More Priestly Duties
- God reiterates to Aaron that he, his sons, and the Levites are in charge of the tabernacle. Which basically means that if anything goes wrong, they'll be the ones paying the price. Yikes.
- Again, God explains that the Levites are to help with the tabernacle, but never to touch or look at anything inside it. It's priests only inside the tent. Otherwise, it's death for everyone involved.
- God also details which offerings the priests get to take a cut of. Priests and their families can eat any grain, sin, or guilt offerings. Let's hope there's lots of sinning going on, or those priests are gonna get pretty hungry.
- Again, God mentions that the Levites are entitled to five shekels for every firstborn male among the Israelites, as well as every firstborn animal. Score!
- Sounds good so far, right? Well, God also tells Aaron that he and his family don't get to own any land. God will provide for them (by generously letting them share in his offerings). Okay, but nothing really beats a room of one's own.
- God also mentions that the Levites are to get a tithe from the Israelites as payment for their service to the tabernacle. Basically, this just means that the people of Israel are supposed to fork over a tenth of whatever goods they produce (grain, wine, etc.).
- The Levites, in turn, will offer Aaron and sons a tenth of their wages. It's kind of like tipping your server, except God doesn't want you to be as generous.