Context No. 3159 of 4322 · Numbers

Numbers 18:1-7: in context

1The LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your fathers’ house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. 2Bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, near with you, that they may be joined to you, and minister to you; but you and your sons with you shall be before the Tent of the Testimony. 3They shall keep your commands and the duty of the whole Tent; only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die, neither they nor you. 4They shall be joined to you and keep the responsibility of the Tent of Meeting, for all the service of the Tent. A stranger shall not come near to you. 5“You shall perform the duty of the sanctuary and the duty of the altar, that there be no more wrath on the children of Israel. 6Behold, I myself have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel. They are a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting. 7You and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil. You shall serve. I give you the service of the priesthood as a gift. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”

God speaks to Aaron about the priesthood. You and your sons, he says, will bear the responsibility for the sanctuary, guarding its holiness; the Levites are given to help you, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. And then a striking word: I give you the priesthood as a gift.

Two things frame the priesthood here: weighty responsibility, and gift. The priests bear the responsibility for the sanctuary; they carry a heavy accountability for guarding the holiness of God's house, standing between the people and the danger of approaching a holy God carelessly. And yet the priesthood is called a gift, I give you the priesthood as a gift. Serving God is both a solemn responsibility and a gracious privilege, not a burden to resent but a gift to steward with care. The Levites, too, are called a gift, given to help. God's service is weighty, but it is grace to be included in it at all.

Do I hold the responsibilities God gives me as both a weighty trust to steward carefully and a gift to be grateful for?

Sources

Numbers 18:7: "I give you the service of the priesthood as a gift."
Numbers 18:1: "You and your sons and your fathers' house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary."
1 Peter 2:9: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession."