God as Inheritance: The Priests' Portion Text: Numbers 18:8-20
Introduction: The Economics of Holiness
We live in an age that is profoundly uncomfortable with the material realities of spiritual things. We like our religion to be abstract, ethereal, and safely tucked away in the "spiritual" corner of our lives, which is to say, the irrelevant corner. But the God of Scripture is not a Gnostic God. He made the world out of dirt, He became flesh and blood, and He has always been intensely interested in the economics of His kingdom. He cares about grain, and wine, and oil, and livestock, and silver. And in our text today, He lays out the financial support system for His ministers. But as with everything in the Old Covenant, this is not merely an accounting ledger. It is a profound theological lesson, a picture of a far greater reality. It teaches us about provision, holiness, and the ultimate nature of our inheritance.
The context here is crucial. In the preceding chapters, the authority of Aaron's priesthood has been violently challenged, first by Korah's rebellion, and then by the grumbling of the congregation. God has vindicated Aaron with terrifying judgments and with the miraculous sign of his budding staff. Now, having established who His priests are, God moves to establish how they are to be provided for. The priests and Levites are to be set apart for the service of the tabernacle. They are to stand between a holy God and a sinful people. This is a dangerous, all-consuming vocation. Therefore, they are to have no other job. They are not to be farmer-priests or rancher-priests. They are to be full-time ministers of the holy things. And because they are barred from the normal means of generating wealth, God Himself makes a special provision for them. He gives them a portion of every sacrifice and gift brought to Him. In short, He gives them Himself.
This passage demolishes the modern, sentimental idea that spiritual work should be detached from financial support. It also confronts our materialistic assumption that true wealth consists of land and assets. God sets up a system where the most honored tribe in Israel is the only one with no real estate. Their portfolio is God Himself. This is a radical redefinition of wealth, and it is a principle that carries straight through into the New Covenant. The world says your portion is what you own. God says to His ministers, "I am your portion."
The Text
Then Yahweh spoke to Aaron, "Now behold, I Myself have given you the responsibility of My contributions, even all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual statute. This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, even every grain offering and every sin offering and every guilt offering, which they shall render to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you. This also is yours, the contribution from their gift, even all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual statute. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. All the best of the fresh oil and all the best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of those which they give to Yahweh, I give them to you. The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Yahweh, shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. Every first issue of the womb of all flesh, whether man or animal, which they bring near to Yahweh, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. Now as to their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your valuation, five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. But the firstborn of an ox or the firstborn of a sheep or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall splash their blood on the altar and shall offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to Yahweh. And their meat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh. All the contributions of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel raise up to Yahweh, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual statute. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before Yahweh to you and your seed with you." Then Yahweh said to Aaron, "You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel."
(Numbers 18:8-20 LSB)
Eating at God's Table (vv. 8-13)
God begins by assigning the priests their portion, which is, in fact, God's portion. They are to eat from the sacrifices.
"Now behold, I Myself have given you the responsibility of My contributions, even all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual statute." (Numbers 18:8 LSB)
Notice the directness: "I Myself have given you." This is not a tax levied by the state or a voluntary donation program. The provision for the ministry is a divine ordinance. The people bring their gifts to God, and God, in turn, gives a portion of those gifts to His ministers. The priests are not employees of the congregation; they are servants of God who are fed from His own table. This establishes a line of authority and provision that is crucial. The minister is accountable to God, and he is provided for by God, through the obedience of God's people.
The specifics are laid out. The priests receive a share of the grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. These are the "most holy gifts." They are to be eaten only by the male priests within the sanctuary precincts. This is a holy meal, a participation in the very sacrifices that atone for sin. Then there are the "holy gifts," like the wave offerings, which are less restricted and can be eaten by the priests' entire families, sons and daughters, provided they are ceremonially clean. This is a picture of fellowship. The entire household of the priest is sustained by the worship of God's people.
Furthermore, they receive the best of the first fruits: the best oil, wine, and grain. This is not about giving God the leftovers. The principle of first fruits establishes that God is the owner of all our productivity, and we acknowledge this by giving Him the very first and best portion. And God, in His generosity, redirects this best portion to sustain His ministers. This ensures that the priests are not second-class citizens, subsisting on scraps. They are honored with the cream of the land's produce because they are devoted to the service of the One who makes the land productive.
Redemption and Consecration (vv. 14-18)
The principle of God's ownership extends to all things, including the firstborn.
"Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. Every first issue of the womb of all flesh, whether man or animal, which they bring near to Yahweh, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem." (Numbers 18:14-15 LSB)
Everything "devoted" to the Lord, set apart for destruction or for holy use, belongs to the priests. This reinforces their role as stewards of the holy things. The principle of the firstborn is a constant reminder of the Exodus. God spared the firstborn of Israel when He struck down the firstborn of Egypt. Therefore, every firstborn in Israel belongs to Him by right of redemption. He owns them.
But God does not demand the sacrifice of children. The firstborn son must be "redeemed," bought back. A price is set, five shekels of silver, which is paid to the priest. This is a tangible reminder that our lives are forfeit to God and must be bought back by a substitute. It is a gospel transaction in miniature. The firstborn of unclean animals are also to be redeemed. But the firstborn of clean, sacrificial animals, an ox, sheep, or goat, cannot be redeemed. They are holy. They must be sacrificed. Their blood is splashed on the altar, their fat is burned as a soothing aroma to Yahweh, and their meat is given to the priest. The priest eats that which was consecrated to God, that which died in the place of the firstborn.
This is a profound picture of our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ. He is the unblemished firstborn, the one who was not redeemed but was instead sacrificed. His blood was shed, and His life was offered up as a soothing aroma to the Father. And in the New Covenant, we who are priests in Him (1 Peter 2:9) are invited to feast on that sacrifice. "Take, eat; this is My body." The Lord's Supper is our priestly meal, where we partake of the true consecrated offering.
A Covenant of Salt (v. 19)
God then summarizes this provision and seals it with a remarkable phrase.
"All the contributions of the holy gifts... I have given to you... as a perpetual statute. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before Yahweh to you and your seed with you." (Numbers 18:19 LSB)
Why salt? Salt in the ancient world was a preservative. It arrested decay and corruption. It was also essential to life and had great value. A "covenant of salt" is therefore a covenant that is enduring, incorruptible, and binding. God is saying that His commitment to provide for His ministers is not a temporary arrangement. It is a permanent, unbreakable promise. All offerings in Israel were to be seasoned with salt, the "salt of the covenant" (Lev. 2:13). This signified the enduring nature of the relationship between God and His people. Here, the covenant of provision itself is described this way. God's faithfulness to His servants will not decay or lose its savor.
This is also what Jesus meant when He told us to be the "salt of the earth" (Matt. 5:13). We, as believers, are to have a preserving, anti-corrupting influence in the world. And as Paul says, our speech should be "seasoned with salt" (Col. 4:6). This means our words should be full of enduring grace and truth, resisting the decay of lies and foolishness. The covenant of salt is a covenant of permanence and purity, and it is the foundation of the ministry's provision.
The Great Exchange (v. 20)
The chapter concludes with the foundational principle that makes all this necessary and glorious.
"Then Yahweh said to Aaron, 'You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.'" (Numbers 18:20 LSB)
Here is the great exchange. The priests give up a portion of land in Canaan in order to receive God Himself as their portion. The other tribes get acres; Aaron gets the Almighty. The other tribes get fields and vineyards; the priests get the Creator of the fields and vineyards. At first glance, this might seem like a bad deal. Land is tangible. You can walk on it, plow it, build on it. But God is teaching His people, and us, a fundamental lesson about the nature of true wealth.
An earthly inheritance can be lost. It can be conquered, suffer drought, or be eaten by locusts. But God as an inheritance is eternal, unshakeable, and inexhaustible. To have God as your portion is to have the source of all blessing as your own. The psalmist understood this perfectly: "The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot" (Psalm 16:5). This is not a consolation prize for the landless. It is the grand prize.
This principle is magnified in the New Covenant. We who are in Christ are described as a "royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9). And what is our inheritance? It is "incorruptible, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4). Our inheritance is not a plot of ground in the Middle East. Our inheritance is the new heavens and the new earth. Our inheritance is Christ Himself. We have been brought into God's own household to feast at His table. We have given up our claim to the fleeting treasures of this world in order to gain Him who is treasure itself.
This is why Paul could say that he counted all his earthly status and accomplishments as "rubbish" in comparison to the "surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Philippians 3:8). He made the Aaronic exchange. He gave up his portion among the tribes of men in order to have God as his portion. This is the call to every Christian, and especially to those called to the ministry of the Word. We are to live as though God is our true inheritance, our only lasting portion. For when you have the Giver, you have everything.