| CONTEXT:
PART
4: Rebellion & Corrections
In
the fourth part it is difficult to know quite where the
jump of forty years takes place but in it we find a rebellion
and judgment but then a re-establishing of Aaron and the
Priesthood, a clarification of the role of the Levites,
and an additional set of rules that can be applied outside
the priesthood.
Ch.
16:
[Action] Rebellion
-
the rebellion and judgment of Korah etc.
Ch.
17:
[Action] The Lord Elevates Aaron
-
the budding of Aaron's staff
Ch.
18:
[Law] Priests versus Levites
-
roles of both
Ch.19:
[Law]
Water
for Cleansing ‘Uncleanness'
-
cleansing with ashes of
a red heifer
|
FRAMEWORKS:
Numbers 18: Distinguishing Priests from Levites
v.1-7
Duties of Priests and Levites
v.8-19
Offerings for the Priests only
v.20-24
Instead of Land, the Levites will receive the tithes of Israel
v.25-32
The Levites must tithe what they receive and give it to Aaron
v.1-7
Duties of Priests and Levites
v.1
The priesthood to have overall authority over the Tabernacle
v.1
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.
v.2-4
The Levites are to assist
v.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.
v.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.
v.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.
v.5-7
The separation of duties
v.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.
v.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.
v.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.”
[Notes:
Again, perhaps because the rebels had largely been Levites
the demarcation line between priests and Levites is spelled out
clearly again.]
v.8-19
Offerings for the Priests only
v.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.
v.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.
v.10
Eat
it as something most holy; every male shall eat it. You must regard
it as holy.
v.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 clean may
eat it.
v.12
“I
give you all the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine
and grain they give the Lord
as the first-fruits
of their harvest.
v.13
All
the land's first-fruits that they bring to the Lord
will be yours.
Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.
v.14
“Everything
in Israel that is devoted to the Lord
is yours.
v.15
The
first offspring of every womb, both human and
animal, that is offered to the Lord
is
yours . But you must redeem every firstborn son and every
firstborn male of unclean animals.
v.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.
v.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
.
v.18
Their
meat is to be yours,
just as the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh are
yours.
v.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.”
[Notes:
Similarly the role of the priests is reiterated and
established even more clearly; they are the only ones who partake
of the Offerings – and there are many of them – this is their
provision, and only theirs.]
v.20-24
Instead of Land, the Levites will receive the tithes of Israel
v.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 inheritance
among the Israelites.
v.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.
v.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.
v.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.
v.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.'”
[Notes:
The Levites, on the other hand will not lose out. They
are the only tribe who will not own land but they will be recompensed
by receiving the tithe that all the people will give the Lord.
That will be their income, their provisions.]
v.25-32
The Levites must tithe what they receive and give it to Aaron
v.25 The
Lord
said to Moses,
v.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.
v.27
Your
offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor
or juice from the winepress.
v.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.
v.29
You
must present as the Lord
's portion
the best and holiest part of everything given to you.'
v.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.
v.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.
v.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.'”
[Notes:
Not to miss out in blessing the Lord, the Levites are
also to tithe all they receive of tithes.]