Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Numbers 18:8-32 comments: the priests supported

 

Numbers 18:8 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever. 9  This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons. 10  In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee. 11  And this is 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 a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it. 12  All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee. 13  And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the LORD, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it. 14  Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine. 15  Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem. 16  And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. 17  But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the LORD. 18  And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine. 19  All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.

 

Here is a declaration of how the priests were to be supported and what their compensation was to be. There are very good correlations between this and supporting a pastor today but they are often carried too far and some pastors have been made quite well-off by the expectation that their congregation views them like the Hebrew priests.

The New Testament provides warnings for Pastors (Bishops) today and Deacons about the love of money and being eager for gain.

1Timothy 3:1 ¶  This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. 2  A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; 3  Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; [meaning greedy for money or base gain]  but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; 4  One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 5  (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) 6  Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7  Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

 

    8 ¶  Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; 9  Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. 10  And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. 11  Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. 12  Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 13  For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

 

Titus 1:5 ¶  For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:

 

    6 ¶  If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. 7  For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; 8  But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; 9  Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

 

1 Peter 5:1 ¶  The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: 2  Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 3  Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. 4  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

 

Verse 12 mentions the firstfruits offered to the Lord. Christ, at His resurrection, is regarded as the firstfruits of the eternal resurrection from the dead.

1Corinthians 15:20  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept…23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

 

A covenant of salt is one of those interesting references that is not explained fully in the context as many things are mentioned passingly in the Bible as if you would know them like what an angel actually is, for instance.

Salt was of vital importance in the ancient world. In the early Roman Republic one of the main reasons for road-building was to make transporting salt easier. Camels would bring salt hundreds of miles and was often exchanged for slaves. The word salary comes from salt because that is how people were often paid. When the Phoenicians learned how to make salt by using seawater on dry land it became cheaper, or so I have read. Salt was a vital preservative.

Salt was and is a seasoning and represented God’s covenant with the Hebrews.

 

Leviticus 2:13  And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.

 

Job 6:6a  Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt?

Numbers 18:20 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel. 21  And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. 22  Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die. 23  But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance. 24  But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. 25  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 26  Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe. 27  And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress. 28  Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the LORD of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the LORD’S heave offering to Aaron the priest. 29  Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the LORD, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it. 30  Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshingfloor, and as the increase of the winepress. 31  And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation. 32  And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.

 

The Levites get the tithe but no land grant. God Himself is considered their inheritance. Only the Levites were to conduct the tabernacle services for God. There were dire consequences if someone usurped that spiritual authority.

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