Read Numbers 18 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
18:1-7 {p} Aaron and sons to attend to their priesthood
18:8-20 {s} Aaron and sons’ portions
18:21-24 {p} Levites portion: tithes
18:25-32 {p} Levites to give a tithe of the tithe to Aaron and sons
A Strong Theme is found in today’s chapter from Num 17:12-18:7.
17:12-13 {s} Whoever comes near the tabernacle perishes
18:1-7 {p} Aaron and sons to attend to their priesthood
This theme makes its own Chiastic Structure, which will help us find the unifying topic.
Num 17:12-18:7 Strong Theme {s+p} That no more wrath comes upon the children of Israel (from the central axis of the structure).
God commands Aaron to attend to his priesthood, so that there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel. Wrath has just been poured out on the children of Israel. Korah and his followers were swallowed alive by the earth, and 250 leaders were consumed by fire from YHVH. 14,000 people of the children of Israel had died of a plague from YHVH. These facts lead to a second structure from Num 16:1-18:7.
You know, we have just read some hard chapters. The generation of unbelievers is not going to inherit the promise, and the people who went to war anyway were defeated. The man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath was stoned to death with stones. That was not Israel’s idea or Moses’ idea, that was done at the direction of YHVH.
And then we saw that those events inspired Korah’s rebellion, since these judgments of YHVH’s were hard. The death of the leaders then inspired the rebellion of the whole congregation, since the judgments of the earth swallowing Korah, and the burning of the 250 leaders were hard.
But this chiastic structure reveals to us, that God does not want wrath to come upon the children of Israel (or me or you, for we have been grafted in to the olive tree of Israel, Rom 11:17). He doesn’t delight in plague or death or destruction. So we see that the whole institution of the tabernacle rites and the priesthood is to prevent wrath from coming on the children of Israel.
And here we find the Gospel. For the tabernacle, in its blueprints and design, is a prophetic type proclaiming Messiah. The priesthood, in its rites and responsibilities, is a prophetic type proclaiming Messiah. Messiah is the mediator between God and man, to prevent wrath from coming upon the children of Israel. But let us not miss the other side of what Scripture is teaching: those who reject God’s mediator will partake of wrath — for rebellion, unbelief, and idolatry will receive wrath for itself, in order to destroy it.
That might be hard, but it is true and right and just – and even merciful and loving, because rebellion against God is allegiance to the first rebel, whose entire existence is devoted to our loss, destruction, and death (Joh 10:10).
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