After God had reaffirmed (in the eyes of the nation) the
tribe of Levi as His ministers and Aaron's household as the priestly household,
then He went about to reassure Aaron concerning his calling. Not only that, He
also gave some specific instructions to Aaron that justified the practical
remunerations that were proper for a sacred minister to accept.
God began this section by issuing directives concerning both
the exalted responsibilities and the illustrious honor of the priests. And,
both aspects of that office were important. From God's point of view, for Aaron
to receive the respect without the duties would not have been fitting; and, for
him to have had the responsibilities without receiving the reverence would not
have been appropriate either.
Now,
since the offerings that the general public brought to the tabernacle were
given to God, it was imperative that God give permission and direction
concerning what was to be done with those things. God basically gave the priests (and in some
cases all of the Levites) the rights and privileges to receive for themselves
the gifts that had been given to God.
Notice however, that they (the holy ministers) were supposed to offer a
portion of those tithes and offerings to God as well (Numbers 18:26) ...
tithing from the tithes that they received.
No comments:
Post a Comment