Numbers 4:47

Service of the ministry. Held by some to be the singing of the Levite choir accompanied by musical instruments, during the sacrificial services. It is to be noted that the age is 30 years and up. This is the age at which Jesus began His ministry (Luke 3:23).

The precise commands detailing duties to particular tribes, clans, and individuals, with age groups specified, have a lesson for the church today. The apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 12 speaks of “spiritual gifts” (v. 1), “diversities of gifts” (v. 4), and “differences of administrations” (v. 5). There are also “diversities of operations” (v. 6); but through all and in all there is “the same God,” “the same Lord,” “the same Spirit.” Also “the body is one,” though of “many members” (v. 12); and all must work harmoniously, that there be no tearing to pieces (v. 25). The organized unity of the desert church has its counterpart in the church with its members baptized into vital connection with the Holy Spirit (v. 13). It is the entrance of the Holy Spirit that conforms all into one body, even the body of Jesus Christ.