Prepare
Opening Prayer
God, thank you for this day and your Word. You are good and have revealed yourself in Scripture; help us understand. In Jesus' name, amen.
Read
Scripture Passage
Duties of Priests and Levites
18 Then the Lord said to Aaron: “You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear the iniquity related to the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your priesthood. 2 Also bring with you your brethren of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be joined with you and serve you while you and your sons are with you before the tabernacle of witness. 3 They shall attend to your needs and all the needs of the tabernacle; but they shall not come near the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, lest they die—they and you also. 4 They shall be joined with you and attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, for all the work of the tabernacle; but an outsider shall not come near you. 5 And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, that there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel. 6 Behold, I Myself have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel; they are a gift to you, given by the Lord, to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting. 7 Therefore you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and behind the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood to you as a gift for service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Nu 18:1–7.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
Aaron and his sons bear responsibility for the sanctuary and priesthood. The Levites join them to guard and serve the tabernacle, while only Aaron's family approaches the altar and inner sanctuary; priesthood is God's gift.
B — Best Verse
A Verse That Summarizes the Passage
Numbers 18:7
Distilled from the devotional exposition; the speaker did not explicitly name a best verse.
Bryan does not explicitly choose a best verse. Verse 7 summarizes the priestly responsibility and emphasizes that priestly service is a gift from God.
C — Called or Christ
C — Christ Connection
Thank God for Jesus Christ, our High Priest and self-giving sacrifice. As the royal priesthood formed in him, live as a living sacrifice and offer God praise and prayer.
Additional Notes
Discussion on Numbers Chapter 18
The passage discusses the responsibilities and duties of Aaron and his sons, the priests, regarding the sanctuary and priesthood.
It highlights the consequences of neglecting these duties, emphasizing accountability and the sanctity of the roles within the temple.
The Levites' role is clarified as assistants to the priests, with strict prohibitions against performing priestly functions to avoid death.
The concept of the priesthood being a gift from God is underlined, with specific duties outlined for Aaron and his sons.
Theological Implications and Christian Connection
A connection is made to Jesus Christ as the ultimate high priest, according to the New Testament, drawing a parallel to the priesthood of Melchizedek.
The discussion briefly touches on the nature of the Trinity, emphasizing the unity and distinctiveness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The conversation veers into a light-hearted exchange about ghosts, eventually steering back to the significance of Jesus' sacrifice.
Conclusion and Prayer
The session concludes with a prayer thanking God for Jesus Christ as the high priest and the implications of this for believers, including being part of a "royal priesthood."
The closing remarks invite listeners to further engagement and provide information on the church hosting the session.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
well good morning good morning good morning welcome to coffee and devotions that's where every weekday morning you and I we have a well hold on here hold on here we have a little bit of coffee we get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together hold on and this year 2024 you know what books we're going through Numbers Deuteronomy and Hebrews all right apparently she wants some coffee we'll pray and we'll get into God's word just a sip just a sip oh okay that's good you took three sips all right I'm going to have some coffee don't give me a lot oh don't worry I am not giving you a lot let's pray God thank you so much for this day thank you for your word you are a good God and we thank you that you have revealed yourself to us in your word please help us to understand in Jesus's name amen all right so we are at Numbers chapter 18 Numbers chapter 18 and we have the first eight verses you ready oh tired tired here we go nope no coffee then the Lord said to Moses you and your sons and your father's house with you shall bear the iniquity related to the sanctuary and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your priesthood do you hear what that says right if there's stuff wrong with the sanctuary or the priesthood whose fault is it Aaron and his sons do you know what their job was they were the priests yeah so if the priests don't take care of the sanctuary whose fault is it the priests and his sons if they don't take care of the the sacrifices and stuff whose fault is it going to be the priest and his sons that's right also bring with you your brethren of the tribe of Levi the tribe of your father that they may be joined with you and serve you while you and your sons are with you before the Tabernacle of witness they shall attend to your needs and all the needs of the Tabernacle but they shall not come near the articles of the sanctuary and the Artic and the altar lest they die they and you also so as the Levites came near and they start acting like priests what was going to happen happen um they would they would die but who would also die not God God cannot die the priest would die too because they didn't do their job guarding and protecting they shall be joined with you and attend to the needs of the Tabernacle of meeting for all the work of the Tabernacle but an outsider shall not come near you and you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar that they may be no more wrath on the children of Israel behold I myself have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel they are a gift to you given by the Lord to do the work of the Tabernacle of meeting therefore you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for every everything at the altar behind the veil and you shall serve I give your priesthood to you as a gift for service but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death all right so what had God given to Aaron and his sons the priests he gave them the priesthood that's right and was anybody else supposed to take the priesthood nope nope died yeah if they did they would die that's right but this was a gift to them it was it was a blessing the Levites got their blessing to help and to work nope to help and to work in the Tabernacle and the priests had their blessings to actually do the sacrifices did you know that we have a priest who's our priest God specifically Jesus um so God is Jesus and God the Jesus Is God he's the God man he's a second person of the Trinity but Jesus is a priest forever in the order of not of Aaron but of you ready for this big name melchisedec so that two Gods nope there's there's three persons and one God so we all threee so there's God the Father God the son God the Holy Spirit and these three are one not separate not different modes or something like that but three in power and glory and Essence the Holy Ghost the holy ghost or Holy Spirit I don't know why they call it the ghost the word is uh hos that Holy Spirit but the old the King James translated ghost but you're right there's kind of weird things about ghosts now aren't there yeah there no G real but I believe in God well you believe in God though well I believe in Gods and ghosts because that a book about ghost well we can talk about ghost some other time right but Jesus is our priest in heaven yeah Jesus is our our priest in heaven Jesus offered up a sacrifice do you know what his sacrifice was himself himself yeah and that's and that's a gift to us under cover on my now yeah okay are you ready to pray yeah okay Lord thank you so much for Jesus Christ our high priest thank you for that gift thank you for the gift you have given us Lord we are priests also so now in Jesus a a holy nation a royal priesthood Lord we pray that we would live our lives as a Living Sacrifice and that we would offer up to you the sacrifice of praise and the incense of Prayer in Jesus's name we pray amen bye bye thanks for listening to this week's message from God's word for you a Ministry of Sharon RP Church in rule Southeast Iowa we pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week if you'd like to get more information about us feel free to go to the website Sharon rc.org we'd love to invite you to worship with us our worship time is 10:00 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue Morning Sun Iowa 52640 may God richly bless you this week