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Numbers 18

¹And 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.

²And 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.

³And 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.

⁴And 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.

⁵And 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.

⁶And 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.

⁷Therefore 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.

⁸And 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.

⁹This 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.

¹⁰In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee.

¹¹And 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.

¹²All the best 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.

¹³And 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.

¹⁴Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine.

¹⁵Every 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.

¹⁶And 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.

¹⁷But 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.

¹⁸And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine.

¹⁹All 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.

²⁰And 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.

²¹And, 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.

²²Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die.

²³But 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.

²⁴But 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.

²⁵And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

²⁶Thus 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.

²⁷And 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.

²⁸Thus 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.

²⁹Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the LORD, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.

³⁰Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshingfloor, and as the increase of the winepress.

³¹And 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.

³²And 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.

on Numbers 18

Another Crisis At Kadesh

It’s probable that the instructions in chapters 18 and 19 were given by the Lord while Israel was still at Kadesh-Barnea. However, when you get to chapter 20, the nation has completed its thirty-eight years of wandering and is back at Kadesh (20:1, 16).

Very little is written in Numbers about Israel’s years of wandering, although a list of their camping places in found in Numbers 33. Miriam died in the first month of the fortieth year (20:1), when the nation had returned to Kadesh, and Aaron died in the fifth month of that same year (33:38). When Moses died at the end of the fortieth year (Deut. 1:3), the entire older generation had perished, except for Joshua and Caleb, who were permitted to enter Canaan.

God’s people had been stubborn and rebellious, and the Lord had chastened them for it, but in spite of their disobedience, the Lord had been faithful to care for them. “Nevertheless, he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known” (Ps. 106:8). Consider some of the Lord’s concerns on behalf of His people as expressed by the instructions and events found in these chapters.

Guarding the sanctuary

Because of the Lord’s judgments against the rebels at the tabernacle (16:31–35) and His miraculous defense of Aaron’s high priestly ministry (17:10–13), the people of Israel were terrified even to have the tabernacle in their camp. “Are we all going to die?” they cried (17: niv). Actually, God’s presence in their camp was the distinctive mark of the people of Israel (Ex. 33:1–16), for Israel was the only nation to have the glory of the living God present with them and going before them (Rom. 9:4).

God spoke expressly to Aaron (Num. 18:1, 8, 20) and thereby elevated his high priestly ministry even more. The Lord made it clear that it was the responsibility of the priests to minister in the tabernacle and protect it from defilement, and it was the responsibility of the Levites to assist the priests in their tabernacle ministry. As long as the priests and Levites obeyed this rule, there would be no judgment sent to the people (v. 5).

The priestly ministry was a serious matter, for if the priests didn’t follow God’s instructions, they might die. If they permitted an unauthorized person to come near the tabernacle or to minister there, God could slay them. It was dangerous to disobey even in the matter of how they dressed (Ex. 28:35, 42–43) or if they washed regularly (30:17–21). God held Aaron and his sons responsible for offenses committed against the sanctuary and the priesthood.

The priesthood was God’s gift to Israel, for without priests the people couldn’t approach God. The Levites were God’s gift to the priests, relieving them of menial tasks so they could devote themselves fully to serving God and the people. The seven men appointed in Acts 6, usually called deacons, had a similar relationship to the apostles. There’s nothing demeaning about serving tables, but the apostles had more important work to do.

Everything rises or falls with leadership, and Aaron was the leader of the priestly family. He was accountable to God for what happened at the sanctuary. God doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands (Acts 7:48), but He does dwell in our bodies by His Holy Spirit 1 Cor. 6:19–20) and among His people in the local assembly (3:16ff.). We must be careful how we treat our bodies and what we do to the church of Jesus Christ. “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple” (v. 17 niv).

Caring for His servants

As servants of God, the priests and Levites deserved to be cared for by the people of God. Unlike the other tribes, Levi would have no inheritance in the Promised Land, for the Lord was their inheritance (v. 20; Deut. 10:8–9; Josh. 13:14, 33; 14:13; 18:7), and the Levites would be given forty-eight towns to live in (Num. 35:1–8; Josh. 21). Both the priests and Levites were cared for by means of the sacrifices, offerings, and tithes of the people.

The priests (vv. 8–20). God assigned to the priests portions of the meal offerings, sin offerings, trespass offerings, and peace offerings (Lev. 6:14—7:38), as well as the firstfruits (Deut. 26:1–11) and the firstborn animals that the people brought to the Lord. Some of this food only the priests could eat, but much of it could be shared with their families. However, whoever in the priestly family ate of the sacrifices given to God had to be ceremonially clean and treat the food with reverence, because it had been sanctified by being presented to God.

The Levites (vv. 21–32). They were given the tithes which the people brought to God’s sanctuary, for 10 percent of the produce belonged to the Lord. The Jews were obligated to pay three different tithes: a tithe to the Levites (vv. 21–24), a tithe “eaten before the Lord” (Deut. 14:22–27), and a tithe every three years that was given to the poor (Lev. 27:28–29). The Levites in turn were to take a tithe of what they received, offer it to the Lord, and give it to the high priest.

The principle here is clear and is emphasized often in Scripture: Those who serve the Lord and His people should be supported from the material blessings God gives His people. “The laborer is worthy of his hire” (Luke 10:7; Matt. 10:10), said Jesus, and Paul wrote, “Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel” (1 Cor. 9: nkjv). Paul further explained this principle in Galatians 6:6–10; Philippians 4:10–19; and 1 Timothy 5:17–18.

The Jewish people didn’t always obey this law and bring their tithes to the Lord, and as a consequence the ministry at the tabernacle and temple suffered. (See Neh. 10:35–39; 12:44–47; 13:10–14; Mal. 1:6—2:9.) If the priests and Levites didn’t have food for their families, then they had to leave the sanctuary and go to work in the fields (Neh. 13:10). It’s tragic when God’s people don’t love the Lord and the Lord’s house enough to support it faithfully.

God expected the Levites to tithe what they received and share it with the high priest (Num. 18:25–32). On occasion I’ve met people in Christian service who don’t give to the Lord’s work because they consider themselves exempt. “We’re serving the Lord and all that we have belongs to Him,” they argue, but their argument doesn’t hold water. The Levites were serving God full time, yet they tithed what they received.

Tithing isn’t necessarily a legalistic practice, for Abraham and Jacob tithed centuries before the law was given (Gen. 14:20; 28:22). If the Jews under the old covenant could give 10 percent of their income (produce) to the Lord, can Christians under the new covenant do less? For us, tithing is just the beginning! If we grasp the meaning of 2 Corinthians 8—9, we’ll practice “grace giving” and go far beyond the tithe.