Numbers 18:24

Aaron was to tell them what a provision would be made for them on account of their service, but Moses was to inform them what part Aaron was to have out of it: when ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance; which was done at the time of their harvest, and of the ingathering of the fruits of the earth: then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the Lord; in token of gratitude for the liberal provision he had made for the maintenance of them: [even] a tenth [part] of the tithe; a tenth part out of the tenth of the produce of the land of Israel. Numbers 18:27 Ver. 27. And [this] your heave offering,.... The tithe of the tithe, which though not properly heaved or lifted up, as the heave offerings, strictly so called, were, any more than the tithe itself, Numbers 18:24; yet is so called, because separated to the use and service of the Lord, as they were: shall be reckoned unto you, as though [it were] the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress; that is, it should be as acceptable to God as if they had fields and vineyards, threshing floors, and wine presses of their own, from whence corn and wine were taken, as the Israelites when they received their tithes from them; and what remained they had as good a right unto, and might make use of as their own, as well as they; see Numbers 18:30. Numbers 18:28 Ver. 28. Thus you also shall offer an heave offering unto the Lord,....

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.

But the tithe of the children of Israel,.... The tenth of the produce of their land, as before: which they offer as an heave offering unto the Lord: by way of gratitude to him for giving them the land, and for making it so fruitful to them, and as an acknowledgment of his being the sovereign Lord and proprietor of it: I have given to the Levites to inherit; so that the Levites had the tithe not immediately from the Israelites, nor were they dependent on them for them; but they were first given to the Lord, and then by him to the Levites, who held them of him, and not of the Israelites; and were a portion and an inheritance, settled upon them by the Lord himself, which they had as good a right and title unto as the rest of the tribes had to their several inheritances: therefore have I said unto them, among the children, of Israel they shall have no inheritance; as in Numbers 18:23.

Numbers 18:24 . A heave-offering — An acknowledgment that they have all their land and the fruits of it from God’s bounty. Note, the word heave-offering, which is for the most part understood of a particular kind of offerings heaved or lifted up to the Lord, is here used for any offering.

As an heave-offering unto the Lord, i.e. as a rent charge or an acknowledgment that they have and hold all their lands, and the fruits of it, from God’s bounty. Note that the word heave-offering, which is for the most part understood of a particular kind of offerings heaved or lifted up to the Lord, is here used for any offering in general, as before, Numbers 18:8 .

Here the tithes (and in Numbers 18:26 the priestly tithes) are to be dedicated to their purpose by the ceremony of heaving them to the Lord. The tithes, being solemnly set apart for sacred purposes, became virtually a heave-offering, like the gifts for the tabernacle Exodus 25:2 .

23. But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: they shall bear their iniquity—They were to be responsible for the right discharge of those duties that were assigned to them, and consequently to bear the penalty that was due to negligence or carelessness in the guardianship of the holy things.

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] to use more zeal and diligence in the advancement of piety, even for their own interest, which was either better or worse as true religion flourished or decayed; see Jud_17:9 ,10 19:18 2Ch_13:9 30:22 31:4 ; partly, that this might be a firm bond of hearty love and affection between the people and their teachers, the Levites, who, as they performed religious services for the people, so they received their subsistence from them; and partly, that by this means being dispersed among the several tribes, they might have the better opportunity for teaching and watching over the people, which was their duty, Deu_33:10 2Ch_30:22 Mal_2:4- 7. ## I am thy part, i.e. I have appointed thee a liberal maintenance out of my oblations. Numbers 18:21 ## For the tithes were all given to the Levites, and out of their tithes the tenth was given to the priests, here Num_18:26, & C, and Neh_10:37 ,38 . Numbers 18:22 i.e. So nigh as to do any act proper to the priests or Levites. Numbers 18:23 ## Their iniquity, i.e. the punishment due not only for their own, but also for the people’s miscarriage, if it be committed through their connivance or negligence. And this was the reason why the priests withstood king Uzziah, when he would have burnt incense to the Lord, 2Ch_26:17 ,18 . Numbers 18:24 ## As an heave-offering unto the Lord, i.e. as a rent charge or an acknowledgment that they have and hold all their lands, and the fruits of it, from God’s bounty. Note that the word ## he