Dannah Gresh: Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth approaches the work of ministry with humility.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: I am not my own. I am a servant of the Lord. I’ve been called, chosen, appointed by Him. This is His work, not mine. I don’t work for Revive Our Hearts. I serve the Lord first, and then through Revive Our Hearts, I have the privilege of serving the Lord.
Dannah: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Choosing Gratitude, for May 26, 2025. I’m Dannah Gresh.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work at Revive Our Hearts? If you have, today’s your day because you’re about to get a little peek behind the scenes.
We’re listening to part 1 of a message Nancy gave at our staff summit just last year. I have no doubt all our listeners with a heart for the work of ministry will be richly encouraged by what she had to say.
At this time Nancy was studying the book of Numbers, and she found that being in vocational ministry is a lot like being a Levite. And you know, you may not be in vocational ministry, but you’re serving in your church, you’re serving in your home, in your community, so these truths apply to you, too.
Now, what in the world does it mean that we are modern-day Levites? Here’s Nancy to explain more.
Nancy: Today is a special day for me for a couple of reasons. First of all, it is Robert’s and my 102nd monthiversary. We count months. I thought that was really fun until we got past my math skills. Now I’m having to get some help in keeping up. So a hundred and two months ago today, we said, “I do.” We still do. And I got here today and realized I had forgotten to put on my wedding ring when we left the house. “Honey, I’m so sorry . . . and on our anniversary . . . how did I do that?” So that’s a special day for us.
But there’s another reason, if possible, even more special to me. That is that sixty-one years ago today, May 14, 1963, the Lord found me as a four-year-old little girl getting ready to take my nap in my bedroom. And God’s Spirit drew my heart to Jesus. I didn’t know all the Scriptures. I didn’t know all the theological terms—I’m still learning those things. But I knew that He was drawing my heart, that He had chosen me, and that He wanted me to say yes to Him. And I did, by God’s grace. I could never thank Him enough. I have never gotten over the wonder that He would have chosen me, and I hope I never do. “Thank you, Lord, I’m so, so grateful.”
And I have to tell you that it wasn’t long in my early childhood, it wasn’t long after my salvation that I had a strong sense of the Lord setting me apart to serve Him. I had no idea what that would look like. I had no idea what that would mean. I never could have envisioned what we’re looking at today. But I knew that God had not just chosen me to save me, but that He had chosen me to serve Him. I have found great, great joy in that calling. I could not be more thankful for that.
In that context, there’s a special group of servants in the Scripture that I have always admired. I’ve been thinking about them recently as I’ve been teaching through the books of Leviticus and Numbers. They’re highlighted in the Old Testament, but I think they foreshadow something of what it means to be a servant of Christ in the New Testament sense. So tonight, I want to take some moments to look at these Old Testament servants, and as we do, to ask the Lord to remind us of His calling in each of our lives. And I think you’ll be encouraged with their example, as I have been.
So let me invite you to join me in the book of Numbers, chapter 1. As I was studying this book to teach it recently, I kept saying to Robert, “I’m not very good at numbers.” We have people in other departments who do numbers. But over the last several weeks, I’ve been doing Numbers. I don’t know if I’m good at Numbers, but Numbers has been very good for me. Numbers chapter 1, beginning in verse 1.
The LORD spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting [the tabernacle] in the Wilderness of Sinai, on the first day of the second month of the second year after Israel’s departure from the land of Egypt. Take a census of the entire Israelite community, by their clans and their ancestral families. (vv. 1–2)
Now it goes on to say that Moses was told to number all the adult men aged twenty and older. That’s the men who were available for military service, because they would be needed when they went into the Promised Land. They were counted by tribes. And in Numbers 1, you have the tribes listed, and a lot of the names, and the numbers of the military age men in those tribes. Now skip down to verse 46.
All those registered numbered 603,550. [I think God cares about numbers. He does.] But the Levites were not registered with them by their ancestral tribe. For the LORD had told Moses, “Do not register or take a census of the tribe of Levi with the other Israelites. (vv. 46–49)
Levi was one of the twelve sons of Jacob. And God said, “Count all the other tribes, all the military-aged men, but don’t count the men in the tribe of Levi.” Now, we’re going to look at the tribe of Levi tonight, and why it is that God set them apart in this way, why they weren’t counted. We won’t trace them all the way through the Old Testament—there’s so much about them in the Old Testament.
But we want to focus just briefly tonight, first on the calling of the Levites. Then on their preparation for service. Then on their privileges and their responsibilities. And then on their peril. We’ll take a brief look at each of those.
First, their calling. Look at the next verse in chapter 1, verse 50.
Appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it.
Okay, pause there for a moment. We’re going to see in the book of Numbers that these Levites did not appoint themselves. They did not choose themselves. They were appointed and chosen by God. Some commentators believe that God’s choice of the Levites may have been related to the fact that after the golden calf incident in Exodus chapter 32, it was the Levites who were faithful to defend God’s holiness. So maybe God knew, well, not maybe, God did know, that they would be bold and courageous even in the face of idolatry in later days to come. What we know is that the Levites were set apart to serve the Lord and to serve His people.
I saw on Twitter, also known as X, this week, a quote by Paul Tripp that caught my attention as I was thinking about the Levites. He said:
God calls all of His children into His service. That call is one of His means of rescuing you from your bondage to self, to experience the huge and ongoing blessing of living for something greater than you.
That’s the calling of every child of God. All believers, we’re told in the New Testament, are priests unto God, servants of the Lord. But like the Levites, we have been given an additional privilege, most of us in this room, of being set apart for what we sometimes call vocational service of the Lord. And this, by the way, is one of the things we look for in prospective staff. We want people who have a sense that what they’re coming to do here is not just a job. It’s not primarily for a paycheck. It’s first and foremost a calling to serve the Lord—a calling, being set apart.
So they were called and appointed by the Lord. Now look at their preparation. For the Levites, this was a holy calling to serve a holy God, so they had to be prepared to carry out this calling. Look at Numbers chapter 8, beginning in verse 5.
The LORD spoke to Moses: “Take the Levites from among the Israelites and ceremonially cleanse them.” [Cleanse them.] . . . Bring the Levites before the tent of meeting and assemble the entire Israelite community. Then present the Levites before the LORD [cleanse them, then present them before the Lord], and have the Israelites lay hands on them. Aaron is to present the Levites before the LORD as a presentation offering from the Israelites, so that they may perform the LORD’s work. . . .
[Look at verse 21. It’s restated just in a little different way.] The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes; then Aaron presented them before the LORD as a presentation offering. After that [After what? After they were purified. After they were presented as an offering to the Lord. After that] the Levites came to do their work at the tent of meeting in the presence of Aaron and his sons.” (vv. 5, 9–11, 21–22)
So they were cleansed and purified, and then they were consecrated and presented to the Lord. The order of those things happening first matters. Cleansed and purified, consecrated and presented, and then they went about the work of the Lord.
I’m just reminded every time I read Numbers chapter 8 that before I tackle any assignments or work that God has given me to do, first, I need to have my heart washed in His Word. I need my life to be freshly offered up to Him, as a sacrifice, an offering presented to Him.
And when those things take place, before we do our work, when we’re cleansed, purified, and consecrated, presented, then common everyday work . . . Now, it doesn’t matter what your job is in this ministry, all of us have a lot of aspects of our job that are not glamorous. But common everyday work becomes holy work. It becomes acceptable to God and a blessing to others.
There’s a sign in my study that is taken from my life verse, Luke 1, verse 38, and the first part says, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord.” I need that reminder every day of my life. Before I study, before I write, before I get on my laptop, I need the reminder that I am not my own. I am a servant of the Lord. I’ve been called, chosen, appointed by Him. This is His work, not mine. I don’t work for Revive Our Hearts. I serve the Lord first and then through Revive Our Hearts I have the privilege of serving the Lord. It’s such an important reminder as all of us work. First: purified, presented. Then: perform, then do our work.
So the calling of the Levites, the preparation of the Levites for service, and then the privileges of the Levites. I want to note two from the book of Numbers. First of all, if you go back to chapter 1 and look at verse 53 (I’m gonna move around a little bit here), it says:
The Levites are to camp around the tabernacle of the testimony.
Proximity to the glory of God. I needed a “P” here, so that word worked for me. One of the privileges of the Levites was proximity, nearness to the glory of God.
You say, “Where do you get that?” Well the tabernacle was set up in the middle of the camp. Now you remember, we’re talking about two or three million people, including adults and children. So this is a big camp. This is no small KOA campground.
And right in the middle of the camp is the tabernacle, where the presence of God, His shekinah glory, made its home in the middle of His people. God was at the center of everything—their worship, but also their daily lives. Everything they did was in relation to the tabernacle. And as His people, I want to just keep reminding us that the presence of God must be at the center of our lives and the center of everything we do.
So the priests and the Levites were camped immediately around the four sides of the tabernacle. You’ll see this in chapter 3, I won’t read it. But here’s the tabernacle; it’s an oblong building, a rectangular building. And around all four sides are camped in their tents, because they were going to spend forty years in these tents.
Each time the tabernacle would move, they would reset in the same order. The priests and Levites would be camped immediately around the tabernacle, and then all the other tribes, all the other people—men, women, and children—would be camped around the Levites and the priests. Think what an incredible privilege it was. Some people lived way far away from the tabernacle. But for those Levites to live right next to the presence of God.
What an incredible privilege it is for us as servants of the Lord, kind of New Testament Levites in a manner of speaking, for us to have a front row seat to God at work among His people. We don’t ever want that to get old. We don’t ever want to lose the wonder of what that means, to have proximity to the glory of God.
There was another privilege that they had, and that was provision from the hand of God. Provision from the hand of God. You see each tribe received a portion of the land as an inheritance. This is how they were sustained. Land was everything in that economy and would be as they went into the Promised Land. That’s how they made their living. That’s how they were fed; that’s how they were supplied.
Every person in every family, in every tribe, would have a portion of land, an inheritance that they would receive. Everyone, except for the Levites. Numbers chapter 18, I’ll just read it to you here, verse 20.
The LORD told Aaron, “You will not have an inheritance in their land; there will be no portion among them for you. [Speaking of the Levites, Aaron was of the tribe of Levi. There will be no portion that all the rest of the people get, there will be no portion for the Levites. But look at this.] I am your portion and your inheritance.”
The Levites were sustained by God himself. Now they were all sustained by God, because He’s the one who caused their lands to be productive, or would when they got to the Promised Land. He would cause the land to bear fruit, but in a direct way, God provided for the Levites. They were sustained by Him. They trusted in Him for their provision and their sustenance. How did that happen? In a practical way, you remember that they were supported by the tithes and offerings of the people.
So, the people gave. There were multiple tithes that they gave at different times of the year for different reasons, but most of those tithes and offerings went to support the work of the Levites. Now, lest we think that the Levites were only on the receiving end of those tithes and offerings, the book of Numbers also tells us that the Levites were to tithe out of the tithe that they received. They were to be givers also. I love seeing how our staff not only receive a paycheck, receive ministry support, many serving as volunteers, but also are givers. And that’s as it should be.
So God provided for their needs to be met, their practical needs, how to live, how to subsist. But God also provided everything they needed, all the resources they needed to do the work that he assigned to them. So for example, in chapter 7, one of the families of the Levites, one of the family lines, was responsible for transporting the tabernacle. When they would tear it down, they’d move into the wilderness, and they needed wagons, and they needed oxen. Chapter 7 tells about how those supplies and resources to do their work were provided by God through His people.
When I read that, it makes me so thankful for all those who give to make this ministry possible. They make it possible for us to be Levites in a sense—to serve the Lord, to be provided for, the resources to do this ministry. God provides through His people all that is needed for us to do the work of the ministry. Sometimes when we feel like the resources personally, or for the ministry, are getting a little thin, we can be reminded that God can be trusted to provide all that is needed.
So their privileges, proximity to the glory of God, right next to the tabernacle, and then provision from the hand of God. Now, they had responsibilities as well. I’m going to just focus on those for a moment. Stay in chapter 1 and look at verse 50 if you would. Verse 50 of Numbers 1.
Appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, all its furnishings and everything in it. They are to transport the tabernacle and all its articles, take care of it, and camp around it. Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to stop at a campsite, the Levites are to set it up. (vv. 50–51)
This is permanent camping, camping out. Turn to chapter 4, if you would, of Numbers. There are many more passages in the book of Numbers that talk about the specific responsibilities of the Levites. But what we see in chapter 4 is that there were three family lines in the tribe of Levi. Each of those family lines had a distinct, specific set of assignments, responsibilities. They didn’t choose which job they got.
They didn’t say, “Well I took this test, and I find that I’m most suited for this, or to work on this kind of team.” I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but in this case, they didn’t get a choice . . . and nobody else got a choice. God said, “If you’re in this family line, you’re in the family line of Gershon, or Kohath, or Merari, you’re going to do what that family line does.” Now as you read through Numbers, the more you read about these assignments. I just read you a summary of them at the end of chapter 1. We would consider most of these tasks to be menial, and routine, not very exciting.
In the tabernacle era until they got to the Promised Land, their assignments involved carrying things, cleaning things, moving things, and packing things. That was pretty much it. They were not there to build their platform, or to build their resume, or to get greater visibility. They were there to serve. And that’s what they did, in what we would consider perhaps really menial responsibilities.
In chapter 4, I’m not going to take time to read it, but I’m going to point out to you that there are a handful of words that are repeated. Always look for repeated words and phrases when you’re studying the Scripture. There are some words that are repeated a lot of times in chapter 4 in particular. The word “work,” again, depending on your translation. The word “work” is twelve times. The word “service” is ten times. The word “assign” is four times. “Responsible” or “responsibilities,” is three times. “Duty” or “duties,” six times. Look at verse 19 of chapter 4.
Aaron and his sons are to go in and assign each man his task and transportation duty.
Now, that’s the CSB I’m reading from. The transportation duty, that’s a word that must be hard to translate because most translations translate it differently. In the ESV it’s translated “his burden.” These were the people who carried the different parts of the tabernacle from one place to another. They had a transportation duty, or a burden. That Hebrew word is used nine times in this one chapter.
You see it translated “burden,” or “bearing burdens,” or “to carry something.” Sometimes when you see the word “carry,” you think of carrying something heavy, a burden. Look at verse 24. They were serving and bearing burdens. That’s that word.
Bearing burdens. You can just see them kind of swayed down under the weight of these mammoth pieces. Verse 48 talks about the service of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting. You say, “Why would you belabor this?” This doesn’t sound like fun.
Well actually, this chapter has been a great encouragement to me at times in my life in ministry when I have felt burdened by the work and the tasks and the responsibilities of the ministry. Because you see, whatever God’s call may be for your life and for mine, it always involves work, tasks, assignments, responsibilities. It involves carrying burdens, bearing burdens. And, it’s not always easy. Many times it’s hard burdens, heavy burdens.
But I want to remind us that it is nonetheless an honor and a privilege to serve the Lord and His people and to bear burdens on their behalf. You see, when we’re bearing burdens, we’re doing what God has made us for, what God has called us to do. I was speaking with one of our international team members this week, and they’re working in an area that I know is a difficult, challenging responsibility. And I said, “Thank you so much for what you’re doing.”
And that person said to me, “Don’t thank me. It’s a privilege. It’s a joy.”
Now I know there are burdens associated with what that person does. I know there are burdens associated with what you do and with what I do. But how good to be reminded that it’s a privilege and a joy.
Back in 2000, just before we started Revive Our Hearts, I received a letter from my college pastor. We had had an exchange, and his was a handwritten note from him. Ray Ortlund, Sr. was his name. He’s in heaven now.
He said at the end of that letter, “Keep urging us all to Jesus in your writing, editing, and speaking, and rejoice as you do it. It’s a great privilege from God.” I kept that letter in a conspicuous place near my desk for many years.
I wasn’t able to find it, but I did have a picture of it, and I’ve got it memorized because I’ve needed that reminder so many times. Keep pointing us to Jesus, and rejoice as you do it, because it’s a great privilege from God.
Now you think, Why was it a privilege for the Levites? They didn’t have their own land. They had to be dependent on other Israelites to support them for a living. They had all these tasks and responsibilities day after day after day after day, doing the same thing.
Why was it a privilege? I’ve been thinking about this today. Their work and their carrying out of their tasks faithfully day after day is what made it possible for all the rest of God’s people to draw near to God and worship? Somebody had to do this. And the Levites were the ones appointed by God to do these tasks, to carry out these responsibilities so that the people of God could draw near and could experience the reality of God’s presence and could worship Him. I say that’s a privilege . . . even with the burdens.
Dannah: It really is a privilege. That was Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth speaking at last year’s Revive Our Hearts staff summit. If you’re in vocational ministry, I hope you’re encouraged by the reminder that your work is helping others draw near to the Lord and worship. What an honor to be a part of something so profound.
Our lives are not our own. They belong to the Lord, and we’re called to present ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice. We’re called to be modern-day Levites!
Nancy made this connection while doing a deep dive in the book of Numbers. And the reason she’s been studying this book and so many others is because she’s preparing to lead us through an exciting new series here on Revive Our Hearts—a series called “Wonder of the Word.” As part of a six-year initiative we are going to spend one year going through the entire Bible, book by book—a 260-episode series that’s designed for global and generational impact.
It’s an exciting time here at Revive Our Hearts! Nancy will be helping us draw nearer to the Lord like the Levites did. And, she’ll do this in the same way she has for so many years, inviting us to open God’s life-transforming Word with her.
You know, just like the Levites depended on the giving of God’s people to live and fulfill God’s calling on their life, Nancy and our Revive Our Hearts staff depend on the giving of listeners like you to continue broadcasting God’s Word to women all over the world. As we begin a new fiscal year in just a few days, and as we look ahead to this exciting new initiative, we’ve been asking God to provide $810,000 in May.
This amount will allow Revive Our Hearts to continue being faithful to God’s calling—inviting women to experience freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.
Every dollar above and beyond this amount will go straight to our Wonder of the Word initiative. Would you consider joining in this work through a financial gift? We’d love to hear from you before this Saturday. You can donate by visiting ReviveOurHearts.com or calling 1-800-569-5959.
When you make a donation of any amount, we’ll send you our beautiful 50 Promises to Live By Scripture card set as a thank you gift. Just be sure to ask for it when you make your gift.
Be sure to come back tomorrow as we listen to the second half of Nancy’s staff summit message. There are more lessons we can learn from the Levites. Please be back for Revive Our Hearts.
This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.
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