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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Numbers 18:20 - 18:32
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Of Tithes
v. 20. And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them, Aaron in this case representing the entire priesthood, Num_26:62; Deu_12:12; Deu_14:27; Jos_14:3. I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel; to the covenant God they were to devote their services, and He would, in turn, provide for all their needs.
v. 21. And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, Lev_27:30-33, for their service which they serve, even the service of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. The tithes of all the income among the children of Israel were the Temple revenue; out of these the Levites and priests received their salaries.
v. 22. Neither must the children of Israel, those that did not belong to the tribe of Levi, henceforth come nigh the Tabernacle of the Congregation, lest they bear sin and die, since such unauthorized approach was an act of presumption which was punished in that manner.
v. 23. But the Levites shall do the service of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity, be responsible and make atonement for all the sins of which they would be guilty in connection with their service. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.
v. 24. But the tithes of the children of Israel which they offer as an heave-offering unto the Lord I have given to the Levites to inherit; therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
v. 25. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
v. 26. Thus speak unto the Levites and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, which was to be their regular income, upon which they should be able to depend, then ye shall offer up an heave-offering of it for the Lord, even a tenth part of the tithe. So the Levites also were obliged to set aside ten per cent. of their income for the Lord, this amount being given to the priests.
v. 27. And this your heave-offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshing-floor and as the fullness of the winepress, like grain or wine which they themselves had harvested.
v. 28. Thus ye also shall offer an heave-offering unto the Lord of all your tithes which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the Lord's heave-offering to Aaron, the priest, for the tithe of their tithe was consecrated to the Lord.
v. 29. Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave-offering of the Lord, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.
v. 30. Therefore thou shall say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof from it, as the revenue due to the priests, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshing-floor and as the increase of the wine-press, as though they had harvested this in fields belonging to them.
v. 31. And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households; after paying their own tithes they were at liberty to do this; for it is your reward for your service in the Tabernacle of the Congregation. In this way the Levites were relieved of the cares and worries of every-day life, and could devote themselves exclusively to their ministry in observing the statutes of Jehovah.
v. 32. And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, of enjoying their income with their own families, when ye have heaved from it the best of it, if only this provision were observed; neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel by disregarding these ordinances, or by bringing the gifts of the Sanctuary into an unclean place, lest ye die. If so much depended upon the precepts of the types and the shadows of things to come, how much more does it behoove us Christians to observe the will of the Lord in all respects!