Numbers 18:1-32
1 And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
2 And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.
3 And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.
4 And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.
5 And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.
6 And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the LORD, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
7 Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest's office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest's office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
8 And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever.
9 This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons.
10 In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee.
11 And this is thine; the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it.
12 All the besta of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee.
13 And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the LORD, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it.
14 Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine.
15 Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem.
16 And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.
17 But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the LORD.
18 And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine.
19 All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.
20 And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
21 And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
22 Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die.b
23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.
24 But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
25 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
26 Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe.
27 And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress.
28 Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the LORD of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the LORD'S heave offering to Aaron the priest.
29 Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the LORD, of all the bestc thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.
30 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the bestd thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshingfloor, and as the increase of the winepress.
31 And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation.
32 And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.
THE SERVICE OF PRIESTS AND LEVITES
(vs.1-7)
God now impresses on Aaron the seriousness of the priestly service to which he and his sons were separated. They were to bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, and the iniquity of their priesthood (v.1). for the place where Israel's iniquity was to be faced was the sanctuary and the men charged with facing it were the priests. This was no light matter. They must therefore know what sacrifices were necessary for whatever sin arose in the congregation. Korah wanted the outward position as high priest, but how little did he understand that this would involve his bearing the iniquity of the sanctuary, a humbling, sobering work.
Also, others of the tribe of Levi (called Levites) were to be linked with the priests in order to serve them (v.2). This service involved the temporal needs of the priests, but was limited to this: they must not approach the furniture of the tabernacle or the altar (v.3). Thus their service is shown to be completely distinct from worship. Today too, worship and service must be kept distinctly separate. While all believers are both priests and servants, yet we must be careful not to confuse the functions of one with the other.
An outsider, that is, one not of the tribe of Levi, was not to come near to them (v.4). Such coming near of course has to do with one's interfering in the service of the tabernacle. He must not dare to do such a thing.
The priests and Levites must give proper attention to the duties of the sanctuary and of the altar, in order that God's wrath would be averted from the children of Israel (v.5). they were therefore intermediaries on behalf of Israel, the priests being responsible to offer the proper sacrifices at the proper time, and the Levites furnishing such help as was needed to carry out every necessary function. At the present time, all believers being priests, they have the honor of being intercessors for all mankind (1 Timothy 2:1).
The Lord further says that He Himself had given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons (v.6). In a similar way servants of the Lord today are given as gifts to the Church of God (Ephesians 4:7) to serve the saints of God, not in temporal affairs, as did the Levites, but in their spiritual needs.
Therefore, with their temporal needs cared for, the priests were freed to occupy themselves with their proper priestly functions, which occupation is also said to be a gift for service (v.7). An outsider who dared to infringe on this priestly service would be punishable by death.
OFFERINGS SHARED BY THE PRIESTS
(vs.8-20)
The offerings of the children of Israel were to be offered fully and thoroughly to God, not to the priests, just as every gift given to the Lord's servants today should be given primarily as to the Lord Himself, and therefore received as from the Lord. Yet the priests were given the responsibility to take charge of the offerings, a trust that called for faithful adherence to God's clear instructions.
The heave offerings, being heaved in symbolizing the resurrection of Christ, were given to the priests (v.8). Also, all grain offerings, after a part was burned as a sweet aroma to the Lord (Leviticus 2:2), were eaten by the priests. Every sin offering, except those whose blood was brought into the sanctuary (Leviticus 16:27), and all trespass offerings, were also to be eaten by the priests. Of course, in every case, the blood, the fat and other inwards were burned, for God had His part first. The heave offerings and the wave offerings (implying the resurrection and ascension of the Lord) were only part of the meal or animal offerings (Leviticus 7:14; Leviticus 7:30; Leviticus 7:32). These were given to Aaron and his sons (v.11).
More than this, all the best of the oil, wine and grain, the first fruits offered to the Lord, were given to the priests also, as well as every devoted thing, including the firstborn of men or animals (v.13). Yet they were not to keep the humans, but redeem them, and also unclean animals, which could not be offered. Of course the owner would be responsible to bring the sacrifice for their redemption, which in verse 16 is seen to be five shekels of silver. The priests would receive this.
But the firstborn of the clean animals were to be sacrificed, God first receiving His part, then the priests privileged to eat the flesh. The blood was sprinkled and the fat burned in respect for God's rights.
These provisions for the priests were necessary since they had no inheritance in the land, as did the other tribes. They were to realize that God was their portion and inheritance. We may wonder if they understood and appreciated this as they ought. But what of ourselves today? Being priests, believers have no earthly inheritance, but even now God is our portion and inheritance, and we have the wonderful prospect of an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, unfading, reserved in heaven (1 Peter 1:4).
THE LEVITES SUPPORTED BY TITHES
(vs.21-24)
The Levites did not share in the offerings, but God provided for them in His requiring tithes (one tenth of income) from all Israel. This was a fair return for the work they were given. It was their work alone: others of the children of Israel were not to come near to take any part in the service God had given the Levites, no more than they were to infringe on the service of the priests (v.22). In their measure the Levites also were to "bear their iniquity," that is, to take the responsibility for the iniquity of the children of Israel as identified with the priests, who of course alone could offer the sacrifices for that iniquity (v.23).
The tithes were necessary for their support since they, as well as the priests, had no inheritance among the children of Israel. They were scattered among the tribes, rather than having any property for their own tribe (v.24).
LEVITES ALSO PAYING TITHES
(vs.25-32)
However, in receiving tithes, the Levites were not exempted from paying tithes. When the tithes were brought in from the other tribes, then the Levites were to offer to God a heave offering of one tenth of the tithes (v.26). In our present day of grace no law is given as to tithing. Instead the measure of our giving is "as he may prosper" (1 Corinthians 16:2) or "as he purposes in his heart" (2 Corinthians 9:7). The amount is left to the spiritual exercises of each individual. Support may he given, as to the Lord, from the people of God, to the need of the Lord's servants. The servant is to be just as exercised as they in reference to his using funds for the sake of the Lord, and be glad to give as the Lord prospers him.
This heave offering of the Levites would have the same value as the firstfruits of grain or of the winepress (v.27). Being a heave offering, it emphasizes the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, presented to God on a level above mere earthly things. While it was offered to God, it was given to Aaron, a type of the Lord Jesus, presented to God on a level above mere earthly things. While it was offered to God, it was given to Aaron, a type of the Lord Jesus (v.28). Thus all of our material offerings are given as to the Lord Himself, whatever may be the way He disposes of them.
These tithes were to he taken from the best of that which the Levites received (v. 29), an important principle for us, for the Lord is always worthy of the best. When this was done, then the Levites were left at liberty to use the rest as their own food, together with their households (vs.30-31). But verse 32 emphasizes that they must not dare to profane the holy gifts of which they were put in charge. God must be first, and any infraction of His rights would be punishable by death.