And Jehovah spoke to Aaron, And I, behold, I have given thee the charge of my heave-offerings, of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; to thee have I given them, because of the anointing, and to thy sons by an everlasting statute.
Here God speaks straight to Aaron: the offerings Israel brings to the Lord belong to Him, and He places them in the priest's keeping. Two questions follow: on what ground does a man receive what belongs to God, and what does this picture for believers now?
The offerings were never aimed at Aaron. They went to God, and God handed them on. One writer applies the same rule to giving today:
The children of Israel were to offer their offerings fully and thoroughly to God, not to the priests. It is the same with every gift given to the Lord's servants today: it should be given first of all to the Lord Himself, and so received as from the Lord. Yet God gave the priests the responsibility of taking charge of the offerings. That trust called for faithful obedience to God's clear instructions.
The ESV calls these gifts "the contributions made to me"; an older translation reads "my heave-offerings." Commentators separate the heave offering from the wave offering by the depth of surrender it shows:
Look at the passages where heave offerings and wave offerings appear, and I think you will see that a heave offering is a more absolute and entire giving up to God. Wave offerings are presented to Him and are sanctified by being presented this way, and He is owned in them — but they were also needed for the service of man, that is, for the Church. The heave offerings of the children of Israel were what was offered up to God — consecrated to Him.
Another writer lists what the priests ate, and reads the lifting up of the gift as a picture:
The heave offerings were lifted up, which pictures the resurrection of Christ, and God gave them to the priests (v.8). The priests also ate all the grain offerings, once part of each had been burned as a sweet aroma to the Lord (Lev. 2:2). They ate every sin offering too, except those whose blood was taken into the sanctuary (Lev. 16:27), and all the trespass offerings. Of course, in every case the blood, the fat and the inner parts were burned, for God had His part first.
God states His reason for the gift. It is not Aaron's effort or merit, but the oil poured on him. One writer carries that straight across to the Christian:
In Numbers 18:8 we see that the priests were anointed, as we are with the Holy Spirit. (Eph. 1:13; 2 Cor. 1:21; 1 John 2:27.) So we have the anointing from the Holy One. God is the One who has anointed us. He has also sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.
after_note: none
The same writer notes that everything in this chapter rests on grace already settled: "It is not a question here, as to our priesthood, of our personal relationships with God; for we are already under grace by the death and resurrection of Christ."
The food of the priest was not a separate allowance. It was the very thing set apart for God:
Finally, the food of the priests is virtually all that is offered to Jehovah by the people — His portion becomes theirs.
Another writer takes the whole provision of Numbers 18 as a picture of the Christian's portion:
In Numbers 18 we have a very full statement of the provision God made for Aaron and his house. That provision is a picture of the spiritual portion of the Christian priesthood. And surely we cannot read the record without seeing what a royal portion is ours.
So who stands in Aaron's place now? One writer answers that no special class of men does, and that the picture is about worship, not work:
Here we have a picture of the people of God seen from another side. They are presented here not as workers but as worshippers; not as Levites but as priests. All believers — all Christians — all the children of God — are priests. According to the teaching of the New Testament, there is no such thing as a priest on earth, except in the sense in which all believers are priests. A special priestly caste — a certain class of men set apart as priests — is not only unknown in Christianity. It is completely against its spirit and principles.
The gift came with a place attached. It could not be carried off and enjoyed at a distance:
The priest was to eat, but only in the most holy place, in the presence of God Himself. It is only on Christ in His presence that we can nourish our souls.
- Given. The offerings went to God, not to Aaron. God then put them into the priest's charge, to be handled by His instructions.
- Heaved. A heave offering is the fullest handing over of something to God. What is given away most completely is what God gives back.
- Anointed. The gift rests on the anointing, not on the man's worth. Believers hold their portion on the same ground, for God has anointed and sealed them with the Spirit.
- Shared. God's own portion becomes the priest's portion. It is a royal supply, and it belongs to every believer, since Scripture knows no special priestly class on earth.
- Eaten near. The portion could only be eaten in God's presence; Christ feeds the soul nowhere else.
This shall be thine of the most holy things, [reserved] from the fire every offering of theirs, of all their oblations, and of all their sin-offerings, and of all their trespass-offerings, which they render unto me, it is most holy for thee and for thy sons.
God speaks to Aaron and hands him a portion. Whatever the altar fire does not consume belongs to the priests. Why does God feed His priests from the gifts brought to Him — and what does that mean for believers now?
Commentators point out that a part of each offering went up to God first. Only then did the rest pass to the priests.
The priests ate all the grain offerings, after a part of each was burned as a sweet aroma to the Lord. They also ate every sin offering, except those whose blood was brought into the sanctuary, and all the guilt offerings. Of course, in every case the blood, the fat and the inward parts were burned, for God had His part first.
The priests did not claim this food. It came to them by the anointing, and the anointing itself was a gift.
God gave the Levites and their service to the priests as a gift. Priesthood also was a pure gift to Aaron and his sons. Because of the anointing, God gave them the most holy things to eat, and that was a special privilege of the priests. The same is true for us.
If this portion belongs to a priestly family, who counts as a priest now? Commentators leave no room for a separate class of priests.
Here we have a type of the people of God seen in another aspect. They appear here not as workers but as worshippers; not as Levites but as priests. All believers — all Christians — all the children of God are priests. The New Testament teaches that there is no priest on earth, except in the sense in which all believers are priests. A special priestly caste — a class of men set apart as priests — is not just unknown in Christianity. It goes against its very spirit and principles.
The same writer reads the chapter as an inventory of what Christians already own:
Now in Numbers 18 we are given a very full statement of the provision made for Aaron and his house; and in that provision, a picture of the spiritual portion of the Christian priesthood. Surely we cannot read the record without seeing what a royal portion is ours.
Each offering in this list pictures something of Christ. The priest's meal pictures the soul taking Him in.
Everything precious in the offering of Christ is the food and nourishment of our souls. This is true of His life and of His death. He is the bread that came down from heaven, seen in His life of devotedness and grace here below. He is also the one who died for us. We take all of this in through that communion with God in which we are kept in our priesthood. The priests alone ate the holy things, and they ate them in a holy place.
Since the food was eaten near God, how much a believer enjoys it tracks with how near he knows himself to be.
The more we make our own the place in His presence by the work of Christ, the more we also enjoy Him as the food of our souls — not merely as what we must have in order to live, but in the way of communion and appreciation in the Spirit of all the perfection God found in Him when He was thoroughly tested in His path here below.
The hardest item on the list is the sin offering. Someone had sinned, and the priest had to eat it.
To eat the sin offering or the guilt offering is, in picture, to make another's sin or trespass one's own. This is very holy work. Not everyone can identify himself in spirit with the sin of his brother. To do so in fact, by way of atonement, is of course out of the question. There was only One who could do this; and He — adored for ever be His name! — has done it perfectly.
The same writer names the failure that refuses this service:
When a brother has sinned, our tendency is to sit in judgement on him. We take the place of a severe critic. We look on his sin as something we have nothing at all to do with. This is a sad failure in our priestly service. It is refusing to eat the sin offering in the most holy place. Grace bears a most precious fruit when we can identify with a brother who has gone wrong, make his sin our own, and carry it in spirit before God.
- Given — the priest's portion came by the anointing, a pure gift. The one who eats it earns nothing.
- Reserved — God took His part first, in the fire. What the priests ate was holy because Israel had already rendered it to Him.
- Shared — every believer, not a special class of men, belongs to the priestly family that eats this food.
- Fed — the offerings picture Christ in His life and His death, and we enjoy that food only near God.
- Carried — eating the sin offering means carrying a brother's sin before God instead of judging him. Atonement itself was Christ's work alone, done once and done perfectly.
As most holy shalt thou eat it every male shall eat it; it shall be holy unto thee.
Numbers 18 sets out who may come near to God, and what those who come near live on. Verse 10 marks the innermost point of that provision: God fixed both where the priests ate the holy food and which of them could eat it.
The chapter fixes the priests' position before it describes their meals. Nearness costs them something, and it gives them something.
In Numbers 18 the place of priesthood is clearly defined, as well as that of the Levites. The priests alone draw near to the holy place; they alone are allowed this intimacy with God. But their position brings a cost. Because they are so close, God calls them to bear sins and wrongs that no one would notice among those outside. They bear the iniquity of the holy place... So what is the measure of holiness given to the children of God, the only true priests? It is the cleansing of the sanctuary itself — not what is fit for man, but what is fit for God... Priesthood also was a pure gift to Aaron and his sons. Because of the anointing, God gave them the most holy things to eat. This was a special privilege of the priests. The same is true of us.
The priests' food stands for something. One writer ties it to the whole of Christ — His life as well as His death.
Everything precious in the offering of Christ is the food and nourishment of our souls. This holds from every point of view — in His life and in His death; in that bread come down from heaven, seen in His life of devotion and grace here below; and in His death for us. We feed on Him in that communion with God in which we are kept in our priesthood. The priests alone ate the holy things, and they ate them in a holy place. We can only realise what is precious in the work of Christ when we are conscious of God's presence. It takes the power of that oil which is not poured on flesh.
The place of eating in this verse has puzzled many readers. (Older translations read "in the most holy place"; the ESV has "in a most holy place.")
Going back to the picture, Aaron and the priestly family were to feed on what was given to God — the most holy things. Twice at least we are clearly told that we are a holy priesthood. And there is a verse there which is a puzzle to many (Num. 18:10): "In the most holy place shall you eat it." We who now believe are brought so near — nearer we could not be — into "the holy places" (Heb. 10:19), to feast on that which delights God. The oil beaten, the wine pressed, the wheat bruised — all speak of Christ.
The sin offering was one of the holy things eaten in this place. Eating it cost the priest something.
But there is such a thing as making my brother's sin my own, and bearing it in spirit before God, as though it were my own. Aaron's sons eating the sin offering in the most holy place pictures this. Only the sons did so: "Every male may eat it." It was the very highest order of priestly service... When a brother has sinned, our tendency is to sit in judgement on him. We take the place of a severe critic. We look on his sin as something we have nothing at all to do with. This is to fail sadly in our priestly duties. It is refusing to eat the sin offering in the most holy place.
The limit to the sons marks a difference of capacity, not of standing.
It is far easier to have fellowship with another in the presentation of a thank offering than it is to make his sin our own. This work demands a measure of priestly energy pictured by Aaron's "sons," not by his "daughters." We must expect those different measures among the members of the priestly household. We are all, blessed be God, on the same ground; we all stand in the same title; we are all in the same relationship; but our capabilities vary.
The food and the place go together. How much a person enjoys depends on how near he comes.
The more we take our own place in His presence by the work of Christ, the more we enjoy Him as the food of our souls. We enjoy Him now not merely as necessary to having life. We enjoy Him in communion, appreciating in the Spirit all the perfection that God found in Him when He was tested to the full in His path here below.
- Gift — No one seizes priesthood; God gives it, and the holy food comes with the anointing.
- Food — What God receives becomes the priest's meal: Christ in His life and in His death is the soul's nourishment.
- Place — The holy food is eaten only near God; He brings believers into the holy places to feast on what delights Him.
- Cost — Eating the sin offering means bearing a brother's sin before God, not judging him as a critic.
- Capacity — All priests share the same standing, but not the same strength; the nearer we take our place in His presence, the more we enjoy Him.
And this shall be 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 an everlasting statute; every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it.
God tells Aaron what the priestly house may take from Israel's offerings. This grant reaches the whole household, daughters as well as sons, under one condition at the end.
The verse names two kinds of offering, and the terms are not interchangeable. One writer sets out the difference in the Hebrew:
The heave-offering was a portion of their gifts — "heave-offering of their gift". The wave-offering might be the whole of the thing offered. A heave-offering meant taking up a part to offer it to God. The wave-offering carries a wider idea: it means consecration to God, because it was waved before the Lord. So one gift might be called both a heave-offering and a wave-offering. But not every wave-offering could also be called a heave-offering. To heave, you needed a remainder to lift the part out of. To wave, you needed only the gift itself.
Not everything given to the priestly family was eaten as a priestly act. Some of it was simply family food.
Some things truly belonged to the priestly family, yet were not eaten as a priestly act — the heave-offerings and the wave-offerings. The daughters ate of them as well as the sons: everyone clean in the house could share them. So, among the joys of the children of God, there are some that belong to them as a family. We enjoy our blessings and everything that people offer to God. It is a joy for the soul.
The verse names daughters. What it does not give them matters just as much.
The daughters of Aaron were not to eat of the sin offerings or the trespass offerings. Their provision reached the fullest limit of what they could receive. But there were certain duties they could not carry out — certain privileges beyond their reach — certain responsibilities too heavy for them to bear. It is far easier to share with someone in bringing a thank offering than to make his sin our own. That takes a measure of priestly energy pictured by Aaron's "sons", not by his "daughters". We must be ready for these varied measures among the members of the priestly household. We are all, blessed be God, on the same ground; we all stand in the same title; we are all in the same relationship; but our capabilities vary. And while we should all aim at the very highest standard of priestly service and the very highest measure of priestly capacity, it is of no possible use to pretend to what we do not have.
Another writer notes where this food was eaten, and what grace does for those who never reach the fuller privileges:
The other "due" is a festive and freer privilege: sons and daughters join their priestly fathers in eating the wave-breast and the heave-shoulder, when the children of Israel offered peace offerings to the Lord. But this could not be in the holy place; it had to be in a clean place. Grace maintains purity, but considers those who do not enter into the fuller privileges it confers. They may and should enjoy all that God gives them.
The grant is generous, but one word guards it.
One thing, however, is clearly taught in verse 11. We must be "clean" to enjoy any priestly privilege, or to eat any priestly food. Clean — through the precious blood of Christ applied to our conscience. Clean — through the word applied by the Spirit to our habits, company, and ways. When we are clean in this way, whatever our capacity, we have the richest provision for our souls, through the precious grace of God.
The grant never runs out, but it has an edge. A later law marks where the household ends.
The heave-offering and the wave-offering were part of the provision the Lord made for the priests and their families. God endowed the house of Aaron with them by a grant that never ends. One exception was attached to this law: "If a priest's daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the contribution of the holy things. If a priest's daughter is widowed or divorced and has no child and returns to her father's house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father's food; yet no lay person shall eat of it." (Lev. 22:12-13.) When the people faithfully handed these offerings over, they proved to be a plentiful supply.
- Given. The heave offering lifts up a part from a larger gift; the wave offering sets the whole thing apart for God. God gives both to the priest's house by a grant that never ends.
- Shared. This food is not eaten as a priestly act. It belongs to the household as a family, so daughters eat alongside sons.
- Measured. Everyone in the house stands on the same ground and holds the same title. But capacities differ. Some privileges lie beyond some members, and pretending otherwise helps no one.
- Cleansed. One condition governs the whole table: cleanness. The blood of Christ cleanses the conscience; the word reaches habits, company and ways.
- Bounded. A daughter who married outside the house lost her portion, and won it back when she returned. The grant is generous inside its circle and closed outside it.
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the new wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they give to Jehovah, have I given thee.
God here hands Aaron the best of Israel's harvest — the very gifts the people brought to Him. Why does He pass on to men what Israel gave Him, and what do the oil, wine and grain stand for?
God fed His priests from the produce of His own land. Notice how well they ate.
Here, certainly, we have a princely portion provided for those who are made priests to God. They were to have the very best, and the very first of everything which the Lord's land produced. There was "wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen man's heart" (Psalm 104:15).
Israel gave the first of each harvest to the Lord, and the priests ate it after. The same pattern runs through Scripture, and it puts a question to us.
We see this principle often brought out in Scripture. Long ago, the children of Israel spent the first and best of their time and energy in gathering the manna which God provided for them. In Proverbs it was written, "Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce" (Proverbs 3:9)... This is another example: we are to devote to God the first and best of all we are and have. When we judge ourselves, few questions matter more than this: are we in the habit of giving God our first and best?
Grain, wine and oil fed real bodies. Each one also pictures something greater, which writers call its antitype — the reality behind the picture.
For us these things are only types of our spiritual blessing, which is rich and immeasurable for ever. The antitype of the grain is Christ Himself. He is the fine flour of the grain offering, and the bread of God. The wine answers to His work of redemption. Only in this sense can we understand that wine cheers the heart of God. As we also read in John 10:17 — "For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again." The oil answers to the Holy Spirit poured out — the holy anointing oil. Through Him the glory shines out in the face of Jesus Christ, and only through Him does any of that glory show in our own faces.
None of these three foods reaches a table whole. The crushing is part of the picture.
What a figure we have in all this of our portion in Christ! The olive, the grape, and the finest of the wheat were pressed and bruised to feed and gladden the priests of God. The blessed Antitype of all these has, in infinite grace, been bruised and crushed in death. This was so that by His flesh and blood He might give life, strength, and gladness to His household. He, the precious grain of wheat, fell into the ground and died, that we might live. And the juice of the living vine was pressed out to fill that cup of salvation which we drink now, and will drink for ever, in the presence of our God.
The gift is rich, but it comes with a condition.
Verse 11 teaches one thing clearly: we must be "clean" to enjoy any priestly privilege or eat any priestly food. Clean, through the precious blood of Christ applied to our conscience. Clean, through the Spirit applying the word to our habits, associations, and ways. When we are clean like this, whatever our capacity, we have the richest provision for our souls, through the precious grace of God.
These gifts feed the soul. Yet some of God's food asks more of the one who eats.
The Spirit of Christ works to the glory of God in His members, and He has done still more in Christ Himself. All of this is food for the soul of the household of God, and it strengthens them. Do not our souls enjoy those firstfruits, the best of the new wine and the wheat — the firstfruits of that noble harvest of God? Yes, we enjoy them in thinking of them. But there are the sin offering, the trespass offerings and the grain offerings. In these we share in spirit in the deep work of Christ, and we eat them only in the character and spirit of a priest.
- Given — God hands His priests what Israel first handed to Him.
- Best — they received the first and the choicest. The same question tests us: do we give God our first and best?
- Crushed — olive, grape and wheat must be pressed before they feed anyone. So Christ was bruised in death to feed His household.
- Clean — the food is rich and free, but only those clean through the blood of Christ and the word eat it.
- Shared — the whole household of God feeds on these firstfruits, but only a priestly spirit tastes the deepest food.
The first ripe of everything that is in their land, which they shall bring to Jehovah, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it.
Numbers 18 explains how God fed His priests: not by land or wages, but by the gifts His people brought Him. Verse 13 raises two questions — why the best of the harvest went to God first, and who could then eat it.
The harvest came from God, so the first of it went back to Him.
The people enjoyed those fruits of the goodness of God, and they gave Him back the firstfruits. This was a testimony that all came from Him, that all was His, and that His grace had given it to them. So the firstfruits were not for the people to eat: they offered them to God, and ate all the rest. It was the recognition of God while sharing His blessings. The firstfruits, then, were offered to God, and so fell into the hands of the priests as their portion.
Aaron's family received food because they received no land of their own.
These provisions for the priests were necessary since they had no inheritance in the land, as the other tribes had. They were to realise that God was their portion and inheritance. We may wonder whether they understood and appreciated this as they should have. But what about ourselves today? Being priests, believers have no earthly inheritance. Even now God is our portion and inheritance. And we have the wonderful prospect of an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven (1 Peter 1:4).
Notice what God did with the gifts once they were given.
The children of Israel were to bring their offerings and lay them down at the feet of the Lord. Then He, in His infinite grace, told His workers to pick up these precious offerings — the fruit of His people's devotedness — and feed on them in His own blessed presence with thankful hearts. So the circle of blessing went round.
The priests did not eat leftovers. They ate what ripened first and what was finest.
The olive, the grape and the finest of the wheat were pressed and bruised to feed and gladden the priests of God. And the blessed One whom all of these picture has, in infinite grace, been bruised and crushed in death. His purpose was to give life, strength and gladness to His household by His flesh and blood. He, the precious grain of wheat, fell into the ground and died so that we might live.
The same feeding happens now, in the soul.
All that the Spirit of Christ works to the glory of God, even in His members — and still more what He has done in Christ Himself — is the food of the soul of the household of God. It strengthens them. Do our souls not enjoy those firstfruits, the best of the new wine and the wheat? They are the firstfruits of that noble harvest of God, the produce of His seed on the soil of His election. Yes, we enjoy them in thinking of them.
Not every holy gift was eaten in the same way. This one reached the whole house.
Some things truly belonged to the priestly family, yet they were not, strictly speaking, eaten in the character of a priest. The heave offerings and the wave offerings were like this. The daughters ate of them as well as the sons, and everyone who was clean in the house could share in them. So, in the joys of the children of God, there are some that belong to them as a family. We enjoy our blessings and all that is offered by man to God. It is a joy for the soul.
One word in the verse decides who eats: clean. It reaches both the conscience and the daily life.
One thing is clearly taught here: we must be "clean" to enjoy any priestly privilege, or eat any priestly food. That means clean through the precious blood of Christ applied to our conscience. It means clean through the application of the word by the Spirit to our habits, associations and ways. When we are clean like this, whatever our capacity, we have the richest provision made for our souls through the precious grace of God.
- Given — the land and its crop came from God, so Israel handed back the first of it as an admission that everything was His.
- Returned — the people laid their gifts at God's feet, and He handed them to His servants. The blessing travelled in a circle.
- Best — the priests ate the first-ripe and the finest. It pictures Christ, bruised and crushed to feed and gladden His household.
- Shared — the gift reached past the sons to the whole house. Some joys belong to God's children simply as a family.
- Clean — only the clean could eat. The blood of Christ cleanses the conscience, and the word cleanses habits and company.
Every devoted thing in Israel shall be thine.
Numbers 18 sets out the priests' work and their pay, and verse 14 hands them the weightiest item on the list: everything in Israel set apart to God for good. Why would God pass on what is most fully His own, and what does that mean for believers now?
Before the priests receive anything, they receive the office itself. That nearness is a gift, and one commentator shows it carries God's own standard of holiness with it.
Numbers 18 defines the place of the priesthood clearly, and the place of the Levites too. The priests alone draw near to the holy place; they alone have this closeness with God… What, then, is the measure of holiness given to the children of God — the only true priests? It is the purification of the sanctuary itself: not what is fit for man, but what is fit for God… The Levites themselves, and their service, came to the priests as a gift. Priesthood also was a pure gift to Aaron and his sons. Because of the anointing, they had the most holy things to eat, a special privilege of the priests. The same is true for us.
The word comes from an earlier part of the law. There God set the rule for anything a person handed over to Him.
The great general rule was that whatever a man devoted to the LORD out of all he had — person, animal, or field — should not be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing was most holy to the LORD. No person devoted in this way could be ransomed; he had to be put to death.
The striking thing in verse 14 is which way the gift moves.
First came their share of the people's offerings. It belonged to God Himself, but instead of going up to Him on the altar, it became the portion of those who served at His altar. Here we see Christ's joy in what expresses His people's faith — a faith that receives and embraces His blessed work, and shapes the soul into the likeness of what it embraces.
The next verses list what came with it.
More than this, all the best of the oil, wine and grain — the first fruits offered to the Lord — went to the priests as well, along with every devoted thing, including the firstborn of people or animals (v.13). Yet the priests were not to keep the people, but to redeem them, and the unclean animals too, which could not be offered. Of course the owner would be responsible to bring the sacrifice for their redemption. Verse 16 shows this to be five shekels of silver. The priests would receive this.
Aaron's family received all this for a reason. They got no share when the land was divided.
Then come the first fruits, the sign of a ready harvest and the recognition of its Giver — the blessing, and the one thing that keeps it a blessing. With them, every devoted thing, and the firstborn among animals. In the land itself the priests were to have no inheritance. God alone was their inheritance. So we may hear Christ's voice in the Psalms: "The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance." (Ps. 16:5-6.)
Commentators read the chapter as a picture of God's people today.
Here we have a picture of the people of God seen from another angle. They appear here not as workers, but as worshippers; not as Levites, but as priests. All believers — all Christians — all the children of God, are priests. According to the teaching of the New Testament, there is no such thing as a priest on earth, except in the sense in which all believers are priests.
If the devoted thing is God's best, then the grant of it measures what He is willing to share.
What, then, remains? What do we lack, except a greater capacity to enjoy the fullness and blessedness of our portion in a crucified, risen, and glorified Saviour? We may well say, "We have all and abound." God has given us all that even He could give — the very best He had. He has given us His own portion.
- Gift, not wage. The office came first as a pure gift, and the privileges of verse 14 follow from the anointing, not from merit. That nearness carries God's own standard of holiness.
- Devoted means final. A devoted thing was most holy to the Lord and could not be sold or bought back.
- Given away. What belonged to God Himself did not go up on the altar but became the portion of those serving at it.
- Reaching everything. Firstfruits, firstborn, and the silver paid to redeem them all came to the priests.
- God Himself the inheritance. Having no field, they had the Giver — and believers, made priests, receive the very best God had.
Everything that breaketh open the womb of all flesh, which they present to Jehovah, of men or of beasts, shall be thine; nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou in any case ransom, and the firstborn of unclean beasts shalt thou ransom.
Numbers 18 is a chapter of portions. What Israel brought to God did not stay at the altar. It passed to the priests who served there. This verse settles what happens to the first of every womb.
The priests also received 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. The owner had to bring the sacrifice for their redemption, which verse 16 sets at five shekels of silver. The priests would receive this.
The verse names two things that must be bought back: a human baby and the young of an unclean animal. They are named in the same breath, and commentators do not treat that as an accident.
Verses 14-19 of our chapter give instruction about "the firstborn of man and beast." Notice that man stands on a level with the unclean beast. Both had to be redeemed. The unclean beast was unfit for God; and so was man, unless redeemed by blood. The clean animal was never to be redeemed. It was fit for God's use, and it fed the whole priestly household — sons and daughters alike. Here we have a picture of Christ, in whom God finds His perfect delight, the full joy of His heart. He is the only object in the whole universe in which God could find perfect rest and satisfaction.
Why must an unclean animal be bought back at all? One writer answers that, and adds a surprising twist — under this law the unclean creature comes off better than the clean one.
The firstling of the unclean creature has a great advantage over the firstling of the clean. It is free to enjoy life, though only on the ground of redemption. The other is doomed to death. These two classes of animals represent two men — the unclean or sinful man, and the holy man. The human race — every single person except One — stands side by side with the unclean animal. This is not because of anything we did to make us guilty. It dates from our birth. Through the first man's sin we were constituted sinners, and by nature children of wrath. So we find coupled with the redemption of the unclean firstling — "the firstborn of man you shall redeem." This teaches the unholy nature of man.
The law orders a ransom for the unclean. The clean firstling of the flock was given none, and the same writer reads that as pointing to Christ.
In the middle of all this redeeming mercy there was One for whom there was no redemption. The firstling of the clean beast had no escape from death. The reason may seem strange: it was holy. The unclean might find an escape, the holy never. What a riddle this presents to the natural mind! It seems to overturn all justice, and it would overturn all human and legal righteousness. But what a vivid picture it is of God's righteousness in saving the sinner! Here was the will of God — our sanctification. It had to come by sacrifice: the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once (Hebrews 10:10). Our Lord comes to do that will. In infinite grace He takes the place of the clean animal. He is Himself the firstborn of every creature, and the holy one, as Luke declares. His enemies did not know the truth, yet their bitter, cruel taunt said it exactly: "He saved others; he cannot save himself."
Redemption here is not release. The one bought back does not walk away free of every claim.
The blood at the passover saved the firstborn of Israel. But those redeemed in this way belonged to God in a special way. "Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb... is mine." (Exodus 13:2.) So the firstborn was not only redeemed from death; he was bought for God — "you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."
- Claimed. Everything first out of the womb belongs to God. He hands it to the priest. The firstborn is never the parents' to keep.
- Classed. The verse sets the human baby beside the unclean animal, not the clean one: unfit for God unless redeemed by blood.
- Condemned by birth. Uncleanness here is not earned by an act; it dates from birth, through the first man's sin.
- Excepted. One firstborn was never redeemed, because He was holy. The clean firstling had no escape from death, and that pictures Christ.
- Owned. God did not only rescue the firstborn from death; He bought him. That is why the ransomed life now glorifies Him.
And those that are to be ransomed from a month old shalt thou ransom, according to thy valuation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.
Numbers 18 lists what the priests received from Israel. Verse 16 fixes the price for buying back a firstborn son, once he is a month old: five shekels of silver, by the sanctuary weight. Behind that small payment lie three questions: why a child had to be bought back, who he was bought back from, and what the price meant.
The verses around 16 put the firstborn of people and the firstborn of animals side by side. One writer draws out how unflattering that placement is:
In verses 14-19 of our chapter we have instruction about "the firstborn of man and beast." We may note that man is placed on a level with the unclean beast. Both had to be redeemed. The unclean beast was unfit for God; and so was man, unless redeemed by blood. The clean animal was not to be redeemed. It was fit for God's use.
The price only makes sense because God already owned the child. His claim goes back to the night Israel left Egypt:
It is important to notice the ground on which God claimed the firstborn. It is expressly connected with the destruction of the firstborn in the land of Egypt. Israel was spared on that dreadful night only on the ground of the sprinkled blood of the slain lamb — on the ground of the death of another. It was therefore on the principle of substitution. If God spared the firstborn because of the Passover Lamb, He afterwards claimed them as His own.
Verse 16 gives the rule for every generation, with one exception recorded in Numbers 3:
To Numbers we must turn to learn about God's way of redemption for the firstborn males of the twelve tribes. The normal method, as we would call it, and the one that was to hold good for all time, was a money payment of five shekels to be paid to the priest (Num. 18:16). To this there was an exception, but only on one occasion. The tribe of Levi was taken instead of the firstborn males of the twelve tribes, as far as man for man such an exchange could go. The rest of the children of Israel were then redeemed at five shekels each, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which was fixed at twenty gerahs (Num. 3:49-51).
The silver did not stay in the family. It went to the men who served at the sanctuary:
All the best of the oil, wine and grain, the firstfruits offered to the Lord, went to the priests as well. So did 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... the redemption in verse 16 is five shekels of silver. The priests would receive this.
It is easy to read "redeem" here as escape from punishment. One writer says that is not what the five shekels bought:
So the redemption we are speaking of here was in no sense redemption from judgment, with which it has too often been confused. There is a redemption from divine judgment, and every child of God shares in that. That is provided by the blood of Christ. Now the redemption of the firstborn males was in no sense like that. This will be clear to the simplest reader if he notices that the clean animal could not be redeemed at all... Were the Levites chosen to bear divine punishment instead of the firstborn males of the twelve tribes? No. They were taken to minister to Aaron.
The same law that let a human child go free shut the firstborn of a clean animal up to death:
But while this mercy of redemption was at work, there was One for whom there was none. For the firstling of the clean beast there was no escape from death. Strange as the reason may seem: it was holy. The unclean might find a way out, the holy never. What a riddle this presents to the natural mind!... Here was the will of God — our sanctification. It must come by sacrifice: by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once (Heb. 10:10). Our Lord comes to do that will. In infinite grace He takes the place of the clean animal, being Himself the firstborn of every creature, and "that holy thing," as Luke declares.
- Claimed. God's right to the firstborn rests on the Passover. A lamb died in their place, so they became His by substitution.
- Priced. The price was fixed, not guessed: five shekels in sanctuary weight, owed from a month old.
- Paid. The silver went to the priests, so the child's release paid for the very service God claimed him for.
- Distinguished. This redemption set a person apart for God. It did not rescue him from judgment. The two are not the same.
- Fulfilled. Silver only pictured the real price. Christ took the place of the clean firstling, the one firstborn who was never bought back.
But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, thou shalt not ransom they are holy. Thou shalt sprinkle their blood on the altar, and their fat shalt thou burn as an offering by fire for a sweet odour to Jehovah.
This verse comes inside God's list of what belongs to Aaron and his sons. The firstborn of a clean animal cannot be bought back with silver, as an unclean one can, because it is holy.
The logic runs opposite to what we expect. One writer draws out how strange this is:
If I think of where the clean and unclean animals stand in nature and under the law, clearly the clean have the advantage. Noah shows us this when he takes seven of them into the ark to one of the others. When I remember this, one thing strikes me. The firstborn of the unclean creature has by far the advantage over the firstborn of the clean. It may freely enjoy life, though only on the ground of redemption; but the other is absolutely doomed to death.
The same writer sees here a picture of Christ:
In the middle of all this redeeming mercy there was One for whom there was no redemption. For the firstborn of the clean animal there was no escape from death. The reason may seem strange: it was holy. The unclean might find a way out, the holy never. What a riddle this presents to the natural mind! ... In infinite grace He takes the place of the clean animal. He is Himself the firstborn of all creation, and "that holy thing," as Luke describes Him. The firstborn of the sheep was doomed with no escape. That pictures His terrible position: shut in to judgment with no way out.
The verse before this one deals with the firstborn of man and of unclean animals. Another writer compares the two rules:
In verses 14-19 of our chapter we have instruction about the firstborn of man and beast. We may note that man stands on a level with the unclean beast. Both had to be redeemed. The unclean beast was unfit for God; and so was man, unless redeemed by blood. The clean animal was not to be redeemed. It was fit for God's use, and it fed the whole priestly household — sons and daughters alike. In this we have a type of Christ. In Him God can find His perfect delight, the full joy of His heart. He is the only object in the whole wide universe in which God could find perfect rest and satisfaction. And — wonderful thought — He has given Him to us, His priestly household, to be our food, our light, our joy, our all in all for ever.
The verse puts blood on the altar and fat in the fire before anything else:
But the firstborn of the clean animals were to be sacrificed. God first received His part. Then the priests had the privilege of eating the flesh. The sprinkling of the blood and the burning of the fat showed respect for God's rights.
The fat burned on the altar carries its own meaning:
This inward fat would be the sign of a healthy, strong animal. So it fittingly pictures the excellence and energy of that devotion to death which marked our blessed Lord. This came up as a pleasing aroma to God, as the type shows.
The flesh that remained fed the priests and their families. That raises a question for readers today:
The other tribes had an inheritance in the land; the priests had none. So these provisions for them were necessary. They were to realise that God was their portion and inheritance. We may wonder whether they understood and valued this as they should have. But what about 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 that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven (1 Peter 1:4).
- Holy, therefore doomed. The firstling of a clean animal could not be bought back precisely because it was holy — "the unclean might find a way out, the holy never."
- Priced, therefore spared. The verse before puts man beside the unclean animal: unfit for God unless redeemed by blood. The sinner goes free; the spotless One does not.
- God's part first. The blood went on the altar and the fat into the fire before anyone ate. God's rights came first.
- The fat means devotion. The inward fat pictures the excellence and energy of Christ's devotion going up to God as a pleasing aroma.
- The priest's food, the priest's portion. God gave what was fit for Himself to the priestly household as food. They held no land, so God Himself was their inheritance.
And their flesh shall be thine; as the wave-breast and as the right shoulder shall it be thine.
Numbers 18 sets out how Aaron's house is to live, now that God has settled the priesthood on Aaron beyond dispute. Verse 18 covers the firstborn of clean animals: God takes His part, and the flesh then goes to the priest.
Where these rules stand in the book matters. One writer points to what had just happened:
All of Numbers 18 is taken up with rules about the work of both the priest and the Levite. It is not hard to see how well these things fit at this point. God had just confirmed the priesthood to Aaron and his house beyond all question, and had confirmed the rest of the tribe of Levi in their proper place. Their duties and their privileges are now clearly set out.
The order in these verses matters:
But the firstborn of the clean animals were to be sacrificed. God received His part first, and then the priests had the privilege of eating the flesh. The blood was sprinkled and the fat burned in respect for God's rights.
Man and the unclean animal had to be redeemed. The clean firstling did not, and one writer reads that difference as pointing to Christ:
The unclean beast was unfit for God; and so was man, unless redeemed by blood. The clean animal was not to be redeemed. It was fit for God's use, and was given to be the food of the entire priestly household — sons and daughters alike. Here we have a picture of Christ. In Him God finds His perfect delight and the full joy of His heart. He is the only one in the whole universe in whom God could find perfect rest and satisfaction. And — wondrous thought — He has given Him to us, His priestly household, to be our food, our light, our joy, our all in all for ever.
The two portions named in the verse were each moved in a different way:
The rabbis explain that the heave shoulder was moved up and down, and the wave breast waved from side to side. Both actions were done "before the Lord." They seem to picture the people who moved the offerings standing in His presence, with their hands full of Christ.
One writer draws out what the breast and the shoulder stand for:
Aaron and his sons ate "the wave breast" and "the heave shoulder." Every member of the priestly family, in communion with their head, had their own portion of the peace offering. And now all true believers, made priests to God by grace, can feed on the affections and the strength of the true Peace Offering. They can enjoy the happy assurance that His loving heart and His strong shoulder will comfort and support them always.
Not everything given to the priests was eaten in the same way:
Some things truly belonged to the priestly family, yet were not eaten in the character of priests — the heave offerings and the wave offerings. The daughters ate of them as well as the sons. Everyone in the house who was clean could share in them. So among the joys of the children of God there are some that belong to them as a family.
One condition stood over the meal:
One thing, however, is clearly taught in verse 11. We must be "clean" to enjoy any priestly privilege or to eat any priestly food. Clean through the precious blood of Christ applied to our conscience. Clean through the word, applied by the Spirit to our habits, our company, and our ways.
Deuteronomy sets out a different arrangement for the same firstlings, and one writer meets the difficulty plainly:
In Numbers 18:17-18 He gave them to the priests to eat. In Deuteronomy 12:6, 17-18; 14:23; 15:19-20, He told the people who brought them to share them with their families and with the Levites living in their towns. They were to do this at the place where He would choose to put His name. So the law is clearly changed. But the principle stays the same throughout: God claimed the firstlings as His own, to do with as He wished.
The people brought their offerings to God, and God passed them on:
The children of Israel were to bring their offerings and lay them down at the feet of the Lord. Then He, in His infinite grace, told His workers to pick up these precious offerings — the fruit of His people's devotion — and feed on them in His own blessed presence, with thankful hearts. So the circle of blessing went round.
- Confirmed — God settled Aaron's priesthood first, then spelled out what his house would eat.
- Claimed — the clean firstling was never redeemed; God took the blood and the fat first, and then the flesh became the priest's.
- Measured — the breast waved and the thigh heaved set the priest's portion, read as feeding on the affections and the strength of Christ.
- Shared — these portions reached sons and daughters alike, and cleanness was the one condition.
- Returned — the priests lived on what the people laid before God, so the circle of blessing went round.
All the heave-offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to Jehovah, have I given thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by an everlasting statute it shall be an everlasting covenant of salt before Jehovah unto thee and thy seed with thee.
Israel had murmured, and Aaron's rod had budded. Now God turns from judgment to provision: the gifts Israel lifts up to Him become the priest's living, sealed with a covenant of salt.
In this chapter, nearness to God is handed over, not earned.
God gave the service of the Levites, and the Levites themselves, as a gift to the priests. Priesthood too was a pure gift to Aaron and his sons. Because of the anointing, He gave them the most holy things to eat, and this was a special privilege of the priests. The same is true for us.
This priesthood is God's answer to a people who had complained against Him.
The whole character of priesthood in question here (Numbers 18) is grace. After the murmuring of the people of Israel, God took the rod from Aaron's hand, to lead the people across the desert Himself. The love of God is greater than the sin of the people. Without that they would never have been able to cross the desert. Aaron's rod is therefore the complete display of the grace of God.
The ESV calls these gifts "holy contributions." Older translations call them heave offerings.
The idea behind a heave offering was taking up a part to offer it to God. The idea of the wave offering is wider. It implies setting the gift apart for God, since it was waved before the Lord. So a gift might be called both a heave offering and a wave offering. But not every wave offering could be called a heave offering. To heave, you needed a larger amount to lift the part out of. To wave, you needed only the gift itself.
The gift covers the whole household. Yet the daughters did not share every part of it.
The daughters of Aaron were not to eat of the sin offerings or the trespass offerings. God provided for them to the fullest limit of their capacity. But there were certain functions they could not carry out. Certain privileges lay beyond their range. Certain responsibilities were too heavy for them to bear... We must be ready for these varied measures among the members of the priestly household. We are all, blessed be God, on the same ground. We all stand in the same title. We are all in the same relationship. But our capacities vary.
The phrase comes from an old rule of hospitality.
The covenant of salt refers to a very ancient custom. A host would welcome a guest into his tent, and the guest would eat salt with him. From then on the host's duty to that guest was sacred and could not be broken.
The same image runs on into the words of Jesus.
And so we read of "a covenant of salt," expressing in figure what was to be kept unbroken and unchanging (Num. 18:19; 2 Chron. 13:5). So the Lord, in Mark 9:49-50, declares, "Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." If fire stands for God's avenging judgment of evil, salt just as clearly stands for His preserving power in relation with Himself.
Kelly's older translation adds, "every sacrifice shall be salted with salt." The covenant lasts because of the sacrifice it rests on.
It is "the salt of the covenant of your God." In it God, as it were, binds Himself to bless us according to His own heart. The ground of this is the everlasting power of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus... The sweet savour of what Christ was to God here as man on earth will be no passing savour. It will last for all eternity.
This grant closes the list of what the priests receive. Aaron himself owned no land.
It is a covenant that cannot be dissolved or broken. The reward of the priest and his house must be applied to the reward Christ has — the joy that is His, His people and His house sharing it with Him... Aaron had no inheritance in the land. His inheritance is the Lord. "I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel." The Levites had no inheritance in the land, but received tithes. Aaron's was the better portion, and so is ours in Christ.
- Gift — God handed priesthood and its food to Aaron outright, "because of the anointing," not for merit.
- Grace — the gift follows Israel's murmuring. God's love is greater than the people's sin.
- Lifted — a heave offering is a part taken up out of the whole and given to God. That part feeds the priest.
- Household — sons and daughters stand on the same ground, with the same title. Their capacities differ.
- Salt — shared salt made a bond no host could break. Here God binds Himself for ever, resting the promise on Christ's sacrifice. That portion beats any land.
And Jehovah said to Aaron, In their land thou shalt have no inheritance, neither shalt thou have any portion among them I am thy portion and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
God speaks here directly to Aaron, the priest. The nation is on its way to a land of its own, yet Aaron's family will get no field and no share of the soil. Instead God offers Himself — and commentators ask whether that is a loss or the greatest gift a man can be given.
The timing matters. God was leading Israel toward a land of their own, and there He told the priests they would own none of it.
We must not miss the point made in verse 20. Though it was a day when God was leading a people into an earthly inheritance, there was no such inheritance for Aaron and his house. In verses 23 and 24, we find the Levites also had no inheritance among the tribes. They were devoted to the service of God. They were given places to live, but no special part of the land, for the call of God separated them from the common people. Today our calling is not to an earthly inheritance but to a heavenly one. So it is no surprise that in 1 Peter 2, right after we are told of our priesthood, both "holy" and "royal," we are called "strangers and pilgrims." Because God brings us so close to Himself, our old links with the world-system are cut.
It looks at first as if the priest lost out. One writer faces that objection and answers it.
"I am their inheritance … I am their possession." The priests have no inheritance, no possession in Israel. Is this a loss? Can it be a loss to be an heir of God, to have Him as one's inheritance and possession? Instead, it is the highest possible place of nearness and blessing, where what God is becomes the portion of those He blesses. What gives God His rightful place more than this? The whole man is lifted up to Him. In Him all his resources are found, and from Him all his expectation must come.
The Levites are given a tenth as their reward, while Aaron is given God Himself. The difference is not neglect.
Aaron held a position so high that any inheritance in earthly things would have been degrading to him. The Levites, looked at in one way, did not have this high standing, but they had much hard work. So Aaron's very place and service was "his reward," while the Levites had to receive a tenth for "their reward."
Enemies can seize land. They could not seize what Levi held — though that same nearness carried a cost.
One writer hears the voice of Jesus in a psalm of David, and links its words about inheritance straight back to this verse.
We know from the Holy Spirit, in Acts 2:31, that this Psalm is the utterance of Jesus through David. It is the language of the Lord consciously dwelling in God's house as a priest or worshipper. So He will have no other God, and takes His inheritance (like a priest, Num. 18:20) only from God, judging it the best; and in constant communion He finds confidence and joy and praise and hope.
Because God's servants owned nothing, the rest of the nation had a part to play. One writer calls that part a privilege.
The Lord's servants depended on Him alone for their portion. They had no inheritance or possession except Himself. What an inheritance! What a portion! Faith knows none like it. God took care of His dependent servants. He also let the whole congregation of Israel taste a holy privilege — and it truly was one. They became co-workers with Him, providing for those who had gladly given themselves to His work and left everything else behind.
Writers apply the arrangement directly to believers, who are given both God Himself and what He delights in.
By the commandment of the Lord, neither Aaron (Num. 18:20), nor the priests, nor any of the tribe of Levi could have any inheritance in Israel. Their inheritance was on the one hand "the Lord God of Israel," and on the other "the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire." It is the same for us, His heavenly people. We have no portion on earth, but our privilege is to stand before God and to serve Him, and more than this to possess Him... Christ according to all the perfection of His work and His Person before God.
- Emptied — God's call cut Aaron's family off from the land. Nearness to God took the place of owning a share among the people.
- Filled — losing a field to gain God is no loss. It is the highest place of nearness, where all a man's resources are found in God.
- Unshakeable — enemies can seize fields, but not this portion. Yet those closest to God feel His people's poverty most sharply.
- Fulfilled — Christ Himself takes this priestly ground, holding God alone as His portion.
- Shared — believers stand on the same ground, with God Himself as their portion. And God lets His people provide for His servants, working alongside Him.
And to the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithes in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting.
The Levites were the one tribe in Israel with no farmland of their own. This verse tells them how they would live: the nation's tenth is their inheritance, and it is pay for their work at the tent of meeting.
Priests and Levites both owned no land. God fed them by two different routes, and both routes ran from His hand.
The priests had all the offerings and sacrifices that a man might share in. The Levites had the tithes from all Israel. The one was fed from within, the other from without. But both received from Jehovah, for He was their inheritance. Otherwise they were miserable — what else did they have?
The tithe is not charity. It is pay for service, and one commentator does the arithmetic to show how generous that pay was.
The twelve tribes were to give one tenth of their produce to God. He handed it to the children of Levi as a reward for the service they gave Him. So God provided for them generously. Suppose the twelve tribes were about equal in numbers and possessions. Take 100 as the produce of each tribe. Each tribe would then be left with 90, while the Levites would receive 120. But the Levites had to offer the Lord a tithe of the very best they received. That would leave 108 for their own use. This short calculation may help to show us that God does not mean to underpay His servants.
Notice that the verse does not say the people give to the Levites. God says, "I have given."
Ask the children of Israel, "To whom do you give the tithes?" The godly would answer, "We give them to the Lord." Ask the faithful Levites, "From whom do you receive the tithes?" They would answer, "We receive them from the Lord."
The gift passed through God's hands first. That left His workers depending on Him alone for everything they needed.
Verses 20-32 teach us that the priests and Levites — God's worshippers and workers — were to have no inheritance among the children of Israel. They were to depend entirely on God Himself for all their need. It is a most blessed position. The children of Israel were to bring their offerings and lay them down at the feet of Jehovah. Then, in His infinite grace, He told His workers to pick up these precious offerings — the fruit of His people's devotedness — and feed on them in His own presence with thankful hearts. So the circle of blessing went round. God met every need of His people. His people had the privilege of sharing the rich fruits of His bounty with the priests and Levites. And these last could taste the rare and exquisite pleasure of giving back to God what had flowed from Him to them.
Receiving the tenth did not free the Levites from giving. And for Christians, no fixed fraction replaces it.
In receiving tithes, the Levites were not exempt from paying tithes. When the other tribes brought in their tithes, the Levites were to offer God a tenth of the tithes as their own contribution (v.26). In our present day of grace there is no law about tithing. Instead the measure of our giving is "as he may prosper" (1 Cor. 16:2) or "as he has decided in his heart" (2 Cor. 9:7). Each believer settles the amount by his own spiritual exercise. The people of God may give support, as to the Lord, for the need of the Lord's servants. The servant is to be just as exercised as they are about using funds for the Lord's sake, and glad to give as the Lord prospers him.
The same writer applies this pattern to gospel work today, and draws a careful line.
The Levites received the tithes of the people (Num. 18:21), and in this way God provided for their support. In the same way God has ordained that those who preach the gospel should "get their living by the gospel." This does not mean the preacher himself is free to take collections or to charge anything for his preaching. This is written not to the servant but to the assembly. It stresses the assembly's responsibility to provide such support willingly — not as a salary, but entirely by voluntary exercise.
If the tithe is God's, then keeping it back is not just meanness towards a neighbour.
The Jews had taken for their own use the tithes and offerings that were Jehovah's by right. The portions of the priests and Levites laid down by the law (Num. 18:8-24) were not forthcoming... The priests and Levites were the direct sufferers, but the Lord counted it an offence against Himself.
- No portion — the Levites owned no land. God Himself was their inheritance; without Him they had nothing.
- God's portion — the tenth was the Lord's first. Israel gave it to Him, and the Levites received it from Him, not from men.
- A worker's portion — the tithe was pay for real service. The numbers show God does not mean to underpay His servants.
- A shared portion — the gift moved in a circle. God supplied the people, the people laid it before God, and the workers ate it in His presence and gave back out of it.
- Your portion — grace sets no fixed fraction. The measure is "as he may prosper." Withhold what is God's, and He counts it an offence against Himself.
Neither shall the children of Israel henceforth come near the tent of meeting, to bear sin and die.
At the end of the previous chapter the people panicked and cried that anyone who came near God's dwelling would die. Verse 22 turns their own words into law — yet the same chapter names who will carry the danger for them.
Fear came first, and the command followed. One writer traces where their thinking went wrong:
They had a conscience of sin, and it opened their eyes to see the "token." The rod stood there as a testimony. Israel could not come near without remembering their sin and its judgment. They cry out, "Behold, we perish, we are all undone. Everyone who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD shall die. Are we all to perish?"... Blind unbelief! They were not forbidden access to God through the priest, but only to take up the function of priesthood that belonged to Aaron and his sons. They expected death if they came near. They connected death with their access to God, not with their sin.
The ESV does not use the word "henceforth" here, but older translations do. That one word marks a change:
Verse 22 of our chapter makes the separate place of Aaron and the Levites more pronounced. The mass of the people were not to come near the tabernacle. The word "henceforth" shows that before this they had come nearer than they were now allowed to come. The change came because they had displayed their "rebel" character so sadly.
Their own words came back on them. The same writer shows where that landed them:
They said that anyone drawing near to the tabernacle would die. The result is that their drawing near is forbidden. For their standing before God, their unbelief and mistrust of Him is more serious than their earlier presumption. They are brought down to the level of the outsider: "any outsider who comes near shall be put to death." From now on Israel cannot come nearer than the outsider. That privilege is lost.
The barrier was not God abandoning the people. The same chapter appoints priests to carry what would otherwise have destroyed the nation:
"You and your sons and your father's house with you shall bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary." This is plainly in answer to the question, "Are we all to perish?" The priests and the Levites kept the charge of the tabernacle and of the altar "that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel." The priesthood, which had been the target of rebellion, was to be their security. Without that priestly service the wrath of God would have consumed them all. Christ is again in view here — He who always lives and intercedes for His own people. He bore the iniquity and the wrath Himself.
The Levites carried a share of that burden, and their service was fenced off too:
The work was theirs alone. Other Israelites were not to come near and take any part in the service God had given the Levites. They were no more to do that than to intrude on the service of the priests. In their measure the Levites too were to "bear their iniquity." That is, they took responsibility for the iniquity of the people of Israel, as those identified with the priests, who alone could offer the sacrifices for that iniquity.
Under the law the way in stayed shut. One writer sets that against what the cross changed:
Israel had "an earthly place of holiness," and their worship had that same character. "The way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing." But the blood of Jesus has opened the way. The same stroke that killed the Lamb tore the veil from top to bottom... There is no outer-court worship now for the people and temple worship for the priest, as under the law. These distinctions are unknown in the Church of the living God. All are equally near. All have equal liberty. All are equally acceptable, through the presence and intervention of the great High Priest of His people.
- Cry — The people declared that anyone approaching God's dwelling would die. Verse 22 is God taking them at their word. Fear spoke first, and the fence followed.
- Cost — Their misreading of God cost them ground. God brought them down to the level of the outsider, and they lost a nearness they had once had.
- Cover — The ban came with a provision. Priests and Levites now bore the iniquity of the sanctuary, so that wrath would not fall on the nation again.
- Christ — The very priesthood the rebels had despised became Israel's security. It points to the One who bore the iniquity and the wrath Himself.
- Come near — What Israel could not do, believers now do. The torn veil ends the split between outer court and sanctuary. All are equally near, through the great High Priest.
But the Levite, he shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity it is an everlasting statute throughout your generations. And among the children of Israel shall they possess no inheritance;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
for I have given for an inheritance to the Levites the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as a heave-offering to Jehovah; therefore I have said of them, They shall possess no inheritance among the children of Israel.
Israel gives a tenth of its produce to the Lord, and He passes it straight on to the Levites as their inheritance. That raises two questions: what does it mean to lift a tithe up to God, and why does this leave the Levites with no land of their own?
Older translations call this contribution a "heave offering." One writer sets it beside the wave offering to show what each word meant.
The idea behind a heave offering was taking up a part of something to offer it to God. The idea of the wave offering is more general. It means consecration to God, for the gift was waved before the Lord. A gift might therefore be called both a heave offering and a wave offering. But not every wave offering could also be called a heave offering. To heave, you needed a larger amount to lift the portion out of. To wave, you needed only the gift itself.
So the tenth reached the Levites only after it had passed through God's hands.
The verse ends by saying the Levites will own no land. One writer explains what that meant day to day.
The Levites needed the tithes for their support. Like the priests, they had no inheritance among the children of Israel. They were scattered among the tribes and had no property of their own as a tribe.
Another writer sees their landlessness as a gain, not a loss.
The priests and Levites — God's worshippers and workers — were to have no inheritance among the children of Israel. They were to depend completely on God Himself for the supply of all their need. What a blessed position.
One writer puts the same question to both sides, and finds the same name in both answers.
If you asked the children of Israel, To whom do you give the tithes? the answer of the godly would be, We give them to the Lord. And if you asked the faithful Levites, From whom do you receive the tithes? their answer would be, We receive them from the Lord.
The gift then travels all the way round, back to where it began.
The children of Israel were to bring their offerings and lay them down at the feet of Jehovah. He, in His infinite grace, then told His workers to pick up these precious offerings — the fruit of His people's devotedness — and feed on them in His own blessed presence, with thankful hearts. So the circle of blessing went round. God supplied every need of His people. His people had the privilege of sharing the rich fruits of His bounty with the priests and Levites. And God let these last taste the rare and exquisite pleasure of giving back to Him what had flowed from Him to them.
One writer applies the same principle to those who preach the gospel today.
Some are truly called of God, gifted by Christ, and fitted by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel. If they give themselves to that glorious work constantly and diligently, they have a moral right to support for their daily needs. But they should not look to those they preach to for a fixed sum. There is no such idea as this in the New Testament. The workman must look to his Master, and to Him alone, for support.
Another writer turns to how much the giver should give now.
In our present day of grace God gives no law about tithing. Instead the measure of our giving is "as he may prosper" (1 Cor. 16:2) or "as he has decided in his heart" (2 Cor. 9:7). The amount is left to the spiritual exercise of each individual. The people of God may give support, as to the Lord, for the need of the Lord's servants.
God Himself gives a hard name to keeping the tithes back.
He says, "Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me" (Mal. 3:8). Doesn't it seem an extraordinary expression to you — robbing God? And it certainly is; yet it was the truth all the same. The Jews had taken for their own use the tithes and offerings that were Jehovah's by right. The portions of the priests and Levites, prescribed by the law, were not forthcoming. The priests and Levites were the direct sufferers, but the Lord counted it an offence against Himself.
- Lifted up. A heave offering means lifting a part out of a larger amount. Israel raised the tenth out of its harvest and put it in God's hands first.
- Handed over. What Israel gave to God, God gave to Levi — so the giver gave to the Lord and the receiver received from the Lord.
- Landless. The Levites held no property and were scattered through the tribes, so their whole living came from God's hand.
- Returned. The circle closed when God's workers fed on the gift in His presence and gave back to Him what had flowed from Him.
- Owed. Keeping back what was lifted up to God robs God Himself. Today the measure is not a fixed tenth but "as he may prosper" — and the servant looks to his Master, not to men.