And the LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people 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 call that cuts the tie to the land
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.
F. B. HoleWe 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.
Loss or the highest place?
It looks at first as if the priest lost out. One writer faces that objection and answers it.
Numerical Bible Notes"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.
Why Aaron got no tithe
The Levites are given a tenth as their reward, while Aaron is given God Himself. The difference is not neglect.
C. H. MackintoshAaron 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."
A portion no enemy can seize
Enemies can seize land. They could not seize what Levi held — though that same nearness carried a cost.
Christ speaking as the priest
One writer hears the voice of Jesus in a psalm of David, and links its words about inheritance straight back to this verse.
J. G. BellettWe 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.
What the arrangement asked of Israel
Because God's servants owned nothing, the rest of the nation had a part to play. One writer calls that part a privilege.
C. H. MackintoshThe 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.
The same portion now
Writers apply the arrangement directly to believers, who are given both God Himself and what He delights in.
H. L. RossierBy 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.
Summary
- 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.