Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“All those who were counted of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel counted, by their families and by their fathers’ houses, from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting, even those who were counted of them, were eight thousand five hundred eighty. According to the commandment of Yahweh they were counted by Moses, everyone according to his service and according to his burden. Thus they were counted by him, as Yahweh commanded Moses.”
(Numbers 4:46-49)

“Look! Praise Yahweh, all you servants of Yahweh,
    who stand by night in Yahweh’s house!
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary.
    Praise Yahweh!
May Yahweh bless you from Zion,
    even he who made heaven and earth.“
(Psalm 134)

Everyone had a job and every job was different. All the Levites served, but each of the bloodlines had different tasks. Sometimes within a given bloodline there was a different task. Each was important. It was hard work. It was taxing. But each job was important. Each had a role. There was something for everyone and everyone had something. They were a group, not a collection of individuals.

Aaron’s sons who brought strange fire are again mentioned in chapter three. Whether it was an offering to a pagan deity or an offering to God that was not requested; whether they were intoxicated or whether they were both intoxicated and offered an offering that was for the High Priest alone; or whether they asserted themselves against Moses’ authority does not really matter. They did something that they should not have. This shows there is a proper way to worship. A proper way to conduct ourselves. God knows what it is. And God does NOT keep it secret (remember the sons of Aaron along with Aaron were to sit in the entrance to the tabernacle for seven days. What do you think they were supposed to be doing, but studying what Moses had written down about their duties and communing with God who also could instruct them?). We are told the requirements for doing what is right and good. We are to copy God in what we do. We are to submit to HIS point of view.

Summary

All believers in Jesus are designated as priests of the Kingdom. We are to worship God in truth, from our hearts, without false motivation or intent. We are to do our job as members of the Body of Messiah, not seeking to be someone else’s role, but to find out what OUR role is to be and embody that to the best of our abilities. We are to do the work of the kingdom, rejoicing in that it is work and not toil. We are to rely on God as our strength. We are ALL called to be of service to He who made us because it is right, and good, and holy. We aren’t all evangelists and pastors. But we are ALL priests and can do His work where He puts us.