Well you can turn in your Bibles to Numbers chapter 18. Numbers chapter 18. We're actually going to take up chapters 18 and 19. I'm only going to read chapter 18. And this all may create more questions tonight than I will be able to answer or solve. It's difficult dealing with large narrative blocks. of material, and I would say doubly difficult, even in the sense that it's in Old Covenant Israel. I think I have a bit more familiarity, as I'm sure all of us do, with the Roman Empire and the days in which the apostles lived. than the priestly functions and the Levitical functions and the tabernacle and the temple that we find in the Old Testament. So it'll be a cursory survey and then some practical observations. But again, not every jot and tittle of the passage. So I do want to read, however, chapter 18. As I said, we'll put 18 and 19 together. I'll give you an overview of how I think these chapters function together and in the larger context. So beginning in Numbers 18 at verse 1, 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, 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. "'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. "'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 first fruits which they offer to the Lord, I have given them to you. Whatever first ripe fruit is in their hand, 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. 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, and 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 20 geras. 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. 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. 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. 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 wine press. 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 wine press. 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, 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. Amen. As I said, chapter 19, I think goes along with this. And again, I think that'll be clear as we move through this particular section. But the first thing that I want to make sure we understand is that I think chapters 16 to 19 are a unit or a subset within the narrative itself. Remember that the whole emphasis in the book is on God's guidance of the children of Israel through the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. We see that in Exodus chapter 40, and then we see it specifically in Numbers 9, 15 to 23. So what we have in the book of Numbers is a movement from point A to point B. They come out of the land of Egypt, they are moving now to the land of Canaan, the land of promise, in accordance with God's word to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So ideally, God's guidance would be such, and his presence would be such, that the children of Israel would march faithfully and dutifully through the wilderness to their destination. But all along the way, of course, realistically, they sin, they rebel, and they engage in all forms of wickedness against God. So here in this subsection, beginning in chapter 16, we see an emphasis on the vindication of Aaron's priesthood. So go back for just a moment to Numbers chapter 16. There's a challenge to the leadership. This isn't the first time. In Numbers chapter 12, there was a challenge of Moses' leadership by Moses' own family. It was led by Miriam and by Aaron. Well, here in number 16, you've got outsiders, not within Moses' family, but outsiders in terms of his family, but insiders in terms of the covenant community that offer up a challenge against Aaron and then against Moses. So you have Korah and his rebellion, which seems to be specifically targeted against Aaron, and then you have Dathan and Abiram, and their challenge is specifically targeted against Moses. And I think that that's evident as you read through that narrative. I don't want to duplicate all of that here, but notice specifically in number 16 at verse 3, this is Korah's rebellion. The accusation comes. Verse three, they gathered together against Moses and Aaron and said to them, you take too much upon yourselves for all of the congregation is holy. Every one of them and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord? So basically what Korah wants to do is he wants to function as a priest before God. He wants to offer up sacrifice. He wants to engage in that particular task that is confined uniquely to Aaron and to his family. Notice Moses sees that and he specifically addresses it in verse 11. So Korah's rebellion involved a challenge of Aaron's priesthood. Korah wants to engage in priesthood. So, of course, the particular challenge or contest is to function as a priesthood. Korah and his men get their censers, load them up with fire, bring them out, and present them to the Lord. Aaron would do likewise, and whichever one that the Lord received would be the one that was, in fact, the servant of God. Well, of course, God judges Korah, and then Dathan and Abiram and their company does it through fire, and he does it through the earth, opening up and swallowing those wretched, vile, horrible sinners that challenged God. This wasn't just mutiny against Moses and Aaron, but Moses puts his finger on the situation in verse 11. Therefore, you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord. To fight against God's ordained servants is to fight against the Lord. And all throughout the Pentateuch, Moses and Aaron specifically have been highlighted as God's servants. They are not the ones that have sort of ordained themselves or imposed themselves upon the nation of Israel. Rather, God does that all the way back in the book of Exodus. Well then of course we have God's wrath then poured out upon the children of Israel in the latter part of chapter 16. So beginning in verse 41 all the way to verse 50. So God judges the children of Israel for their complaining. Aaron, functioning as the God-ordained priest, does what a priest does. Notice in verse 48, And he stood between the dead and the living, so the plague was stopped. So Korah's rebellion failed. Korah's censors were not accepted. Now, in this time of crunch or this time of hardship or judgment, Aaron effectively intercedes on behalf of the children of Israel, again, vindicating his priesthood. And then, of course, in chapter 17, you have the budding of Aaron's rod. That was a miraculous display of God's power once again to vindicate, to demonstrate, and to evidence that Aaron was God's man for the priesthood. It wasn't to be divvied up to non-Aaron family people. It was rather confined to that particular family. So that's the connection then with chapters 18 and 19. It shouldn't surprise us that in chapter 18, God threw Moses, but specifically to Aaron. Notice how 18.1 starts. Then the Lord said to Aaron. We see that emphasis in most of chapter 18, all the way up to verse 25. Then the Lord spoke to Moses. Now, typically God speaks to Moses. There are occasions like here where God speaks to Aaron. He does as well in the Nadab and Abihu incident in Leviticus chapter 10. But it's not common. It is unique that God speaks specifically to Aaron. And as He speaks to Aaron, it is completely obvious why He is doing so. This concerns priesthood. So again, it vindicates Aaron and his sons as being the rightful men to serve and function as the priests in God's tabernacle. So that's the connection with chapters 16 and 17 and chapter 18 and then 19. So 18, the duties of priests and Levites. Chapter 19, the laws of purification. That goes hand-in-hand with the priestly function to make sure that the children of Israel are clean or holy such that they can approach the tabernacle of God. In fact, notice how chapter 17 ends. Verse 10 says, And the Lord said to Moses, Bring Aaron's rod back before the testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from me, lest they die. Thus did Moses, just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did. So the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Surely we die, we perish, we all perish. Whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord must die. Shall we all utterly die? They're afraid. Terror has been struck into that. They are learning what Moses is going to specify, Deuteronomy 4, 24, and the Apostle specifies in the book of Hebrews, in chapter 12, verse 29. Our God is a consuming fire. They had witnessed the judgment of God. They had seen the effective intercession of Aaron. But they had also seen the destruction of Korah and Dathan and Debirah. Now, of course, chapter 19 ends with the remedy on how persons can, in fact, draw near to the tabernacle. That's where the laws of purification come to play. the red heifer that is killed and then burned, and then the ashes that are mixed with water, that's the purification rite applied by the priest to the children of Israel such that they can, in fact, draw near to God and commune with Him. So let's go to chapter 18. We'll give just some an overview and then we'll look at in some detail at verses 1 to 7. So basically what you have is the duties of priests and Levites in chapter 18 verses 1 to 7. Then you have the support of the priests in chapter 18 verses 8 to 20. Then you have the support of the Levites in chapter 18 in verses 21 to 24. Then the tithe of the tithes. The Levites themselves must tithe a portion of what they receive that it can go to the priests. Then in chapter 19, you have the preparation of the waters of purification in verses 1 to 10, and then the application of the waters of purification in verses 11 to 22. And again, that resolves the tension or the concern expressed by the children of Israel in chapter 17, verses 12 to 13. So this isn't just a random sort of hodgepodge of material that an editor is throwing in there to keep us on our toes. It is a unit, a very tightly and strictly argued unit, that is to vindicate Aaron's priesthood and to demonstrate that Moses and Aaron are, in fact, God's representatives, God's ordained servants. Now, if you happen to have the Cambridge Wide Margin Goatskin Leather Bible, there happens to be a typo. Notice in verse 11, it has, everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. Everyone should be capitalized. Just a little bit of interesting information there, at least as I understand it, capitalization for the first letter. Just thought I'd get that out now. So notice in verses 1 to 7, the duty specifically. Again, the address is made to Aaron and it says, you and your sons and your father's house with you. So there's a distinction that is working. You and your sons and your father's house with you. Verse two says your brethren of the tribe of Levi. So same tribe, but the family of Aaron is the priestly family. It's not all the Levites that function as priests. The priests happen to be Levites, but not every Levite functions as a priest. So note the responsibility given to Aaron specifically as priest. 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. Now John Gill, I'm going to give a lengthy quote here because I think he gets at what is being said here, shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, the blame of any evil committed there, the punishment of it. These are stewards of the tabernacle. These are men that are specifically tasked even up to and including the implementation of lethal force to protect the tabernacle. Now, again, we need to get in our heads Deuteronomy 4.24 and Hebrews 12.29 that our God is a consuming fire, and that worship is supposed to be according to God's command. It's not according to the worshippers' sort of hankerings or feelings or emotions. Rather, he needs to submit specifically to the way that God has purposed himself to be worshipped. So, Gil says, the blame of any evil committed there, the punishment of it, the priests, Aaron and his sons, if they did not perform the duty of their office aright, he in the most holy place, and they in the holy place, and at the altar a burnt offering in the court, and the Levites, if they did not take care to watch in the tabernacle, and keep out strangers and polluted persons. And thou, and thy sons with thee, shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood, be answerable for any sins, errors, and mistakes that should be committed by them in the discharge of their office, through their own remissness, or not taking care that the Levites did their duty. This shows that the office of priesthood, though honorable, was burdensome, and not to be envied, and that the people needed not to be under such terrible apprehensions as they were, lest they should come too near the sanctuary as to be in danger of death, since it lay upon the priests and Levites especially to take care thereof, and who, if negligent, would suffer." In other words, they are the stewards responsible for the protection of this holy place. And intriguingly, if you go back to the book of Genesis in chapter 2, Genesis chapter 2, you've probably heard me say before when dealing with Adam in the narrative in Genesis chapter 2, that his primary function was not agrarian. His primary function was not as a farmer. His primary function was as a priest. The garden was a temple, it was a sanctuary. It's where God met with his people. And so Adam had a specific task, and that specific task was to guard the sanctuary. Notice in verse 15, then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. Again, we typically think about gardening. We think about vegetation. We think about pruning and all of those sorts of things related to agrarian activity. But the primary emphasis here is upon guarding the temple sanctuary. Don't let Say for instance, talking snakes approach your wife and draw her astray. And then note the same language that is used in Genesis chapter 3 at verse 24. So he drove out the man and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. So, God's holy place on earth, now we know that God is immense, that means He fills everything, that God is omnipresent, He's not just, you know, sort of up there in heaven. When you talk about God's holy place on earth, we don't mean that it contains Him, we don't mean that it has Him in it. but rather it is a representation, it is an emblem, it is a visible representation of God's presence among His people. So the cloud by day, the fire by night, the tabernacle as its operative, as the sacrifices are being made, as the high priest goes into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, God is there. And if God is there, that place must be sacred, or it is sacred, and therefore must be treated as such, and it must be protected. So then notice, as we move on in chapter 18, the distinction is obvious. The distinction between Aaron and his sons with the brethren of the tribe of Levi. And again, this is precisely the sin and the rebellion of Korah. Korah was a Kohathite. Korah had the task of dealing with the external furnishings. He had the task of putting up and taking down the tabernacle. The Kohathites are addressed in Numbers chapter 4 in verses 1 to 20. We see that connection specified concerning Korah with Kohath in Numbers chapter 16. And so, what he had, he wasn't content with. What he had, he wasn't satisfied with. What he had wasn't enough. He wanted to be a priest. And so, you get the logic of this section in Numbers 18. God is addressing the sons of Aaron and their priestly activity, and then the Levites and their activity, connected very directly and closely with the priesthood, of course, but not as priests, rather servants or support to the priests. This makes the connection obvious here. So the legislation of chapter 18 is directly connected to the events of chapter 16 and 17, further vindicating the priesthood of Aaron alone. And then the relationship between the priests and the Levites. Notice in verse 3a, remember he's talking to Aaron. They, the Levites, they shall attend to your needs and all the needs of the tabernacle. So they certainly had access, but not in the ministerial sense where they as priests took the slaughtered animal, poured the blood on the altar, and engaged in the cutting up ceremony, the burning sum to the Lord, and then taking the rest and eating it either with the worshippers, if it was a peace offering, or themselves, according to the legislation that you find in Leviticus chapters 1 to 7. So there is this delineation, they shall attend to your needs and all the needs of the tabernacle. Notice, but they shall not come near the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, lest they die, they and you also. They, because they put their filthy hands in a place where they weren't supposed to, and you, because you didn't stop them. You didn't keep them from engaging in that activity. Remember the instance of Uzzah? There's probably a couple of things going on there. The priests were supposed to carry the Ark of the Covenant, not put it on an ox cart. But when that ox cart did falter, and then that Ark of the Covenant started to fall, Uzzah stuck out his hand and touched it. What happened to Uzzah? God killed him. Why? Because he wasn't authorized to touch it. Now, we read that, we say, that seems a bit severe, that seems a bit harsh. Not at all. We're dealing with the thrice holy God of heaven and earth. And if he tells us not to touch something, then we're not to touch something. And if he gives us detailed legislation on how and why we're not supposed to touch something, then we're really supposed to not touch that something. So it's not harsh, it's not capricious, it's not arbitrary, it's according to the mind and will of God. And if we ask the question, well, why is that? I don't know. God's mind and will is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. Not sure that I can get into the mind of God and tell you why it is thus, but simply that it is thus, and as a result, the worshiper must be faithful and obedient. So I think what we see here is what we've talked about many times as the regulative principle of worship. The priests have a specific function. The Levites have a specific function. You color outside the lines and God will kill you. That's the promise. That's the judgment. That's the stipulation. So now knowing this, let's not duplicate the error that we saw with Korah and his rebellion in Numbers 16 and verse 3. In other words, this is a message to all Israel to respect God's ordained means for the external function in terms of the setting up and the taking down and the transportation of the tabernacle to the internal function of the priest cutting animals up, giving up some to God, and then participating in the rest for himself. The gravity of the distinction is seen in this penal sanction attached. Lest they die, they and you also. And then the demand. Notice the Levites and the outer elements of the tabernacle. That's their responsibility. 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. So you see the Kohathites, for instance, the otherites that functioned as Levites, they had functions. There were specific directions with reference to the tabernacle itself. Notice then we've got the priests and the ministry within the tabernacle according to verse 5. 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. Probably a nod to what just happened in the tragedy in chapters 16 and 17, but probably a nod to the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement was calculated for the remission of the sins of the people of God. Remember on the Day of Atonement, that one day out of the year when the high priest alone would go into the Holy of Holies. He would go in there with blood, and he would pour that blood on the mercy seat for his sin, for the sins of the covenant community as a whole, for the actual tabernacle and the altar itself. Some might ask, why is that? Because the contagion of sin is nowhere more seen than in the altar of atonement for sin. It had to be expiated. And then he takes the second goat and he lays his hands upon that goat, actually presses his hands upon that goat and confesses the transgressions of Israel and then sends that goat out into the wilderness. So God is saying that if this tabernacle functions accordingly and properly, it will avert the wrath of God upon the sinful children of Israel. There is a mechanism in place, there are means in place for atonement. for atonement for sin, and as well, purification for uncleanness, ritual law or legislation for holiness. It doesn't mean without spot, without purity. It means separation. So all these things are built into the Old Covenant system to provide a way of access for the children of Israel to get near their God. Remember that tension, how chapter 17 ends. We can't go near it. Chapters 18 and 19 says, yes you can, but you need to do so through the regulated worship of God. You do so through the priesthood. You do so through the waters of purification. You do so through the sacrificial system. You don't just wander in. If you just wander in and you're an outsider, you're going to be put to death. Now, if you go back to Numbers chapter 1, Genesis in my head now, Numbers chapter 1, look at verses 51 to 53. And when the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levite shall take it down. And when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levite shall set it up. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death. See, they had the ability to execute lawless men that would try to approach the sacred place of God. Going on, verse 52, the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, everyone by his own camp, everyone by his own standard, according to their armies. If you go to chapter 2, you see On the east side, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun. On the south side, Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. On the west side, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin. And on the north side, Danasher and Naphtali. But notice specifically verse 53 in chapter 1. But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel. And the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of the testimony. So basically you have all the tribes surrounding the tabernacle or the Tent of Meeting, but you have the priests and the Levites right there next to it in close proximity, authorized to use deadly force should anybody wander in unawares. So God takes worship seriously. He takes the approach to God seriously. So you see the specific direction given there, and then notice in verse seven, or verse six, rather, in chapter 18. 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. They're a gift to you given by the Lord. So the priests received the gift of the Levites to help the priests along with what Gil calls, and I don't think without accuracy, a burdensome task. You know, James uses this same logic in James chapter 3. He says, my brethren, let not many of you become teachers. Why? Because it's really hard work, because you have to keep a long schedule. No, because we shall incur a stricter judgment. In other words, with responsibility, or with privilege rather, comes responsibility. And so here, the privilege is, oh, we've got this class of Levites to help us out. Yeah, the responsibility is, if you mess up, you're dead. you will be judged and judged sorely, and that is precisely what God is communicating. So when we look at this, we have to understand that worship isn't sort of a corollary in the book of Numbers. Worship isn't something that's kind of a sideline observation along the way. We ought to just stop for a moment and thank God and do our religious thing. It's central. Why? Because people historically have moved from one geographic location to another. But what we find in the book of Numbers is not the emphasis on the geographical movement of a people from one location to another, but it's all predicated on the fact that God is their God. that God promised their fathers that He would give them this land. That He promised to these very people that He would be in their midst. He promised these people that He would be present by way of cloud during the day and fire by night. The whole book is religiously oriented. The whole book is theologically oriented. You're not just supposed to see movement from point A to point B. You're supposed to see the centrality of worship and underscoring the fact that God is worthy. So then notice chapter 18 verses 8 to 20, the support of the priests. Basically what he says here is that when the children of Israel offer up their offerings, except for the burnt offering, the burnt offering was to be consumed wholly. There's no leftovers, there's no bit of meat there for the priests. But every other offering the priests got to eat. Why? Because they didn't get tribal lands. This is what God says in verse 20. There's no inheritance for you in terms of a tribal land allotment. Look at verse 20. 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. In other words, their whole calling and orientation was Godward. So therefore, God is their portion in law. They don't have tribal allotments, they don't keep animals, they don't have farmland. So how do they live? They don't live on love and fresh air. They live based on the offerings offered up by the children of Israel. Certain portions were specified directly for God, but then other portions were specified for the priests. In the peace offering, the worshipper himself got to participate in that also, along with the priest. So this is the emphasis there in terms of the support for these priests. They are a vital cog in the wheel that is covenant Israel, and therefore they need to eat. Don't deprive them of those things necessary. Actually, he's just telling Aaron how it's going to be. And then notice tithes for the support of the Levites. How do the Levites live? Same sort of a thing. They don't get allotments of land. They don't get big farms. They don't get lots and lots of livestock. No. How do they live? They live based on the portion that is given by the people of God in terms of tithing. And that's the emphasis there in verses 21 to 24. And then the chapter ends by highlighting, with reference to the Levites, that you need to tithe as well. You've received this as, you know, portion of a tithe given by the worshipers in Israel. Now from that, that's considered your income, so therefore you tithe from that. You take a tenth of that, and you offer it up to God, and that portion goes to the priest. So you've got an emphasis here on the gravity of the priesthood, the necessity of the priesthood, the gravity of the Levites, and the necessity of the Levites. You've got as well distinction. You're not supposed to collapse every Levite into the priestly class. That was the no-no of Korah and his rebellion. But what you do have then is this group of men that have as their primary task the facilitating of the very worship of the living and true God. Therefore, they need to eat. Paul invokes this passage in 1 Corinthians 9. The men laboring in the temple, in tabernacle, don't they have a right to participate in the offerings given? You don't muzzle an ox while it treads out the corn. You cough up. That's what he's telling the church in Koran. Paul tells Timothy the same sort of a thing in 1 Timothy chapter 5. You don't muzzle an ox, and you give double honor to those who are worthy. So the people of God, charged with the service of God, do not live on love and fresh air. They gotta eat. Their kids need shoes. Now, again, I'm not here saying, oh, I need a raise. I'm just giving you what the text says. We got this class of men dedicated, devoted to, and very much walking a tightrope, I mean, imagine having just witnessed fire and earth opening up. Imagine just having witnessed Korah's rebellion and Dathan and Dabira. You manage to get through that and then all the children of Israel whine and complain. Look again at chapter 16. Chapter 16, they've seen death, destruction, decimation of these godless rebel sinners that challenged the Lord by challenging his servants. All that happens, and then in verse 41, on the next day, all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron. Wow, you guys really haven't learned much, have you? They complained against Moses and Aaron. Why did Corah and Dathan, I'm sorry, the name is escaping me, Abiram, why did they get judged for questioning the leadership of Moses and Aaron? So the next day, They complain against Moses and Aaron. And then just look at how not smart these people are. You have killed the people of the Lord. No, Moses and Aaron didn't send fire out of heaven. Moses and Aaron didn't open up the earth to swallow up these rebels. And as well, they're trying to introduce this sort of axe to grind that Moses and Aaron have with the Lord. You have killed the people of the Lord. No, they weren't the people of the Lord. They were rebel, vile, wretches who deserved the fire of God from heaven, and they deserved that earth opening up to swallow them all. So, all that to say, if you're a priest, chillin' in Israel, after seeing all of this, you're probably not reveling in job security. You're probably thinking, you know, this is tenuous at best. I need to be very careful on how I proceed. So then God comes to Aaron and says, yep, that's exactly right. You need to be very careful on how you proceed. So understanding the gravity of the task, I hope that nobody in Israel said, well, it's not fair that they get some of the tithes and offerings. Well, what do you expect them to do? They don't get tribal land. They don't get their own farms. They don't get all those things that you have a right and privilege to. So that's the flow or the logic there in Numbers 18. The laws of purification and the red heifer, it's tough, brethren. I mean, it's a strange thing on this side of redemptive history, trying to figure out the significance behind it. The significance behind it, as I understand it, is that God commanded it. God commands it, how it's supposed to be done in verses 1 to 10, and how it's to be applied practically in verses 11 to 22. Basically, impurity associated with death, purification rite itself, and then I think chapter 19 ends on a bit of a warning and a bit of a reminder. But the man who is unclean, verse 20, and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean. It shall be, excuse me, a perpetual statute for that. He who sprinkles the water of purification shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water of purification shall be unclean until evening. Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening. So basically what it does is it links us back to that section in 17, 12 and 13 when they said we can't come near. Yeah you can. through a properly functioning priesthood, through the support of the Levites, and through the laws of purification that are given, not just here, but the legislation as a whole in terms of how does a sinful Israelite approach into the presence of a holy God. The Pentateuch, up until this point, has taught us through a bloody knife and a smoking altar. Blood atonement is the way of remission. Blood atonement is the way of approach. And the way that that blood atonement is wrought is through the priests ordained by God. Aaron functioned in that capacity, and it was consolidated to his family. So that is, again, probably, oh, what about this? The covenant of salt is interesting. I don't know. Interpreters take it as preservative or perpetuity. Basically, this covenant of salt is not another farther step according to 2nd London 7.3, but it's probably speaking in terms of perpetuity, I favor that, or preservative. You know, salt has that function. And perpetuity and the language of forever that you find in old covenant texts are governed by the Old Covenant. So because something is forever in the Old Covenant, it's forever in the Old Covenant. It's not forever in the New Covenant. So if somebody reads, you know, the sacrifices in Leviticus 1 to 7, and it says this is an ordinance to be observed forever, That doesn't mean us. It means forever, as long as the old covenant is in play. The laws that are positive in nature are governed specifically by the covenant that they find themselves in. Well, just a couple of concluding thoughts. I actually thought that would have been 10 minutes. So we'll just run quickly through a few things. As it's warming up, is it getting warmer here now? Is it? OK. All right, good. All right, so the priority of worship, again, remember, they're not just moving from point A to point B. They're moving in the presence of God. They're about worship. The structure in chapter one with the priests and the Levites right near the holy articles and then those other tribes sort of surrounding that camp, it reflects the centrality of God in their midst. This is a religious endeavor. This is a theological enterprise. It's not just, hey, there's some nice land over there in Canaan, let's go get it. as well the responsibility of the priesthood and the Levites. The priesthood obviously sacrifices, the priesthood intercedes, the priesthood mediates, the priesthood also regulates worship in the tabernacle, and the priesthood protects it. That's a pretty hardcore statement. They had the ability to use lethal force against criminal offenders. And I don't think it means, you know, the Canaanites that might want to come and visit the holy things of the God of Israel. It meant Israelites that were going into places where they ought not to have. I think that's what happened in Adab and Abihu. There's some question. We've covered this. in Leviticus chapter 10, why did God kill Nadab and Abihu? Later on in chapter 10, there's a prohibition against intoxication for priests, so some suggest that Nadab and Abihu perhaps were, you know, had been drinking a little bit and they were a little bit, what's the word, messed with in the head, and it was probably that. Well, the text is pretty conspicuous. They offered up profane fire, which God had not commanded. So at the very root of it, they did something that was strange in terms of the legislation that had been given. But when we get to the Day of Atonement, Leviticus chapter 16, it connects the Day of Atonement with the sin of Nadab and Abihu. It could be that Nadab and Abihu went into the Holy of Holies unauthorized. it could be that they went into that place, profane fire, into that place where they weren't supposed to go. So God kills that. That, we see that connection in Leviticus 16. I wouldn't die on that interpretation, but I think it has some merit and some weight. So the bottom line is that the priests needed to protect and to guard that sacred space the way that Adam was tasked to do in Genesis 2.15, failed to do, so then a cherubim is given the job and he executes it successfully. The Levites were responsible for the setting up and the taking down of the tabernacle. The Levites were responsible for transporting. The Levites were responsible to support the priests. Don't miss that. I have given them to you. They're not to usurp the priests. They're not to challenge the priests. They're not to want to become priests. No. The division of labor is God-wrought, God-ordained, and good. And all of this would hopefully converge upon anybody that might still have a little bit of Korah in their heart to say, you know what? It really is a nice job to set up the tabernacle, to take down the tabernacle, and to be able to go home and kiss my wife on the forehead when I get home. Because those priests, man, anybody colors out of the lines there and they're dead. So that is probably, you know, the hortatory or the exhortation instruction in this section as well. Go ahead. Yeah, the text never gets into those details. That's why I say it's very difficult on this side of redemptive history to know the inner workings of how it all went. I would imagine that the Holy of Holies wasn't constituted as a full-on sacred Holy of Holies sacred space while it was being put up. It's once it's constructed and it's in order, then it takes on that nature or characteristic. That would be my guess. So the support of the priesthood, and then the laws of purification address the problems of uncleanness and unholiness, problems of sinfulness addressed by the sacrificial system, obviously. And then, of course, the danger involved. Don't color outside the lines. Our God is a consuming fire. And I think ultimately all of this points us to our great High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ, who not only functions as the High Priest of the New Covenant, but he's also the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He's also the promoter of true worship. Remember with that woman at the well? God is spirit and those who worship must worship in spirit and in truth. So Jesus promotes true worship and Jesus protects true worship. Jesus protects it by his spirit and the apostles and their written word on how we're to conduct ourselves in the house of the living God. Well, let's pray. Our Father in heaven, thank you for your word. Thank you for what we find in the book of Numbers all throughout that shows the emphasis on your presence with your people, on the glory of God displayed, and on the holiness and the righteousness and the consuming fire that you are. Lord, I pray that we would receive the lessons from passages like these, that as we gather together on the Lord's day, we would come with reverence in our hearts, with a right fear of God. May it always be mingled with that gospel joy and that presence and comfort of the Holy Spirit. We read of those churches in the book of Acts, that they continued in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. May that be true of us. May it be true of our church. May it be true of all churches that gather together each and every Sunday. We ask that you would go with us now, watch over us in the remainder of the week, bless the ladies on the flight, and bring them home safely. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. I'd say any questions, but I probably don't have questions. It's not as much as I know from those two chapters. Can I just ask a question? Sure. Yes, go ahead. I'm just thinking about how the priests were not on that land. which I understand, and then you look at the last, in the 20th century, how we made parsnages for pastors because it really was frowned upon for them to have private property, I guess. Is that right? You know what I mean? Because they didn't even have, they didn't, They didn't have anything, like they were actually quite poor. And it was looked upon as quite holy that they were. Like it was quite a, not holy, but I don't know the right word for it. It was like a mixed up. You're in this for souls. You're in this for, you know, this is a call. This is a call, yeah. I think while there may be similarities between the priesthood and pastoring, it's not an exact parallel. No, I don't think it is either, but it's just weird that that's what people did, even though they might not have done it in any other area, but they seem to... The Old Testament priesthood, when it came to paying the pastors. I've noticed that when pastors... And I'm not complaining. Whenever I give observations, other people can't go to that mass. I don't have an extra budget. Just make this observation. All the people out there, other pastors, it just has seemed interesting to me that when it comes to the pastoral ministry, when it's about time spent, things to be done, it's a job, and you're expected to perform as a job. When it comes to pay and benefits, it's your calling. We're in this for souls. You know what I mean? We navigate, you know, on one hand, you gotta work because we're paying you, you gotta work, great. But if you ask for a raise, but don't you do this because you know Jesus? Well, yeah. It's a guilt manipulation. I don't know. It's actually been a very stingy thing, actually, in a lot of churches. And people will say, oh, yeah, no, our pastor, no, he wouldn't get that much money, blah, blah, blah. And it's like, really? Well, what do you mean? Like, he should be paid well. I mean, I don't think, you know, there's obvious abuse. You know, no pastor needs a plane or a mansion. You know, there's a pastor, he's a health wealth guy, he's called Creflo Dollar. Did he really get born with that name? Because if so, that was a lucky stroke. I mean, to be a health wealth prosperity guy named Creflo Dollar, that just doesn't get any better. Yeah, I mean, there's obvious abuse on the one hand, in terms of extravagance, and that sort of thing. But there is, I think, imbalance otherwise, too. I think it's getting better, in general. I do think it's getting better. But just when I think over this last century, it's been considered pious for the pastors to struggle. And they literally didn't have much. I remember in the early 60s when my dad was a pastor, my mom and dad, they planted a church and people had to give them clothes for the babies, food. It was definitely very different. Whereas now, I think it's changed. I don't think it's such a prime time. well, because they do take them out of poverty, okay? And they live in a common shack. They share a car. At least when I was growing up, the priests all lived in, well, sometimes they wanted to put a couple of them. And then they all shared a car, and the nuns would share the car. And they only wore the same outfit. You just didn't get, I would imagine that because they're paralleling, the Roman Catholic priesthood is very much dependent upon a Levitical priesthood model, or an Aaronic priesthood model. Because they still sacrifice, they're still the ones that go to the tabernacle. I mean, they have all that. So, you know, in their defense, they're going all the way. It's not like they're living like Creflo Dollar, and still try to maintain the concept of an old covenant priest. But yeah, that's an interesting observation, and I think there are obviously still churches that would have mansions or parsonages, property like at Guadalmarada, to both pastors live on site, where the church building is. You know, which is fine, I think that would be fine, but then I wouldn't want them to have to do that. I wouldn't want something to come out of their salary for that. I would want them then to be able to invest somewhere else, because what do they do when they retire, you know? That's just their... They just keep on getting paid. Oh, do they? Yeah, it's called emeritus. All the pastors that are, and the widows, like if the pastor dies, the widows are all taken care of. There's lots of money in my retirement. I call it during the week. You put numbers on the board. Another question related to that. So time is in the Old Testament. It doesn't carry over to the New Testament. But the concept does. Can you detail? I could, but not right now. Yeah, there's a few different things to consider with that particular question. I've got notes on it. I'd want to review the notes before I just spoke off the cuff. Is that OK? Yeah. And so the priests were only heir and sons. He was the high priest and only his sons. Well, then, perpetually the sons of. And grandsons. That's right. That's right. Yeah. Yes. You should go into business, be a financial consultant to churches.