Thursday Night Bible Study

Numbers 18-Numbers 19:10 (Click scripture reference for audio access)

"Privilege And Responsibility!"  •  5.24.12  •  Thursday Night Bible Study, Calvary Christian Fellowship

Intro.

- In dramatic fashion, God has supernaturally affirmed the leadership of Moses and Aaron in front of the elders of the people of Israel.

- Korah and those loyal to him were swallowed alive into the earth and Aaron's rod, a dead piece of wood akin to a walking stick, was chosen by God to bring forth a bloom and ripe almonds!

- Can you imagine now the confidence and the potential to exploit that? The people have been shown and Aaron might have been tempted to bring out "the rod" on occasion.

- I believe that this is why this next section exists. It serves as a statement for correction, on how we are to view God's workers as they serve His community.    

Text

• Numbers 18:1-4 : "Then the Lord said to Aaron: 'You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear the iniquity related to the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your priesthood. Also bring with you your brethren of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be joined with you and serve you while you and your sons are with you before the tabernacle of witness. They shall attend to your needs and all the needs of the tabernacle; but they shall not come near the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, lest they die—they and you also. They shall be joined with you and attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, for all the work of the tabernacle; but an outsider shall not come near you." : With privilege comes responsibility which fell squarely upon the family of Aaron.

- They were to be sure that everything that happened within the tabernacle proper was consistently honoring to God!

- What had He commanded? How was this to be offered? What does He require here? They were to know these things, carefully understanding the code book of Leviticus.

- They were held responsible for whatever took place in the tabernacle as well as that which took place in their personal lives. "You and your sons." These are the priests.

- They were to take responsibility to carry the weight of their priesthood. The priests were to be watchful, guarding their own lives from transgression.

- This is especially poignant the recent rebellion of Korah and the other Levites that had been involved. Sin was not to be tolerated. When witnessed, it was to be dealt with.

- It's interesting that God connects this to employing the appropriate help. Often people in ministry sin by not asking for or seeking help! God knew this and had made provision of servants.

- The Priests were to be assisted by the Levites, attending to their personal needs as well as the needs of the tabernacle proper.

- The ministry of the priests was extremely physical and demanding. Consider, the removal of dead animal parts, ceremonial washings, inspection of sacrifices, hiking to remove unclean things.

- This was a full time job that required more than the Priest's hands. This is why the Levites were necessary, but were still limited in their service.

- The Levites were not allowed to come near the tent of meeting or the sacred articles. That would bring death to both them and the Priests. No outsider was to volunteer either.

• Numbers 18:5-7 :  "And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, that there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel.  Behold, I Myself have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel; they are a gift to you, given by the Lord, to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting. Therefore you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and behind the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood to you as a gift for service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.'" : God clearly delineates the role of the Priest. The Sanctuary and the duties of the altar. God makes sure to emphasize their duties, limiting them to these acts of worship.

- The sanctuary was the place that God met with His people, where He received their offerings.

- The santuary was the one place on earth that God set His presence upon!

- The altar, the killing place was a giant barbecue! The offerings that were place upon it were given by God's people, who were rightly relating themselves to God.

- God took this very seriously and the Priests were to understand the value of their position!

- They were to do this, that there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel. That is a provocative piece of information.

- Could it be that they had been neglectful, not by ommission, but by addition? Understanding what God requires of us is question number 1. What are His priorities for our lives?

- Once that is established, protecting those priorities from other activities, even good and honorable ones, is job number 1!

- It's not just because we should be focused in doing what God called us to, but people around us suffer when we aren't! This is why God reiterated that the Levites were there to serve!

- Notice also: They were to serve as well. God's ministry was a gift to them. Their ability to be close to the Lord brought great blessing to their lives!

- Ministry, service to the Lord and service to His people, is a gift to you as well! It is a gift beyond measure to be able to come and minister to the Lord.

- To bring Him praise. To bring Him our firstfruits. To bring Him our thankful hearts. This is a great privilege! At the same time, what a fantastic privilege to serve one another!

 - To lift up in prayer. To encourage. To correct. These are gifts that we must not neglect!

• Numbers 18:8-10 : "And the Lord spoke to Aaron: 'Here, I Myself have also given you charge of My heave offerings, all the holy gifts of the children of Israel; I have given them as a portion to you and your sons, as an ordinance forever. This shall be yours of the most holy things reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, every grain offering and every sin offering and every trespass offering which they render to Me, shall be most holy for you and your sons. In a most holy place you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you." : A portion of what had been given to the Lord from these specific offerings, were given to the Aaron's family.

- This was the food that was provided for the priests as they worked in and around the Tabernacle. This food would include meat and bread, which would sustain them in their work.

- They were to eat this in a separated place, the food being separate for them.

•  Numbers 18:11-14 : "This also is yours: the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel; I have given them to you, and your sons and daughters with you, as an ordinance forever. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. 'All the best of the oil, all the best of the new wine and the grain, their firstfruits which they offer to the Lord, I have given them to you. Whatever first ripe fruit is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours." : When God employed the Levites, He thought of their needs during their time of service, as well as the needs of their families.

- Notice that they were to have enough to provide for their needs. God is not providing a lifestyle for the people that work for Him, but a life is necessary.

• Numbers 18:15-20 : " Everything that first opens the womb of all flesh, which they bring to the Lord, whether man or beast, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.  And those redeemed of the devoted things you shall redeem when one month old, according to your valuation, for five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. But the firstborn of a cow, 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 burn their fat as an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. And their flesh shall be yours, just as the wave breast and the right thigh are yours. All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as an ordinance forever; it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord with you and your descendants with you.' Then the Lord said to Aaron: 'You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel." : This is the balance that this chapter swings on for the Levites and for us. We are to have what have need of, but always understand that our portion is in God!

- Our portion is not in a piece of the land, in the here and the now. Our portion is to be the Lord and it seems that God needed to make this clear for them.

- We need it to be clear in our minds as well. What we have on this earth needs to serve His purposes. It is not meant to serve our purposes!

- We are waiting for something that the world cannot value. We are waiting to receive all the goodness that God desires us to have as His children.

•  Numbers 18:21-24 : "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.’" : The heave and wave offerings covered the Levites in their provision and the tithe of what was brought in took care of their life.

• Numbers 18:25,26 :  "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak thus to the Levites, and say to them: ‘When you take from the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you shall offer up a heave offering of it to the Lord, a tenth of the tithe." : God had given the Levites these tithes, but that does not mean that they were not to tithe as well.

- They were to give a tenth of their tenth. They were to symbolically lift if to the Lord, to say to God, this is for Your purpose!

- Their worship was not simply ceremonial, nor was it simply their time and effort to serve.  They needed to have something to offer the Lord like the rest of the people!

•  Numbers 18:27-32 : "And your heave offering shall be reckoned to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor and as the fullness of the winepress. Thus you shall also offer a heave offering to the Lord from all your tithes which you receive from the children of Israel, and you shall give the Lord’s heave offering from it to Aaron the priest. Of all your gifts you shall offer up every heave offering due to the Lord, from all the best of them, the consecrated part of them.’ Therefore you shall say to them: ‘When you have lifted up the best of it, then the rest shall be accounted to the Levites as the produce of the threshing floor and as the produce of the winepress. You may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is your reward for your work in the tabernacle of meeting. And you shall bear no sin because of it, when you have lifted up the best of it. But you shall not profane the holy gifts of the children of Israel, lest you die.’" : What they heaved toward the Lord was counted by God in the same way that grain or wine was.

- It might not have had the same earthly monetary value, but in the mind of God, it was the same. It would be the same to God as the fullness of the winepress.

- He sees it in context and the value may not be as much as others give or even as much as you wish that you could give. When it's the first and the best, it's the same value in His eyes!

- Notice that the Lord has to spell out that the best was His. The Levites were no different than anyone else.

- The temptation is always to keep back the best for ourselves and give the leftovers to God! That is not the way that God wants His people to operate!

- When they had given their first and best to Aaron, the rest was theirs to enjoy without any guilt. They would bear no sin because of it, but beware of a covetous heart. What is God's is God's!

•  Numbers 19:1-4 : "Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 'This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come. You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him; and Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood seven times directly in front of the tabernacle of meeting." : A red heifer is an extremely rare red female cow.

- The criteria was that the heifer be perfect in birth, spotless in life and never put into bondage. According to oral tradition, the cow was to be three years old to determine it's "redness."

- If it grew any other color of hair, it was defiled. Once the determination of it's authenticity was settled, around 3 years into it's life, the red heifer was to be slaughtered.

- It's blood was to be taken by Eleazar and spread before the front of the tabernacle of meeting seven times between the altar and the Holy Of Holies.

•  Numbers 19:5-10 : "Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight: its hide, its flesh, its blood, and its offal shall be burned. And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer. Then the priest shall wash his clothes, he shall bathe in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp; the priest shall be unclean until evening. And the one who burns it shall wash his clothes in water, bathe in water, and shall be unclean until evening. Then a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the water of purification; it is for purifying from sin. And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. It shall be a statute forever to the children of Israel and to the stranger who dwells among them." : The dead carcass was to be brought back into the tabernacle and burned completely on the altar.

- This is a burnt offering, a consecrated offering to the Lord. Notice that the priest was then to take cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet that was to be thrown in as well.

- We saw that these ingredients were to accompany the ceremony of the birds in Leviticus 14.

- This is a wonderful picture of Jesus, whose blood provides a final cleansing from sin. He was without a sinful nature and never sinned in life. He was unburdened by sin!

- Jesus was sacrificed outside of the camp, on a hill outside of Jerusalem, on a wooden cross, having worn a scarlet robe and been offered sour, medicinal wine on a hyssop branch!

- In Numbers, the Priest who deals with the heifer would be unclean and a man who is clean shall gather the ashes and take the askes to a clean place outside the camp for storage.

- These ashes were to be kept and then mixed with the water from the wash basin for the purifying from sin! This would be a statute forever for Israel and the stranger!

- How true is that! It's a statute that remains today, as Jesus is the fulfillment of the Red Heifer and His blood stands as the sole cleansing agent for our sin!

- Today, you might hear of people talking about the significance of the Red Heifer to Bible prophecy. Many in Israel are waiting and even seeking to engineer one to reinstitute sacrifices.

- Sadly, that will only prove to be further rejection of Christ, whose blood is better than that of bulls, goats and the ashes of the heifer, according to Hebrews 9:13!

Conclusion

- Now, we'll conclude here tonight for this reason. Chapter 18 is all about tithes, money and provision for the priests and the Levites.

- In my experience, sometimes a chord can be struck that causes someone to be too considerate of their own financial place in the body.

- I believe that the Lord puts this ordinance regarding the Red Heifer, a picture of our Lord, to remind us that no matter what we have given or will give, He has already given much more!

- When we put it in that perspective, we can stand back and be grateful that we have no portion in this land, but that our portion is in Him who loved us and paid for lives with His own blood!