Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
"The Lord said to Aaron, "You, your sons and your father's family are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the priesthood. Bring your fellow Levites from your ancestral tribe to join you and assist you when you and your sons minister before the Tent of the Testimony. They are to be responsible to you and are to perform all the duties of the Tent, but they must not go near the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or both they and you will die. They are to join you and be responsible for the care of the Tent of Meeting—all the work at the Tent—and no one else may come near where you are. "You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that wrath will not fall on the Israelites again. I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord to do the work at the Tent of Meeting. But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death." Numbers 18:1-7
God had ordained Aaron as His chief priest. In Numbers, Chapter 17, He reaffirmed this when He caused Aaron’s staff to bud, bloom and bear almonds while all the other tribal leader staffs remained the same as when they submitted them to Moses as God had commanded. You’ll recall that God ordered the staff to be placed at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting as a reminder to Israel that Aaron was in charge of the tabernacle and only He and his servants were to enter in.
As chapter 18 begins, Aaron receives direction from God…direction that is centered on one key factor: responsibility. Aaron was to do the following:
1. Aaron, his sons and his father's family were to "bear the responsibility for offenses against the sanctuary"; his sons alone were to "bear the responsibility for offenses against the priesthood".
2. Bring his fellow Levites from his ancestral tribe to join and assist him when either Aaron or his sons minister before the Tent of the Testimony.
3. Aaron was to hold his Levites accountable as they "perform all the duties of the Tent". He was to be especially vigilant in keeping the Levites away from "the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar". Failure to do so would be met with death for not only the Levites but Aaron as well.
4. While Aaron and the Levites were tending to all the work of the tabernacle, Aaron was to ensure that no one came where they were working. In other words, the Tent of Meeting was off limits to anyone except Aaron and the Levites.
5. Aaron was "responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar". Failure to do this would result in wrath falling on the Israelites again.
6. Aaron was to ensure that only he and his sons serve as priests "in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain". The Levites were appointed to help Aaron and his sons with everything else connected with the tabernacle with the exception of the sanctuary and altar furnishings.
So God had given Aaron all his responsibilities. Now He finishes with an awesome statement that caps off this passage and serves to keep Aaron in check so that he doesn’t get carried away with all the authority that God has placed on him. It would also serve to keep Aaron accountable…to show that he could be replaced if he didn’t get the job done.
What did God say?
Look at verse 7. God says, "I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift." In other words, the priesthood is something that God was obligated to give to Aaron. Instead, the priesthood was a privilege that Aaron received from God…a gift of positional authority and responsibility. If Aaron failed to meet God’s expectations, he could be replaced. This attached accountability to Aaron’s responsibility.
I want you to consider how that same principle applies to life in general. For God has given us this life as a gift and it’s a privilege and blessing to awake, take breath and be able to do what we can do on day-by-day. By His mercy, grace and love, the Lord allows us to live but we shouldn’t live so arrogantly that we feel God can’t take away the very privilege that He granted.
For just as Aaron had been given specific direction about his responsibilities, so too have we in how God expects us to live our lives. Aaron was to tend for the sanctuary of Israelite worship. The bible compares our bodies to temples or sanctuaries (1 Corinthians 6:19) and we’re responsible for tending to ourselves, ensuring that everything we think, say or do is done in a way that brings honor and glory to God. To make sure we do this, we need only remember the two greatest commandments given by Jesus, God’s only Son and the only One through whom we can get to the Father (John 14:6) Jesus said:
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:30-31
God’s gift of life is granted to us out of love…and it’s His love that will carry us through each day in obedient service to Him and others. As we sacrifice our own will for His (Romans 12:1), the gift of His awesome, enduring love consumes us and flows out to others…it carries us through each day as we do what God expects. Friends, it all begins and ends with love…a love that allows us to realize what a privilege life is…a life granted by the Father and sealed for eternity by His Son.
Thanks be to God for the gift of life and love. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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