(Numbers 18:1-7)
1. And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
2. And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.
3. And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.
4. And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.
5. And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.
6. And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the LORD, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
7. Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. (Numbers 18:1-7)
The subject of these verses is “the burden of iniquity,” or, in more contemporary English, the burden of guilt. Once again, the book of Numbers gives us something which exposes the gap between modern thinking and God’s law. Modern thinking in this area is simply ancient paganism.
First of all, in relation to what had just taken place, the arrogant attempt of some Levites and some clan princes to seize power from Moses and Aaron, God in v. 7 declares that anyone hereafter who attempts to seize priestly powers not belonging to him, must be put to death. This applies to transgressing Levites as well as others unqualified to be priests. No false modesty on the part of any priests at any time could be allowed to permit a transgression of the exclusive privileges of the priests.
Second, the priestly office meant no merit on the part of Aaron and his descendants: it was, as God says, “a service of gift” (v. 7), a calling established by God’s grace. The fact that it was all of grace made faithfulness all the more urgent. The status was of God’s creation, not theirs by any inherent power. Any priest who permitted unauthorized persons to perform priestly duties was also to die: this was one aspect of “the burden of iniquity” or guilt. God’s electing choice, not man’s will, had to be the determining factor. We are told in Hebrews 5:4-10, that even God the Son, in His incarnation, could not of Himself assume the part of our Great High Priest, except
by the calling of the Triune God: “And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron” (Heb. 5:4).
Third, the Levites are given by God to Aaron and his descendants as a gift from God for His service (v. 6). They are to serve God under the governance of the priests, so that their relationship to God is one of subjection to the priestly line. This did not make the Levites inferior; a good case can be made for their greater importance in Old Testament history, but, with respect to the sanctuary, their part was limited and subordinate.
Fourth, there is an interesting aspect to v. 1, in the reference to the fact that the priests shall
“bear the iniquity of the sanctuary.” T. E. Espin said of this Hebrew word for bear,
The word “bear” has, in the Old Testament, this double sense of “enduring” and
“removing;” but in the person of Christ, who atoned by His own endurance, the two are in effect one.114
Fifth, in Numbers 17, immediately before this, Aaron’s rod had budded miraculously, but no other staff did. There may be a veiled reference to this in Ezekiel 7:10; we are there told, “the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.” This would mean that Aaron’s line felt proud of the miracle that had taken place, instead of being humbled that God’s miraculous power and grace had chosen him.
Sixth, this points us to the key fact of this text, “the burden of iniquity” or guilt. With every gift of God there comes a corresponding duty or responsibility. We cannot ascribe our abilities and privileges to our heredity nor to anything or anyone other than the Lord. We are responsible for the way we use our responsibilities, privileges, and functions.
Now basic to paganism was and is the premise that the greater power and authority, the greater the exemption and freedom from the moral laws binding other men. I was a university student when I encountered a talented art student who insisted that his abilities exempted him from family ties, moral laws, and all requirements of civility. He lived by that premise and was dead before he reached thirty.
This opinion, however, is commonplace in many circles. When Otto Scott first published his study, James I, he was criticized by an historian for mentioning James’s homosexuality, on the ground that this was “a royal privilege.” Some men feel that their status as males exempts them from various civilities and duties. In one area of life after another, we are now returning to the pagan premise that supposed greatness provides an exemption from law and morality. The pagan Greek and Roman gods and goddesses routinely broke moral laws; they interfered with causality, and they substituted personal wrath for law.
This pagan premise is all around us. A flagrant example of this in recent years was President Lyndon B. Johnson; the more power he gained, the more flagrantly he indulged himself. The Roman emperors went sometimes to great extremes to show their contempt for law.
In this text, God, having given to the priests a high office, not because of their merit but because of His grace, tells them that theirs is a high burden of guilt if they are not totally faithful to Him.
In other words, every gift from God, and all His blessings, have as their concomitant a burden of responsibility. Failure to meet that responsibility means a corresponding burden of guilt and judgment.
This applies to all men, and also to all nations. This is a fundamental premise of Scripture, and, in the sacrifices of Leviticus 4, the sins of the high priest are more grievous than those of a prince. Our Lord tells us, in Luke 12:48,
For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
This is also basic to the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. Our Lord tells us there that this is basic to the kingdom of heaven. We see it in history in God’s judgments. In 1 Peter 4:17, we are told:
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
We referred earlier to Ezekiel 7:10, “the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.” The context is very important. According to the whole chapter, a radical judgment was on its way. According simply to a part of this prophecy, Ezekiel 7:5-11,
5. Thus saith the Lord GOD; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come.
6. An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come.
7. The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains.
8. Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations.
9. And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the LORD that smiteth.
10. Behold the day, behold it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.
11. Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of their’s: neither shall there be wailing for them.
In the face of God’s manifold blessings and mercies, their pride had budded and blossomed.
They had not seen God’s hand in their successes and prosperity. Now, therefore, they would see it in a radical judgment.
Ezekiel and Jeremiah both faced hostility in proclaiming God’s coming judgments. They were fully aware of the burden of iniquity or guilt that the people and nation shared. Jeremiah twice tells us of what constituted popular preaching in his day:
They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. (Jeremiah 6:14; also 8:11)
James Moffatt renders it that these popular preachers were “treating the wounds of my people slightly and lightly, saying, ‘All’s well, all’s well,’ when all is not well.” They were applying cosmetics to a cancer.
We see again the relevancy of Numbers. On their way to the Promised Land, the people rejected God and chose death. Men and nations are again making the same choice.