(Numbers 18:8-19)
8. And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever.
9. This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of their’s, every meat offering of their’s, and every sin offering of their’s, and every trespass offering of their’s, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons.
10. In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee.
11. And this is thine; the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it.
12. All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee.
13. And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the LORD, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it.
14. Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine.
15. Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem.
16. And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.
17. But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the LORD.
18. And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine.
19. All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is 202 Numbers: Faith, Law, and History a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee. (Numbers 18:8-19)
God often repeats Himself in the Bible, even as we do with unruly children. He knows our habit of listening closely to what is favorable to us, and then having a sudden attack of deafness if our desires and views are contradicted. We had better listen carefully to what this chapter has to say.
This same material is in substance repeated after this in Deuteronomy 18:1-8 and in Ezekiel 44:28-31; it appears earlier in Leviticus 6:16-18, 7:6-9, 31-33, and elsewhere.
In v. 8, God says, “I have given thee the charge” of various offerings, which can be translated, “I have given thee what is reserved (from the altar) of the contributions made to me, even all the sacred gifts.”115 In other words, certain things which belong only to God are reserved for the priests. These are all the holy gifts, a portion of things given to God.
First, these were portions of the sacrificed animals other than the whole offering and the shared offering (eaten in the shared communion meal).
Second, the oil, wine, and firstfruits were given to the priests for their use.
Third, the firstborn of animals and men (male firstborns) were to be redeemed by the believer, and a payment made.
Fourth, these things that were for priestly consumption were to be shared with his family, but not with a married daughter who was no longer in the same household.
Fifth, in v. 19, this is called “a covenant of salt,” an expression we find also in 2 Chronicles 13:5.
Because salt was used to preserve foods, a “covenant of salt” means an enduring covenant.
St. Paul refers to this chapter when he cites the fact that, although it was his right to do so, he had never charged the church for his travel and support. In 1 Corinthians 9:13-14, he says,
13. Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?
14. Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
The priests could only take certain specified things. This meant that in times of faith, they were well provided for as worshippers brought in their sacrifices and firstfruits. At other times, they were no doubt near starvation. This meant that it was a temptation, in times of waning faith, for the priests to give the people the kind of religion that they wanted. They were thus open to temptation.
There is nowhere in the Bible any guarantee against sin, nor any ground for believing that a good and safe society can be established apart from God and His law-word.
There were other things that the priests could receive: a tenth of the tithe paid to Levites was to be paid to the priests (Numbers 18:26); where there was no living offended person to whom restitution could be made, it was made to the priest (Num. 5:6-8); the priests could eat the bread set before the Lord (Lev. 24:9), and they received the hide of burnt offerings (Lev. 7:8).
According to Maarsingh, “The ultimate purpose of all the offerings was to ensure the good pleasure of the Lord; to eat of them was to have a share in this great benefit.”116 Faithfulness to God leads to an ever widening circle of benefits.
A difference is made between the priests’ portions. First, in vv. 9- 10, we are told that the cereal offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering portions (Lev. 2; 4:1-6; 6:14-18; 7) were most holy and could be eaten only by the priests within the sanctuary. Second, the other group of offerings could be eaten by any clean member of the priest’s immediate family (vv. 11, 19).
There is an important aspect to these rules. The priests were required to be faithful to God. At every point, they, like the Levites, had a carefully circumscribed part in God’s realm. We can say that everyone has such a place, strictly under God’s government and law. At the same time, the priests, and also the Levites, were dependent on the people for their living. It was thus very easy for them to be unduly swayed by the people. The greater the responsibilities God gives us, the greater our exposure to temptations, attacks, and liabilities. People prefer to live their lives without any reminder of their duties to God and His servants. In God’s providence, maximum responsibilities and privileges mean maximum exposure and hostilities. In the modern age, the age of the state, the goal has been to make responsibility faceless by means of bureaucracies, committees, and group decisions. Not surprisingly, we are thereby especially vulnerable to corruption on a massive scale.
This situation whereby God’s servants are required to be strictly faithful to Him while materially dependent on the people is of God’s devising. It requires a strong and courageous clerisy, one capable of withstanding the unstable voice of the people.
The premise of the gifts brought to the sanctuary is that “all increase of every kind belongs to God, and this must be acknowledged by the presentation at the shrine of the first of the first fruits and the first that is born. These are not ‘given’ but ‘presented,’ since they are God’s already.”117 Not only the gift but also the giver belongs to God, and the presentation of the firstfruits and the gifts requires the surrender of ourselves to the triune God.
The plain meaning of this chapter militates against the notion that the true service of God is easy.
We are required to be dependent upon God while materially dependent upon the people. This means that God’s clerisy must seek faithfulness rather than material success. It means that courage is required. The modern state hides its evils in a vast bureaucracy and endless rules and regulations which make for anonymity. The anonymity of cowardice now surrounds us, and all too many men are silent. We do not advance in history by means of any natural force or pendulum, but only by faith and moral courage. This is the great need of our time.
With the Enlightenment, in Europe, the relationship between people and church, already long in danger, was damaged by the rise of the modern state and established churches. In Russia, priests were not allowed to leave their vocation, and their sons had to succeed them; beautiful churches were built, but the clergy was impoverished. Only towards the latter times of the old regime did this change. In Catholic countries, the state so controlled the church that the monarch was the true pontiff, and the Magnificat was in many areas banned as “subversive.” In Lutheran Germany, the controlled clergy married only with permission, and then often the cast-off
mistresses of the local prince. In England, plural holdings stripped many churches of proper pastoral care. The state has a poor record in many areas of activity, and its record in controlling churches has not been good. The state has been a poor substitute for God.