Numbers 18:4

_AND THEY SHALL BE JOINED UNTO THEE, AND KEEP THE CHARGE OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION, FOR ALL THE SERVICE OF THE TABERNACLE: AND A STRANGER SHALL NOT COME NIGH UNTO YOU._ A stranger - i:e., one neither a priest nor a Levite, who should intrude into any department of the sacred office, should incur the penalty of death....

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....

A STRANGER - i. e. every one not a Levite. So in Numbers 18:7, it denotes each one who was not a priest: compare Numbers 3:10; Numbers 16:40....

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 THEY SHALL BE JOINED UNTO THEE,.... As assistants in the sacred service: AND KEEP THE CHARGE OF TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION, FOR ALL THE SERVICE OF THE TABERNACLE; Numbers 3:7 and Numbers 3:8; AND A STRANGER SHALL NOT COME NIGH UNTO YOU; not any of the other tribes, only such as were of the tribe of Levi; they only were to be brought with them, and joined unto them, and assist them, and minister to them, as in Numbers 18:2; though the Jews h understand by a stranger anyone that was not a priest. h Maimon. in Misn. Zebachim, c. 2. sect. 1....

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

The duties of priests and Levites. The priests are to have charge of the sanctuary, and the Levites are to help them; the latter, however, may not come into contact with the sacred utensils or the altar. No layman may approach on pain of death. The subject has already been treated in Numbers 1:50-53; Numbers 3:5-10; Numbers 3:38; and the principle of the disabilities of laymen has been illustrated in ch. 14....

THEY SHALL BE JOINED UNTO THEE— Alluding to Levi's name; see Genesis 29:34. _Stranger,_ in this verse, does not signify only those of other nations and relations, but all those who were not of the tribe of Levi....

G. LEVITICAL DUTIES AND THEIR EMOLUMENTS (NUMBERS 18) TEXT 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. 2. And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness. 3. And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die. 4. And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the t