Numbers 18:1

_AND THE LORD SAID UNTO AARON, THOU AND THY SONS AND THY FATHER'S HOUSE WITH THEE SHALL BEAR THE INIQUITY OF THE SANCTUARY: AND THOU AND THY SONS WITH THEE SHALL BEAR THE INIQUITY OF YOUR PRIESTHOOD._ The Lord said unto Aaron. Security is here given to the people from the fears expressed, Numbers 17:12, by the responsibility of attending to all sacred things being devolved upon the priesthood, together with the Penalties incurred through neglect; and thus the solemn responsibilities annexed to their high dignity, of having to answer not only for their own sins, but also for the sins of the people, were calculated in a great measure to remove all feeling of envy at the elevation of Aaron's family, when the honour was weighed in the balance with its burdens and dangers....

1_And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons. _By this solemn appeal God stirs up the priests to devote themselves to their duty with the greatest fidelity and zeal, for He declares that if anything should be done contrary to the requirements of religion, they should be accounted guilty of it, since those are said to “bear the iniquity of the sanctuary” who sustain the crime and the punishment of all its pollutions. God would have the sanctuary kept clear from every stain and defect; and also the dignity of the priesthood was to be maintained in chastity and pureness; a heavy burden, therefore, was imposed upon the priests when they were set over the holy things as their guardians, on this condition that if anything were done amiss they were to be exposed to punishment, because the blame rested on them; just as if God had said that negligence alone was tantamount to sacrilege. Thus...

1-7 The people complained of their difficulty and peril in drawing near to God. God here gives them to understand, that the priests should come near for them. Aaron would see reason not to be proud of his preferment, when he considered the great care and charge upon him. Be not high-minded, but fear. The greater the trust of work and power that is committed to us, the greater danger there is of betraying that trust. This is a good reason why we should neither envy others' honours, nor desire high places....

CHAPTER XVIII _The priests are to bear the iniquity of the sanctuary_, 1. _The Levites to minister to the priests, and have charge of the_ _tabernacle_, 2-4. _The priests alone to have the charge of the sanctuary, c., no_ _stranger to come nigh on pain of death_, 5-7 _The portion allowed for their maintenance_, 8. _They shall have every meat-offering and they shall eat them in_ _the holy place_, 9, 10. _The wave-offerings_, 11. _The first-fruits of the_ oil, wine, _and_ wheat, _and whatever is_...

THE INIQUITY OF THE SANCTUARY - i. e. the guilt of the offences which an erring people would be continually committing against the majesty of God, when brought into contact, through the ordinances, with the manifestations of His presence. Compare the marginal reference. THE INIQUITY OF YOUR PRIESTHOOD - As the priests themselves were but men, they were strengthened to bear the iniquity of their own unintentional offences, by being entrusted with the ceremonial means of taking it away (compare Leviticus 16). The word “bear” has, in the Old Testament, this double sense of “enduring” and “removing;” but in the person of Christ, who atoned by His own endurance, the two axe in effect one....

EXPOSITION STATUS AND REVENUES OF PRIESTS AND LEVITES (Numbers 18:1). NUMBERS 18:1 THE LORD SPAKE UNTO AARON. This clear and comprehensive instruction as to the position and support of the sons of Aaron on the one hand, and of the Levites on the other, may very naturally have been given in connection with the events just narrated. There is, however, no direct reference to those events, and it is quite possible that the only connection was one of subject-matter in the mind of the writer. That the regulations which follow were addressed to Aaron directly is a thing unusual, and indeed unexampled. The ever-recurring statement elsewher

AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO AARON,.... As the things spoken were such as concerned Aaron, he might be only and immediately spoken unto: thou, AND THY SONS, AND THY FATHER'S HOUSE WITH THEE; meaning both priests and Levites, the priests by him and his sons, and the Levites by his father's house: SHALL BEAR THE INIQUITY OF THE SANCTUARY; the blame of any evil committed there, the punishment of it; the priests, Aaron and his sons, if they did not perform the duty of their office aright, he in the most holy place, and they in the holy place, and at the altar of burnt offering in the court; and the Levites, if they did not take care to watch in the tabernacle, and keep out strangers and polluted persons: AND THOU, AND THY SONS WITH THEE, SHALL BEAR THE INIQUITY OF YOUR PRIESTHOOD; be answerable for my sins, errors, and mistakes that should be committed by them in the discharge of their office,...

BEAR That is, Be responsible for every neglect or offence relation to. Compare (Exodus 28:38). (_ See Scofield) - (Exodus 28:38). _...

8. PRIESTHOOD AND INIQUITY AND THE RECOMPENSE OF THE PRIESTHOOD CHAPTER 18 _ 1. The iniquity borne by the priesthood (Numbers 18:1)_ 2. The recompense of the priests (Numbers 18:8) 3. The inheritance of the priests (Numbers 18:20) “Aaron, thou and thy sons and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.” This is evidently in answer to the question, “Shall we be consumed with dying?” (Numbers 17:13) The ministry of the priests and the Levites keeping the charge of the tabernacle and the charge of

THE DUTIES OF THE LEVITES. The functions of the Levites are here defined in relation both to the priestly order and to the people. In respect of the priests, they are to act as their ministers, and to be responsible for the custody of the Tabernacle, but not for the care of its contents (with which they are forbidden to come in contact). In respect of the people, they are to constitute a fence, safeguarding the laity from the danger attending profanation of the holy things by a near approach to them. The general trend of the passage is in accord with Numbers 1:49; Numbers 3:5; Numbers 4:15. NUMBERS 18:1. BEAR. PRIESTHOOD: i.e