UNROLL
Evening at the gate of the tabernacle court: two Levites in plain undyed tunics stand quietly on either side of the woven blue, purple and scarlet gate, the white linen wall running off to both sides and the tent’s dark roof behind, under a calm evening sky.

The Book of

Numbers 18

The people cried that anyone who came near would die. God’s answer: priests to stand in the gap, and Himself as their portion.

32 verses≈ 7 min2 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–10Ready at SinaiCounted and ordered
  2. 11–14GrumblingTo Kadesh and refusal
  3. 15–21Forty yearsRebellion and mercyChapter 18
  4. 22–25BalaamA curse turned to blessing
  5. 26–36A new generationReady for the land

Duties of Priests and Levites

So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house must bear the iniquity involving the sanctuary. And you and your sons alone must bear the iniquity involving your priesthood.

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God
God

But bring with you also your brothers from the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and assist you and your sons before the Tent of the Testimony. And they shall attend to your duties and to all the duties of the Tent; but they must not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or both they and you will die. They are to join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting, doing all the work at the Tent; but no outsider may come near you.

God
God

And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and of the altar, so that wrath may not fall on the Israelites again. Behold, I Myself have selected your fellow Levites from the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to perform the service for the Tent of Meeting.

But only you and your sons shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and what is inside the veil, and you are to perform that service. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but any outsider who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.”

JudahReubenEphraimDanCourtyard · 100 × 50 cubitsNGate · EastTent of MeetingBronze altarBasinThe tent, enlarged · 30 × 10 cubitsArkTableLampstandIncense altarVeilScreenMost Holy PlaceHoly Place

Plan to scale in cubits · north at the top

The tabernacle

Guarding the sanctuary

The Levites camped closest around the court, guarded the tent and did all its heavy work. Only Aaron and his sons served at the altar and at “what is inside the veil.” The tribes camped farther out, safe because others stood in the gap.

Reflect

A gift

Korah reached for the priesthood as a prize to be seized. Here God calls it something else: “I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift.” Every place of service in God’s house is His to give, not ours to grab. Where are you serving now, and do you hold it as a rank you earned or a gift you were handed? Write down one way you could do that work this week as someone who has been given it.

Offerings for Priests and Levites

At the court’s woven gate in morning light, the first gifts of a harvest laid on reed mats: a basket of new grain, clay jars of fresh olive oil, a jar of new wine with a cloth over its mouth, and a basket of figs.

For the priests

The priests’ share

  1. The charge

    In charge of My offerings

    Then the LORD said to Aaron, “Behold, I have put you in charge of My offerings. As for all the sacred offerings of the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a permanent statute.

  2. Most holy

    Most holy: eaten by the males

    A portion of the most holy offerings reserved from the fire will be yours. From all the offerings they render to Me as most holy offerings, whether grain offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons. You are to eat it as a most holy offering, and every male may eat it. You shall regard it as holy.

  3. The household

    Gifts and wave offerings

    And this is yours as well: the offering of their gifts, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given this to you and your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat it.

  4. Firstfruits

    The best oil, wine and grain

    I give you all the freshest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain that the Israelites give to the LORD as their firstfruits.

  5. Firstfruits of everything

    The firstfruits of everything in their land that they bring to the LORD will belong to you. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat them.

God
God

Every devoted thing in Israel belongs to you. The firstborn of every womb, whether man or beast, that is offered to the LORD belongs to you. But you must surely redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals. You are to pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your valuation: five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs.

But you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat; they are holy. You are to splatter their blood on the altar and burn their fat as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. And their meat belongs to you, just as the breast and right thigh of the wave offering belong to you.

God
God

All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of salt before the LORD for you and your offspring.”

Question

Quick question

Every firstborn son in Israel belonged to the LORD, and was bought back.

What price redeemed a firstborn son a month old?

Then the LORD said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.

Numbers 18:20

God
At the court’s gate at dawn, a Levite in a plain tunic, seen from behind, pours the best of a basket of grain into a priest’s clay jar; the priest in white linen holds the jar, small in the lower part of the frame under a calm dawn sky.

And the LORD instructed Moses, “Speak to the Levites and tell them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you as your inheritance, you must present part of it as an offering to the LORD—a tithe of the tithe. Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. So you are to present an offering to the LORD from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites, and from these you are to give the LORD’s offering to Aaron the priest. You must present the offering due the LORD from all the best of every gift, the holiest part of it.’

0:33

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Therefore say to the Levites, ‘When you have presented the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the produce of the threshing floor or winepress. And you and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere; it is the compensation for your work at the Tent of Meeting. Once you have presented the best part of it, you will not incur guilt because of it. But you must not defile the sacred offerings of the Israelites, or else you will die.’”

Pray

My portion

Aaron got no field, no vineyard, no share of the land. God gave him Himself: “I am your portion and your inheritance.” Pray that over your own life today. Thank God that He is enough, even when what you hoped for has not come. Ask Him for a content heart, and for an open hand: to give the first and best back to Him, gladly, as the Levites did from what they received.

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Numbers 18

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A verse to carry with you

Then the LORD said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.

Numbers 18:20

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