Thought from today’s Bible reading from Deuteronomy 14-16.
“Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you” (Deuteronomy 14:27).
The tribe of Levi was unique in the nation of Israel. Unlike the other tribes, the Levites did not receive a possession when the promised land was divided among the tribes. The reason for this had to do with the specific duty God gave to the Levites.
“To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting. […] Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel they shall have no inheritance. For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel’” (Numbers 18:21-24).
The Levites were devoted to a spiritual work. Therefore, God made this provision for them. Though they had no inheritance in the land, they would receive their livelihood from the tithes given by the people.
While it is true that all Christians today make up a “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9), there are certain ones who dedicate themselves to a spiritual work, namely preaching the gospel. God has given similar instructions regarding the provisions for these individuals.
“Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar? So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:13-14).
“The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him” (Galatians 6:6).
“For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth” (3 John 7-8).
It is certainly true that a gospel preacher may work to support himself while he preaches (Acts 18:2-4; 20:34; 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:8), but this is never the ideal as he is unable to devote himself “completely to the word” (Acts 18:5). As the Israelites were not to neglect the Levite, Christians today should not neglect those who preach the gospel but rather support them so they can devote their time and energies toward their primary work – preaching the gospel.
Tomorrow’s reading: Deuteronomy 17-20
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
