“‘And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to the LORD, to do the service of the tent of meeting.’” —Numbers 18:6
The sacrificial system of ancient Israel required a priesthood. The priests were people set apart by God to act mediators between God and humans, making sacrifices on their behalf and atoning for their sins.
Being a priest was a lot of work. This wasn’t a job for just anyone. God’s laws dictated that only men from the tribe of Levi could become priests. From ages twenty-five to fifty, every male Levite was to serve in the priesthood in some way, whether that was baking the ceremonial bread or keeping God’s house in order or performing the sacrifices. Even after turning fifty, they were expected to serve as guards of the holy things.
God called the priests a gift to the people. No one had any right coming before God in all their uncleanness brought on by sin, but God provided a way for people to come to Him anyway. The Levitical priesthood wasn’t perfect. One of the first events after their induction was the deaths of two priests because of their failure to honor God.
Through this imperfect institution, though, God was pointing to something even better. As the priests offered sacrifices on behalf of the people to blot out the stain of their sins, so one day a great High Priest would make one final sacrifice for all people, one that would completely remove their sin and make them perfect in the eyes of God.
He is the greatest gift of all.
“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” —Hebrews 4:14
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