June 9, 2011 – Numbers 18

Here we have the instructions to the Levites about how they’re going forward in the future. We 1st see that there purpose is to facilitate the worship of God. We understand that the lay people of Israel are not to approach the tent were God is or to offer the sacrifices to God without the priest and the Levites doing it for them. God has set up this boundary between the offering to him and the lay Israelites. The motivation for this appears to be to protect the Israelites because without this barrier their motivations could lead them astray. So there is this limit to what a lay Israelite can do or ask for or offer to God. Their worship and their sacrifice has to go through the Levites and the priest in order to be acceptable to God. It appears that this boundary or this barrier to God is something that a nondenominational Christian is trying to get around. They have an understanding that they can go to God alone and do not need any assistance with that. And to some extent that is true, in that we can all pray to God and he hears our prayer. We are encouraged to have that relationship with God and to communicate with Him often. But there is a sense that there are some things that a lay person should not be allowed to do. There are types of worship and sacrifices that God requires that he will set aside certain people to do. In much the same way that he limited the lay Israelites, I think it is clear that God would limit to lay Christian's in the same way. This is not meant to hurt us or limit our relationship with God, but to keep us in check, to humble us, and to allow for leadership and authority to correctly guide us.

We also see that this authority given to the Levites and the priest is not without rules. I think it is interesting that and the tithes that the Levites received must be tithed as well. All of Israel gives their best 10% to the Levites, and in return the Levites give their best 10% to God.