Numbers. Day 63, When And How To Use The Cleansing Water, Part Two

Today we are concluding Chapter 19 which contains the instructions for making the water for ceremonial cleansing and the instructions for when and how this type of cleansing is to be used. 

In Sunday's study we learned that anyone who came into physical contact with a deceased person was ceremonially unclean for seven days. On the third day and the seventh day the person was to undergo a ritual with the cleansing water. Only after the seventh day, and after the cleansing water had been applied properly, could the person go about all their normal public activities. Earlier in the Old Testament we studied a variety of things that would render a person ceremonially unclean for a time; having contact with a dead body was one of those things. I would imagine this was a frequent occurrence because medical care and funeral preparations were handled in the home in ancient times and in the not-so-ancient times. A terminally ill person would be cared for by the members of his household and his body would be prepared for burial by his family and he would be interred by his family. In those days the cause of a person's illness and death was not always obvious, since no tests could be run and no autopsies could be done, so a seven-day period of ceremonial uncleanness was important to observe in case the deceased person died of something contagious. This helped to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. 

Now we pick up with verses 14 and 15. "This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days, and every open container without a lid fastened on it will be unclean." (Numbers 19:14-15) A person might die an unattended and unexpected death. Suppose a friend or family member stops by to visit with him or to check on him because they haven't seen him out and about and they find him deceased in his tent. Whoever finds him has become ceremonially unclean through no fault of their own but they still must observe the law regarding ceremonial uncleanness and the use of the purifying water. If any food containers without lids are present inside the tent with the dead body, the food inside the containers is rendered unfit for consumption. These regulations are to help prevent the spread of infectious disease since the cause of the person's unexpected death is not known.

"Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days." (Numbers 19:16) Even if someone dies outdoors in the fresh air, anyone who has contact with the body is rendered ceremonially unclean for seven days. A person who dies by the sword didn't have infectious disease as a cause of death but the body still might be harboring harmful pathogens. If someone comes across a body that has mostly decomposed down to skeletal remains, there's still a chance of those remains being able to transfer harmful bacteria to the living, so we find verse 16 stating that contact with bones or a grave renders the person ceremonially unclean.

Now we move on to how the cleansing water is to be used. "For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them." (Numbers 19:17) These ashes are made up of the entire red heifer along with cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool. A pinch of ashes is placed in a jar and water is poured over them. "Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or anyone who has been killed or anyone who has died a natural death. The man who is clean is to sprinkle those who are unclean on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify them. Those who are being cleansed must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and that evening they will be clean. But if those who are unclean do not purify themselves, they must be cut off from the community, because they have defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, and they are unclean. This is a lasting ordinance for them." (Numbers 19:18-21a) 

As we learned in yesterday's passage, the person who refuses to observe the cleansing ritual is to be excommunicated by the congregation. The community is to shun the person because the person is showing contempt for the Lord. The Lord has said what must be done to be clean. He sets the rules for cleansing; man doesn't set the rules. A person can only be clean in the eyes of the Lord by using the methods prescribed by the Lord. We come to the Lord on His terms, not ours. This is symbolic of our salvation through Christ. The Lord has told us how to be saved and there is no other way to obtain redemption than to come to Him through Christ because our salvation is by faith, not by works. We can never keep ourselves completely free of sin and we can never perform enough good works to earn salvation. The only thing we can do is come humbly to the Lord through the method He's prescribed for salvation. Just as a ceremonially unclean person in Numbers 19 could not be made ceremonially clean without following the Lord's prescription for cleanliness, we cannot be saved without following the Lord's prescription for salvation.

"The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean til evening. Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean til evening." (Numbers 19:21b-22) There is another reason why contact with a dead body renders the living person unclean, but this is more of a spiritual uncleanness than a physical uncleanness. Death is a result of sin. When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, the countdown to his death began. The Lord created the human body with the ability to live forever but when sin entered the world it was like a pollution that affected everything, including the human body. Adam lived for many years after he committed his first sin (he died at age 930) but no matter what physical ailment actually took his life, that physical ailment was the result of sin. If he'd had a death certificate, the medical examiner would not have been incorrect to list the direct cause of death as "sin" and to list the contributing cause of death as whatever illness actually shut Adam's body down. So we see that to have contact with a dead body is to have contact---symbolically speaking---with sin. Sin is the direct cause of death of every human being, no matter whether they died due to an accident or due to cancer or a heart attack or anything else. 

As the Apostle Paul said in his letter to the church at Rome, death entered the world through one man: Adam. Adam brought sin into the world and sin brought death into the world. But just as one man brought sin and death into the world, one man---the Lord Jesus Christ---brought righteousness and life into the world. (See Romans 5:12-21) I want to close by pointing out that I think the "man who is ceremonially clean" who sprinkles the ceremonially unclean people with water in Numbers 19 symbolizes Christ. It took a ceremonially clean person to perform the cleansing ritual in order for the ritual to be recognized by God. The ceremonially unclean persons in the household couldn't sprinkle each other with the cleansing water and be purified. A ceremonially unclean person couldn't sprinkle himself with the cleansing water and be purified. An unclean person can't make himself or another person clean. And as we've just seen, we are all unclean because we have all sinned. Christ, who is perfect and sinless, is able to sprinkle us to purity. He sprinkles us not with the water and ash of a sacrificial heifer but with His own sacrificial blood. This is the means by which we are made clean in the eyes of a holy God. We can't be considered clean by God through any other method. He sets the terms for obtaining righteousness and He does not recognize man's terms for righteousness or man's puny attempts to obtain righteousness. This is why the Lord Jesus said, in no uncertain terms, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) 

Numbers. Day 62, When And How To Use The Cleansing Water, Part One

In our study on Friday and Saturday we learned that the water for ceremonial cleansing was to be made using the ashes of a red heifer mixed with the ashes of cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool. Today we'll begin our look at when and how this cleansing water is to be used.

"Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days. They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean." (Numbers 19:11-12) Charles Spurgeon said of these two verses, "I wonder whether that is a revelation of our being justified through the resurrection of Christ, which took place on the third day after His death, and then our being brought into perfect rest, which represents the seventh day, through the wondrous purifying of our great Sacrifice, the Lamb of God." We can be certain there is significance to the person being commanded to purify themselves on both the third day and the seventh day, or else the Lord would not have commanded it, but we aren't provided with an explanation and can only speculate on the meaning of this. 

Being ceremonially unclean meant a person could not join the body of believers in worship services. The person could not go up to the tabernacle with offerings or sacrifices during that time. It is important that their time of uncleanness not linger on, so if a person handles the matter as commanded by the Lord, they will not miss more than a week's worth of fellowship with other believers. They will also not miss more than one Sabbath. The person who does not obey the Lord's commands in this matter is displaying a lack of interest in or reverence for worshiping the Lord with their fellow believers. The person is not concerned that they are unable to go up to the tabernacle with offerings and sacrifices. If they don't take the proper steps to restore themselves to ceremonial cleanness in order to partake in normal religious life, they are showing contempt for the Lord. If they participate in religious customs without having purified themselves, they are defiling the Lord's house. Persons who do such a thing are to be excommunicated from the congregation of Israel. "If they fail to purify themselves after touching a human corpse, they defile the Lord's tabernacle. They must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, they are unclean; their uncleanness remains on them." (Numbers 19:13)

We can apply the last portion of verse 13 to ourselves. If we have not been sprinkled by the cleansing blood of Christ, we are unclean; our uncleanness remains on us. But thanks be to our precious Lord and Savior for making a way for us to be ceremonially clean---inside and out---by the sacrifice He made which is powerful enough once and for all to make us clean in the sight of a holy God!

Numbers. Day 61, The Water For Cleansing, Part Two

In Friday's study we began our look at the water that would be used for ritual cleansing. To make this cleansing water, a red heifer was to be carefully selected by the people and brought to the priest Eleazar. The priest would slaughter the animal, dip his finger in the blood and splatter the blood seven times toward the tabernacle, then burn the entire heifer to ashes. While the heifer is burning he is to do this: "The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer." (Numbers 19:6) These are the same items that were to be used in the cleansing ceremony for a healed leper. (Leviticus 14:4-6) Leprosy made the sufferer unclean; sin makes a person unclean too and I think that's why we find the same items used to make the ashes for the cleansing water as we found being used in the cleansing ceremony for lepers. 

"After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean til evening. The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean til evening." (Numbers 19:7-8) In the book of Leviticus we learned that a person who touched the carcass of an unclean animal was unclean until evening. A heifer is not an unclean animal and none of the commentaries I consulted had anything to say about why contact with it rendered the priest and the man who burned it ceremonially unclean. Perhaps it's because of the nature of this sacrifice, because the only references I could find to it likened it to the crucifixion of Christ in which every person who has ever sinned had a hand in His redemptive, sacrificial death. In verses 7 and 8 we learn that both men involved with the slaughter and burning of the heifer (both had a hand in it, in other words) being rendered ceremonially unclean until evening. Partaking in this endeavor has perhaps symbolically identified the two men with sins which the heifer's ashes are intended to ceremonially cleanse. In similar manner we can say Christ identified Himself with the sin of mankind when He offered Himself on the cross. And in a similar manner we can say that every human being had a part in Christ's death, for all human beings have sinned and all human beings were represented at the crucifixion, for both Jews and Gentiles had a hand in His death. 

A different man, who is not ceremonially unclean at this time, is to gather up the ashes. "A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification of sin. The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean til evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them." (Numbers 19:9-10) The ashes are made up of the entire heifer, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet wool. Before being cremated in this manner, a heifer would probably weigh anywhere from 800 pounds to 1400 pounds according to the information I found online. In a modern crematory, the ashes of a body that weighed around 1000 pounds would produce about 554.4 ounces of ashes, or 34.65 pounds. It is no small task for the man to gather up the ashes of the heifer and the ashes of the accompanying items. A very large amount of ash has been produced and it is enough to last for a very long time considering only a small amount will be used in a jar of water from which drops will be sprinkled onto the people using a hyssop branch dipped into the water. Ancient Jewish tradition states that only six red heifers have ever been slaughtered for the purpose of making this cleansing water. 

The lasting nature of these ashes points to the lasting nature of the sacrifice of Christ. The blood He shed on our behalf is enough to cleanse us for all time. He doesn't have to come back to earth and give His life over and over again. As we discussed yesterday, there is no need for Christ to "offer Himself again and again" or to "suffer many times". (Hebrews 9:25-26) On the contrary, His sacrifice was so perfect and so holy that, "Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many", (Hebrews 9:28a) and we who believe on Him as Savior have been "made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all", (Hebrews 10:10) "for by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy". (Hebrews 10:14)

There is a portion of Numbers 19:10 we don't want to miss: the Lord says this practice of sprinkling water made with the ashes of the heifer is to be kept as a lasting ordinance "both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them". A person did not have to be a native-born Israelite to be made ceremonially clean in this manner. Any person who converted to the God of Israel was to take part in this cleansing ritual. The Lord didn't exclude anyone who wanted to be part of the body of believers and aren't we thankful for that? In the same way, the cleansing power of the blood of Christ is made available to every person on the face of the earth. It doesn't matter what our ethnic background is. It doesn't matter what's in our past. We are all invited to come to Christ and be made clean and whole. The same salvation offered to one is offered to all. Christ testified that no one who comes to Him will be turned away. (John 6:37)

Numbers. Day 60, The Water For Cleansing, Part One

 A specific formula must be followed for the water that is to be used for ceremonial cleansing. This formula must begin with sacrifice because the purpose of this water is "for purification from sin". (Numbers 19:9b)

"The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 'This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish that has never been under the yoke.'" (Numbers 19:1-2) It will take some effort to select this animal due to the qualifications it must possess. It must be a female cow that has never been bred. It must be red in color. It must be as perfect of an example of its breed as possible. It must never have been put into a yoke to perform labor, such as pulling carts or plows. The people will have to put thought and care into selecting this animal, which is very important because thought and care must be put into ceremonial cleansing rituals as well. Sin is a big deal. Therefore the cleansing of sin is a big deal.

Sin is a detestable thing. It's no wonder that the cure for sin is disturbing in that it requires blood to be shed. I think if we could see our sin through God's eyes we'd understand how truly abhorrent it is and we'd wonder why the Lord bothers to offer us a means of redemption. In wondering why He even offers us redemption---considering how detestable our sins are---we would have to acknowledge a mercy that is as indescribable as it is unfathomable. We have no words to accurately describe such great mercy. We should be awestruck by such love. God didn't have to provide us with a means of forgiveness but He does because He loves us and His love compels Him to be merciful. We are far more likely to extend mercy to our closest loved ones, aren't we? If a dearly-loved sibling or close friend hurts our feelings, we find it easier to forgive them due to our great love for them. We have a tendency to feel less charitable when someone we don't feel a lot of affection for hurts our feelings. Well, the good news is, God loves every single one of us equally. We are all precious souls that He created and He places an enormous amount of value on every one of us. He offers mercy to each of us because He loves each of us. In Chapter 19, in spite of how many times the Israelites have already sinned against Him and in spite of how many more times they will sin against Him, He makes a way for them to be ceremonially clean from sin. He does the same for everyone in our own day: in spite of how many times we've already sinned against Him and in spite of how many more times we'll mess up in the future, He offers us salvation and cleansing.

When the people have selected the best heifer that meets the qualifications, they are to bring it to one of Aaron's sons. "Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting. While he watches, the heifer is to be burned---its hide, flesh, blood and intestines." (Numbers 19:3-5) Animals were sacrificed by one swift cut across the jugular with a sharp knife so that death was instantaneous. After performing this duty, Eleazar sprinkles blood toward the tabernacle seven times but the remainder of the blood is left in the body and burned with it. The resulting ashes are going to be used for the cleansing water and that is why the ashes must contain blood, for "the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness". (Hebrews 9:22)

We have all done the most atrocious thing that can possibly be done: we have sinned against our holy God and Creator. We deserve physical death for this and we deserve spiritual death: the eternal separation of our immortal souls from the presence of the living God. But the Lord loves us too much to provide no means of redemption, so in Old Testament times He accepted the substitutionary death of sacrificial animals in place of the physical and spiritual death of man. But these sacrifices were not able to permanently make man clean from sin. Though animals are essentially sinless because they are incapable of understanding God's laws and choosing to violate them, they are not perfect enough or holy enough that the shedding of their blood can make man clean for all time. As the Apostle Paul put it, "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming---not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." (Hebrews 10:1-4) The Lord always had a permanent, more perfect sacrifice in mind to make mankind clean from sins. He intended to accomplish this through the blood shed by His Son who took His atoning blood not into the Most Holy Place on earth to sprinkle it on the mercy seat of the ark, but who took His atoning blood into the "greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, not of this creation". (Hebrews 9:11b) He took His blood to the mercy seat of heaven, "thus obtaining eternal redemption" for those who place their faith in Him. (Hebrews 9:12) 

Why did He do this? Because the ceremony we are studying in Numbers 19 was not able to eternally cleanse a person from his sins. It was not capable of making a person new from the inside out. "The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!" (Hebrews 9:13-14) When we come to faith in Christ and accept Him as our Savior, it's as if His cleansing blood is sprinkled on our hearts. We are made new from the inside out. His blood does what no sacrifice of the Old Testament could do: it makes us ceremonially clean in the eyes of God forever. The sprinkling of the ashes of the heifer is a ritual that had to be repeated over and over and over again. Other types of sacrifices had to be made over and over and over again. Every year on the Day of Atonement the high priest had to enter the Most Holy Place to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat. But the blood of Christ is so holy that He only had to shed it once. His blood is so redemptive that it only had to be sprinkled one time on the mercy seat of heaven. If this were not so, "Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But He has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself." (Hebrews 9:26)

Christ has done all that is necessary for our redemption. He only had to die once to save us from the penalties of our sins. We can't add to what He has done. We don't have to come to Him time and time again and ask Him to save us. If we have accepted Christ on faith as our Savior then our eternal destiny is secure because, "He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them." (Hebrews 7:25) The word translated into English as "completely" means "perfectly, to the uttermost". If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you cannot be "more saved" than you already are because Christ cannot sacrifice more than He's already sacrificed. He gave His best. He gave His all. You are now His forever, clean in the eyes of a holy God, saved to the uttermost. 

Numbers. Day 59, Offerings Shared By Priests And Levites, Part Two

The Lord has been telling Aaron what belongs to the priests and Levites out of the sacrifices and offerings the people bring to the tabernacle. We continue with the second half of this portion today.

"I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting." (Numbers 18:21) Leviticus 27 dealt with the subject of giving to the Lord a tithe (a tenth) of everything a person gained from the land, such as crops or the offspring of the animals in their flocks and herds. Tithes in modern times are generally paid with money; a person gives a tenth of their income to the house of the Lord.

These tithes are part of the pay of the men who serve the Lord at the tabernacle, in addition to the things they shared in according to yesterday's passage. No one who is not of the tribe of Levi is to serve at the tabernacle and tithes are not to be paid to anyone else. "From now on the Israelites must not go near the tent of meeting, or they will bear the consequence of their sin and they will die. It is the Levites who are to do the work at the tent of meeting and bear the responsibility for any offenses they commit against it. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. They will receive no inheritance among the Israelites. Instead, I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the Lord. That is why I said concerning them: They will have no inheritance among the Israelites." (Numbers 18:21-24) The Levites won't be given territories in the promised land because their occupation is to do the Lord's work. Therefore their pay is to come from the house of God. They deserve to be a paid a living wage for themselves and their families because they bear a great deal of responsibility for the community as a whole and for themselves---that they would be careful to perform their duties honorably and not commit offenses against the Lord in the carrying out of their responsibilities. 

Jesus never said anything about tithes in the gospel accounts and that has led some to believe Christians don't need to tithe. I am not sure that's the case. Jesus didn't preach on every law and commandment of the Old Testament but I don't think that means He was making invalid any of the godly principles of the Old Testament. If we don't give to our churches, how will we pay our pastors? If we don't give to our churches, how will expenses be paid for maintaining the church? Jesus didn't speak about tithing but He did talk about offerings, and He praised one offering in particular in which a poor widow cast into the treasury only a few cents, but those few cents were all she had. He used her as an example of great faith and in doing so He honored her sacrificial giving. She gave more than a tithe; she gave all she had. So we see that the Lord still expects us to give to the house of God and that we should give enough that it means something to us. To further support the concept of tithing even though Christians aren't living under the law of Moses, we found Abraham giving a tithe to the priest Melchizedek in Genesis 14. Abraham lived long before the law was given. He paid tithes even though he wasn't living under the law. I think this suggests that Christians, who don't live under the law of Moses, are to bring both tithes and offerings to the house of God. 

Suppose you want to tithe but you have a spouse who is against it. What are you to do then? Well, I once heard a pastor counseling that if both marriage partners aren't on board with tithing then the Lord wants peace maintained in the home. The person who wants to tithe can devote a tenth to the Lord in some other way than money, such as volunteering to the church a tenth of their free time each week or spending a tenth of each day praying for the church and the church leadership or spending a tenth of each day in Bible study and prayer. I know we are commanded to obey the Lord more than to obey human beings, but the Bible also says that married persons are to have some say-so in what their partners do. In the Old Testament a husband could void any pledge his wife made and could release her from contracts if he wasn't in agreement with them. (Numbers 30:13) In the New Testament we are told that a husband doesn't have the final say in whatever he does and neither does the wife; they each have a say in what the other person does. (1 Corinthians 7:4) If you are a married person who wants to tithe and your spouse does not want to tithe, the Lord accepts your willingness of spirit. He will bless your desire to tithe even though you may not be able to at this time. I don't think it would honor Him to have conflict and anger in the home over the matter of tithing, and unless you and your spouse are in the habit of maintaining separate finances, the use of household finances should be a mutual decision and perhaps the one who wants to tithe should lay the matter aside and devote themselves to the Lord in other ways while continuing to pray for the Lord to change the spouse's mind about tithing.

"The Lord said to Moses, 'Speak to the Levites and say to them: 'When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord's offering.'" (Numbers 18:25-26) The Levites are also to tithe. They must give to the Lord a tenth of everything brought to them by the Israelites.

"Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. In this way you also will present an offering to the Lord from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the Lord's portion to Aaron the priest. You must present as the Lord's portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you." (Numbers 18:27-29) These men aren't farmers or shepherds but the Lord makes a way for them to bring offerings too. Giving is important for growing in the faith.

"Say to the Levites: When you present the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the product of the threshing floor or the winepress. You and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere, for it is your wages for your work at the tent of meeting. By presenting the best part of it you will not be guilty in this matter; then you will not defile the holy offerings of the Israelites, and you will not die." (Numbers 18:30-32) If these men fail to give the Lord their best they will be under His wrath. 

We owe the Lord our best because He gives us His best. 

Numbers. Day 58, Offerings Shared By Priests And Levites, Part One

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.

Numbers. Day 57, Solemn Instructions For Priests And Levites

In Chapter 17 the Lord performed a miracle to prove to the people that He has chosen only Aaron and Aaron's descendants to serve Him as priests and that He has chosen only the tribe of Levi to perform duties at the tabernacle. Because these particular men have been granted a great blessing, they bear great responsibility, so the Lord provides them with solemn instructions.

In our passage today He speaks directly to Aaron. We most frequently find the Lord issuing instructions to Aaron or to the people through Moses. But the instructions in today's text are so vitally important that it's imperative for Aaron to always know that the Lord spoke to him personally and that he received these instructions straight from the Lord's mouth. "The Lord said to Aaron, 'You, your sons and your family are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood.'" (Numbers 18:1) These men hold positions of high authority in Israel but that doesn't exempt them from being answerable to the Lord. At no time are they above the law or a law unto themselves; they are responsible for obeying the Lord and for living honorable lives that set good examples for others to follow.

The Lord continues, "Bring your fellow Levites from your ancestral tribe to join you and assist you when you and your sons minister before the tent of covenant law. They are to be responsible to you and are to perform all the duties of the tent, but they must not go near the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar." (Numbers 18:2-3a) Earlier in Numbers the Lord outlined the duties of each division of the tribe of Levi. But He made it clear that no one but Aaron and his sons are to minister as priests. 

If anyone other than Aaron and his sons attempts to perform the duties of priest, the penalty is death. Not only will the false priest be put to death, but any legitimate priest who allows this to happen on his watch will be sentenced to death along with the offender. "Otherwise both they and you will die." (Numbers 18:3b) The priests must have reverence for their holy office. It is a huge blessing and privilege to be called to serve the Lord in this way and they aren't to allow anyone to disrespect the Lord and desecrate His house by performing duties they cannot lawfully perform. If a priest willingly allows such things to take place, the Lord considers him just as guilty as the one unlawfully acting as priest because they have both displayed contempt for the Lord. The Lord issued a warning about contempt in Leviticus 22:9, saying, "The priests are to perform My service in such a way that they do not become guilty and die for treating it with contempt. I am the Lord, who makes them holy."

Just as the priests are assigned certain duties that no one else can perform, the Levites are assigned duties no one else can perform. "They are to join you and be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting---all the work at the tent---and no one else may come near where you are." (Numbers 18:4) No one but the Levites can minister to the priests or take care of the tabernacle and its contents. Men from other tribes are not to be called into service at the tabernacle.

To put our passage from Numbers 18 into modern perspective, what would we think if, during a church service, a church member got up from their seat and pushed the pastor aside and began preaching to the congregation in his place? Would it be appropriate for someone whom the Lord has not called and ordained as a preacher to stand and address the people in this manner? No, and it would not be appropriate for anyone in the Bible who is not Aaron or of his direct family line to stand up and perform the duties of priest. Suppose our pastor just meekly stepped aside when someone unqualified to serve as pastor usurped his duties; how would that make us feel? We'd feel our pastor was in the wrong and we'd probably find a different church to attend. So we see why the Lord intends to hold the ordained priests accountable if they allow someone else to come into His house and desecrate it and profane His name by performing duties it is not lawful for them to perform. 

We've seen why no one but an ordained priest can perform certain duties in the Lord's house. But why can't anyone other than the tribe of Levi assist the priests or take care of the tabernacle? We could, in a way, compare this situation to the way our modern churches are run. All the duties performed in our churches are done by people who attend our church. We don't have strangers coming in and handing out bulletins or cleaning the facilities or teaching Sunday school classes. We wouldn't consider non-attendees qualified to minister to our congregation or its guests. In this same way, no one but the tribe of Levi is to be considered qualified to minister at the tabernacle. The other tribes have their own duties to perform for their families and communities and nation. They are to concentrate on what the Lord has called them to do and they are to allow the Levites to concentrate on what the Lord has called them to do. 

If the priests and Levites fail to honor the Lord by respecting His rules, they will bring His wrath upon themselves. "You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that My wrath will not fall upon the Israelites again. I Myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord to do the work at the tent of meeting. But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death." (Numbers 18:5-7)

I am reminded of something the Lord Jesus said: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." (Luke 12:48b) A huge blessing has been bestowed upon the priests and Levites. An enormous amount of responsibility has been entrusted to them. A great deal of power has been conferred upon them as the spiritual leaders of the people and as the caretakers of the Lord's house. They must approach their duties with the solemnity their positions call for. They are doing the Lord's work and must perform this work soberly and respectfully, setting a godly example for the entire congregation and bringing honor to the name of the Lord. 

If the priests and Levites don't respect the Lord and His house, they will be sending a message to the congregation that they don't have to respect the Lord and His house either. When people stop letting God be the Lord of their lives, they make gods of other things or other people---or of themselves. They start doing what their carnal natures tell them to do and stop doing what the Lord tells them to do. They fall away from the Lord and fall into sin. This is why the priests and Levites bear the responsibility for setting a worthy example. If the priests and Levites do everything possible to live godly lives in the sight of the people, but the people go astray anyway, then the priests and Levites can be held harmless for the spiritual condition of the nation. But if the priests and Levites don't regard the Lord as holy and if they don't obey His commands, the community as a whole will begin to fall into the same wicked practices as their spiritual leaders, and the spiritual leaders will be held accountable by God for not adhering to the high standards He set for them.