Deuteronomy 18:1-14
The Portion of the Priests and Levites
1 “The priests, the Levites—all the tribe of Levi—shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and His portion. 2 Therefore they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the LORD is their inheritance, as He said to them.
3 “And this shall be the priest’s due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it is bull or sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach. 4 The firstfruits of your grain and your new wine and your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. 5 For the LORD your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons forever.
6 “So if a Levite comes from any of your gates, from where he dwells among all Israel, and comes with all the desire of his mind to the place which the LORD chooses, 7 then he may serve in the name of the LORD his God as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before the LORD. 8 They shall have equal portions to eat, besides what comes from the sale of his inheritance.
Avoid Wicked Customs
9 “When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. 14 For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.
Here the inheritance of the priests and their helpers in God’s house are described. Their inheritance was not in the land but the LORD Himself, and their sustenance came from the sacrifices offered to God which they ministered for the people. Certain parts of each selected sacrifice were appointed for them as described here in detail. Since the tribe of Levi was chosen to serve as the priests ministering the sacrifices in the name of the LORD, they were afforded such rights to be fed and accommodated. This is the pattern modern churches use to pay their pastors and provide living for them as well, whether in monetary compensation (1 Corinthians 9:9, 11, 13-14) or in a parsonage paid for by the church for him and his family to live in as an inheritance for serving the Lord Jesus Christ and ministering the gospel to care for the sacrifice made once for all by Jesus. God has chosen certain men for this purpose, to minister the gospel to the flock as overseers we call pastors and elders that they may be supported as they commit their lives and livelihood to serve God and man in their callings. The second part of this passage shows that fidelity to holy living is required by not only the priests but also all of God’s people, that we should not take on the ungodly customs and practices contrary to God’s word as the unbelievers around us do. The promised land we are heading towards in the heavenly realm is full of God’s holiness in His presence where sin dwells no more and we are to live in preparation for that eternal reality even now just as Israel was called to do as they entered the physical promised land of Canaan then, a picture and type of that which is to come. This means we abstain from worship of other gods of philosophical creations of man such as the occult, even to the seemingly innocuous horoscopes or tarot card readings or the more blatant ones such as blending the teachings of cults and other religions to water down and make the gospel and scriptures into something other than as they alphabet been given to us in their pure and true form. Such teachings often are abominations to God (Galatians 1:6-7) and should be to us as well. These include condoning homosexuality and adultery or other immoral acts as well as serving idols of false religions or of philosophies contrary to the teachings of scripture. We, like God’s people of old, are to be blameless before the Lord in pursuit of purity in both body and soul, just as it has been appointed for us to live (John 15:16, Ephesians 2:10) and serve as priests (Revelation 1:6, 5:10) to our Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ by the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit living in we who are His. We are called to inherit and serve our Lord in purity of mind and body.
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