. 18:22And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness. (Numbers 18:2)). The whole tribe of workers was associated with and subject to the great high priest; all was under his immediate control and guidance. So it must be now, in reference to all God’s workers. All Christian service must be done in fellowship with our great High Priest and in holy subjection to His authority. It is of no value otherwise. There may be a great deal of work done and there may be great activity, but if Christ is not the immediate object before the heart — if His guidance and authority is not fully owned — the work must go for nothing.
Serving Under Christ
On the other hand, the smallest act of service done under the eye of Christ, with direct reference to Him, has its value in God’s estimation and shall receive its due reward. This is truly encouraging and consolatory to the heart of every earnest worker. The Levites had to work under Aaron; Christians have to work under Christ. We are responsible to Him. It is good to walk in fellowship with our fellow-workmen and to be subject one to another, in the fear of the Lord. Nothing is further from our thoughts than to foster a spirit of independence or that temper of soul which would hinder our hearty cooperation with our brethren in every good work. All the Levites were joined to Aaron in their work, and therefore they were joined one to another. Hence, they had to work together. If a Levite had turned his back upon his brethren, he would have turned his back upon Aaron. All were called to work together, however varied their work might be.
Still, it must be borne in mind that their work did vary, though each was called to work under Aaron. There was individual responsibility with the most harmonious corporate action. We certainly desire, in every possible way, to promote unity in action, but this must never be suffered to encroach upon the domain of personal service or to interfere with the direct reference of the individual workman to his Lord. The church of God affords a very extensive platform to the Lord’s workers, and there is ample space there for all sorts of laborers. We must not attempt to reduce all to a legal level or cramp the varied energies of Christ’s servants by confining them to certain old ruts of our own formation. We must all diligently seek to combine the most cordial unanimity with the greatest possible variety in action. Both will be healthfully promoted, if we all remember that we are called to serve together under Christ.
Serving Together
Here lies the grand secret—together, under Christ! If we bear this in mind, it will help us to recognize and appreciate another’s line of work, though it may differ from our own. On the other hand, it will preserve us from too high a sense of our own department of service, for we shall see that we are, one and all, simply coworkers in the one wide field. The great object before the Master’s heart can only be attained by each worker pursuing his own special line and pursuing it in happy fellowship with all.
There is a harmful tendency in some to depreciate every line of work except their own. This must be carefully guarded against. If all were to pursue the same line, where would be that lovely variety which characterizes the Lord’s work and His workmen in the world? Nor is it merely a question of the line of work, but actually of the peculiar style of each workman. You may find two evangelists, each marked by an intense desire for the salvation of souls, each preaching substantially the same truth, and yet there may be the greatest possible variety in the mode in which each one seeks to gain the same object. The same holds true in reference to every other branch of Christian service. We should strongly suspect the ground occupied by a Christian assembly if there were not ample space allowed for every branch and style of Christian service—for every line of work capable of being taken up in individual responsibility to the great Head of the priestly house. We ought to do nothing which we cannot do under Christ and in fellowship with Him. And all that can be done in fellowship with Christ can surely be done in fellowship with those who are walking with Him.
C. H. Mackintosh, adapted