Originally posted: 06/10/2019
We often fall into the trap of unconsciously thinking of the God of the Old Testament as being somehow different from the God of the New Testament, as though He were two separate Beings: the God of the Law in the Old and the God of Grace in the New.
He Himself has told us He is One, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4), and He Himself has expressed He never changes, “For I, the Lord, do not change…” (Malachi 3:6), and yet we still compartmentalize and often miss His Grace in His Law.
Numbers 18 uses some form of the word, give or gift, nineteen times. Numbers 18 vividly portrays the LORD as the God of Grace revealed in His Good Gifts Given.
Consider His Good Gifts Given
- His Good Gifts Given… given solely by the LORD Himself.
- “Behold, I Myself have taken your fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are a gift to you, …8 Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have given you charge of My offerings,” (18:6, 8).
- His Good Gifts Given… providing needed assistance for service.
- “…they are a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. 7 But you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service…” (18:6-7).
- His Good Gift Given… preventing death.
- “I am giving you the priesthood as a bestowed service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death,” (18:7).
- His Good Gifts Given…supplying perpetual sustenance.
- Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have given you charge of My offerings, even all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual allotment. 9 This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, even every grain offering and every sin offering and every guilt offering, which they shall render to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. 10 As the most holy gifts you shall eat it,” (18:8-10).
- His Good Gifts Given… giving the best and first fruits.
- “All the best of the fresh oil and all the best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of those which they give to the Lord, I give them to you,” (18:12).
- His Good Gifts Given… providing redemption.
- “Every first issue of the womb of all flesh, whether man or animal, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem,” (18:15).
- His Good Gifts Given… given as an everlasting covenant.
- “All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual allotment. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord to you and your descendants with you,” (18:19).
- His Good Gift Given… giving Himself as the priests’ portion and inheritance.
- Then the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel… 23 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. 24 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,’” (18:20, 23-24).
How do we respond to His Good Gifts Given?
God has not changed. Today, let us meditate on Him Who never changes and His Good Gifts Given.
- His Good Gifts Given… given solely by the LORD Himself.
- “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son…” (John 3:16).
- His Good Gifts Given… providing needed assistance for service.
- And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, (Ephesians 4:11-12).
- His Good Gift Given… preventing death.
- “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life,” (John 3:16).
- His Good Gifts Given… supplying perpetual sustenance.
- “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you,” (John 14:26).
- His Good Gifts Given… giving the best and first fruits.
- For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, (1 Corinthians 15:22-23).
- His Good Gifts Given… providing redemption.
- In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace… (Ephesians 1:7).
- His Good Gifts Given… given as an everlasting covenant.
- Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, (Hebrews 13:20).
- His Good Gift Given… giving Himself as the priests’ portion and inheritance.
- In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory, (Ephesians 1:13-14).
Let us recognize and acknowledge every Good Gift we have is from the Lord, and He has given us Himself as His very Best Gift Given.
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. 18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures, (James 1:17-18).
In thanks, we offer the tithe from His gracious provision, not in order to keep the Law, but out of hearts of gratitude for His Good Gifts Given.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe,’” (18:25-26).
When we consider His Good Gifts Given, how can we not offer Him more than a mere tithe? Oh today, and every day, let us wholly offer Him Who has Given us so very much, our very lives.
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship, (Romans 12:1).