seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Deuteronomy 18:1 The Levitical priests—indeed, the whole tribe of Levi—are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the food offerings presented to the Lord, for that is their inheritance. 2 They shall have no inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them.
3 This is the share due the priests from the people who sacrifice a bull or a sheep: the shoulder, the internal organs and the meat from the head. 4 You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep, 5 for the Lord your God has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the Lord’s name always.
6 If a Levite moves from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he is living, and comes in all earnestness to the place the Lord will choose, 7 he may minister in the name of the Lord his God like all his fellow Levites who serve there in the presence of the Lord. 8 He is to share equally in their benefits, even though he has received money from the sale of family possessions.
3 This is the share due the priests from the people who sacrifice a bull or a sheep: the shoulder, the internal organs and the meat from the head. 4 You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep, 5 for the Lord your God has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the Lord’s name always.
6 If a Levite moves from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he is living, and comes in all earnestness to the place the Lord will choose, 7 he may minister in the name of the Lord his God like all his fellow Levites who serve there in the presence of the Lord. 8 He is to share equally in their benefits, even though he has received money from the sale of family possessions.
It's not easy making the Bible entertaining every day. If it's not entertaining every day... then I might not read it.... I like to be entertained when I spend this much time studying something... it has to be interesting. Reading the same thing over and over is really redundant and quite boring.... sorry about that... BUT it's the Bible... and we really should be interested in it. The Levites were the family that came from Levi. Levi was the third son of Jacob and Leah. The Levites were chosen to be priests. They weren't given land. They didn't have flocks of their own. They lived to take care of worship. These verses are about the care of the Levite families.
This commentary is from the easy English site.
Israelites would look after the priests, because the priests did not own any land. The priests worked at the chief place of worship. There they gave sacrifices. The rest of the tribe called Levi had other duties. They included their duty to teach the Israelites about the law. The Israelites gave offerings that they burned with fire. They were the burnt offering and the grain offerings, the peace offerings and the guilt offerings. People burned the burnt offering completely, but the priests could have a share of the other offerings. God had chosen the Levites to serve him and his people. Verses 6-8 refer to Levites who were not priests. They could serve God at the chief place of worship if they wanted to. They would receive their share of the food, even if they had money of their own.
This clarification comes from the bibletrack.org site.
The priests had to eat...and with mighty fine cuts of meat; the sacrifice business had its rewards. They received compensation from the rest of Israel for their services to the people. Within the tribe of Levi, the priesthood proper was restricted to Aaron and his descendants according to Exodus 28:1 . The number of eligible priests narrowed even more two generations later when, in Numbers 25:10-13 , it was decreed that priests from that time forward would come only from the line of Aaron's grandson, Phinehas. The remainder of the tribe of the Levites were set aside for supporting duties in the tabernacle and temple as we see in Numbers 3. All of them were to be treated equally with regard to provisions.
Incidentally, despite this Phinehas prophecy, there was a period of time where the priesthood was not controlled by a descendant of Phinehas. Eli, during the period of the Judges, was not his descendant. However, we see in I Samuel 2:27-36 that the priesthood through his lineage will be cut off. This transfer would take place later under Solomon's authority as a fulfillment of this prophecy in https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=+I+Kings+2:27,35+&version=NIV,35 .
Upon arrival into Canaan, the Levites were to inhabit 48 cities spread through Israel. A rotation of serving Levites (at the tabernacle) was apparently set up prior to the shifts we see in David's era, which were established in I Chronicles 23-26. Verses 6-8 here specify that the Levite who comes from outside of the region where the tabernacle is located to serve at the tabernacle is not to experience any discrimination from the local Levites.
Incidentally, despite this Phinehas prophecy, there was a period of time where the priesthood was not controlled by a descendant of Phinehas. Eli, during the period of the Judges, was not his descendant. However, we see in I Samuel 2:27-36 that the priesthood through his lineage will be cut off. This transfer would take place later under Solomon's authority as a fulfillment of this prophecy in https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=+I+Kings+2:27,35+&version=NIV,35 .
Upon arrival into Canaan, the Levites were to inhabit 48 cities spread through Israel. A rotation of serving Levites (at the tabernacle) was apparently set up prior to the shifts we see in David's era, which were established in I Chronicles 23-26. Verses 6-8 here specify that the Levite who comes from outside of the region where the tabernacle is located to serve at the tabernacle is not to experience any discrimination from the local Levites.
I have to remember, Moses is talking to the Israelites before they made their way across the Jordan River into the Promised Land. As they traveled through the desert for 40 years, there had only been one tent used as the Temple. It moved with them and everything was centralized. In Canaan, the worship will still be centralized but they would be spread so far apart, there would be Levites placed throughout the Promised Land to take care of the Levitical duties. These Levites didn't own land but they did have personal property. They could sell their personal property and keep any money they made from the sale. They lived off of the donations from the Israelites they took care of.
