Numbers 18:22

. Numbers 18:21 Ver. 21. And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance,.... The tenth part of the produce of the land; of the wheat, barley, oil, and wine; the tenth part of their harvest and vintage; so that though they were the least of the tribes, they had the greatest share of the increase of the land, and that without any labour or expense; the other having but nine parts among them all, and at the charge and labour of manuring, cultivating, &c. and this they were to have for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; see Numbers 18:3. Numbers 18:22 Ver. 22. Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation,.... To do any part of the priest's office, as to burn incense, as Korah and his company had done; or to do any part of the work of the Levites, by watching in the tabernacle, by taking it down and setting it up, and bearing the vessels of it; otherwise they might come to it, to bring their sacrifices, to pay their vows, and for their purification when necessary, and such like things: lest they bear sin and die; lest sin be charged upon them, and punishment be inflicted, even the punishment of death; for it was death to intrude into the priest's office. Numbers 18:23 Ver. 23. But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation,....

18:20-32 As Israel was a people not to be numbered among the nations, so Levi was a tribe to be distinguished from the rest. Those who have God for their Inheritance and their Portion for ever, ought to look with holy contempt and indifference upon the possessions of this world. The Levites were to give God his dues out of their tithes, as well as the Israelites out of their increase. See, in ver. 31, the way to have comfort in all our worldly possessions, so as to bear no sin by reason of them. 1. We must be sure that what we have is got honestly and in the service of God. That meat is best eaten which is first earned; but if any will not work, neither shall he eat, 2Th 3:10. 2. We must be sure that God has his dues out of it. We have the comfort of our substance, when we have honoured the Lord with it. Ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved the best from it. We should give alms of such things as we have, that all may be holy and comfortable to us.

Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation,.... To do any part of the priest's office, as to burn incense, as Korah and his company had done; or to do any part of the work of the Levites, by watching in the tabernacle, by taking it down and setting it up, and bearing the vessels of it; otherwise they might come to it, to bring their sacrifices, to pay their vows, and for their purification when necessary, and such like things: lest they bear sin and die; lest sin be charged upon them, and punishment be inflicted, even the punishment of death; for it was death to intrude into the priest's office.

(22) Lest they bear sin and die.— i.e., lest they bring sin upon themselves, the penalty of which they would have to bear. This appears to be the primary meaning of the phrase, from which the secondary meaning, viz., that of bearing sin in the sense of atoning for it, is derived. (Comp. Leviticus 19:17 ; Leviticus 22:9 .)

Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek: Jacob had promised the tithe of all wherewith God blessed him if he should return in peace to his father's house. But now first the Lord's tithes are assigned to the Levites for their support (compare Leviticus 27:30 ). The payment of tithes to them is recognized in Nehemiah 10:37 ; Nehemiah 12:44 ; Tobit 1:7.

Nu 18:21-32. The Levites' Portion. 21, 22. I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve—Neither the priests nor the Levites were to possess any allotments of land but to depend entirely upon Him who liberally provided for them out of His own portion; and this law was subservient to many important purposes—such as that, being exempted from the cares and labors of worldly business, they might be exclusively devoted to His service; that a bond of mutual love and attachment might be formed between the people and the Levites, who, as performing religious services for the people, derived their subsistence from them; and further, that being the more easily dispersed among the different tribes, they might be more useful in instructing and directing the people.

Revenues of the Levites. - For (חלף, instead of, for) their service at the tabernacle God assigns them "every tenth in Israel as an inheritance." On the tenth, see at Leviticus 27:30-33 . The institution and description of their service in Numbers 18:22 and Numbers 18:23 is the same as that in Numbers 1:53 and Numbers 8:19 . "Lest they bear sin:" see at Leviticus 19:17 .

[Reformed Biblical] iracles and judgments, they shall usurp the priesthood, they shall assuredly die for it. Numbers 17:11 Numbers 17:12 Words of consternation arising, partly, from the remembrance of these severe and repeated judgments; partly, from the threatening of death upon ally succeeding murmurings; partly, from the sense of their own guilt and weakness, which made them fear lest they should relapse into the same miscarriages, and thereby bring the vengeance of God upon themselves. Numbers 17:13 ## Any thing near, i.e. nearer than he should do; an error which we may easily commit. ## Shall we be consumed? will God proceed with us in these severe courses, according to his strict justice? will he show us no mercy nor pity, till all the people be cut off and destroyed with dying one after another. ## Numbers 18:1 NUMBERS CHAPTER 18 God showing to Aaron, his sons, and the Levites their office, Num_18:1-7; appointeth to Aaron and his sons their maintenance, Num_18:8-20; and also to the Levites, Num_18:21-24. He commandeth them by Moses to give tenths of their tenths to the chief priests, Num_18:25-32. ## The iniquity of the sanctuary, i.e. shall suffer the punishment of all the usurpations or polluti

Order (τάγματι) Only here in the New Testament. In Sept., a band, troop, or cohort; also a standard; Numbers 10:14; Numbers 18:22, Numbers 18:25. How the one idea ran into the other may be perceived from the analogy of the Latin manipulus, a handful of hay twisted round a pole and used by the Romans as the standard of a company of soldiers, from which the company itself was called manipulus. In classical Greek, besides the meaning of company, it means an ordinance and a fixed assessment. Here in the sense of band, or company, in pursuance of the principle of a descending series of ranks, and of consequent subordinations which is assumed by Paul. The series runs, God, Christ, man. See 1 Corinthians 3:21-23; 1 Corinthians 11:3. The reference is not to time or merit, but simply to the fact that each occupies his own place in the economy of resurrection, which is one great process in several acts. Band after band rises. First Christ, then Christians. The same idea appears in the first-fruits and the harvest.