Location and TimesNumbers 1:49 Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel:
They were to count the warriors. They would have an idea of how many could go and fight for them. They were not to count the Levites. The Levites were not warriors. They were to take care of the worship of God.
I wonder if the reason they were not to count the Levites was the temptation to think that they had to take care of so many that didn’t have “productive lives!” They didn’t go to war. They didn’t run businesses. They didn’t harvest crops.
It is easy to see them as people that are living off of others. I know what it is to feel that pressure and wish that I didn’t live that way. But it was God’s way and still is.
They were to take care of the men of God that took care of the Tabernacle and the worship of God. We are to do the same today!