We are moving into Numbers chapter four with our word for today. תַּ֫חַשׁ sea animal, porpoise, dolphin, dugong, narwhal, leather. It is used 14 times in the Old Testament, 7 times in our chapter. Our word is used in the sense of a sea animal with skin that was used for leather, or possibly a land animal with skin used for leather. Our word is used once in the context of a picture of God’s love and care for his people. Ezekiel 16:10 I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with תָּ֑חַשׁ fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. All of the other uses of our word are all used in the context of the tabernacle worship which is why we find them only in the books of Exodus and Numbers. Let’s look at the 7 uses in our chapter. Numbers 4:4-6, 8, 10-12, 14, 25 This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things. When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it. Then they shall put on it a covering תַּ֔חַשׁ of goatskin and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles … Then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet and cover the same with a covering תָּ֑חַשׁ of goatskin, and shall put in its poles … And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering תָּ֑חַשׁ of goatskin and put it on the carrying frame … And over the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue and cover it with a covering תָּ֑חַשׁ of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. And they shall take all the vessels of the service that are used in the sanctuary and put them in a cloth of blue and cover them with a covering תָּ֑חַשׁ of goatskin and put them on the carrying frame … And they shall put on it all the utensils of the altar, which are used for the service there, the fire pans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering תַּ֖חַשׁ of goatskin, and shall put in its poles … they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and the covering הַתַּ֥חַשׁ of goatskin that is on top of it and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting. I find it interesting that our word is translated as goatskin when the word has a wider meaning of a skin from a sea or land animal. The translators probably assumed that goats would be the most prevalent animals available. The NIV translates our word in our chapter as durable leather which is a better translation in this case. In our chapter it was used to protect the holy items of the tabernacle while transporting them. This shows us that God cares about all the details that were involved in the tabernacle worship so that when the Israelites would stop and set up camp their worship could happen because everything was protected and ready to be set up. God is still a God of order because without it people can become distracted and miss out on the benefits of corporate worship. I’ll close with this passage as way of reminder. 1 Corinthians 14:26, 31-33, 40 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up … For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace … But all things should be done decently and in order.
