McGee on Num 4 setting up the Tabernacle

When Israel came into camp, the Kohathites would put down the articles of furniture. Then Merari would come in with the boards and the bars and put up his part. Then Gershon would put on the coverings. Finally, the high priest would remove the veil and hang that. What a thrill it must have been to watch Israel come into camp. After forty years of practice they must have been pretty good at it.

As each Levite had his assignment, just so, every Christian has a gift and a job God wants him to do. I believe God will reward you for doing what He wants you to do. We are not to do what we choose to do, but we are to exercise the gifts that He has given us.

Suppose there was a fellow who carried that tent pin for the northwest corner of the tabernacle, and he got weary of his job. One day as he was driving in his pin, he said, “I’m tired of this. For twenty years now I’ve been carrying that tent pin. I come here in the morning, and loosen it and pull it out of the ground, put it on my shoulder, and take it over on the wagon with my family. Nobody seems to recognize how hard I work. Nobody rewards me for what I do. Moses never has called me up and given me a medal. I’m tired of this job and I’m going to quit carrying this pin.” One morning when they were taking down the tabernacle, his pin was hard to loosen from the ground and he got disgusted and left it there. He thought, “Nobody will pay any attention anyway. My job is not very important. All I do is carry a tent pin; so I think I’ll just leave it today.”

Can you imagine the problem that next evening? They would try to set up the tabernacle, but the northwest corner pin would not be there. The men would report it to Moses, and they would look up this man who was to carry that pin. Moses would ask, “Where is the tent pin?” and the man would answer, “I left it back there where we camped last night.” Then Moses would ask him why he left it, and the man would answer, “I don’t think that my job is really important.” Moses would say, “Not important! We can’t put up the tabernacle without it. You will have to sit there all night holding that cord yourself because you are responsible for that tent pin!”

My friend, who is to determine who does the most important thing in God’s service today? That man had been faithful for twenty years; then all of a sudden he just went haywire, and notice what it did to the setting up of the tabernacle. How many children of God today think their service is unimportant? God is not going to reward you for the amount of work you have done, but for your faithfulness in doing that which He has called you to do. If you are carrying that tent pin from the northwest corner, don’t forget to carry it today. The job the Lord has given you to do is very important to Him.

J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary: The Law (Numbers), electronic ed., vol. 8 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991), 34–35.