Numbers 7:9
“But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because theirs was the service of the holy things, which they carried on their shoulders.”
About 600 years after these events, somebody got it into his head that it would be a great idea to take the Ark of the Covenant into battle. He had lost sight of who God was, and thought the Ark of the Covenant was the presence of God. So, seizing the Ark, the army marched into battle, assuming it would ensure victory. They were defeated. The Philistines captured the Ark and took it into their camp. As a result, God began to plague the Philistines, so they put the Ark on a cart, hitched to oxen, and sent the cart back to the nation of Israel, where it remained in the house of Abinadab until the time of David.
Later in I Chronicles 13…
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After erecting the Tabernacle in he center of the camp, the Levites were divided into three groups each with important roles as it related to the ministry. Gershon was posted in the south, Kohath in the west, Merari in the north, and Moses and the priests were in the east at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Each family had different, yet equally as important roles. Gershon’s role was to carry the exterior coverings of the tabernacle. Kohath’s was to carry the utensils and Merari was responsible for all the heavy stuff.
God organized the campsite of Israel. The center of the camp was the tabernacle with the tribes encamped around it. Two basic principles governed setting up camp. First, the Lord was the central focus, every family was to camp within sight of the Tabernacle. They could hear the events transpire, smell the sacrifices and easily be part of what transpired there on a daily basis. Second, they were to camp under a particular banner or standard. Each tribe gathered with other tribes as they camped around the tabernacle .
Every generation likes to think of themselves as advanced beyond the previous generations. We look back on ancient civilizations and think of them as backward, and of ourselves as having progressed far beyond them in every way. This is particularly true of idolatry. We, in the western world, do not think of ourselves as idol worshippers, particularly, because we do not have carved images which we carry in our pockets or bow down to in prayer. The absence of an image is not, however, the only evidence of the lack of idolatry. An idol can be anything that takes the place of God in our lives. For many, even dedicated believers, it is common to put someone or something above the Lord and to pursue it more than God.
