God Proves Aaron Is the High Priest

17 The Lord said to Moses, ²“Speak to the people of Israel. Get twelve wooden walking sticks from them. Get one from the leader of each of the twelve family groups. Write the name of each man on his walking stick. ³On the stick from Levi, write Aaron’s name. There must be one stick for the head of each of the twelve family groups. ⁴Put these walking sticks in the Meeting Tent* in front of the Box of the Agreement.* This is the place where I meet with you. ⁵I will choose one man to be the true priest. You will know which man I choose because his walking stick will begin to grow new leaves. In this way, I will stop the people from always complaining against you and me.” ⁶So Moses spoke to the people of Israel. Each of the leaders gave him a walking stick. There were twelve walking sticks. There was one stick from each leader of each family group. One of the walking sticks belonged to Aaron. ⁷Moses put the walking sticks before the Lord in the Tent of the Agreement.* ⁸The next day Moses entered the Tent. He saw that Aaron’s walking stick, the stick from the family of Levi, was the one that had grown new leaves. That walking stick had even grown branches and made almonds. ⁹So Moses brought out all the sticks from the Lord’s place. Moses showed the walking sticks to the people of Israel. They all looked at the sticks, and each man took his own stick back. ¹⁰Then the Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s walking stick {back into the Tent} in front of the Agreement.* This will be a warning for these people who are always turning against me. This will stop their complaining against me, so that I won’t destroy them.” ¹¹So Moses did what the Lord commanded him. ¹²The people of Israel said to Moses, “We know that we will die! We are lost! We will all be destroyed! ¹³Any person who even comes near the Lord’s holy place will die. Is it true that we will all die?”

Meeting Tent The Holy Tent (tabernacle) where the people of Israel went to meet with God. Box of the Agreement Holy Box or “ark of the Covenant,” the box containing the flat stones with the Ten Commandments written on them. These were proof of the Agreement between God and the people of Israel. Tent of the Agreement The Holy Tent where the Box of the Agreement was kept. Agreement Literally, “Proof.” The flat stones with the Ten Commandments written on them. These were proof of the Agreement between God and the people of Israel.

The Work of the Priests and Levites

18 The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and all the people in your father’s family are now responsible for any wrong things that are done against the holy place. You and your sons are responsible for wrong things that are done against the priests. ²Bring the other Levite men from your family group to join you. They will help you and your sons do your work in the Tent of the Agreement.* ³Those people from the family of Levi are under your control. They will do all the work that needs to be done in the Tent. But they must not go near the things in the Holy Place* or the altar.* If they do, then they will die—and you will die also. ⁴They will join you and work with you. They will be responsible for caring for the Meeting Tent.* All the work that must be done in the Tent will be done by them. No one else may come near the place where you are. ⁵“You are responsible for caring for the holy place and the altar.* I don’t want to become angry with the people of Israel again. ⁶I myself chose the Levite people from among all the people of Israel. They are like a gift to you. I gave them to you to serve the Lord and work in the Meeting Tent.* ⁷But, Aaron, only you and your sons may serve as priests. You are the only ones that can go near the altar. You are the only ones that can go inside the curtain {into the Most Holy Place}. I am giving you a gift—your service as a priest. Anyone else that comes near {my} holy place must be killed.” ⁸Then the Lord said to Aaron, “I myself gave you responsibility over all the special gifts people give to me. All the holy* gifts that the people of Israel give to me, I give to you. You and your sons can share in these gifts. They will always belong to you. ⁹The people will bring sacrifices, grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. Those offerings are most holy. Your share in the most holy offerings will come from the parts that are not burned. All those things will be for you and your sons. ¹⁰Eat those things only in the very holy place. Every male in your family may eat them, but you must remember that those offerings are holy. ¹¹“And all the gifts that the Israelite people give as wave offerings will also be yours. I give this to you and your sons and your daughters. This is your share. Every person in your family that is clean* will be able to eat it. ¹²“And I give you all the best olive oil and all the best new wine and grain. These are the things that the people of Israel give to me, the Lord. These are the first things that they gather in their harvest. ¹³When the people gather a harvest, they bring all the first things to the Lord. So these things I will give to you. And every person in your family that is clean* may eat it. ¹⁴“Everything in Israel that is given to the Lord* is yours. ¹⁵“A woman’s first baby and an animal’s first baby must be given to the Lord. That baby will belong to you. If the firstborn animal is unclean,* then it must be bought back. If the baby is a child, that child must be bought back. {That child will again belong to its family.} ¹⁶They must make the payment when the baby is one month old. The cost will be 2 ounces* of silver. You must use the official measure* to weigh this silver. A shekel by the official measure is 20 gerahs.* ¹⁷“But you must not make a payment for the firstborn cow, sheep, or goat. Those animals are holy.* Sprinkle their blood on the altar* and burn their fat. This is an offering made by fire. Its smell pleases the Lord. ¹⁸But the meat from those animals will be yours. And also the breast from a wave offering will be yours. And the right thigh from other offerings will be yours. ¹⁹Anything that the people offer as holy gifts, I, the Lord, give to you. This is your share. I give it to you and your sons and your daughters. This law will continue forever. It is an agreement with the Lord that can’t be broken.* I make this promise to you and to your descendants.*” ²⁰The Lord also said to Aaron, “You will not get any of the land. And you will not own anything that the other people own. I, the Lord, will be yours. The Israelite people will get the land that I promised. But I am my gift to you. ²¹“The people of Israel will give one tenth of everything they have. So I give that one tenth to all the descendants* of Levi. This is their payment for the work that they do while they serve at the Meeting Tent.* ²²But the other people of Israel must never go near that Meeting Tent. If they do, then they must be put to death! ²³The Levite people who are working in the Meeting Tent are responsible for any sins against it. This is a law that will continue forever. The Levite people will not get any of the land that I promised to the other people of Israel. ²⁴But the people of Israel will give one tenth of everything they have to me. And I will give that one tenth to the Levite people. That is why I said these words about the Levite people: Those people will not get the land that I promised the people of Israel.” ²⁵The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶“Speak to the Levite people and tell them: The people of Israel will give one tenth of everything they own to the Lord. That one tenth will belong to the Levite people. But you must give one tenth of that to the Lord as your offering. ²⁷You will be given grain after it is harvested and juice from the winepress. Then that will also be your offering to the Lord. ²⁸In this way, you will also give an offering to the Lord in the same way that the other people of Israel do. You will get the one tenth that the people of Israel give to the Lord. And then you will give one tenth of that to Aaron the priest. ²⁹When the people of Israel give you one tenth of everything that they own, then you should choose the best and the holiest part of those things. That is the one tenth that you must give to the Lord. ³⁰“Moses, tell the Levite people: The people of Israel will give you one tenth of their harvest and of their wine. Then you will give the best part of that to the Lord. ³¹You and your families can eat all that is left. This is your payment for the work you do in the Meeting Tent.* ³²And if you always give the best part of it to the Lord, then you will never be guilty. You will always remember that those gifts are the holy* offerings from the people of Israel. And you will not die.”

Tent of the Agreement The Holy Tent where the Box of the Agreement was kept. Holy Place One of the rooms in the Holy Tent. altar A table or raised area used for offering sacrifices. Meeting Tent The Holy Tent (tabernacle) where the people of Israel went to meet with God. holy Chosen or set aside for God. clean Pure or acceptable to God for worship. clean Pure or acceptable to God for worship. given to the Lord Things that were given to God and could not be bought back. See Lev. 27:28-29. unclean Not pure or not acceptable to God for worship. 2 ounces Literally, “5 shekels.” official measure The standard measure used in the tabernacle or temple. gerah(s) Or, “2/5 of an ounce.” It is an agreement … broken Literally, “It is an eternal, salt agreement before the Lord.” descendants A person’s children and their future families.