Numbers 18:8

"And Jehovah spake unto Aaron, And I, behold, I have given thee the charge of my heave-offerings, even all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, as a portion forever. This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, even every meal-offering of theirs, and every sin-offering of theirs, and every trespass-offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons. As the most holy things shalt thou eat thereof; every male shall eat thereof; it shall be holy unto thee. And this is thine: the heave-offering of their gift, even all the wave-offerings of the children of Israel; I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, as a portion forever; every one that is clean in thy house shall eat therof. All the best of the oil, and all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first-fruits of them which they give unto Jehovah, to thee have I given them. The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring unto Jehovah, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thy house shall eat thereof. Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine. Everything that openeth the womb, of all flesh which they offer unto Jehovah, both of man and beast, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem. And those that are to be redeemed of them from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary (the same is twenty gerahs). But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savor unto Jehovah. And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave-breast and as the right thigh, it shall be thine. All the heave-offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto Jehovah, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, as a portion forever: it is a covenant of salt forever before Jehovah unto thee and to thy seed with thee. And Jehovah said unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any portion among them: I am thy portion and thine inheritance among the children of Israel."

"By reason of the anointing ..." (Numbers 18:8). This does not refer to the priests who were, of course, `anointed,' but rather to the gifts which had been `consecrated' to them. Smick rendered this place, "I have given them for an anointed (or consecrated) portion."[10]

Note that in Numbers 18:10, certain sacrifices were to be eaten by males only, while others in Numbers 18:11, were for the entire households of the priests.

"The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land ..." (Numbers 18:13). These words are clearly anticipatory of Israel's entry into their land, which were intended to apply fully only after they truly possessed it. This explains why the more limited system of tithing, later given in Deuteronomy, probably was an "interim" provision to be observed during the long and never fully successful campaign to possess it.

"Of all ..." Plaut tell us that the Jews interpreted this to apply only to the seven principal fruits for which the land was famous: (1) wheat; (2) barley; (3) grapes; (4) figs; (5) pomegranates; (6) olive oil; and (7) dates (including honey).[11]

"Surely redeem ... redeem ..." (Numbers 18:15). There are two different words here in the Hebrew, the stronger one being applied to the redemption of humans, meaning that, under no circumstances could they fail to redeem a human. In the case of unclean animals, the owner might break the neck of any he did not wish to redeem.[12]

"A covenant of salt ..." (Numbers 18:19) signified "an everlasting covenant." It was founded upon the ancient understanding throughout all the East that one's eating with a person established a binding and perpetual obligation between them. Behind this is the fact that all of the sacrifices offered unto God were "salted." "All Hebrew sacrifices were mingled with salt (Leviticus 2:13; Mark 9:49)."[13] "God ... gave the kingdom ... to David ... by a covenant of salt" (2 Chronicles 13:5).

"Thou shalt have no inheritance ... neither ... any portion among them ..." (Numbers 18:20). The priests of Israel were expressly forbidden from becoming "the landed aristocracy" of Israel, which, of course, they later became. The rules were intended as a natural foil of their greed and avarice, but, alas, it came to pass in the times of Jesus that as a class of people, "they devoured widows' houses" (Matthew 23:14 KJV).

EMOLUMENTS OF LEVITES AND PRIESTS

There is no need to go into detail, listing all of these special bounties that were the perquisites of the priesthood. They were most sufficient, even to abundance, and, in addition to the gifts enumerated here, they received the temple tax, the skins of animals offered for sacrifice, and in addition, after entering Canaan, the Levites possessed forty-eight cities, each composed of a square of 4,000 cubits, plus 2,000 cubits around each of the forty-eight cities, a land base, of the best of the land, with a total of 53,000 acres of the total 11,264,000 acres in all of Canaan.[14] It is an understatement that the priests and Levites were well supported. The five-shekel payment for the redemption of the first-born would have, alone, brought in a very considerable sum of money. In actual practice, the Jews multiplied this, as indicated by this description of such a ceremony:

When the child is thirty days old, the father presents the child before one of the descendants of Aaron, bringing a cup filled with both gold and silver coins.

Priest: addressing himself to the Mother, "Is this thy son?"

Mother: "Yes."

Priest: "Hast thou never had another child, a male or a female, a miscarriage, or an untimely birth?" Mother: "No."

Priest: "This being the case, the child, as first-born, belongs to me."

Priest, then turning to the father, "If it be thy desire to have this child, thou must redeem it."

Father: "I present thee with this gold and silver for this purpose."

Priest: "Thou dost wish, therefore, to redeem the child?"

Father: "I do so wish to do."

Priest, then turning to the assembly of friends and others gathered to witness the ceremony, "This child, as first-born, is mine, as it is written in [~Bemidbar] (Numbers 18:16). `Thou shalt redeem the first-born of a month old for five shekels,' but I shall content myself with this exchange." He then takes two gold coins (or thereabouts!) and returns the child to his parents.[15]

The wisdom of God in thus providing abundantly for the support of the Divine system of worship which he gave to Israel is clearly visible, for without this there could have been no lasting respect for the Mosaic institution, and by the same token, the Church herself should abundantly maintain and support her servants. Nevertheless, as was pointed out by Butzer:

"It should not be difficult to see in these special privileges and prerogatives of the priestly class the seeds of its own undoing and its moral and spiritual deterioration. In time, this brought no end of evil fruit, against which the prophets thundered their warnings.[16]

What is of even more concern to Christians now is that time and circumstances have done much to bring back the old system to the modern church.

In the early church, there was no special priesthood. The way to God was opened, through Christ, to every man with Christ alone as his High Priest. But, in time, a priestly class arose in the Christian church, with privileges and prerogatives strangely similar to those of the times of Aaron, and with the same seeds of its deterioration and decay. This brought on the great Reformation and the Protestant principle of the priesthood of every believer.[17]

We must add, however, that the old ways die with great difficulty, and that now practically all churches of whatever name are again following the ways of the old Israel. The "Priestly System" again flourishes throughout the world, despite the names, titles, and patterns of their behavior varying considerably from those of the Great Apostasy.