Caring for His Servants, the Levites (Num. 18:21-32)

1/17/2009 8:07 PM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                    Focus:  Caring for His servants, the Levites

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Numbers 18:21-32

            Message of the verses:  “21  "To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting.  22  "The sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bear sin and die.  23  "Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel they shall have no inheritance.  24  "For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’"  25  Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 26  "Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the LORD, a tithe of the tithe.  27  ‘Your offering shall be reckoned to you as the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat.  28  ‘So you shall also present an offering to the LORD from your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the LORD’S offering to Aaron the priest.  29  ‘Out of all your gifts you shall present every offering due to the LORD, from all the best of them, the sacred part from them.’  30  "You shall say to them, ‘When you have offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be reckoned to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor, and as the product of the wine vat.  31  ‘You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the tent of meeting.  32  ‘You will bear no sin by reason of it when you have offered the best of it. But you shall not profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, or you will die.’”

            The Levites were work at the tabernacle, and some of this was explained in an earlier SD, the duties that they were to perform.  Latter on when the temple was built David would have the Levites sing at the temple. 

            God tells Moses that the Levites should receive from the tithe that the people brought into the tabernacle and later on to the temple.  The tithe of the grain offering and the wine offering was given to the Levites and then they were to tithe to the high priests.  There are a couple of principles given here in this section.  The first is that those who work fore the Lord are to be supported by the people of the Lord and then they in turn are to tithe to the work of the Lord too.  This was the Law and now that we are under grace we should do this voluntarily.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Tithing is a privilege for me because the Lord who created the earth and all that is seen, and the Lord who took my place in death to pay for my sins actually accepts my gift to Him.  This is an awesome thing!

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1. Continue to learn to more about my Lord and Savior.
2. Continue to learn contentment.
3. Trust the Lord to guide my palth.

1/17/2009 8:24 PM