The Book of Numbers is full of drama. We've reflected on that recently. And we have also seen many narratives showcasing that truth. A lot of drama and headaches spiritually in the lives of those Israelites as the leadership of the nation dealt with their grumblings and complaints. their rebellions, their flat-out desires for new leadership and a desire for Egypt. Now not only is Numbers full of drama, Numbers is also containing lists of various kinds. Now we knew this starting our series earlier this year. We were in a series of chapters at the beginning of the book that were not narrative. In fact, they're quite challenging chapters to think through and read through. Lists of names, lists of procedures, The Book of Numbers consists of things like this, a mixture of narratives and a mixture of some kind of list of things. Now there are names and sums, censuses that are given earlier in the book. Some of these lists are a reminder of specific regulations and laws. The Book of Numbers consists of these things. And I think the fact that it's mixed in this way does present some of the challenges for the reader, because the reader is confronted with lists of different sorts. But I also think the fact that it's a mixture is helpful. It's not only a set of chapters without end, of regulations. You do have drama that carries you through. Now tonight we come to a section after a dramatic chapter. We come to a section after a miracle that occurred in number 17. And we're coming to laws that do not appear out of thin air. I want to emphasize something about regulations and laws as we encounter them in numbers. They are connected to what surrounds them. In no place do you arrive at a chapter in numbers of regulations or extended applications of laws and think to yourself, well this must have no bearing on what's preceded and maybe I can just skip this entirely. We should instead notice a literary logic. There's a literary logic to the lists of numbers and summations and censuses as well as laws and instructions. We come to that tonight. And in Numbers 18, it is right on the heels of a story that had a question at the end. So the chapter division that we saw this morning starts, or our chapter division tonight, starts right after chapter 17, 13. In chapter 17, 13, the people are crying out, confident that they are now going to die imminently. The wrath of the Lord's gonna break out on them. Anyone who comes near to the tabernacle, we are done for. So the question is, are we all to perish? And what I want us to consider is that chapter 18 answers that question. Chapter 18 is a list of regulations that are saying to the people, behold the provision God has so that you don't perish. So that you can come near to the tabernacle and not be struck dead, but indeed come near by the appointed means of the priesthood. So chapter 17 is a narrative. Chapter 18 is a list of laws and instructions, but they relate. Chapter 18 can function like an answer, a chapter-long answer to the question. This morning, when we were looking in Chapter 17, I did not want to look into Chapter 18 at all, saving it entirely for tonight. You're welcome. And in Chapter 18, 1 to 7, we're going to look at a reminder of the role of these Levites. And in order to set this up, I want to consider how the tabernacle is a place that is portable, that symbolizes the presence of God with the people. We must remember that this is not the first time in the narratives of Scripture where the people of God are to be in the presence of God in some kind of sanctuary. I want to press on the point that Eden was a place of presence and blessing and dwelling with God, like a proto-temple. There wasn't instructions like, build this in Eden and build that. Make it of this material and with this thread. But nonetheless, the tabernacle and later the temple that would follow under Solomon, they are echoing the earlier installation of God's own design, a garden sanctuary. And in the garden sanctuary, Adam was given a priestly role in Genesis 2.15. To keep and to work the garden. The priests in Numbers have those same verbs associated with their work at the tabernacle. To work and to keep it. To serve and to guard it. It's the same language. Old Testament scholars are rightly convinced, well, those that see the Bible in an interconnected way, scholars that come with a posture of faith and trust and a sense of the divine authorship of Scripture, so with that nuance, that qualification, the Old Testament scholars who understand the Scripture this way, they rightly see That the pairs of these verbs occurring together with the priests help us see that the tabernacle is like returning to Eden as much as one can in a fallen world. That the priests and the Levites are functioning like little atoms. Like Adamic figures and shadows in this tabernacle complex, they are doing holy work. They are to guard the sanctuary. They are to keep out what is unclean. In other words, they are to seek to do faithful work where Adam had failed and was unfaithful in his task in Genesis 3. With that in mind, we are reminded of their guardian work in verses 1-7. 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. This verse that opens the passage is reminding Aaron about the huge responsibility that he bears as a family member of Levi. He is not only a family member of Levi, he is the line of the priesthood from his name forward. That means Aaron and his sons, they have a responsibility to care for the sanctuary and to ensure that it is not transgressed, that people do not come wrongly into the holy place, that they do not tamper with the golden and bronze vessels inside and outside the sanctuary. These things belong specifically to the tasks of the priest. And if the people of Israel or any outsider beyond the camp were to breach the holy grounds of the sanctuary, it is the responsibility of the priesthood to put them to death. That's right. To put them to death. This was not a, well, we'll gather them together and then we'll see what maybe should be done. Chapter 18 makes clear a role that the priests have and the Levites who aren't priests, they all share in this responsibility to guard the sacred sanctuary. That means, should someone transgress the boundaries of holy things and precincts in a way that violates God's law. It says, you and your sons, your father's house shall bear iniquity connected with it. This we see unfolding in the next several verses. This means that if you fail in your task, I will hold you responsible. You will bear the iniquity. And then at the end of verse one, you and your sons, you shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood. So both the sanctuary and the priesthood have boundaries, responsibilities, particular regulations, and nobody has the license to mess with that. Nobody in Aaron's family can say, well, we've done it this way for a while. What if next year we do it this way? Nobody gets to redraw boundaries of the sanctuary, saying, well, I know you can only come as far as the court of the temple, and those of you in the tribe of Simeon or Issachar, I know you really long to go into the sanctuary. So this year, we'll open up the tabernacle's holy place. Nobody gets to do things like that. These are laid down with explicit laws, and if the priests fail in their task, they are held to a higher responsibility because of who they are. They are appointed by God. And I think this is why in Leviticus 10, two of Aaron's sons who defied the commandments of God were struck down by God, and their bodies were carried outside the camp. It is because of who they are and who they represent, both God to the people, both the people to the Lord, that they must take their task with utmost seriousness. This means, in verse 2, 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 sanctuary. Now, if you were to visualize with me, I don't have the board with me tonight up here to draw this, but I've drawn it enough. If you visualize the rectangular sanctuary, and you have three tribes on each side, we have to remember, where does the tribe of Levi fit? Not on just one of those sides. The tribe of Levi, within the other 12, they form an inner ring between the tribes and the sanctuary. They're like a buffer zone. One Old Testament scholar said, the priests and the Levites act like spiritual lightning conductors. There's an image for you. These people act like spiritual lightning conductors to where they will take upon themselves the iniquity and the transgression of the laws if they fail in their task. In verse 2, The tribe of Levi has this responsibility to help guard the sanctuary. In the encampment of Israel, it was an important role they played. In verse 3, they shall keep guard over you and over the whole tent. Part of the role of the Levites is to help the priests. One of the ways they help the priests is to guard them. And you might think, well, how necessary is that? Do the Levites serve in some kind of manner of security detail? I mean, quite literally, yes. That won't be the only thing they do. But part of their job is to form a barrier of security around the camp of Israel because of the holy work taking place inside. Now, if an Israelite thought, well, you know, what's the point in that? Why is that really that necessary? That might suggest that they don't have a sense of the gravity and weight and holiness of what's taking place with the priest's work. That work is of the kind of seriousness and weight that good and right and faithful guardians are placed around it. 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. Now I don't know if you just read these verses and you think, my goodness, the sheer seriousness here is such that if they don't take these instructions seriously, they are literally taking their lives into their hands, and that's true. These Levites are not all priests. So we have to keep in our mind, all the priests are from Levi's tribe, not all Levites are priests. Number 16 illustrated that. Korah was a Levite. Korah was not a priest. Korah wanted what the priests were able to do. But here it is clear in verse 3, these non-priestly Levites, they don't have contact with the holy vessels that have been set apart for priestly work only. Now, if they come before them and they violate the commands of God and they trespass the offerings and bronze instruments, then both they and you shall die. That's what verse 3 says. They will come not to the vessels of the sanctuary or the altar, lest they and you die. This is going to require everybody among the community of the Levites and the priests especially to be of one mind here. They all have to work together to ensure that everybody is doing what they ought to be doing and that nobody is seeking to do what has been forbidden to some group. This is going to take a lot of focus. Nobody's going to be able to be sleeping on the job. You genuinely are caring for your neighbor if you're a Levite by doing your responsibility and not doing what you've been prohibited. They are to live in love and unity and peace in this way. Verse 4 says, They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent. No outsider shall come near you, and you shall keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel." So this guardian role is emphasized, and you might wonder, well, no wrath again on the people? What could that refer to? I think most recently in the literary flow, we're to think of number 16. Here are people who were not priests, who wanted to do what the priests do. That ended up in judgment, didn't it, in number 16. And so wrath had broken out by the righteous hand of God into the midst of the people. And he says, you should all do your appointed tasks so that no judgment would come. Trust the Lord. You see, that's what it's gonna have to require. It's gonna have to require humble trust from all the priests and all the Levites. that if they will trust the Lord, and they will rely on His commandments, and they will humble themselves in the community, they will experience the favor and blessing of God, the gracious mercy and reconciling hand of God, they will not fall in condemnation. But if they rise in presumption and self-exaltation, if they reject His commandments and defy His authority, then where would that lead but to condemnation? And so they should humble themselves and they should trust the Lord's commandments. He knows what he's doing. In verse six, he says, behold, I've taken your brothers, the Levites from among the people of Israel. They're a gift to you. given to the Lord to do the service of the tent of meeting. This is good for those priests to be reminded about. Who are those non-priestly Levites? Are they insignificant to the work around? No, he says, they're actually a gift for you. They're gonna aid you, they're gonna guard you, they're gonna help you, they're gonna do all the tasks that are appropriate to them. And we know as well that the Levites were involved in the taking down, the dismantling, the transportation, and the rebuilding of the tabernacle in all the traveling. There were Levites who had specific tasks to do certain things, and therefore they are to meet those obligations, those duties with humble trust. In verse six, they are a gift to you, given to the Lord to do the service of the tent of meeting. The Levites need to understand, as we rightly serve the priesthood, We are serving the Lord. This is what makes Korah's rebellion so serious. By rebelling against the regulations given to the priests, Aaron and his sons, they were rebelling against the Lord. And so by serving the priest and aiding the priest, they will honor God. And in verse seven, and you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar, all that is within the veil, and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift and any outsider who comes near shall be put to death. So those first seven verses are reiterating some information we learned earlier in Numbers. I don't, just looking over that together and studying those few verses, I don't think we're seeing anything necessarily new. But the Old Testament does have recursive or recurring teachings and instructions from time to time. Earlier in Numbers we were told the Levites had this guardian role. That's repeated here. But why did they need it repeated? because of the events of number 16 and 17. So again, number 16 and 17, if the people hear about Aaron's staff that has sprouted and budded and blossomed and ripened with almonds, and they say, are we to perish? God is saying to them, no, I've given you the Levites so that you won't approach the tabernacle in any unfit or inappropriate way. and the priests who will officiate your offerings so that you will not die. So don't wonder, are we all going to perish now? Remember what I've given you. I've given you the Levites, and I've given them to the priests, and I've given the priests to serve so that you need not perish. Humbly trust the Lord. That's a huge takeaway from a chapter like this, especially after the narratives we've seen. Then the gears switch a bit to the provision for the priests. Some of this will sound familiar to us as well. From verses eight through 20, provision for the priests is given. He says, then the Lord spoke to Aaron. Now that doesn't happen as often. Normally we would not expect it to read that way. We would expect, and the Lord spoke to Moses. That's right. But occasionally, and when I mean occasionally, like one other time earlier than this, and that's it. And so occasionally you will see this, the Lord spoke to Aaron. And he says, behold, I've given you charge of the contributions made to me and all the consecrated things of the people of Israel. I've given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual due. What is that about? Well, contributions or consecrated things, these mean offerings that Leviticus talked about. You're going to bring offerings. Those are the consecrated things. Those are the contributions. You're going to bring that. And in what way is that helpful to the priests? Well, listen, there are some offerings Leviticus tells us about. Not all of it's going to be burned up. Some of it's going to be burned on the altar. The rest of it's going to go to the priests. They need to eat. It's not as if the Lord's just going to magically provide for their system. You know, I say magically, but you know, with the Lord to be supernaturally providing for their bodies to sustain them without food. These are priests who have to eat. And part of the way the Lord has ensured their provision is through the regulated offerings. The Israelites are going to have as part of their regimen of offerings, offerings that will be given that will be partly going to the priests. He calls that there in verse 8, their perpetual due. That means the Israelites have something they owe, something that is to be obligatory, not because they shouldn't want to, but the Lord has commanded that it work this way. He has ensured that part of the responsibility the people of Israel have is to provide for the Levites and the priests specifically. So he says to Aaron, who's the high priest, that I have given these things to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual due. I'm gonna provide for you, so humbly trust me. In verse 9, this shall be yours of the most holy things reserved from the fire. And what he's going to do, he's going to mention several offerings from which the priests would benefit. You know, there is an offering called the burnt offering in Leviticus 1, that you bring it, that whole animal is burned up. Okay, nothing's left over. But other offerings, like a grain offering, or a reparation offering, or a sin offering, these are different. So he names, in verse nine, every offering of theirs, every grain offering, every sin offering of theirs, every guilt offering of theirs, which they render to me, shall be most holy to you and your sons. What that means is, I'm reminding you, Aaron, and to your family, I have certain offerings that you will glean food from. The grain would become the flour and bake to be bread and cakes. And then of course the other animals, the animals in certain offerings would provide meat. In verse 10, in a most holy place you shall eat it. Let's be very clear here. He doesn't mean eating it in what we call formally the most holy place behind the veil. He's not saying, now priest, when you eat, you have to go behind the veil in front of the ark and use that as a table or whatever. None of that's taking place. This, in a most holy place, that probably means in the precinct of the courtyard where the holy things are. This is not the formal title we should understand here. That is prohibited from people to just go behind the veil. Only the high priest does that once a year. and then the Lord commanding Moses to bring the staffs in if there's a unique situation like that in number 17. So in a most holy place you shall eat it, every male may eat it, it is holy to you. So he's talking about the male priests, specific things given to them. Now you might say, well, some of those offerings, can't they just take some of that food and say, well, you know, I've got some people at home, I want that as well. The difference here is that certain things were consecrated to the priest in a holy way, and the priest as individual sons of Aaron were holy in that way. And only these holy priests were to partake of such holy consecrated offering. And so it's given especially for them and their work. Verse 11 says, this is also yours. The contribution of their gift. He's talking about the Israelites' gift. The contribution of their gift, all the wave offerings of the people of Israel. I've given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual do. Everyone who's clean in your house may eat it. Now if you go back to Leviticus, what you find is that there are certain offerings called a wave offering, which seems to simply mean a part of a sacrifice that is lifted up And you know, maybe it's waved back and forth, maybe it's waved side to side. It's hard to imagine exactly what the motion would be for the wave offering, but it's at least lifted up in some kind of public consecrated way. And he says, not only is this yours, it belongs to everybody in your house too. Just make sure they're ritually clean. That means the priests have to attend to the fact of ritual cleanliness and making sure that no one in their house is defiled and they can eat those offerings. And that's because this has been ritually set apart for sacrifice, and only those ritually clean are to partake. And so if the priest takes it home, and everybody in the home is ritually fit, then that food is also for them. Then in verse 12, all the best of the oil and the best of the wine and of the grain, the first fruits of what they give to the Lord, I give to you. The first ripe fruits of all that's in their land, which they bring to the Lord shall be yours. Everyone who's clean in your house may eat it. We don't only mean here then that the wave offerings of meat, that this is a good thing. Look at what else is specified in verses 12 and 13. Fruit, wine, oil, The first fruits of the land. Now, if we remember what's lacking for the Levites, they don't get an allotted territory when Joshua leads them over the River Jordan in the book of Joshua. The other tribes have various apportioned territories, and they're going to enjoy those harvests. The Levites are different. The Levites will not have one territory. They're going to be spread out in many different cities throughout the land. 48 of them, if I remember right. And so they don't have a particular region. They're spread throughout the land to serve the people of Israel, and especially to focus on what will be the city of Jerusalem to come. And that means they are going to depend on what grows in the regions and territories that are apportioned to the other tribes. And when the harvest time comes, those people are going to be able to have oil. They're going to be from their olives. They're going to be able to have wine from their grapes. They're going to be able to have grain and first fruits from the land. And you know what is to go to the priests? The best of those things, the first fruits. the first fruits, the best, or in the first of the ripe fruits in verse 13, that's all in their land, they shall be yours, and everyone in your house may eat it. This means throughout the land of Israel, the priesthood is being supported by what's being grown there in those regions. I tell you something this does imply, they're going to the land. They're not there yet, they're wandering for years and years to come, But this requires a stationary allotment of territories. This implies then the fulfillment of the Lord's promise to bring that next generation in. It's going to happen. These regulations are for that. In verse 14, something else that is going to belong to the priests, every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. And you might think, well, what's the devoted thing? How's that any different from what's previously mentioned? Well, this could be a devoted thing that people give in swearing an oath or a vow. These were voluntary, so it's not like the first fruits of the ground were in the exact same category as verse 14. You might be able to make a vow or swear to provide something and you have devoted it for a purpose. And he says, listen, if people do that, if they devote something to the priesthood, I'm not keeping that from you. Those devoted things belong to you. Then in verse 15, everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn of man you shall redeem, the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem, and their redemption price, at a month old you shall redeem them, you shall fix at five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is 20 geras. Verses 15 and 16 are about other things that can be committed to the priests for food. Now, the first thing that opens the womb is called the firstborn. Whatever first opens the womb of an animal, that's the firstborn animal for that mom. And whatever opens the womb for the human being, that's the firstborn child. And he says here in verses 15 and 16, the firstborn belong to you. How does that work when it comes to people? That's a little strange because, you know, we're not sacrificing people. And so he says here, the way the firstborn person belongs to you is that the family gives five shekels in place of it. So by bringing five shekels to you, that represents the firstborn that's come from your womb. And then there are other things that you can't bring to the priests, unclean animals. So you value those at various prices, and in place of an animal that's unclean, or in place of a human being, you bring a particular deposit of money, and that that will be something used by the priests. But then in verse 17, there are other things that are totally fine to bring. The firstborn of a cow, firstborn of a sheep, firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem, they are holy. you shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat-ass food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. I think he's saying, listen, you can bring those to the priest, those are fitting offerings. And you know what the priest will be able to have, he's saying? They will be able to have meat from those offerings. Verse 18, their flesh shall be yours as the breast that is waved and as the right thigh are yours. Those are references to an earlier wave offering detail. So he's again trying to reiterate the provision for the priests. How are they going to eat? They're going to depend on the generosity and obedience of the people. One of the ways that the priests will be loved and cared for by the people is if they will pay attention to the firstfruits of the harvest, the firstborn among their flocks, and that if anything is a human being that's born first or an unclean animal that gives birth first, money is given in that place. But either way, the priests are blessed and upheld by the people. And then the priests bless and mediate for the people. It's one grand system that requires everyone's obedient participation. And all the pieces have to be moving. The commandments of the Lord have to be cherished by priest and non-priest, by Levite and non-Levite, so that as one large nation together in a land of promise, they will love the Lord and draw near to Him. It's a wonderful thing and a gift of God to the people. It's not Eden, but these priests are to guard, and they are to serve, and they are to care, and they are to be faithful image-bearers. In verse 19 and 20, this particular section ends like this. All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord, I give to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual due. It's a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you. Have you ever noticed that phrase before, a covenant of salt? That's not used a lot. Essentially, one other spot in the Old Testament where that is clearly appearing in 2 Chronicles 13, five. A covenant of salt probably has in mind the ancient Near Eastern practice of using salt to preserve something for a long time. When he says here, this is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord, he's talking about an agreement that is being forged in these covenant obligations. I am saying these commands to you, you in the covenant at Sinai have agreed to follow my commands that I give you as the Israelites, and therefore this is binding. It's to preserve your life from here forward. It's like a covenant of salt. Now, it was also the case that there were sacrifices and actual salt was added. This is probably being used to describe the enduring effect of this agreement, this relationship between God and the priests and the priests and the people in the camp. He says in verse 19, it's your perpetual due, which means this is the ongoing responsibility and obligation. And it's a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and your offspring. At the end of this little section in verse 20, he says to Aaron, you shall have no inheritance in their land. All right. We reminded ourselves about this corporately just a moment ago, right? They don't have an allotment. You don't open a Bible map and say, here's the region of Issachar. Here's the region of Simeon. Here's the region of Judah. Where's the region of Levi? It just doesn't work that way. You open a Bible map and you see allotments for the tribes, for everybody but Levi. You shall have no inheritance in the land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel. I am your inheritance. You just gotta sit on that for a moment. The Lord is not saying, well, you shall have no inheritance at all. He says you shall have no inheritance in the land. I am your inheritance. What does he mean by this? Well, the priests are engaging in the special work of mediating at the tabernacle on behalf of the Israelites to God and with God to the Israelites. These priests, if you will, have a kind of close proximity to the Lord's presence in their holy work where God says, think of me as your inheritance. If we were to look at this and say, you have no inheritance in their land, Well, you know, what, did they get gypped there like this? Are they somehow in a lesser situation? Hold on, hold on. In verse 20, maybe what we could say actually is that they are in a more privileged situation after all. That their inheritance is not less than, but more than because what they're doing is that important in God's plan. I am your portion and your inheritance. That's not a disappointing outcome. They draw near to holy things with offerings before the presence of the Lord, and the high priest will go behind the veil on the day of atonement? When God says, I am your portion and your inheritance, that's not to be followed by any grumbling priest to say, but I would rather have land. Well, if they were to think about the large Epic of where all of this is going, even Abraham and the others of the patriarchs long for the city whose builder and maker is God, Hebrews 11 tells us. It's just that in the promised land of Canaan, these Levites were not to be caught up with regions. Their place was the tabernacle. That is better than anything beyond it, land-wise. Verses 21 to 24 are about provision to Levites specifically. So you have within the land of Israel, right, a tribe of the Levites, and we focused on the provision to the priests. Let's zoom out a bit in the concentric circle. And we zoom out to the Levites. They're the tribe. Not all of them are going to be priests, but they are going to serve the priests. The Levites might not be priests, but they don't have any, not all of them may be priests, but they don't have any land allotments either. That means the Levites are going to be cared for. In verse 21 through 24, provision for the Levites is given. To the Levites I've given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance in return for their service that they do. Their service in the tent of meeting. So that the people of Israel don't come near to the tent of meeting lest they bear sin and die. To pause right there, verses 21 and 22 are reminding us, listen, just because they're not at the bronze altar doesn't mean they don't have an important role. Just because they're not going in to exchange the bread of the presence at the golden table on the Sabbath day doesn't mean their role is insignificant. Rather, these Levites need to be cared for and provided for because they are guardians and caretakers for the life of the tabernacle itself. And that is so that the people of Israel don't trample upon the holy things in verse 22 in coming near the tent and die. The Levites are like what that Old Testament writer had said, they're spiritual lightning conductors. They are, if you will, to have these responsibilities that the judgment of God would fall upon those who would transgress His commands, and the Levites stand as a buffer zone to ensure that the words and commands of God are followed. Verse 23 says, But the Levites shall do service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance. I think verse 23 is essentially saying they have this responsibility, and if they don't take it seriously, If they say, oh, you know, what's the worst that could happen? Well, they will bear the iniquity for those regulations that are trampled upon, those commandments that are transgressed. They are to ensure that the covenant procedures are followed, and they're to aid the priests and the service of the tabernacle as it's dismantled, transported, and put back up. They've got roles to play. Verse 24, the last of this little section about provision for the Levites. For the tithe of the people of Israel, which they present as a contribution to the Lord, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance among the people of Israel. We should understand that a way the Lord has provided for The Levites is through this language of tithe. Tithe. Now, we're familiar with this language. We use this language in churches all the time in modern times. It's been used in times before these. The idea of a tithe coming from Old Testament vernacular. And it was referring to something of a portion, a tenth. That these tribes in Israel were to take a tithe and give it to the Levites. They were to take portions of their food and grain. It was part of the provision for this tribe. That means the Levites, even if they weren't priests, would be amply supplied because the work they did perform in its non-priestly way mattered for the spiritual well-being of the people. Without the Levites doing their work, helping the priests do their work, the people of God were at risk of trampling the holy precincts and being condemned. And this is a way, in other words, of honoring, I think, the work of the Levites and the priests specifically. Now, back to the priests in verses 25 to the end. The tithe from the Levites to the priests. So we've thought about Israel's provision to the priests. We've thought about Israel's provision to the Levites. But here's what we gotta remember, the Levites are Israelites too. And just as all the other tribes are going to provide for the priests, so will the Levites, who themselves experience some provision already. The Levites are not going to be exempt from caring for the priests. So here's the way verses 25 and 26 sound. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Moreover, you shall speak and say to the Levites, When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I've given you from them for your inheritance, You shall present a contribution from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe. You like that language at the end of verse 26? I smile when I read that. A tithe of the tithe. Alright, so zooming out, you've got all these allotted tribes and their regions, their harvests, their first fruits, their grains, their animals. Tithes of these things are presented to the Levites. The Levites then take a tithe of that. A tithe of the tithe. And where does that go? Verse 27, your contribution shall be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor and the fullness of the winepress. Now, that's really good news, because the Levites might say, well, you know, we can't just bring these things to the priests. We don't have regions where we're harvesting. We don't have grain fields, and we don't have wine presses. And he says, that's okay. When people give to you from their wine presses and fields, and then you give that to the priests, it's like it's from your field. It's like it's from your wine press. So we will count it as if it is yours, because you don't have an inheritance in the land. Verse 27, your contribution shall be counted to you as though it were the grain from your threshing floor, and the fullness of your winepress. Verse 28, so you shall also present a contribution to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the people, and you shall give it to the Lord's contribution, I'm sorry, you shall give from it to the Lord's, hold on, and from it, I'm gonna get this, third time's the charm, and from it you shall give the Lord's contribution to Aaron the priest. Out of all the gifts to you, ye shall present every contribution due to the Lord, and from each its best part is to be dedicated. These Levites have a responsibility to care for the priests. They should always have in their largest perspective, I'm giving this to the Lord. Even if the priest took it home to his family and they ate it, even if the grain offering was given and the priest ate it in the holy precincts. The Levites, in giving it to the priests, are giving it to the Lord, because it's the Lord's servant, the appointed priesthood, that is partaking. It is an obedience unto God they're fulfilling. They shouldn't look at this, in other words, of just some kind of horizontal exchange. We've been given a tithe from the land, we're going to take from that and give a tithe of the tithe to the priests. They are to think of this as also having a vertical component. By honoring the priests they serve, they will honor the Lord who has rescued them out of Egypt and has gifted them this priesthood and a tabernacle to approach and offerings to give. In verse 30, you shall say to them, when you've offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be counted to the Levites as produce of the threshing floor and as produce of the wine press. I think this means basically in verse 30, after you have a tithe of the tithe for your priests, what happens to the rest of what the land gave you? The Israelite tribes that they gifted to you. What do you do with the rest of it? Well, that's yours. After you have ensured that you are pitching in as well to provide for the priests, the rest will be yours to steward. And in verse 31, you may eat it in any place. you and your households, for it is your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting, and you shall bear no sin by reason of it when you've contributed the best of it. But you shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel lest you die. And I think that means not only you should not mishandle any of the bronze or golden vessels or precincts that you're prohibited from, okay, you should take all of that into account. I think these holy things also include the food reserved for the priests. If God has said you are to take this and give this to the priests and you are to think to yourself, I will not, then you're profaning the holy things because that does not all belong to you. And when you do give a tithe of the tithe to the priest, then you can rest assured, eat it with you and your household. You will be in full and good conscience in doing so. You shall bear no sin by reason of it, in verse 32, because you have done what God has asked you to do. You have humbly trusted him. He has faithfully provided for you. So don't let your greed or your covetousness or your unbelief or whatever else you can fill in the blank keep you from rejecting the commands of the Lord and serving the priests. We know that the people of Israel did not always obey the Lord in this regard. We know that according to the book of Nehemiah, here's an example for you. In Nehemiah, and in chapter 13, the last chapter of the book, it says in Nehemiah 13, 10, I have found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to the priests. so that the Levites and the singers who did the work fled each to his field. So I confronted the officials and I said, why is the house of God forsaken? At the end of Numbers 18, the Levites have a responsibility to give to the priest and Nehemiah says, well, here in my day, I've learned that that's not been happening. You can go not only to Nehemiah, you can look in the book of Malachi. In the book of Malachi, it tells us in chapter 3, verse 6, I, the Lord, do not change. Therefore, you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers, you've turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, I'll return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, how shall we return? Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, oh, how have we robbed you? in your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts. If I will not open up the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there's no more need, and I will rebuke the devourer so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil and your vine in the field, nations shall call you blessed. You see, this passage in Malachi 3 indicates that even near the end of the biblical Old Testament era, the people of Israel were not following the commands of the Lord to support the priesthood and the work of the tabernacle, and the Levites in Nehemiah's day were called out especially. There is a question from time to time that believers will ask about being in a new covenant community. Maybe you've wondered this yourself. Should we think in our minds that Christians should practice the tithe, with that vernacular in category, of the Old Testament covenant? Now, the short answer to that is, well, we're not under the old covenant. We don't have a tabernacle. There's not a Levitical tribe in a nation of tribes where there is a priesthood. So in that way, it's not apples to apples. And yet, don't hear me just say no, though in a sense, the answer must be no because of a part of the ceremonial system that has changed. Christ has fulfilled this. And yet we do use language about tithes and offerings all the time as believers, but what we must mean by that is that we want to serve both the work of the church and beyond, the staff that the church supports, and the work of whatever the budget is seeking to steward for the present and future of the congregation. And in doing so, I think it is good to have markers and percentages to aim for. And I've heard believers say, well, even if we're not under the Old Covenant anymore, it's been helpful for people to say, I still want to think of my giving as a tithe, aiming at a particular percentage, even though I know the Lord loves a cheerful giver, and the Apostle Paul and the others in the New Testament never brought the practice of tithing from Old to New Covenant. And I think that's a fair point. While I wouldn't say that we are in an apples to apples situation and that we shouldn't think of ourselves as old covenant Israelites tithing with a Levite nation and a priesthood in this way, it is certainly the case by analogy that we have a kind of new covenant community to support. And so when we use language about tithe and offering, Let's just keep in mind that using that language isn't exactly with the old covenant thing. In fact, if you have been giving recently to the church, you probably haven't brought any grain and animals. And I would just let you recognize that in the Old Testament, that is primarily what was brought. People bringing harvest from land and wine presses and people are bringing animals and they're bringing things to the priests. And that we even recognize, OK, from one era to the next in the new covenant community, that's not quite the way church giving and contribution works. Now, there may be parts of the world where that does indeed take place. I remember being on a mission trip to Cameroon, Africa, some years ago in college. And when I say some years ago, I'm about 20. When I was in this particular village, there was a church service taking place and there were various contributions that were brought into the sanctuary to supply not only for those that were there working in leadership, but also for others who needed food and were in situations of poverty or vulnerability and would be blessed by the gathering and contribution of the people. And so in addition to people bringing the money and the currency of that day, they were bringing fruits from their land. They were bringing all sorts of breads. It was quite a thing to behold. And they were walking down the aisle, bringing their offerings, and their arms were full of things. I'd never seen anything like that. It was marvelous. And what I want us to recognize is tithes and offerings in our new covenant community do look a little different in our practical and logistical measures. And that's okay. We're not under the old covenant. And yet God loves a cheerful giver. And he is the provider of all things. And as we give to support the ministries and work of the church, we do so not just with a horizontal transaction level, do we? We do so knowing that we're honoring the Lord. We're seeking to obey God, we're seeking to do this for His glory and for the strength of the church. There is an analogy Paul gives from 1 Corinthians 9 where he says, don't you know that those who are employed at the temple service get their food from the temple and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? He's reminding them in 1 Corinthians 9 about Old Testament practices. And then he says, well, in that way, here's his analogy. The Lord commands that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. So there does seem to be a loose connection here, and our family is blessed to be supported by you as a congregation. And we have churches in Louisville and beyond, right, that have this mindset of as much as we can be able to be a support to the people proclaiming the gospel, then we want to be able to do that. And in 1 Corinthians 9, the analogy Paul uses to make that implication is the temple service and food from the Levitical priests. And that reminds us of Numbers 18. When you look at Numbers 18, things from the new covenant and supporting the work of the church might not be what pops out from Numbers 18, but in the economy of God's revelation and in the new covenant community, those are reasonable implications to draw. One last one. There is the reality of the Levitical tribe and the priests for their spiritual service that heightens their responsibility and even endangerment. The other tribes were not as in danger spiritually as the Levites because of their careful work. The Levites were not as in danger as the priests, spiritually speaking, because of the holy work of the priests. It seems, in other words, that to be in a position where you are appointed with such weighty things to steward, it would make sense in James 3 for him to say, not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. There is a sense in which the work with holy things and holy truths and the message of the gospel does rightly carry with it a weight of responsibility and strictness in judgment that seems to be in proportion to the subject at hand. There's nothing greater in all the earth than our work with the gospel, to love it, to steward it, to proclaim it, to share in it, to support it. Truly, we are not thinking about a tribe of Levi as a church. We are a kingdom of priests. We have Christ, our high priest and mediator. Things are different. You can't look at Numbers 18 and think, well, the new covenant, isn't it the same? Well, of course it's not, and we wouldn't imagine it would be. Ultimately, we can even realize the good news that the Levite tribe was told that we know is true for all of us in Christ, where God would say to us, I am your portion and your inheritance. We know that the promised land is our future, a new heavens, a new earth, a new creation, but that what God has given us in Christ Jesus is salvation that we might know and receive Him. Not be alienated from Him, and not to be in a future where we are on the fringes of things, but rather to have a glorious future of hope. Our future life in glory will be embodied immortality. Everlasting bodily life with God, and He, and we His people, and He our God, and we in a new creation will enjoy our inheritance. But it is not apart from God. It is with Him. Ultimately, it is Him. Salvation, pardon from sin, justification by grace through faith. What do all of these things achieve? They are used by God to bring to pass what? That we might be brought near to God Himself. These things ensure that for those in union with Christ, He is our inheritance. The way John Piper put it in a book title once, God is the gospel. God is the gospel. Let's pray together.