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 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.
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.
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 best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.
30 Therefore 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.
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.
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GiGi's Numbers Chapter 18 comment on 6/01/2023, 6:09pm...
NUMBERS CH. 18
Pt. 2
Vs. 14 tells the Levites that everything in Israel that is devoted (set apart-given over to the LORD be) is yours. All firstborn from the womb belong to the LORD, but firstborn humans are to be redeemed for a set price that is given to the Levites. The firstborn of the livestock cannot be redeemed and are to be used for sacrifices and offerings. They are to sprinkle the blood on the altar and burn their fat to the LORD. The meat can be eaten by the Levites. This meat is set aside for the all in the families of Levites as their regular share, thus bringing sustenance and a regular source of meat to these Israelites called to serve in the tabernacle.
The LORD tells Aaron that he will not have any share in the land as an inheritance because the LORD is his inheritance. This is a lovely gracious gift. The LORD is our inheritance, our portion, our satisfaction. We can have many things in this life and world, but to have the LORD as one's inheritance is the greatest thing! If we have HIm, everything else will be added to us as we need it.
The Levites are given all the tithes as their inheritance in return for their work they do serving in the Tent of Meeting.The Levites are to give Aaron and the priest a tenth of the tithe they receive and this tenth must be the best and holiest part of everything
given to them.
By living according to these regulations the Levites and priests will keep the tithes and offerings of the Israelites holy and they will not die of defiling the holy offerings given to them by the Israelites.
These ordinances ensure that the Levites and priests and their families are properly provided for. There should be no greed to have more than they truly need and to receive all tithes and offerings reverently because they are first of all given to the LORD and then the LORD gives them to the Levites.
After all the ways God brought death and judgment on the people who were rebellious and unbelieving, He should be taken seriously.
GiGi's Numbers Chapter 18 comment on 6/01/2023, 5:09pm...
NUMBERS CHAPTER 18
In this chapter the LORD explains parameters of serving in the priesthood (only descendants of Aaron) and tabernacle service (only Levites).
After making it clear whom God had chosen for these positions of service by having Aaron's rod bud, Through Moses, the LORD sets down the rules for serving in these positions. No one is to "cross the line", so to speak, by taking on any priestly work that is not assigned to them by the LORD under threat of death and no one, likewise, is to perform the tabernacle service of the Levites who is not a descendant of Levi, under threat of death. These servants were set apart as belonging wholly unto the LORD and therefore hallowed. People of the other tribes were to respect them, give the tithes to them, bring to the priests any and every offering, gift, or sacrifice. The general congregation was to provide for the Levites since the Levites could not possess any land or produce any means of support outside of the duties of priesthood and tabernacle. The Levites themselves were to give a tenth of what they received unto the LORD and not use it for themselves. They could only eat of the foods provided by the tithe if they were ceremonially clean. Sometimes they ate of the offering only within the tent of meeting and other offerings they could eat with non-Levites who were ceremonially clean.
The Levites were to be humble, grateful, and content with what was provided to them by the LORD through the giving of the tithe by the congregation. After all, they were to receive the best of the produce of the land, flocks, vineyards. Since they could not have an inheritance of land like the other tribes, they must have resided in or near the tent of meeting when it was set up in the promised land or lived in the cities dedicated to the Levites. They could not just live anywhere they chose. They were subject to the regulations God had placed on them as spiritual servants of God and the people.
see part 2
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