PROVISIONS FOR PRIESTS AND LEVITES PROVISIONS FOR PROPHETISM DEUTERONOMY 18:1-22

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 1 PROVISIONS FOR PRIESTS AND LEVITES PROVISIONS FOR PROPHETISM DEUTERONOMY 18:1-22

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 2 Text: PROVISIONS FOR PRIESTS AND LEVITES PROVISIONS FOR PROPHETISM Deuteronomy 18:1-22, 1. The Levitical priests indeed, the entire tribe of Levi will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance. 2. They will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them. 3. This shall be the priests fair allotment from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep they must give to the priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. 4. You must give them the best of your grain, new wine, and olive oil, as well as the best of your wool when you shear your flocks. 5. For the Lord your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand and serve in his name permanently. 6. Suppose a Levite comes by his own free will from one of your villages, from any part of Israel where he is living, to the place the Lord chooses 7. and serves in the name of the Lord his God like his fellow Levites who stand there before the Lord.

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 3 8. He must eat the same share they do, despite any profits he may gain from the sale of his family s inheritance. 9. When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must not learn the abhorrent practices of those nations. 10. There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, anyone who practices divination, an omen reader, a soothsayer, a sorcerer, 11. one who casts spells, one who conjures up spirits, a practitioner of the occult, or a necromancer. 12. Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord and because of these detestable things the Lord your God is about to drive them out from before you. 13. You must be blameless before the Lord your God. 14. Those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to omen readers and diviners, but the Lord your God has not given you permission to do such things. 15. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you from your fellow Israelites; you must listen to him. 16. This accords with what happened at Horeb in the day of the assembly. You asked the Lord your God: Please do not make us hear the voice of the Lord our God any more or see this great fire any more lest we die. 17. The Lord then said to me, What they have said is good. 18. I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I command.

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 4 19. I will personally hold responsible anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet speaks in my name. 20. But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. 21. Now if you say to yourselves, How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord? 22. whenever a prophet speaks in my name and the prediction is not fulfilled, then I have not spoken it; the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him. (NET) Introduction: I. Main points:... A. Provision for priests and Levites. (verses 1-8) 1. Priests and Levites are to be fed from the sacrificial offering. B. Provision for prophetism. (verses 8-22) 1. Condemnation of pagan practices. (verses 9-14) 2. Promise of the prophet to come (Christ). (verses 15-19) 3. How to recognize a false prophet. (verses 20-22)

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 5 II. Key quote:... A. Deuteronomy 18:18-19, I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I command. I will personally hold responsible anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet speaks in my name. (NET) Commentary: PROVISIONS FOR PRIESTS AND LEVITES Deuteronomy 18:1-8, The Levitical priests indeed, the entire tribe of Levi will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance. They will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them. This shall be the priests fair allotment from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep they must give to the priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. You must give them the best of your grain, new wine, and olive oil, as well as the best of your wool when you shear your flocks. For the Lord your God has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand and serve in his name permanently. Suppose a Levite comes by his own free will from one of your villages, from any part of Israel where he is living, to the place the Lord chooses and serves in the name of the Lord his God like his fellow Levites who stand there before the Lord. He must eat the same share

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 6 they do, despite any profits he may gain from the sale of his family s inheritance. (NET) I. Provisions for priests and Levites. (verses 1-8) A. The priests and Levites were to receive a portion of the sacrifices that the people offered to God. 1. Deuteronomy 10:9, Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance among his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance just as the Lord your God told him. (NET) 2. Leviticus 7:31-32, 34, and the priest must offer the fat up in smoke on the altar, but the breast will belong to Aaron and his sons. The right thigh you must give as a contribution offering to the priest from your peace offering sacrifices. for the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution offering I have taken from the Israelites out of their peace offering sacrifices and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons from the people of Israel as a perpetual allotted portion. (NET) 3. Joshua 13:14, However, Moses did not assign land as an inheritance to the Levites; their inheritance is the sacrificial offerings made to the Lord God of Israel, as he instructed them. (NET)

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 7 B. The apostle Paul compared this practice of allotting a portion of the sacrifice to the priest to the paying a teacher of the gospel for his work. 1. 1 Corinthians 9:13-14, Don t you know that those who serve in the temple eat food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar receive a part of the offerings? In the same way the Lord commanded those who proclaim the gospel to receive their living by the gospel. (NET) C. This was also a method of insuring that the Levites and priests did not engage in worldly affairs or attempts to gain wealth. 1. 2 Chronicles 31:4-5, He ordered the people living in Jerusalem to contribute the portion prescribed for the priests and Levites so they might be obedient to the law of the Lord. When the edict was issued, the Israelites freely contributed the initial portion of their grain, wine, olive oil, honey, and all the produce of their fields. They brought a tenth of everything, which added up to a huge amount. (NET) D. Instead of an inheritance of land the Levites were chosen by God to serve Him in His house. 1. Exodus 29:44, So I will set apart as holy the tent of meeting and the altar, and I will set apart as holy Aaron and his sons, that they may minister as priests to me. (NET)

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 8 2. Numbers 1:49-50, Only the tribe of Levi you must not number or count with the other Israelites. But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, over all its furnishings and over everything in it. They must carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; and they must attend to it and camp around it. (NET) 3. Numbers 3:12, Look, I myself have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the Israelites. So the Levites belong to me, (NET) 4. Numbers 8:19, I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to do the work for the Israelites in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the Israelites, so there will be no plague among the Israelites when the Israelites come near the sanctuary. (NET) 5. Deuteronomy 10:8-9, At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the Lord s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to formulate blessings in his name, as they do to this very day. Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance among his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance just as the Lord your God told him. (NET)

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 9 E. The inheritance of a special relationship with God far exceeds the value of an inheritance of land. 1. Colossians 3:23-24, Whatever you are doing, work at it with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not for people, because you know that you will receive your inheritance from the Lord as the reward. Serve the Lord Christ. (NET) 2. 1 Peter 1:4, that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, (NET) F. A Levite that left his village to serve the Lord in His house was to be treated as an equal to those already there. 1. His food allotment from the sacrifices was to be the same as the other Levites. 2. They were to be regarded as equals because they were all equal before God. PROVISIONS FOR PROPHETISM Deuteronomy 18:9-22, When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must not learn the abhorrent practices of those nations. There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, anyone who practices divination, an omen reader, a soothsayer, a sorcerer, one who casts spells, one who conjures up spirits, a practitioner of the occult, or a necromancer. Whoever does these things is

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 10 abhorrent to the Lord and because of these detestable things the Lord your God is about to drive them out from before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God. Those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to omen readers and diviners, but the Lord your God has not given you permission to do such things. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you from your fellow Israelites; you must listen to him. This accords with what happened at Horeb in the day of the assembly. You asked the Lord your God: Please do not make us hear the voice of the Lord our God any more or see this great fire any more lest we die. The Lord then said to me, What they have said is good. I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I command. I will personally hold responsible anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet speaks in my name. But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. Now if you say to yourselves, How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord? whenever a prophet speaks in my name and the prediction is not fulfilled, then I have not spoken it; the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him. (NET) I. Provisions for prophetism. (verses 9-22) A. God gave strict warnings against adopting the pagan practices of the nations they were going to displace.

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 11 B. The practitioners of the black arts were an abomination to the Lord including:... 1. The one who practiced divination (attempting to foretell future events),... 2. An omen reader (one who conjured up spirits),... 3. A sorcerer (a person who practiced magic),... 4. One who cast spells,... 5. A person who conjured up spirits and attempted to contact the dead,... 6. A practitioner of the occult who used prophetic powers, and... 7. A necromancer a diviner of the dead to predict the future. a. Leviticus 19:31, Do not turn to the spirits of the dead and do not seek familiar spirits to become unclean by them. I am the Lord your God. (NET) b. Leviticus 20:6, The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people. (NET)

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 12 c. Isaiah 8:19-20, They will say to you, Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living? Then you must recall the Lord s instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen. Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened. (NET) d. Malachi 3:5, I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the immigrant and in this way show they do not fear me, says the Lord who rules over all. (NET) e. Zechariah 10:2a, For the household gods have spoken wickedness, the soothsayers have seen a lie, and as for the dreamers, they have disclosed emptiness and give comfort in vain. (NET) C. These practices were so wicked that they were the chief cause that the Canaanites were driven out of the land.

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 13 1. If the Canaanites remained and intermingled with the Israelites, they would become corrupted and adopt their sinful practices. a. Exodus 20:4-5, You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me, (NET) b. Exodus 22:20, Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord alone must be utterly destroyed. (NET) c. Exodus 34:12-16, Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare among you. Rather you must destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles. For you must not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, you will eat from his sacrifice; and you then take

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 14 his daughters for your sons, and when his daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods as well. (NET) D. God promised to raise up a true prophet that would replace all of the false prophets. E. This was the promise of Jesus Christ. 1. He is the prophet foretold throughout the Old Testament. There is no other. He is the one by whom God now speaks to us. a. Matthew 3:16-17, After Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water, the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming on him. And a voice from heaven said, This is my one dear Son; in him I take great delight. (NET) b. Luke 2:9-11, An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were absolutely terrified. But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord. (NET)

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 15 c. Luke 7:16-17, 26-27, Fear seized them all, and they began to glorify God, saying, A great prophet has appeared among us! and God has come to help his people! This report about Jesus circulated throughout Judea and all the surrounding country. What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you. (NET) d. John 1:1, 32-34, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. Then John testified, I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. And I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. I have both seen and testified that this man is the Chosen One of God. (NET) e. Isaiah 11:2, The Lord s spirit will rest on him a spirit that gives extraordinary wisdom, a spirit that provides the ability to execute plans, a spirit that produces absolute loyalty to the Lord. (NET)

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 16 f. Isaiah 61:1, The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has chosen me. He has commissioned me to encourage the poor, to help the brokenhearted, to decree the release of captives, and the freeing of prisoners, (NET) F. At Mt. Sinai the Israelites were so afraid of the fire, smoke and thunder of the Lord they feared they would die if God talked directly to them. 1. Exodus 20:18-19, All the people were seeing the thundering and the lightning, and heard the sound of the horn, and saw the mountain smoking and when the people saw it they trembled with fear and kept their distance. They said to Moses, You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die. (NET) G. The proof of a prophet is in the fulfillment of his prophecy. The prophesies of a false prophet will fail to materialize. 1. Matthew 7:15-16, Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorns or figs from thistles, are they? (NET)

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 17 2. Jeremiah 14:13-14, Then I said, Oh, Lord God, look! The prophets are telling them that you said, You will not experience war or suffer famine. I will give you lasting peace and prosperity in this land. Then the Lord said to me, Those prophets are prophesying lies while claiming my authority! I did not send them. I did not commission them. I did not speak to them. They are prophesying to these people false visions, worthless predictions, and the delusions of their own mind. (NET) 3. Jeremiah 23:21-26, I did not send those prophets. Yet they were in a hurry to give their message. I did not tell them anything. Yet they prophesied anyway. But if they had stood in my inner circle, they would have proclaimed my message to my people. They would have caused my people to turn from their wicked ways and stop doing the evil things they are doing. Do you people think that I am some local deity and not the transcendent God? the Lord asks. Do you really think anyone can hide himself where I cannot see him? the Lord asks. Do you not know that I am everywhere? the Lord asks. The Lord says, I have heard what those prophets who are prophesying lies in my name are saying. They are saying, I have had a dream! I have had a dream! Those prophets are just prophesying lies. They are prophesying the delusions of their own minds. (NET)

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 18 4. Jeremiah 32:28-29, Therefore I, the Lord, say: I will indeed hand this city over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonian army. They will capture it. The Babylonian soldiers that are attacking this city will break into it and set it on fire. They will burn it down along with the houses where people have made me angry by offering sacrifices to the god Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods on their rooftops. (NET) 5. 1 John 4:1-3, Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world. (NET) H. Elijah was considered the greatest of God s Old Testament prophets. 1. 1 Kings 17, 1, 7, Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, As certainly as the Lord God of Israel lives (whom I serve), there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command. After a while, the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land. (NET)

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 19 2. 1 Kings 18:1, 41, Some time later, in the third year of the famine, the Lord told Elijah, Go, make an appearance before Ahab, so I may send rain on the surface of the ground. Then Elijah told Ahab, Go on up and eat and drink, for the sound of a heavy rainstorm can be heard. (NET) 3. 1 Kings 17:22-24, The Lord answered Elijah s prayer; the boy s breath returned to him and he lived. Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room to the house, and handed him to his mother. Elijah then said, See, your son is alive! The woman said to Elijah, Now I know that you are a prophet and that the Lord really does speak through you. (NET) 4. 1 Kings 18:37-39, Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are the true God and that you are winning back their allegiance. Then fire from the Lord fell from the sky. It consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, and the dirt, and licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and said, The Lord is the true God! The Lord is the true God! (NET) 5. Matthew 17:1-3, Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them privately up a high mountain. And he was transfigured before them.

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 20 Conclusion: His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. Then Moses and Elijah also appeared before them, talking with him. (NET) 6. Mark 9:2-5, Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John and led them alone up a high mountain privately. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiantly white, more so than any launderer in the world could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared before them along with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. So Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. (NET) 7. Luke 9:29-30, As he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became very bright, a brilliant white. Then two men, Moses and Elijah, began talking with him. (NET) I. Why does God give us so many laws and rules to live by? A. He gave us laws to allow us to overcome our sinful nature and live a life according to His will. If man remained ensnared in the trap of sin, he would be an abomination to God, cast out of His presence forever.

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 21 1. Genesis 3:22-23, And the Lord God said, Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever. So the Lord God expelled him from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. (NET) B. The commandments and laws gave us standards that established behavior which was acceptable to God. The differences between right and wrong were clearly stated. Behavior or practices that may be the norm of a society may be reprehensible, but if you don t know they are evil, you have no incentive to stop. The difference between right and wrong must be clearly understood for a society or culture to survive and prosper. One built on the foundation of God will stand, the one founded on evil will fall. C. No right thinking people today would practice or even condone the ancient custom of sacrificing children by fire to an idol or false god. We have moral and civil laws that prohibit barbaric acts such as this. D. God established commandments and laws to protect us and our communities from the influences of evil. By pointing out practices that went against the will of God, we were given guidance to allow us to follow His will. E. In His wisdom God understood that even if we knew right from wrong sometimes we would make the wrong choice and sin against Him. This is where the grace and mercy of

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 22 God are manifested. From the beginning God, in His omniscience, understood the sinful nature of man and his plan provided a way for him to be made righteous through the crucifixion, death and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ. 1. Romans 5:1, Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (NET) 2. Romans 6:10-11, For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (NET) 3. Romans 7:4, So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God. (NET) 4. 2 Corinthians 5:21, God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God. (NET) F. If we focus on following the laws we will feel as though we are failing and not deserving of the grace of God. If we accept the love of God offered to us through His son Jesus Christ, we will experience the grace and mercy of God and we will realize that we cannot save ourselves through the laws. We are saved only by the blood of Jesus.

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 23 1. Romans 6:14, For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace. (NET) 2. Romans 7:6, 18-19, 24-25, But now we have been released from the law, because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want! Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (NET) 3. Romans 8:3-4, For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (NET)

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 24 Questions on Deuteronomy 18:1-22 1. The Israelites were admonished not to worship and bow to false gods or idols as the pagans did. To do so would be breaking commandments number and of the Decalogue. 2. Explain why the Levites were to receive a portion of the sacrificial offerings. 3. A Levite that left his village and went to the house of the Lord to serve was not given an equal share of the sacrifices. True False 4. Any Levite that had inherited family possessions was excluded from sharing in the food from (?) sacrifices. True False 5. God promised to give the Israelites a true prophet from among their midst. This was a foretelling of the coming of

www.biblestudyworkshop.org 25 6. Explain why the Canaanites were driven out of the land the Israelites were to possess. 7. Explain how the Israelites were to determine if a prophet was a true prophet of God. 8. God said He would those people who did not heed the words of his prophet. 9. Define a necromancer. 10. The two Old Testament prophets that appeared with Jesus during the transfiguration were and.