PRIESTS AND LEVITES

Lesson 8 for the 21st of November, 2009

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And
in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets,
third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of
healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and
those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all
prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of
healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?”

1 Corinthians, 12: 27-30

DIVISION OF LABOUR

Every believer has a work to do in

the common service of the Church.
All the tasks or ministries are
necessary for the right development
of the work of the Church.
In the ancient Israel God defined the
work that each one had in the
Sanctuary.
Priests and Levites carried out
different tasks. Everyone had to do
his own task and not to meddle in the
task of other group.
 God established the work of the priests: “But only you and
your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything
at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service
of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the
sanctuary must be put to death” (Numbers, 18: 7)
• They were assistants of the • They had to place the victims on
In the the Altar in the Courtyard.
priest in their duties.
• Singers and musicians.
Temple
• Doormen and guards.
• Judges and scribes.
• They had to guarantee that no one
touched the holy things or the
Levites.
• They took care of taking During the
down, transporting and pilgrimage
putting up the Sanctuary. • Every intercession task, including
• Helping the priest in carrying all the duties related to the Holy
out their duties. and the Most Holy Places.
LEVITES PRIESTS
OF THE OF THE
TASKS TASKS
 GOD’S GIFT
Levites were a gift from God for the priests. They helped them in the tasks in the
Sanctuary.

Helping in the Sanctuary was a privilege for the Levites. They could be in close contact
with God.

That helped them to understand better the sacrifice of Christ, represented in the daily
tasks in the Tabernacle. Then they could teach it to the people.
(Lv. 7: 8; Lv. 10: 12-15; Lv. 23: 17-20; Nm. 18: 11-20; Dt. 18: 3-5)
• The firstborns of clean animals (except their fat) The firstborns
• The ransom for the firstborns of unclean animals and people.
Vows
• Everything consecrated because a vow.
• The first fruits of the soil, including oil, must and wheat. The firs fruits
• The wool of the sheep.
offerings
• The parts of the animals that weren’t burnt. the feast days and guilt
• The waved bread. Communal offering in
• The skin of the animal.
Burnt offerings
• Waved breast, the thigh and the parts that weren’t burnt in the Altar. Peace sacrifices
of the offerings and the sacrifices of the people.
In the people of Israel, the priests had no estate. They had to be maintained with part
MAINTAINING THE PRIESTS
 MAINTAINING THE LEVITES

The Levites were consecrated to the

service in the tabernacle (later, in the
temple), so they didn’t receive any land
in Canaan.
However, they settled all over the
country in cities that were prepared for
them: 13 cities for the priests in Judah,
Simeon and Benjamin territory, and 35
cities for the Levites in the other tribes:
48 cities altogether (Jos. 21:4-8).
 MAINTAINING THE LEVITES
The Levites had no salary and
they didn’t take part in the
offerings and the sacrifices.
They were maintained by the
tithe that every Israelite had to
offer from his income (Numbers. 18:24)
“All your gifts you shall offer
up every heave offering due
to the Lord, from all the best
of them, the consecrated part
of them” (Numbers, 18: 29)
They had to give the best as tithe
of the received goods for the
priests. God wants us to give the
best of what we receive from
Him.
 H E
T
TI “God wants all His stewards to be exact in
following divine arrangements. They are not to
offset the Lord's plans with some deed of
charity, some gift, or some offering, done or given
when and how they, the human agents, shall see fit.
God has made His plan known, and all who cooperate
with Him will carry out His plan instead of daring to
attempt to improve on it by their own
arrangements.... God will honor them and work in
their behalf, for we have His pledged word that He
will open the windows of heaven and pour us out a
blessing such as there will not be room enough to
receive”.
E.G.W. (That I may know Him, 3 August)
THE RED HEIFER
THE RED HEIFER
1 A reddish heifer, symbol of Christ.
2 It had never carried a yoke. Christ submitted voluntarily, he wasn’t under the
law.
3 A man sacrifices the heifer (not the priest)

4 The priest sprinkled the blood on the sanctuary 7 times. It purified the holy
place.
5 The priest added this to the bonfire :
Cedar wood: Symbol of integrity.
Hyssop: Symbol of purification (“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be
clean” Psalm 51: 7)
Scarlet wool: Symbol of sin (Isaiah, 1: 18)
6 The priest and the man who burned the heifer remained unclean.
7 A clean man picked up the ashes and put them away.
THE RED HEIFER
THE RED HEIFER
How were the ashes used?

1 Contact with human corpses, bones or tombs.

2 When someone died in a tent, all the people and things were unclean.

The ashes of the cow were mixed with water to create purification
3 water.
The opened vessels were broken.
4
Everything was sprinkled with purification water on the third and the
5 seventh day.
If anyone was not purified, he was banned from the people.
6
The war plunder was also purified (Numbers, 31: 22-23)
7
“The repeated sprinklings illustrate the thoroughness
of the work that must be accomplished for the
repenting sinner. All that he has must be consecrated.
Not only should his own soul be washed clean and pure,
but he should strive to have his family, his domestic
arrangements, his property, and his entire belongings
consecrated to God.
After the tent had been
sprinkled with hyssop, over
the door of those cleansed
was written: I am not my
own; Lord, I am Thine. Thus
should it be with those who
profess to be cleansed by the
blood of Christ”
E.G.W. (Testimonies for the church, vol. 4, cp. 11, page 122)