Contemplative Bible Reading

Numbers 1:50-51 (New Living Translation)

50 Put the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle of the Covenant, along with all its furnishings and equipment. They must carry the Tabernacle and all its furnishings as you travel, and they must take care of it and camp around it. 51 Whenever it is time for the Tabernacle to move, the Levites will take it down. And when it is time to stop, they will set it up again. But any unauthorized person who goes too near the Tabernacle must be put to death.

In the preceding verses, God has the people list all the men 20 years and older who can go to war. God does not put the tribe of Levi in that list of soldiers in the Lord’s army. Instead, the Levites are to care for the Tabernacle and all that goes with it. They must “take care of it.”

Note that last part of verse 50: if unauthorized persons approach the Tabernacle, the Levites will execute them.

Whoa! Execute them? Really? Really. This is serious. There is a message here.

Treat God in a manner which you don’t treat anything else.

This is not a game. This is not folly. This emphasizes the life-and-death nature of man’s relationship to God.

This also emphasizes the grace of Jesus Christ given to me. I can approach buildings and structures without fear of death from God. The physical is important—let us always appreciate the physical needs of our fellow man. The spiritual, however, is paramount. Let me never take it lightly.