Numbers 3-4

Most of us with siblings have suffered similar misfortunes: Your brother or sister commits some little shenanigan, such as breaking the cookie jar, and thrusts the pieces into your hand just as your mom or dad stalks into the room to unleash parental fury on your sorry head. Your honest entreaties and claims of innocence fall on deaf ears as your parent drags you out by your ear. And as you round the corner to face your doom, you catch one last glimpse of your guilty sibling, who, of course, is smirking like an imbecile. Or, on a similar note, maybe your sibling got an awesome Christmas gift, like a Cabbage Patch doll that eats your fingers or a Hot Wheels car that spews flatulent fumes out of its backside, and you got socks. It's not fair!

I'm sure older siblings think their younger siblings always got it better, while younger siblings probably think their parents favored their older siblings. God has talked a bit in the previous three books about his predilection for the firstborn, but rarely as explicitly as He does here. In 3:13, God proclaims of the firstborn, "They are mine." Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that God will always exalt the firstborn--just look at Esau/Jacob, Leah/Rachel, and Cain/Abel (though it would suck to be either Cain or Abel).

These two chapters further substantiate this concept. Kohath is the second son of Levi (Gershon is the eldest), and yet the Kohathites receive the more sacred duty of carrying the table of the Presence, the altars, the lampstand, and the Ark of the Covenant. (I wonder if Indy was a descendant of the Kohathites.) The Gershonites only get to carry the tabernacle and the tent (though I imagine those would be heavier than the Kohathites' articles). Merari's clan only gets to carry items like tent pegs and cross poles. The Kohathites' exalted status may seem arbitrary until you realize that Moses and Aaron are of the Kohathite line.

Naturally, the more sacred items require more care and instruction: Chapter 4 devotes a whopping 20 verses to the Kohathites' tasks (down to the particular blue, scarlet, and purple colors of the cloth to cover the various accessories), while the Gershonites get eight and the Merarites five. In any case, all three clans didn't get to choose what tasks they would do; they were born into it. Firstborn or not, part of Moses's line or not, everyone's missions were assigned because of factors beyond their control. I am so blessed to have been born where I was to the parents I have and with the skills that I possess. Every time I feel despondent about my failings (of which there are legion), I count the ways that my life doesn't suck--and those ways are innumerable. I can't change how I was born, so why fret? Instead, I should, with Christ indwelling in me, do the best I can with what I've been given.