7-4-16.  Numbers 18:1-32. What A Blessing It Is To Be Called Into His Service- my devotional

Numbers 18:1-32             7-4-16

Key Verses: 5,20b            Kevin E. Jesmer

“You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelites again.” (5)

“…I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites.”  (20B)

Part 1: God’ Gift, To Be Involved In A Very Important Mission  (1-7).

Verses 1-7 read, “ 1 The LORD said to Aaron, “You, your sons and your family are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood. 2 Bring your fellow Levites from your ancestral tribe to join you and assist you when you and your sons minister before the tent of the covenant law. 3 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. Otherwise both they and you will die. 4 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. 5 “You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelites again. 6 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. 7 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.”

How easy it is to just look at this passage and just find ways that we can perform better, our priestly duties as Christians. We might focus on the tithe and be reminded how we must offer up to the Lord a tithe of the best of all that we have. I will talk about these things, but I don’t want to reduce this passage to tips on how to be more efficient in living out our lives of faith. Obedience to God is highly important but it is not the only point.

I wanted to see this passage in light of the previous passages, where we saw the contempt and the rebellion of the Israelites to God and to God’s appointed servants. We learned how several people discouraged the whole nation through giving a bad report about the land. We saw God smote people with mighty acts of judgment, like the plague and the fire from the censers and the giant sink hole swallowing up the rebels. God was not unjust with his acts of judgment. The people rebelled against the God who loved them so much. I want to focus on the goodness of God to a rebellious people and how he provides and helps his people to come out of the darkness of sin and move forward by his grace.

After reading the last few chapters, all I can say is, sin brings so much unnecessary tragedy. It is such a waste of life and resources. But reigning over the darkness is the Lord, who delivers his people from the power of darkness. And his deliverance is seen in this chapter. Chapter 18 seems to be saying, “Yes, things were stagnant and toxic because of the rebellion. But now that is all behind us. Now it is time to move on. Let’s get on with the task at hand, coming to know the Lord, bringing him glory and expanding the territory of the Kingdom of God.“

This is very practical to us today. There are times in life when we are caught up in the agonies of sin. We complain about leaders. We complain about the church. We complain about how God is leading our lives. We spend a season of our lives in such self imposed suffering. And then God intervenes in miraculous ways and we are set free.

When this grace of God shines forth, it seems like the night is all over and we are free to once again enjoy life in Christ with the fellowship of believers.  We are free to serve God’s purpose in our lives. We feel like we are coming to our senses. We wonder how we could have ever allowed such stagnation to happen.

God reminded them of their identity and their mission at Levites. God told them that this mission was a gift to them. The mission and the fellow co-workers was a gift from God. This is God’s love. He gave the gift despite the peoples’ rebellion. Now they had a clear direction for themselves and their whole family to serve the Lord. They and their whole families were to serve in the tent of the covenant of the law. But only Aaron and his sons, could serve as priests in the altar of the sanctuary, everything inside the curtain. There was much work was to be done and done constantly, which required the hands of a good number of people working in unison to serve the Lord and the community. The work was hard, but it was a gift to the people. Our God is a gracious God.

We can learn so much about our God who provides a way out of the darkness of sin. Let’s summarize…

God provides:

1. A mission to minister before the tent of the covenant law. They were to perform the duties of the tent and care of the sanctuary. This is an ultra important responsibility and mission to be given.

2. A spiritual gift. This service of the priesthood is a gift. (7)

3. Co-workers. (6) God selected fellow Levites from among the Israelites to help serve at the tent.

4. A perpetual share in the offerings. The Levites were given a part of the most holy offerings. (8) These included meat, wine, olive oil, and tithes.

5. A family mission. They could serve the Lord with their families. (1)

6. An identity as servants of the Lord, serving a very important mission. (5)

The Levites were given a very important mission. Verse 1-5 reads, “The LORD said to Aaron, “You, your sons and your family are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood. And verse 5. “5 “You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelites again.” Their mission was linked to God withholding of God’s wrath. The priest must stand between sinful humanity and the holy God. He brings people to God and God to people. It was because they were working to facilitate the making of the offerings. They were to help their fellow Israelites make their offerings to God. God gave to Aaron and his descendants the responsibility of offering sacrifices and caring for the sanctuary. Other Levites could help, but only Aaron and his sons could go near the altar and the inner sanctuary. The altar alone stood between the people and judgment. Aaron and his sons were to make the sins of the people so truly their own that they were to eat the Sin offering, as already commanded in Leviticus. If Aaron did not properly assign their duties to the servants and if they did not warn of the dangers, not only would they die but he would die as well. It was a very important office to serve in. It could never be taken lightly. Priestly work is an awesome responsibility.

Like modern day Levites, we, a Christians are called to be a kingdom of priests, to bring God’s gospel to a sinful world (1Pe 2:9-10; Ex 19:5-6). Jesus is our great high priest, the one mediator between God and people. We are to minister by sharing the Gospel and loving and serving the people so they can hear the presentation of the Gospel. God can work through the hearing of the Gospel. People come to have faith in the one and only sacrifice for sin, Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 2:5 reads; “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus. Look at what these following verses have to say about our calling in the Lord.

1 Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Exodus 19:5-6, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, ⁶ you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

Part 2:  Tithing Is More Than A Task, It Is An Attitude Of Worship (8-32).

Verses 8-32, “ 8 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 your portion, your perpetual share. 9You 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[a] or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons. 10 Eat it as something most holy; every male shall eat it. You must regard it as holy. 11 “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. 12 “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. 13 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.  14 “Everything in Israel that is devoted to the LORD is yours. 15 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. 16 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. 17 “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. 18 Their meat is to be yours, just as the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh are yours. 19 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.”  20 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. 21 “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. 22 From now on the Israelites must not go near the tent of meeting, or they will bear the consequences of their sin and will die. 23 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. 24 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.’” 25 The LORD said to Moses, 26 “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. 27 Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. 28 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. 29 You must present as the LORD’s portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.’  30 “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. 31 You and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere, for it is your wages for your work at the tent of meeting. 32 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.’”

The Levites received the tithes, but they were also to tithe. Look at verse 26-32. The tithes were assigned to the Levites and their maintenance. They were given no land in Canaan.  However, their needs were abundantly provided for through the tithes and offerings, and they too were to tithe. They had to offer to God a tenth of what they received, treating their income the same as anyone else did by giving a portion to care for the needs of the other Levites and the Tabernacle. If Israel was responsible in respect to tithing’s the needs of each one of them would be met.

The tithing principle is still relevant for us today.  Tithing is God’s wisdom. Not only does it help us to keep our hearts focused on the Lord, it also provides for the material needs of God’s work. God expects all his followers to supply the material needs of those who devote themselves to meeting the spiritual needs of the community of faith.

God’s servants received many good things by serving as priests, but they were promised the best inheritance – God himself. Look at verse 20, “20 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.”  God himself is the best share and inheritance. If we belong to God and God belongs to us, we have everything.

This passage is more than tithing. It is about an attitude of worship. Let’s look at the passage and glean from it some teachings concerning the attitude a believer should have…

The Levites were to:

1. Regard the things in the tent as holy. (7b, 10b)
2. Be ceremonially clean (13b)
3. Rejoice that God is their inheritance. (20)
4. Realize that everything is to be devoted to the Lord. (14)
5. Learn the concept of redemption. (15b)
6. Learn the consequences of their sins. If they don’t come back to God’s way they will die.
7. Learn the concept of substitution. The Levites would bear the responsibility for any offenses

they commit against the tent. (23a)

8. To have a deep sense of responsibility (23)
9. Offer the best part and the holiest part. (29b)

The Point:

1. Be thankful for God’s provision
2. Be thankful that God draws us out of the darkness and helps us to focus on living by faith.
3. Move forward with God according to his plan. Don’t just dwell in the realm of complaints and

rebellion.

4. Take your calling as a member of a priest of God seriously. Lives depend on it. The glory of

God must shine forth.

5. It is more than just tithing faithfully, it is about worship and attitude and serving the Lord.
6. God is our very best inheritance.

Prayer: “Lord, too long have I remained stagnant in the darkness of sin. Thank your for setting the path of my feet straight and helping me to be your servant, called to glorify your name and lead others to you.”

One Word: The call to serve the Lord is truly a gift from God.