lthard, and three surviving children, to the eternal home above.]

ACCORDING TO HIS SERVICE: verses 5-9.

_"Thou shall give them unto the Levites, to every man according to
his service. And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them
unto the Levites. Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of
Gershon, according to their service, and four wagons and eight oxen
he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their service, under
the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. But unto the sons
of Kohath he gave none; because the service of the sanctuary
belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their
shoulders."_

The princes brought their offering to the LORD, and the LORD accepted
it. Having accepted it Himself it was His to give to whom He would; and
He chose to give it to the Levites, for they in a special manner were
His, and devoted to His service.

The tribe of Levi was in one sense the poorest in Israel. In dividing
the land among the tribes, no territory was allotted to them. They will
have territory by-and-by, when the LORD comes (_see_ Ezek. xlviii.
12-14), but never have they had any yet. Cities to dwell in, and
suburbs, were given them here and there, in all the tribes of Israel,
but of earthly portion that was all.

And yet they were the richest tribe in Israel, for the LORD Himself was
their inheritance. When one of the other tribes was taken into
captivity, he had to leave his inheritance behind; but the godly Levite
was as rich in Babylon as in Palestine: death itself could not rob him
of his portion. Happy indeed are they who share the Levite's lot! When
the LORD JESUS comes again, those, surely, who have stored most in
heaven, and have least to leave behind on earth, will render their
account with the greatest joy.

_"To every man according to his service."_ The LORD did not say, divide
it equally among the families of Levi. There were six wagons, and three
families of Levites; but four wagons were given to Merari, two to
Gershon, "but unto the sons of Kohath he gave none." At first sight this
division appears unfair; but it was and still is the LORD'S plan to give
"to every man according to his service." It fell to the lot of Merari to
carry the heaviest materials of the tabernacle; the boards, the bars,
and the pillars with their heavy sockets of solid silver,[E] and all the
instruments; the pillars of the court, likewise, with their