God held Aaron and his sons responsible for the tabernacle ministry
March 29, 2019
Commentary
Throughout this book, God’s people have been stubborn and rebellious, and the Lord has chastened them for it. But in spite of their disobedience, the Lord has been faithful to care for them. Because of His judgment of the rebels at the tabernacle (16:31-35), and His miraculous defense of Aaron’s high priestly ministry (17:10-13), the people were afraid to even have the tabernacle in their camp. Yet Israel was the only nation to have the glory of the living God present with them and going before them (Rom. 9:4).
In today’s reading, God speaks expressly to Aaron (vv. 1,8) which elevates his high priestly ministry even more. The Lord makes it clear that it is the responsibility of the priests to minister in the tabernacle and protect it from being defiled. It is also the responsibility of the Levites to assist the priests in their tabernacle ministry. As long as the priests and Levites obeyed this rule there would be no judgment of the people (v. 5). The priestly ministry was a very serious matter and God held Aaron and his sons responsible for offenses committed against the sanctuary and the priesthood. The priesthood was God’s gift to Israel, for without priests the people could not approach God. The first-born of all animals belonged to God, but they could be redeemed with a price and used for ordinary purposes.
The Lord tells the priests that everything in Israel that has been completely dedicated to me will now belong to you (v. 14). From now on, the sacred offerings that the Israelites give to me will belong to you, your sons, and your daughters. Everything rises and falls on leadership, and Aaron was the leader of the priestly family. He was accountable to God for what happened in the sanctuary (v. 7). Today, God doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands (Acts 7:48), but He does dwell in our bodies by His Holy Spirit (I Cor. 6:19-20). Therefore we must be very careful how we treat our bodies.
Application
Lord, help me to sense my responsibility each day in serving those you have entrusted to me.
Numbers 18:1– 19 (NET)
1 The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your tribe with you must bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you must bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
2 “Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join with you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 3 They must be responsible to care for you and to care for the entire tabernacle. However, they must not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die. 4 They must join with you, and they will be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent, but no unauthorized person may approach you. 5 You will be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the care of the altar, so that there will be no more wrath on the Israelites. 6 I myself have chosen your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given to you as a gift from the Lord, to perform the duties of the tent of meeting. 7 But you and your sons with you are responsible for your priestly duties, for everything at the altar and within the curtain. And you must serve. I give you the priesthood as a gift for service, but the unauthorized person who approaches must be put to death.”
8 The Lord spoke to Aaron, “See, I have given you the responsibility for my raised offerings; I have given all the holy things of the Israelites to you as your priestly portion and to your sons as a perpetual ordinance. 9 Of all the most holy offerings reserved from the fire this will be yours: Every offering of theirs, whether from every grain offering or from every purification offering or from every reparation offering which they bring to me, will be most holy for you and for your sons. 10 You are to eat it as a most holy offering; every male may eat it. It will be holy to you.
11 “And this is yours: the raised offering of their gift, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual ordinance. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.
12 “All the best of the olive oil and all the best of the wine and of the wheat, the firstfruits of these things that they give to the Lord, I have given to you. 13 And whatever first ripe fruit in their land they bring to the Lord will be yours; everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.
14 “Everything devoted in Israel will be yours. 15 The firstborn of every womb which they present to the Lord, whether human or animal, will be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn sons you must redeem, and the firstborn males of unclean animals you must redeem. 16 And those that must be redeemed you are to redeem when they are a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of silver according to the sanctuary shekel (which is twenty gerahs). 17 But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow or a sheep or a goat; they are holy. You must splash their blood on the altar and burn their fat for an offering made by fire for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 18 And their meat will be yours, just as the breast and the right hip of the raised offering is yours. 19 All the raised offerings of the holy things that the Israelites offer to the Lord, I have given to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual ordinance. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your descendants with you.”