Testimonies for the Church Volume 1 - A New You Ministry

The Lord designated a special family of the tribe of Levi to bear the ark; andothers of the Levites were specially appointed of God to bear the tabernacle and all itsfurniture, and to perform the work of setting up and taking down the tabernacle. And ifany man from curiosity or from lack of order got out of his place and touched any partof the sanctuary or furniture, or even came near any of the workmen, he was to be putto death. God did not leave His holy tabernacle to be borne, erected, and taken down,indiscriminately, by any tribe who might choose the office; but persons were chosenwho could appreciate the sacredness of the work in which they were engaged. Thesemen appointed of God were directed to impress upon the people the special sacrednessof the ark and all that appertained thereunto, lest they should look upon these thingswithout realizing their holiness and should be cut off from Israel. All things pertainingto the most holy place were to be looked upon with reverence.The travels of the children of Israel are faithfully described; the deliverancewhich the Lord wrought for them, their perfect organization and special order, theirsin in murmuring against Moses and thus against God, their transgressions, theirrebellions, their punishments, their carcasses strewn in the wilderness because of theirunwillingness to submit to God’s wise arrangements—this faithful picture is hung upbefore us as a warning lest we follow their example of disobedience and fall like them.“But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown inthe wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lustafter evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them;as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neitherlet us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three andtwenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and weredestroyed of serpents. Neither652