Was Israel given a two fold ministry of priests and Levites, similar to that of early church elders and deacons? Were they to live from offerings? Does this relate to modern preachers living from the Gospel? Let’s look at Numbers 18.
Who were to be the ministers to help the priests in their service?
So the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father's house with you shall bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood. And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. They shall keep guard over you and over the whole tent, but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar lest they, and you, die. They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, and no outsider shall come near you. (Numbers 18:1-4 ESV)
Why were the priests guarding the sanctuary and the altar?
You are to guard the sanctuary and the altar so that wrath may not fall on the Israelites again. Look, I have selected your fellow Levites from the Israelites as a gift for you, assigned by the Lord to work at the tent of meeting. But you and your sons will carry out your priestly responsibilities for everything concerning the altar and for what is inside the veil, and you will do that work. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but an unauthorized person who comes near the sanctuary will be put to death. (Numbers 18:5-7 HCSB)
Because the priests did not have an inheritance in the land, what was to be their income?
Then the Lord told Aaron, “Look! I am indeed placing you in charge of my raised offerings and the holy things concerning the Israelis. Because of your anointing, I’m giving you and your sons a prescribed portion forever. This is what is to belong to you from consecrated offerings spared from the fire: all of their offerings, grain offerings, sin offerings, and trespass offerings that they render to me. They’re to be considered most sacred to you and your sons. You may eat them as consecrated gifts. Every male may eat them. They’re sacred for you. (Numbers 18:8-10 ISV)
What else was to be given to the priests for them to eat?
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. 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. (Numbers 18:11-12 KJV)
Did the first of fruit and animals also belong to the priests?
The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Yahweh, shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. Every first issue of the womb of all flesh, whether man or animal, which they bring near to Yahweh, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. (Numbers 18:13-15 LSB)
How were the firstborn children redeemed? Could the firstborn of clean animals be redeemed?
As to their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your assessment, five shekels in silver by the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. But the firstborn of an ox, the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to the Lord. However, their meat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh. (Numbers 18:16-18 NASB)
What was God’s reason for being so generous with food for the priests?
“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.” 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 18:19-20 NIV)
Why did God give the Levites the tithe of the people as their inheritance?
Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting. Hereafter the children of Israel shall not come near the tabernacle of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. But the Levites shall perform the work of the tabernacle of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever, throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. For the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer up as a heave offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’ (Numbers 18:21-24 NKJV)
Who was the tithe of the tithe to go to? Who did the Levites present it to?
The Lord also told Moses, “Give these instructions to the Levites: When you receive from the people of Israel the tithes I have assigned as your allotment, give a tenth of the tithes you receive—a tithe of the tithe—to the Lord as a sacred offering. The Lord will consider this offering to be your harvest offering, as though it were the first grain from your own threshing floor or wine from your own winepress. You must present one-tenth of the tithe received from the Israelites as a sacred offering to the Lord. This is the Lord’s sacred portion, and you must present it to Aaron the priest. Be sure to give to the Lord the best portions of the gifts given to you. (Numbers 18:25-29 NLT)
Was the tithe given to the Levites to be considered as their own labor and as much their property as the land produced for other tribes?
Therefore you shall tell them, ‘When you heave its best from it, then it shall be credited to the Levites as the increase of the threshing floor, and as the increase of the wine press. You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your reward in return for your service in the Tent of Meeting. You shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have heaved from it its best. You shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, that you not die.’ (Numbers 18:30-32 WEB)
As priests and Levites lived from offerings, may ministers live from the Gospel if they so choose?
Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get to eat food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share part of what is sacrificed on the altar? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who preach the gospel should get their living from the gospel. But I haven’t taken advantage of this. And I’m not writing this so that it will be done for me. It’s better for me to die than to lose my right to brag about this! (1 Corinthians 9:13-15 CEB)
What did Jesus teach us about our generosity in giving?
If you give to others, you will be given a full amount in return. It will be packed down, shaken together, and spilling over into your lap. The way you treat others is the way you will be treated. (Luke 6:37 CEV)
Was Israel given a two fold ministry of priests and Levites, similar to that of early church elders and deacons? Were they to live from offerings? Does this relate to modern preachers living from the Gospel? You decide!
