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Patriarchs and Prophets
camp set forward they were to strike the sacred tent; when a halting
place was reached they were to set it up. No person of another tribe was
allowed to come near, on pain of death. The Levites were separated
into three divisions, the descendants of the three sons of Levi, and each
was assigned its special position and work. In front of the tabernacle,
and nearest to it, were the tents of Moses and Aaron. On the south
were the Kohathites, whose duty it was to care for the ark and the other
furniture; on the north Merarites, who were placed in charge of the
pillars, sockets, boards, etc.; in the rear the Gershonites, to whom the
care of the curtains and hangings was committed.
The position of each tribe also was specified. Each was to march
and to encamp beside its own standard, as the Lord had commanded:
“Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard,
with the ensign of their father’s house: far off about the tabernacle of
the congregation shall they pitch.” “As they encamp, so shall they set
forward, every man in his place by their standards.”
Numbers 2:2, 17
.
The mixed multitude that had accompanied Israel from Egypt were
not permitted to occupy the same quarters with the tribes, but were to
abide upon the outskirts of the camp; and their offspring were to be
excluded from the community until the third generation.
Deuteronomy
23:7, 8
.
Scrupulous cleanliness as well as strict order throughout the en-
campment and its environs was enjoined. Thorough sanitary regula-
tions were enforced. Every person who was unclean from any cause
was forbidden to enter the camp. These measures were indispensable
to the preservation of health among so vast a multitude; and it was
necessary also that perfect order and purity be maintained, that Israel
might enjoy the presence of a holy God. Thus He declared: “The Lord
thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give
up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy.”
In all the journeyings of Israel, “the ark of the covenant of the Lord
went before them, ... to search out a resting place for them.”
Numbers
[376]
10:33
. Borne by the sons of Kohath, the sacred chest containing God’s
holy law was to lead the van. Before it went Moses and Aaron; and
the priests, bearing silver trumpets, were stationed near. These priests
received directions from Moses, which they communicated to the
people by the trumpets. It was the duty of the leaders of each company
to give definite directions concerning all the movements to be made,