The remainder of Chapter 18 deals with the offerings brought to the tabernacle and the fact that the Lord shares these offerings with the priests and Levites. Yesterday we talked about what a great blessing and honor it was to be called to serve as a priest or to minister to the priests and take care of the tabernacle as the Levites did. The men who work at the tabernacle are to receive payment for their work, just as people who work at secular jobs get paid for their work. They have just as much right to be paid for their time and labor as anyone else.
Sometimes you'll hear it said, "A man ought to preach the gospel just out of love for the gospel," but this is not Scriptural. The men whose lives revolved around their work at the tabernacle, and later at the temple, got their food from the temple and shared in what was offered on the altar (1 Corinthians 9:13) and rightfully so. In the same way, this rule was applied to Christian ministers in the New Testament, "The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel." (1 Corinthians 9:14) We ought to pay our pastors a living wage if at all possible so that preaching the gospel and ministering to the church members can be their primary occupation in life. Those of us who work secular jobs are expected to devote a certain portion of each day to our jobs and we are paid wages for our time; pastors devote a portion of every day to the church and its members and they should be paid wages for their time.
"Then the Lord said to Aaron, 'I Myself have put you in charge of the offerings presented to Me; all the holy offerings the Israelites give me I give to you and your sons as a portion, your perpetual share. You are to have the part of the most holy offerings that is kept from the fire. From all the gifts they bring Me as most holy offerings, whether grain or sin or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons. Eat it as something most holy; every male shall eat it. You must regard it as holy.'" (Numbers 18:8-10) These portions belong to the male members of the priests' families.
Certain types of offerings are shared with all members of the priests' families. "This also is yours: whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I give this to you and your sons and daughters as your perpetual share. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it. I give you all the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain they give the Lord as the firstfruits of their harvest. All the land's firstfruits that they bring to the Lord will be yours. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it." (Numbers 18:11-13)
The people were to bring their best to the Lord and this meant the priests and their families shared in these high quality offerings. In the promised land the priests and Levites would be given no territories like the other tribes of Israel, for their occupations weren't to be as shepherds or farmers. They will be given towns and cities to dwell in because their focus is to be on the Lord's work, not on herding sheep or plowing fields. Because they won't be raising their own animals or growing their own crops or fishing or hunting or trapping for food, the priests and Levites will be supplied with everything they need from the offerings brought to the tabernacle.
We learned earlier in the Old Testament that every firstborn male was considered to be the Lord's, whether that firstborn male was human or animal. The firstborn human males and the firstborn males of unclean animals were to be redeemed by paying a specific price to the sanctuary. The redemption price belongs to the priests and Levites. "Everything in Israel that is devoted to the Lord is yours. The first offspring of every womb, both human and animal, that is offered to the Lord is yours. But you must redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals. When they are a month old, you must redeem them at the redemption price set at five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs." (Numbers 18:14-16) The Lord doesn't want or ask anyone to sacrifice their son to Him, nor does He want or ask for unclean animals to be sacrificed to Him. A redemption price is paid for them and this price is part of the income of the men who serve the Lord at the tabernacle.
Specific clean animals aren't to be redeemed with a price but are to be offered to the Lord. "But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow, a sheep or a goat; they are holy. Splash their blood against the altar and burn their fat as a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. Their meat is to be yours, just as the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh are yours. Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the Lord I give to you and your sons and daughters as your perpetual share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord for both you and your offspring." (Numbers 18:17-19) We've already seen that portions of the meat from other types of offerings belong to those who serve the Lord in His house. Now we see that the firstborn offering of clean animals also belongs to these men.
The use of the word "salt" is symbolic of an everlasting covenant. Salt was used as a preservative for meats. Salt was blended with the grain offerings of Israel. (Leviticus 2:13) Salt is being used as a metaphor for something that is perpetually fresh and unchanging, like the Lord's covenant with Israel.
The Lord intends to give the promised land to Israel and each tribe will be given a territory other than the tribe of Levi. But what the Lord gives to the tribe of Levi will be even more valuable than a territory. It will be a special kind of relationship with the Lord Himself and it will be a special type of reliance upon the Lord. "The Lord said to Aaron, 'You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites.'" (Numbers 18:20)
These men will depend on the Lord for their daily bread in a way that is more spiritually connected than if they were planting and harvesting or raising flocks and herds or working as tradesmen. They will be sharing in the Lord's food and drink when they receive the offerings brought to Him by the people. They will be depending on the Lord every day for their daily bread. This is intended to foster a very close relationship with the Lord because not only their full time work but the very food they put in their mouths has its origin in the tabernacle.
You and I are also counselled to depend upon the Lord for our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11, Luke 11:3) We are to be content with our daily bread and not run after wealth. (1 Timothy 6:8-10) Like the priests and Levites, we are to be happy to do what the Lord has called us to do in this life and we are to be thankful for the blessings and provision of the Lord.
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