And how could there be a _rest_ in the desert? There were no rivers and brooks _there_--no old corn _there_--no milk and honey _there_. True, the smitten rock sent forth its refreshing streams to meet their need, and heaven sent down their _daily bread_; but all this was not Canaan. They were still in the desert, eating wilderness food and drinking wilderness water, and it was Gershon's holy privilege to carry upon his shoulders that which in the fullest manner expressed all this, viz., THE CURTAIN. "Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build Me an house for Me to dwell in? Whereas I have not _dwelt_ in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have _walked_ in a _tent_ and in a _tabernacle_" (2 Sam. vii. 5, 6). Here, too, we have sadly failed. The Church grew weary of the curtain, and wished to build a house before the time; she grew weary of "_walking in a tent_," and earnestly desired to "_dwell in a house_."
And truly we have all to watch and pray against this disposition to grow weary of our Gershonite character. There is nothing so trying to nature as continual labor in a state of expectancy; our hearts love rest and fruition, and therefore nothing but the continual remembrance that "our sufficiency is of God" can at all sustain us in our Gershon or stranger condition.
Let us therefore remember that we bear on our shoulders the curtains, and have beneath our feet the sand of the desert, above our heads the pillar of cloud, and before us "the land of rest" clothed in never-withering green, and, both as a stimulus and a warning, let us remember that "He that endureth to the end THE SAME shall be saved."[12]
[12] It would surely be of all importance in this day, when so many are declining from the narrow path of obedience to the written Word, and entering upon the wide and bewildering field of human tradition, to bear in mind that the Levite, when carrying the tabernacle through the desert, found no support nor guide _from beneath_; no, _the grace_ in which he stood was his _sole support_, and _the pillar above_ his _sole guide_. It would have been miserable indeed had he been left to find a guide in the footmarks on the sand, which would change at every wind that blew. _But all the sand did for him was to add to his labor and toil while he endeavored to follow the heavenly guide above his head._
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We shall next consider the Merarite feature of character; for, although the family of Merari does not stand next in order in the chapter, yet there is a kindredness of spirit, as it were, arising out of the very nature of their service, that would link them together in the mind. But, not only is there this intimate connection between the services of these two classes of Levites, which would lead us to link them together thus, the Lord Himself presents them to us in marked unity of service, for we read, "And the Kohathites set forward bearing the sanctuary; and _the other_ (i.e., the Gershonites and the Merarites) _did set up the tabernacle against they came_" (Num. x. 21). Here, then, we see that it was the great business of these two families to pass onward through the desert in holy companionship, bearing with them, wherever they went, "_the tabernacle_," and, moreover, the tabernacle as looked at in its character of outward manifestation or testimony; which would, as a matter of course, put those who carried it thus into a place of _very laborious_ discipleship. "And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof, and all that serveth thereto, and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords" (chap. iii. 36, 37). Here, then, was what Merari had to do: he had to take his place here or there, according to the movement of the cloud, and _set up_ the boards of the tabernacle in their sockets of silver--and all this, be it remembered, upon the sand of the desert.[13]
[13] It has been well observed that in the tabernacle God was seen bringing all His glory into immediate connection with _the sand of the desert_: and when the high priest went into the holy place, he found himself in the very presence of that glory, _with his feet upon the sand of the desert_ likewise. In the temple, however, this was not the case, for the floor of the house was _overlaid with gold_ (1 Kings vi. 30).
So is it with the Christian now; he has not as yet his feet upon the "pure gold" of the heavenly city, but his deepest and most abiding knowledge of God is that which he obtains in connection with his sorrow, toil and conflict in the wilderness.