6"Bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him.
7"They shall perform the duties for him and for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle.
8"They shall also keep all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, along with the duties of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.
9"You shall thus give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the sons of Israel.
10"So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood, but the layman who comes near shall be put to death."
The four Levite families occupied the closest positions to the tabernacle with the 7,500 Gershonites on the westward side, the 8,600 Kohathites on the southward side, the 6,200 Mararites on the northward side and Moses and Aaron and families on the eastward side.
It keeps popping into my mind as I read Numbers that these people did not have to think or decide anything, or even have a relationship with God. They just had to follow the instructions God gave through Moses and all would function like a well oiled machine. I like the idea of knowing clearly exactly what God wants me to do, but the people could be spiritually lazy as they went about their jobs like automatons. How much better it is now that we have free access to God through His Spirit in us. Because of Jesus, it is my job to hear God for my life and to let Him instruct me personally as to how to fit into His perfectly ordered family. Each one of us still has a designated role that make the body of Christ function in a healthy manner. However, we have to be willing to be spiritually active in order to know our roles. Each of us gets to be like Moses on the mountain hearing God and doing all according to His will for us today. All because of Jesus who brought God into each of our hearts and minds as we accepted Him as Lord and Savior.