Read Numbers 18
Duties of Priests and Levites
18 The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons and your family are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood. 2 Bring your fellow Levites from your ancestral tribe to join you and assist you when you and your sons minister before the tent of the covenant law. 3 They are to be responsible to you and are to perform all the duties of the tent, but they must not go near the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar. Otherwise both they and you will die. 4 They are to join you and be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting—all the work at the tent—and no one else may come near where you are.
5 “You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelites again. 6 I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord to do the work at the tent of meeting. 7 But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death.”
Offerings for Priests and Levites
8 Then the Lord said to Aaron, “I myself have put you in charge of the offerings presented to me; all the holy offerings the Israelites give me I give to you and your sons as your portion, your perpetual share. 9 You are to have the part of the most holy offerings that is kept from the fire. From all the gifts they bring me as most holy offerings, whether grain or sin or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons. 10 Eat it as something most holy; every male shall eat it. You must regard it as holy.
11 “This also is yours: whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I give this to you and your sons and daughters as your perpetual share. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially cleanmay eat it.
12 “I give you all the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain they give the Lord as the firstfruits of their harvest. 13 All the land’s firstfruits that they bring to the Lord will be yours. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.
14 “Everything in Israel that is devoted to the Lord is yours. 15 The first offspring of every womb, both human and animal, that is offered to the Lordis yours. But you must redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals. 16 When they are a month old, you must redeem them at the redemption price set at five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs.
17 “But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow, a sheep or a goat; they are holy. Splash their blood against the altar and burn their fat as a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 18 Their meat is to be yours, just as the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh are yours. 19 Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the Lord I give to you and your sons and daughters as your perpetual share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord for both you and your offspring.”
20 The Lord said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritanceamong the Israelites.
21 “I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting. 22 From now on the Israelites must not go near the tent of meeting, or they will bear the consequences of their sin and will die. 23 It is the Levites who are to do the work at the tent of meeting and bear the responsibility for any offenses they commit against it. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.They will receive no inheritance among the Israelites. 24 Instead, I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the Lord. That is why I said concerning them: ‘They will have no inheritance among the Israelites.’”
25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 “Speak to the Levites and say to them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord’s offering. 27 Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. 28 In this way you also will present an offering to the Lord from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the Lord’s portion to Aaron the priest. 29 You must present as the Lord’s portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.’
30 “Say to the Levites: ‘When you present the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the product of the threshing floor or the winepress. 31 You and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere, for it is your wages for your work at the tent of meeting. 32 By presenting the best part of it you will not be guilty in this matter; then you will not defile the holy offerings of the Israelites, and you will not die.’”
Go Deeper
In Numbers 18, we get to read about the Lord “gifting” the responsibilities of the priesthood to Aaron and his sons, as well as the offerings that go along with that. Although the Lord tells Aaron it is a gift (v. 7), at first glance, this responsibility does not really seem like something we would put on our Christmas list. Not only will Aaron die if he does something wrong, but if his sons do something wrong, Aaron and his sons will die. Here are two things we can glean from this.
First, we see that God cares about holiness and purity, but more than that he cares about His people. In verse 5 He says, “You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelites again.” He is a just God that must deal with unholiness, but he did not want His wrath to fall on His people.
God trusted Aaron and his family to protect the temple. That is a gift! Although it was a great responsibility, He knew Aaron was capable. This family was even rewarded for the work they did. In verse 21, God tells Aaron “I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting.” The best of the best of Israel was given to the Levites!
But why is this relevant now? It’s been awhile since we had to adhere to this Old Testament law (thanks to Jesus). It’s hard not to notice that we don’t have a priest we must give an offering to, and we don’t have the responsibility of protecting a holy Sanctuary. Oh wait–we do! First Peter 2:9 reads: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
We are the royal priesthood responsible for pursuing purity and holiness! And because there is not one sanctuary, but the Holy Spirit dwells in all of us as the new temple (1 Corinthians 3:16, Romans 8:9), we have this gift of responsibility too. Because Jesus fulfilled the law for us, we do not have to worry about adhering to the law perfectly or we will fall dead (like the Levites had to) and we get an even better inheritance than the best of the best of Israel! We get to live in eternity with God forever!
Questions
- Do you believe that God desires you to pursue holiness? Why or why not?
- What is something you can do today to walk in my calling as part of a royal priesthood and protect the temple he created in me?
- Is it your tendency to abuse grace by sinning without repentance or do you have a hard time accepting grace because you think your sin is too bad for God? Talk to your Life Group about this today!
Keep Digging
Father,
Thank you for sending your son Jesus to fulfill the law so I don’t have to. Thank you for showing me through numbers that you care about your people pursuing holiness. Thank you that if I trust in you, you give me the responsibility of being a part of a royal priesthood and an even better inheritance. Help me pursue purity today and confess it quickly when I don’t. Thank you that when I fall short, you have unending grace for me.
Amen.
Leave a Comment below
Join the Team
Interested in writing for the Bible Reading Plan? Email hello@biblereadingplan.org.
5 thoughts on “Numbers 18”
What if we viewed what God asked of us as a gift? V7 says, “But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift.” Behind every ask of God is his desire to bless us, see us thrive, and walk in righteousness. His plans are intentionally given for our good and his glory. Our responsibility is to follow every precept, even when it doesn’t make sense and our flesh wants to rebel, we trust his heart and obey. He gifts us with responsibilities, our gift to him in return is obeying with a glad heart.
Tithing, giving, sharing what we have with others. What do I/we do for our local body, lifegroup, and Harris Creek Church? Tithe, I believe, is not just monetary but also giving of time, extra resources, prayer, and hugs of course. God’s desire is for us to be holy because He is Holy. With the Levites, God did not give them land but something much greater, I believe. Their portion was God Himself through tithes and gifts from His people. We do not get that but something much greater=Holy Spirit. We get the best gift of all, God in Christ in us!!! Gal 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” Col 1:27 To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” We need to approach and come to God like the Levites with fear (trembling, afraid of being away from God, fear) reverence, and holiness.
God thank You that You made the way for me to have You constantly and continually through Holy Spirit. Thank You that You are my inheritance and what I have in this world is not going with me but You are. God I praise You for how You are working in my heart. I give You honor and glory for the growth and change for me personally. God I am thankful for the leadership that is at HC. God bless them with more rightly divide knowledge from Your Word. Bless their lives, families and finances to continue to serve You as leaders. God thank You for giving Your son and loving me in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!!!
V20…I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites.
Wow, what a gift to have the God of all creation as their inheritance. No, land, nothing tangible, just God. Wow!!
We have the same inheritance through Christ Jesus. I pray that I don’t devalue that gift.
Meditating on this today:
29 “You must present as the Lord’s portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.”
What an honor and privilege to receive and give back to our God what is rightfully His. God sets us apart as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, holy unto God, a people of His own. Therefore, we are to continue to live our lives holy and pleasing to God. (1Peter 1:13-25)