Numbers 17-18: Set Apart

These were some relieving chapters. As a reader, it seems the Israelites have been wandering through the desert for an eternity. And for the majority of their journey they have been murmuring and complaining to Moses. As we saw in Numbers 16, a big part of their discontent is the preferential treatment they see given to Moses and Aaron. Korah tried (and failed) to lead a rebellion against Moses. And the rest of the people couldn't understand why the Levites should be the only ones who could conduct worship, or approach the sanctuary, or receive the first fruits. But God sets this all straight in Numbers 17 and 18. Speaking through Moses, He lays down once and for all the sacred role He wants for the Levites. No one approaches the tabernacle but a priest! No one offers oblations but a priest! No one shall get the best of the oil or the wine but a priest! God wants a certain number of His people set apart.

This, of course, caused me to think of the role of the priest today. Priests of the New Law, just like the Levites of the Old Law, adhere to a completely different set of guidelines. One of my favorite verses from these chapters is this one: "And the Lord said to Aaron: You shall possess nothing in their land, neither shall you have a portion among them: I am thy portion and inheritance in the midst of the children of Israel" (Numbers 18:20). How beautiful! The priest shall have no possessions because he possesses God Himself! One begins to see here just how elevated and sacred God intended His priests to be. This verse also makes me think of the great Saint Francis of Assisi, who kept no possessions and kept himself wholly and completely reserved for God. Unfortunately, through the ages many priests have lost sight of this sacred role of theirs. And when a society's priests begin to accumulate wealth or desire material things, the society itself crumbles. Conversely, when a society's priests live for God alone and forsake the world, the society prospers, in that it enjoys God's favor. Jeremias 31:14 reads, "And I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness: and my people shall be filled with my good things, saith the Lord." It is true that priests enjoy a special place among God's people, but they must sacrifice much in their lives. My commentary notes that when a man decides to become a priest, one of the first steps toward his ordination is a ceremony in which the bishop cuts off a piece of his hair in the form of a cross while the priest-to-be recites Psalm 15:5: "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance, and of my cup; it is Thou that wilt restore my inheritance to me." This of course is a direct reference to Numbers 18:20. I find this to be a beautiful image: the young candidate renouncing the world and all its wealth and possessions, land and commodities, so that he may possess the Eternal One alone. Awesome. Once again we find a direct parallel between the Old Law and the New.