4. THE MERARITE CHARACTER. (Numbers 3:35.)

In this verse of the third of Numbers we are told what position it is Merari occupies in relation to the Tabernacle. " And the chief of the house of the father of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail:these shall pitch on the side of the Tabernacle northward."Here our notice is called to the North, and those influences of the enemy's power here typified. The word for north properly means "hidden," that is, as being dark; its root also means "to deny." It signifies in this way evil, in its mystery and power of darkness. The north points toward the region of gloom and cold, where the sunshine, with its. warmth, does not penetrate-that spiritual darkness which exists because the sunshine of God's light and love has not broken in.

To interpret aright what is our attitude in occupying the place of service in this direction, and the corresponding kind of Levitical service it entails, we must look at what constitutes Merari's burden. Merari's service is in connection with the boards, sockets, pillars and bars of the Tabernacle; also, the pillars, sockets, etc., of the court; and of course under his hand is their erection and establishment in place and position. We know that the boards speak to us of the individual child of God as in Christ, erected on the silver sockets-redemption the basis of their standing and position before God; bound together by the bars-Christ the uniting bond of His people. These boards uphold the coverings, which typify the varied beauties of the character of Christ; and it is for this purpose that the saints of God are bound together in blessed unity. It is their establishment in this unity that Merari has to do with; while in Ko-hath we see the heavenly blessings which are linked with this unity. The pillars supporting the veil speak also of the individual saint manifesting Christ. It is to be noticed that they stand on one socket only; the boards on two. This would indicate that they occupy a special place of primacy as to their position. Are they not the apostles and New Testament prophets, upon whose testimony, upheld before all, concerning the person and work of Christ, the people of God are built up and established in that divine unity of which He is the head ? The pillars upholding the screen of entrance are on brazen sockets, not silver. We see, then, that these do not stand on the basis of redemption, but rather on divine strength and un-changing character, such as needs no redemptive work as its basis, but has power in itself to stand. Christ Himself alone can answer to this-the One who only could so stand; and this, of course, displayed in His ministry and service on earth. He is thus "the way" by which alone entrance can be gained into the sanctuary. By Him, as upheld by the apostles and prophets of the New Testament, by His shed blood the veil has been rent, the way into the holiest of all is open to us. Now notice that it is around these two screens -the veil of the entrance, and that of the holiest of all -that the boards are erected and bound together by the bars. This plainly tells that the unity and building up of the children of God is around Christ and His ministry (the screen of entrance, with its pillars), and the truths of His glorious person and work as upheld and witnessed to by the apostles and prophets of the New Testament (the veil and its pillars). It is these things which constitute the true center around which to group the saints of God.

The pillars of the court, again, speak of the children of God, but as confronting in a special way the world, with their white linen hangings, which are the practical righteousness of the saints. Thus we see them standing on brazen sockets-God's strength and all-sufficiency-and having the silver capitals- redemption crowning all. On these are the silver rods and hooks-redemption again-by means of which the hangings are fastened. Note that the material of the pillars is not given. I apprehend that the white linen hung outside of the pillars, so as to hide the material of which they were made; thus showing only the brazen sockets at the bottom, and the silver capitals at the top. What a lesson for us to learn! Nothing of what we are by nature is to be exhibited before the world. No, but only that beautiful white hanging, the practical conformity to God's mind and nature wrought out in us by the Spirit and the Father's gracious discipline. Underneath this, the basis of it, not our strength, but God's, and His all-sufficiency (the brazen socket), and the crown of it all redemption (the silver capital), our helmet of salvation; and from this alone (as from the silver rods) can our white screen of righteousness hang.

Merari's service, therefore, is typical of the building up of the saints in the realization and value of redemption in Christ, binding them together in the blessed sense of their union in and by Christ, whether as before God in glory or as before the world, with the responsibility of exhibiting His character before it All the various work of erection comes in here, and it is all under Merari's charge. Such a line of service as this is surely blessed, and very precious. Now in connection with this, we have the strange meaning of Merari's name, "bitter." Can it in any sense be "bitter" to occupy the place of service in the Merarite character ? The answer is to be found in what he confronts, in this connection, of the world's influence and power. We have seen of what the North speaks-the mystery of evil, its power and darkness. Are not these the elements encountered, and which must be confronted in the work and labor of love that would seek to properly build up together and establish in the truth God's dear people, who are too often found entangled in some form of evil in practice or doctrine ? How many are the evil and subtle devices the enemy brings out of northern
darkness to trip and stumble the saints! Is it not out of such service as Merari's, confronting such hostile influences, that bitterness of soul arises – the bitterness of sorrow and pain endured in fellowship with Christ over so much that dishonors His blessed name ?

It is these northern, or deadly influences of error, heresy, and falsifying of divine truth in every possible way, that we are called to face more and more in these closing days. We are to meet it in that Merarite spirit of brokenness and humiliation, soul and heart feeling the bitterness and sorrow of it all as being in God's presence. In connection with this, the character of our service is to be that indicated for us in the burdens Merari bears; his service is the picture of what our own is to be, facing northward. The denial and refusal of God's word rises up on every hand as a mist from the pit. Whence its rise, but from the workings of that mystery of iniquity which had begun to work in the devoted apostle's day ? Against this, we must be engaged in service after the Merarite character, to strengthen, build up and fortify God's people. It is to culminate in Antichrist, under whose doom apostate Christendom will fall. We must build up ourselves on our most holy faith, bringing the blessed light of God's word to bear upon and expose the evil works of darkness, Thus we must be equipped with the sword of the Spirit, the saying of God.

May it be so with us, amid the increasing darkness of these last days, that we see to the building up of one another more and more, holding fast with a firm grasp the precious truth committed to our care; and though it bring suffering and sorrow, let us count it a small thing for us to endure, in view of that eternal weight of glory which lies a little ahead of us. How happy we should be as counted worthy to suffer for His sake. J. B. Jr.