This morning, I would like to tie together a New Testament scripture with something from the Old Testament. As you have heard, the New Testament is illustrated in the Old Testament, and the Old is fulfilled in the New. The pastor who preaches only from the first half of the Bible may, quite likely, be a Pharisaical legalist. But the man who only preaches from the second half, is not ministering the way Christ and the Apostles did. The only text the Apostles had, with which to present Christ, to the lost, were the first 37 books of the Bible. I am convinced the most profitable ministry uses both testimonies – the words of the prophets and the words of the Apostles.
As we have seen, it was the Lord Jesus who said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me.”
This scripture has been preached tens of thousand times, often as a gospel message. The people of this world are suffering; they are burdened with sin and its devastating aftermath. Broken homes, fatherless children, crime, abusive governments, addictions and a thousand other burdens are strapped to the backs of countless numbers of people. Like Bunyan’s Pilgrim before meeting Christ, they can hardly get from point A to point B without struggling. They may fill their lives with self-medication, physical exercise, entertainment, diversions and psychiatrists, but the burdens don’t go away, and the pain is only masked. But as many of you have experienced, in humbly surrendering and coming to Christ, there is rest for the soul. And the Lord Jesus himself says, “COME unto me.” “If any man thirst, let him COME unto me, and drink” – John 7:37.
Following the “coming” Jesus says, “pick up my yoke and learn of me, for in that there is even more rest.” Of course, a yoke is an instrument used to tie together two work animals – like two horses or mules, or two oxen. I believe that Jesus’ exhortation is that those who come to Him should be willing to be yoked to Him in the service of God’s glory. There is no better place to be than in that yoked union. There is the best place to really learn of Christ. In the willing acceptance of that yoke, we find rest which can only be imagined by people who refuse to surrender and serve. Jesus tells us that His yoke is easy; His burden is light, and thousands of us know that to be true. Amen?
Now, here is my point: wearing the Lord’s yoke and carrying Christ’s burden should not be considered an option for the Christian. It is something every child of God should yearn to do – and enjoy doing. It is a part of the Lord’s invitation to salvation. It is a part of our calling. How can we, who have been so abundantly blessed, not be willing to serve with the Lord in return? It is sad that a great many of the children of God think they can avoid their Christian responsibilities. They choose to bury their talents instead of investing them in the Lord’s work. They will never hear the words: “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” In fact, when they refuse the Lord’s yoke, it may indicate that they are strangers to God’s stable. They are not the Lord’s sheep; they are not the Lord’s oxen. And they will hear: “Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” – Matthew 25.
Christian, look back over your life and ask yourself these questions: Has there ever been a day when I deliberately and joyfully relaxed my neck to receive the Lord’s yoke? And then, since that day, can you say you’ve worn it with joy, pulling the Lord’s plow, or His cart, or His carriage to the places He has directed you? If you have not, you are missing the great joy and peace to which the Lord refers. I could stop there. There is a simple sermon. Sermon number one. But, let’s go to lesson number two. Or to put it another way: let’s put some meat on those bare bones.
Please turn to the Numbers 8.
I hope you know the history of Israel – I hope you know that Jacob, to whom was given that name “Israel,” had twelve sons who eventually became the twelve tribes of Israel. While that is true, things weren’t quite as simple as that. Actually God took two of Jacob’s grandsons and made them tribes of the future nation, creating a total of thirteen. Ah, but then the Lord took one of the original tribes back to himself. Numbers 8:13-14 – “thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the LORD. Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be MINE.” Verse 16 – “For they are wholly given unto ME from among the children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me. For ALL the FIRSTBORN of the children of Israel are MINE, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself. And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel.” So Levi was removed from the list of Jacob’s sons, becoming a special son of God, and once again there were twelve tribes in Israel.
I thought about making this a lesson about the office of the deacon. If Brother Kjeldgaard wants to think of it that way, it would be fine, but it really applies to all of God’s people. The Levites were especially chosen by God; they were sovereignly elected to their office and to their service. God graciously said to them, as in Matthew 11, “Come unto me,” and they willingly drew nigh unto the Lord. In Exodus 32:26 – “Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.” Just like every saint, they were called by God, and they freely came.
Then those Levites were cleansed and especially prepared for their future duties. Verse 12 – “And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the LORD, to make an atonement for the Levites.” In the shedding of the sacrificial blood, we have an illustration of salvation from sin, through the Lord Jesus. That is not my opinion; that is what the New Testament tells us. Before the actual shedding of blood, the Levites were to lay their hands on the heads of the sacrifice. In touching the heads of the sacrifice, the Levites were symbolically transferring – or “imputing” – their sins to their sacrifices. Then those bullocks gave their lives as substitutes for those sinful Levites. There could be no acceptable service to God without salvation from sin.
But then there was another aspect to their preparation for service. Verse 6 – “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.” It wasn’t enough for the Levites to be redeemed by the blood. If they are going to be of any real use to the Lord, they had to be as separated from the world as possible. They were to wash their clothing and wash their bodies. Remember, this was unusual. Bathing was not as common in that day as it is in ours. There was no running hot water in which to shower. Not only were they to bathe, they were even to shave off their contamination-catching body hair.
Then came a beautiful special picture – an ordination of sorts. Verse 11 – “ And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together: And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites: And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the LORD.” Skip to verse 13 – “And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the LORD. Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.” In the same way that the Levites used those bullocks as their substitutes before the Lord, Israel set the Levites in the place where they all should have been as servants and burden bearers. Israel offered the Levites, as their representatives and sacrifices, to the Lord. They became God’s servants – deacons – as all of us should be.
This brings us to Numbers 4.
Jacob’s son, Levi, had been called by God, out of Israel and unto Himself, to represent the nation and to serve the Lord until the time of the coming of Christ. But Levi had three sons – Kohath, Gershon and Merari. As the special servants of God, they each had special, but different, services to perform. For example, during the forty years in the wilderness, when the camp of Israel was to be moved, each part of the tribe had their particular God-proscribed duties. To the sons of Merari was given the task of carrying the boards and other accouterments of the Tabernacle. We read of this in verses 31 to 33. To his brother, Gerson, and his family, were all the coverings over the Tabernacle and the curtains of the wall enclosing the courtyard. We read of these in verses 24 to 26. It is quite possible that some of this was a heavier burden than carrying silver pots and wooden planks. But one responsibility belonged to Merari and the other was given to Gershon. And to the sons of Kohath, the other brother, was given the responsibility for the objects inside the Tabernacle, like the Altar of Incense, the candle stick and even the Ark of the Covenant – verses 4 to 15.
In thinking about these things, please remember Matthew 11:28-30 as it relates to all of this – “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
All of these directives in Numbers were given to Moses by God. So it was the Lord who said, “At the appointment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burdens, and in all their service; and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their burdens.” The same was applied to the sons of Merari. The more spiritual of the Gersonites and Merarites would say throughout the years, “Praise the Lord, I have the privilege of serving my Saviour.” However, the more fleshly, the less spiritual, the unbelieving – those who were actually unsaved – might have said, “I am nothing more than a beast of burden in the ministry of God.”
But it should be kept in mind that no matter what the task, it was ALL important, and it all was sacred. To carry the Golden Altar was as important as being a part of the team which transported the Brazen Altar. The beautiful veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was no more important than the curtain which hung over the gate into the courtyard. It was all for the Lord; it was all for the glory of Jehovah.
Now I’ll try to make an application or two.
As I’ve already pointed out, not everyone had the same work to do for the Lord. In saving us, the Lord was not trying to create little clones, making us all look exactly alike. Some of us are eyes, others ears, and some are beautiful feet. Let’s learn to praise God for simply being a part of the body of Christ. Some of those Levites had heavier responsibilities than others. For some in their service there was more the stress on their backs or on the muscles of their arms. But it was all of the Lord and for the Lord. Some Levites bore more reproach from the unsaved than others. But they all served their Saviour. And at least initially, they willingly took the Lord’s yoke upon themselves.
Consider some of the other details revealed in these chapters. For example, not only did the Lord appoint the service of each tribe – and by extension – to each man… But God appointed the period of service – “From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entereth into the service, for the work in the tabernacle of the congregation…” I can just imagine a good-hearted, twenty-five-year-old Merarite begging Aaron for the opportunity to take the place of his arthritic father in carrying one of those heavy silver pots – but it wasn’t God’s will. Dad was expected to serve until he was fifty-years-old or until he physically couldn’t do the work any longer. The Bible tells us that “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” I believe that means that I shouldn’t entertain any thoughts of retirement, until the Lord retires me. And I believe the same is true of all you Levites and yoke-fellows. We are to serve the Lord until we drop. That is not a curse; it is a blessing. Praise the Lord that the Lord Jesus didn’t put any age limitations on His yoke partners.
“At the APPOINTMENT of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service…” Can’t you hear some high-pitched, whiny Jewish voice saying, “But I want to carry the golden candlestick.” Brethren, again, God doesn’t want us all to look alike or serve alike. I admit that I don’t have the gifts that many other pastors have. Sometimes I am envious. But at other times, when I am a bit closer to Christ, I thank Him that I don’t have the responsibilities that other pastors have. With the gifts and calling of God come responsibilities. That is true of all of us. We should all be satisfied – we should all be ecstatic simply to be in the same yoke with our Saviour. O, that we all were more like Isaiah, jumping to our feet and waving our hand, “Here I am, Lord, send me.”
And by the way, in regard to Israel’s movements through the wilderness, there wasn’t a schedule or itinerary. They probably camped in some spots for months before the Lord indicated it was time to move. God didn’t tell Moses, “Next Monday at 9:00 a.m. I will signal that it is time to pack up.” When Israel was to travel, the Pillar of Cloud simply moved away from the Tabernacle, apparently indicating the direction they were to go, and immediately Israel started packing. But at that point that the Levites were to rush to the Tabernacle and earnestly begin their special duties. They had to be ready at a moment’s notice; they had to be ready at all times, perhaps training their eyes to look toward the Lord’s Pillar throughout the day. There was a sense in which they were never really off duty. And incidentally, some of you ladies know the meaning of this: Upon the wives of the Levites fell the responsibility of getting the family ready to move. Whereas the husbands of the rest of the nation took down their own tents, for the Levites such duties fell on their wives or their families, if they were old enough. At that point, I hope those twenty-somethings, were happy to be at home and able to help their mothers. What I am saying that pastor’s wives have special burdens that the rest of the Christian ladies do not. I thank God for my wife, Judy. And by the way, the scripture teaches that with every deacon goes a godly “deaconess.”
Back in Matthew, the Lord Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me.” Think about those words as a sentence. What kind of sentence is it? Is this a pair of exhortations coupled together with the word “and,” or is this a single statement? Is it “pick my yoke AND try to learn more about me?” Or is it: “when you are yoked to me, you WILL learn of me?” I think that it is the latter. I think that in the service of the Lord there comes and intimacy that provides special blessings and produces that superlative peace. I suppose that it is more anecdotal than actual, but when the Kohathite who was assigned to carry the golden candlestick, had it resting on his shoulder for four hours, he really got to know the thing. He learned of the Lord in ways that others never could. With the ministry of the Lord comes a special sort of intimacy. When one man, along with his brother, had his hands on the two poles that were carrying the Altar of Incense, you could say that he learned to appreciate the golden altar more than even other Levites. He also had the privilege of spending quality time with this brother – not in the fellowship of playing cornhole, but in the fellowship of serving the Lord together.
I am of the opinion that we will learn to know the Lord more, while serving Him, than in sitting in a theology class being lectured by someone even as knowledgeable as Moses or Paul. Do you want to learn of Christ? Do you want to know Him better? Then slip your neck into the Lord’s yoke, and push your shoulders into that specially designed instrument for your individual service.
I will close with one other thing: God said of the Levites in Numbers 8: “they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; INSTEAD of such as open every womb, even INSTEAD of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me.” “I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation.” Isn’t it true that these Levites were bearing the burdens which belonged to the entire nation? They represented the people of Judah and Ephriam, doing work incumbent on all of them. By way of illustration, with their necks in the Lord’s yoke, they were carrying the loneliness of that widow in the tribe of Dan. And they were sharing their wealth with that poor family in Asher or Manasseh.
Brethren, to be yoked to Christ is to be, in another way, yoked to everyone else who is yoked to Christ. Galatians 6:2 tells us all: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Not only should we rejoice with them that laugh, but we should grieve with them that grieve. By extension, we should work with them that work. Romans 15:1– “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak.” This is the ministry of God’s New Testament Levites. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”