Numbers · chapter 18 of 36
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Numbers 18 answers the people's fear by defining the service of the sanctuary: Aaron and his sons bear the responsibility of the priesthood, and the Levites assist them without touching the altar. God gives the priests a share of the offerings and the Levites the tithes of Israel, because they will have no inheritance in the land: the Lord himself is their portion. The Levites, in turn, give a tithe of the tithe.
Chapter 17 ended with a people afraid they would die by approaching the tabernacle. Numbers 18 answers with a clear structure: who serves in the sanctuary, what they may do and how they will be supported. It is a chapter of regulations, but its center is a promise: those who devote their lives to serving God are not left without support, and God himself is their inheritance.
The Lord speaks directly to Aaron. He, his sons and his father's house will bear responsibility for any fault connected with the sanctuary, and only Aaron and his sons will bear that of the priesthood. The Levites will join them to assist them, but they must not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, so that neither they nor the priests will die. The Lord says he has given the priesthood as a service that is a gift, and that any outsider who comes near will be put to death.
Then the Lord gives Aaron and his sons the shares that belong to them from the offerings: what is kept back from the most holy things, the wave offerings, the firstfruits of oil, wine and grain, and the redemption of the firstborn. It is a perpetual portion, described as a covenant of salt. The Lord tells them that they will have no inheritance in the land and no portion among the people, because he himself is their portion and their inheritance among the Israelites.
To the Levites the Lord gives all the tithes of Israel as an inheritance in return for their work in the tent of meeting, and he forbids the people to come near it in their place. They also will have no inheritance among the Israelites. And from that tithe, the Levites must in turn set apart a tithe, the best part, and present it to the Lord as an offering for Aaron the priest. The rest they may eat anywhere, as wages for their service, but they must take care not to profane the holy things, so that they will not die.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The priests must guard the sanctuary and the altar, so that God's wrath will not fall again on the Israelites. The priests' service is a form of protection for the whole people, and it answers the fear of the previous chapter.
The Lord says he has given the priesthood as a service that is a gift. Serving in the sanctuary is not a right or an honor someone earns, but a responsibility granted by God.
Aaron is told that he will have no inheritance in the land of Israel, but that the Lord is his portion and his inheritance. Whoever lives to serve God receives God himself, and that is a greater wealth than land.
The Levites, who receive the people's tithe, must in turn give a tenth of that tithe to the Lord. No one is left outside generosity: even those who live from the offerings are called to give from what they receive.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Aaron, his sons and his father's house; Aaron and his sons that of the priesthood. — Numbers 18:1
Answer: The furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, so that they would not die. — Numbers 18:3
Answer: That he gave it as a service that is a gift, and that any outsider who came near would be put to death. — Numbers 18:7
Answer: None: the Lord himself was their portion and their inheritance. — Numbers 18:20
Answer: All the tithes of Israel as an inheritance. — Numbers 18:21
Answer: Set apart a tenth of it, the best part, and present it to the Lord for Aaron the priest. — Numbers 18:26-28
Numbers 18 shows that God looks after those who devote themselves to his service. The people support the priests and Levites with offerings and tithes, and they receive God as their inheritance. In the church today, this invites us to think about how pastors, teachers and missionaries are cared for. It also invites those who serve not to measure their lives by what they own but by the Lord who is their portion.
There is also a lesson on the generosity everyone practices: even the Levites give a tithe of the tithe. No one is only a receiver. In a small group you can ask how you live out generosity, both in supporting those who serve and in giving from what you yourselves receive.
Numbers 18 makes clear the places of priests and Levites and the way the people support them. With this the section responding to Korah's rebellion closes; Numbers 19 will deal with the rite of the red heifer and purification after contact with death.
The Levites received no territory in the division of the land, but cities to live in and the support of the tithe. Their true inheritance was their relationship with God and service in his sanctuary. For believers today the phrase expresses that God himself is the greatest good of one who serves him.
It is an expression in Numbers 18:19 that designates a lasting and unalterable covenant. Salt was used to preserve, and in this context the expression underlines that the priests' portion is a permanent promise from God.