The Best Type of Offering (Numbers 18-19)
TEXT: Numbers 18:25-29
25 The LORD said to Moses, 26 “Speak to the Levites and say to them: ”When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the LORD”s offering. 27 Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. 28 In this way you also will present an offering to the LORD from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the LORD”s portion to Aaron the priest. 29 You must present as the LORD”s portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.”
- Is this the first reference to the custom of tithing in the Bible?
- What do the words “the tithe I give you as your inheritance” mean?
- Why is the Lord’s portion described as “the best and holiest” in v. 29?
TEXT: Numbers 21:17-18
17 Then Israel sang this song:
“Spring up, O well!
Sing about it,
18 about the well that the princes dug,
that the nobles of the people sank-
the nobles with scepters and staffs.”
- The author of Numbers presents a mixture of legal material and stories. Is there any particular reason why he did that?
- How much poetry is there in Numbers?
- Some people love to read the poetic passages from the Bible. What do the people who do not appreciate poetry miss in their reading?
Lesson: God accepts material gifts but also the praises that come from the heart.
