Gershonites

By the hand of Jahil.

The Gershonite.

Verse 9.

Then the people rejoiced.

The Levites were arranged into families after their ancestors, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the three sons of Levi.

The Gershonites, again subdivided into two families and amounting to 7,500, under their leader Eliasaph, my God that gathers, had charge of the tabernacle, or rather of the dwelling place, of the tent, of the covering thereof, and of the hanging or curtain for the door of the tent of meeting, as also of the hangings of the court in which the tabernacle stood, of the curtain for its door, and of the cordage necessary for these hangings.

We have been particular in translating this passage because it proves that the common view, which places the curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet outside the boards that constituted the framework of the tabernacle, is entirely erroneous.

Evidently these hangings, and not the boards, constituted the tabernacle, or rather the dwelling, the tent, outside the framework, consisting of the eleven curtains of goat's hair and the covering of the whole being twofold, one of ram skins dyed red and another of badger skins.

While the Gershonites had charge of the dwelling, the tent, and the hangings of the outer court, the care of the boards of the dwelling, with all that belonged thereto, and of the pillars of the court round about, in short, of all the outer solid framework of the tabernacle and of the court, devolved upon the Merarites under their chief, Zoriel, my rock is God.

Finally, the most important charge, that of the contents and vessels of the sanctuary, was committed to the Kohathites under their chief, Elizaphan, my God watcheth round about.

Viewed as a whole, the camp of Israel thus formed a threefold square, a symbolical design, further developed in the temple of Solomon, still more fully in that of Ezekiel, and finally shown in all its completeness in the city that lieth foursquare.

The innermost square, as yet elongated and therefore not perfect in its width or comprehension, nor yet having the perfect form of a cube, except so far as the most holy place itself was concerned, which was a cube, was occupied by the dwelling, covered by the tent, and surrounded by its court.

The Levites were arranged into families after their ancestors, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the three sons of Levi.

The Gershonites, again subdivided into two families and amounting to 7,500, under their leader Eliasaph, my God that gathers, had charge of the tabernacle, or rather of the dwelling place, of the tent, of the covering thereof, and of the hanging or curtain for the door of the tent of meeting, as also of the hangings of the court in which the tabernacle stood, of the curtain for its door, and of the cordage necessary for these hangings.

We have been particular in translating this passage because it proves that the common view, which places the curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet outside the boards that constituted the framework of the tabernacle, is entirely erroneous.

Evidently these hangings, and not the boards, constituted the tabernacle, or rather the dwelling, the tent, outside the framework, consisting of the eleven curtains of goat's hair and the covering of the whole being twofold, one of ram skins dyed red and another of badger skins.

While the Gershonites had charge of the dwelling, the tent, and the hangings of the outer court, the care of the boards of the dwelling, with all that belonged thereto, and of the pillars of the court round about, in short, of all the outer solid framework of the tabernacle and of the court, devolved upon the Merarites under their chief, Zoriel, my rock is God.

Finally, the most important charge, that of the contents and vessels of the sanctuary, was committed to the Kohathites under their chief, Elizaphan, my God watcheth round about.

Viewed as a whole, the camp of Israel thus formed a threefold square, a symbolical design, further developed in the temple of Solomon, still more fully in that of Ezekiel, and finally shown in all its completeness in the city that lieth foursquare.

The innermost square, as yet elongated and therefore not perfect in its width or comprehension, nor yet having the perfect form of a cube, except so far as the most holy place itself was concerned, which was a cube, was occupied by the dwelling, covered by the tent, and surrounded by its court.

From the Mariettes, Kish, son of Abdi, and Azariah, son of Jehel Eliel.

From the Gershonites, Joah son of Zimah and Eden son of Joah.

From the descendants of Elisaphon, Shemri and Jeel.

From the descendants of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah.

They gave for the work of the house of God 5,000 talents of gold and 10,000 derricks of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bras, 100,000 talents of iron.

And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord into the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite.

Then the people rejoiced for they had offered what? willingly because with a loyal heart they had offered willingly to the Lord, and King David also rejoiced with great joy.

So they came in and they offered willingly, not out of compulsion, which is what Troy was talking about there in 2 Corinthians.

My sons, do not now be negligent, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him, and to be his ministers and make offerings to him.

Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites, and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jeholoel, of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimah, and Eden the son of Joah, and of the sons of Elisavon, Shemri and Jeol, and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah, and Mataniah, and of the sons of Heman, Jeuel, and Shammai, and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah, and Uzael.

They gathered their brothers and consecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord.

The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought it out all the uncleanness that they had found in the temple of the Lord and the court of the house of the Lord." And the Levites took it and carried it out to the brook Kidron.

My sons, do not now be negligent, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him, and to be his ministers and make offerings to him.

Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites, and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jeholoel, of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimah, and Eden the son of Joah, and of the sons of Elisavon, Shemri and Jeol, and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah, and Mataniah, and of the sons of Heman, Jeuel, and Shammai, and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah, and Uzael.

They gathered their brothers and consecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord.

The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought it out all the uncleanness that they had found in the temple of the Lord and the court of the house of the Lord." And the Levites took it and carried it out to the brook Kidron.

They had to pack it in a very specific way, cover it with a particular cloth, and that was their job.

The Gershonites, and their job was they carried all the curtains and everything that was made of fine leather.

all the hangings around the courtyard.

That was their job.

And then when it moved, they moved also.

Now, here's what I began to think about.

I'll bet for the Kohaites and the Gershonites and the Merorites that there was great privilege, real status in terms of being able to carry the precious objects that were part of the tabernacle.

Remember, the tabernacle was set apart.

What you're gonna see is you're gonna see multiple families being called out here.

These are Levitical families, okay? You're gonna, you're gonna hear from the Kohathites, you're gonna hear from the, um, uh, the Gershonites, and then you're also going to hear from the Merarites, okay? Now, what's interesting is each and every single one of these families actually have a role and an obligation within the duties that relate to the priesthood, and God is about to not only give them those duties and be very organized and specific regarding what those duties are, but he's also numbering them.

Now, why is he numbering them? He's numbering them because he wants to aptly demonstrate the value that each and every single one of them have, not simply just corporately, but to understand the nuance that exists with the fact that you cannot have a corporate infrastructure that follows a plan unless the individuals within that corporate infrastructure behave as God intended for them to behave.

Machine doesn't work if all the parts don't do what they're supposed to do.

There were three priests of consequence.

There was Aaron and his two sons.

And Aaron and his two sons had the responsibility when it was time to pack up the tabernacle of actually making sure that things were prepared in order for the Kohathites, the Gershonites, and the Merarites to go and to do the things that they were supposed to do.

Now, in this specific case, those priests, Aaron and his two sons, were supposed to go in, clean the altars, cover them all up, take apart what needed to be taken apart, put covers on everything.