PRIESTS AND PROPHETS

Deuteronomy 18:1-22 / Keywords 18:2

They shall have no inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the LORD is their inheritance, as he promised them.

 

Offerings for Priests and Levites

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.

Occult Practices

9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God.

The Prophet

14 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. 15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”

17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”

21 You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.

1. The whole tribe of Levi and the priests, the descendants of Aaron, had been set aside to serve God. They had responsibilities to take care of the sanctuary and to teach the law. God was their inheritance, and so He would be their provision, livelihood, and security. They lived on the food offerings. Figuratively, God shared His portion with the Levites. When a Levite moved to another region, he was given the same opportunity to serve and eat in equal portion with his fellow Levites there. We Christians are called as a priestly nation. Each of us has a role in the service of God. Christ is our inheritance. Like the Levites we are not to anchor our identity to the world but to heaven. Our primary life focus is to serve God.

 

2. Israel was entering a land where people practiced sorcery and witchcraft. God promised to raise a prophet like Moses. A prophet is one who speaks a message from God. God fulfilled his promise ultimately by raising up Jesus Christ (Ac 3:21-26). We must listen to Jesus, not false prophets of our times who make up their own messages.

 

Prayer Lord, my inheritance is Christ. Help me to live as a royal priest.

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