Immerse: Bible Reading Experience - NLT Daily Bible In A Year

Day 139: Responsibilities and Regulations for Priests and Levites - Immerse Bible Reading Experience

In Day 139 of the Immerse Daily Bible Reading Experience, the text explores the specific duties and responsibilities assigned to Aaron, his sons, and the Levite tribe concerning the sanctuary and priesthood. The Lord commands Aaron to ensure that his sons and Levites perform the sacred duties at the tabernacle while maintaining strict boundaries to avoid approaching sacred objects or unauthorized areas, under penalty of death. The Lord details the sacred offerings allocated to the priests and their consumption rules, emphasizing the permanent and unbreakable nature of this covenant. Instructions also cover the tithe system, designating a portion for the Levites, and the sacred offerings they must present. The section concludes with detailed rituals for purification involving a red heifer, highlighting the critical importance of ceremonial cleanliness to avoid defilement and maintain community integrity in worship practices.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:04 Instructions for Priests and Levites
01:42 Holy Offerings and Sacred Duties
04:28 Tithes and Compensation for Levites
06:38 Purification Rituals and Laws
10:53 Conclusion and Farewell

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Malcom: Welcome to Immerse: the
Daily Bible reading Experience.

Day 100 and 39

then the Lord said to Aaron, you, your
sons, and your relatives from the tribe

of Levi will be held responsible for
any offenses related to the sanctuary,

but you and your sons alone will
be held responsible for violations

connected with the priesthood.

Bring your relatives of the tribe
of Levi, your ancestral tribe, to

assist you and your sons as you
perform the sacred duties in front

of the tabernacle of the covenant.

But as the levies go about all their
assigned duties at the tabernacle,

they must be careful not to go near
any of the sacred objects or the altar

if they do both you and they will die.

The Levites must join you in fulfilling
their responsibilities for the care

and maintenance of the tabernacle.

But no unauthorized person may assist you.

You yourselves must perform
the sacred duties inside the

sanctuary and at the altar.

If you follow these instructions,
the Lord's anger will never again

blaze against the people of Israel.

I, myself have chosen your fellow
Levites from among the Israelites

to be your special assistance.

They are a gift to you, dedicated to
the Lord for service in the tabernacle,

but you and your sons, the priests
must personally handle all the priestly

rituals associated with the altar
and with everything behind the inner

curtain, I am giving you the priesthood
as your special privilege of service.

Any unauthorized person who comes to
near the sanctuary will be put to death.

The Lord gave these further
instructions to Aaron.

I, myself have put you in charge
of all the holy offerings that are

brought to me by the people of Israel.

I have given all these consecrated
offerings to you and your sons.

As your permanent share, you are
allotted the portion of the most holy

offerings that is not burned on the fire.

This portion of all the most holy
offerings, including the grain

offerings, sin offerings, and guilt
offerings will be most holy and

it belongs to you and your sons.

You must eat it as a most holy offering.

All the males may eat of it, and
you must treat it as most holy.

All the sacred offerings and
special offerings presented to me

when the Israelites lift them up
before the altar also belong to you.

I have given them to you and
to your sons and daughters.

As your permanent share, any member
of your family who is ceremonially

Clean may eat of these offerings.

I also give you the harvest gifts
brought by the people as offerings to

the Lord, the best of the olive oil, new
wine and grain, all the first crops of

their land that the people present to.

The Lord belong to you.

Any member of your family who is
Ceremonially Clean may eat this food.

Everything in Israel that is specially
set apart for the Lord also belongs

to you, the firstborn of every mother.

Whether human or animal that is offered
to the Lord will be yours, but you must

always redeem your firstborn sons and the
firstborn of ceremonially unclean animals

redeem them when they are one month old.

The redemption price is five
pieces of silver as measured

by the weight of the sanctuary.

Sheckle.

Which equals 20 gars.

However, you may not redeem the
firstborn of cattle, sheep, or goats.

They are holy and have been
set apart for the Lord.

Sprinkle their blood on the altar
and burn their fat as a special

gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

The meat of these animals will be yours,
just like the breast and right thigh

that are presented by lifting them up
as a special offering before the altar.

Yes, I am giving you all these
holy offerings that the people

of Israel bring to the Lord.

They are for you and your
sons and daughters to be

eaten as your permanent share.

This is an eternal and unbreakable
covenant between the Lord and you, and

it also applies to your descendants.

And the Lord said to Aaron, you priests
will receive no allotment of land or share

of property among the people of Israel.

I am your share and your allotment.

As for the tribe of Levi, your relatives,
I will compensate them for their service

in the tabernacle instead of an allotment
of land, I will give them the tithes

from the entire land of Israel From
now on, no Israelites except priests

or Levites may approach the tabernacle.

If they come too near, they will
be judged guilty and will die.

Only the Levites may serve at the
tabernacle and they will be held

responsible for any offenses against it.

This is a permanent law for you to be
observed from generation to generation.

The Levites will receive no allotment
of land among the Israelites because

I have given them the Israelites
tithes, which have been presented

as sacred offerings to the Lord.

This will be the Levite share.

That is why I said they would receive no
allotment of land among the Israelites.

The Lord also told Moses, give these
instructions to the Levites when you

receive from the people of Israel the
tithes I have assigned as your allotment.

Give a 10th of the tithes you
receive a tithe of the tithe to

the Lord as a sacred offering.

The Lord will consider this offering to
be your harvest offering as though it were

the first grain from your own threshing
floor or wine from your own wine press.

You must present one 10th of the
tithe received from the Israelites

as a sacred offering to the Lord.

This is the Lord's sacred portion, and
you must present it to Aaron the priest.

Be sure to give to the Lord the best
portions of the gifts given to you.

Also give these
instructions to the Levites.

When you present the best part as
your offering, it will be considered

as though it came from your own
threshing floor or wine press.

You'll Levis and your families may
eat this food anywhere you wish for.

It is your compensation for
serving in the tabernacle.

You will not be considered guilty
for accepting the Lord's tithes if

you give the best portion to the
priests, but be careful not to treat

the holy gifts of the people of
Israel as though they were common.

If you do, you will die.

The Lord said to Moses And
Aaron, here is another legal

requirement commanded by the Lord.

Tell the people of Israel to
bring you a red heifer, a perfect

animal that has no defects and
has never been yoked to a plow.

Give it to Lea or the priest and
it will be taken outside the camp

and slaughtered in his presence.

Lea Azer will take some of its blood on
his finger and sprinkle it seven times

toward the front of the tabernacle.

As Eliezer watches, the
heifer must be burned.

It's hide meat, blood, and dung.

Eliezer.

The priest must then take a stick
of cedar, a hiss up branch, and some

scarlet yarn, and throw them into
the fire where the heifer is burning.

Then the priest must wash his
clothes and bathe himself in water.

Afterward, he may return to
the camp, though he will remain

ceremonially unclean until evening.

The man who burns the animal must
also wash his clothes and bathe

himself in water, and he too will
remain unclean until evening.

Then someone who is ceremonially
clean will gather up the ashes of

the heifer and deposit them in a
purified place outside the camp.

They will be kept there for the
community of Israel to use in the

water for the purification ceremony.

This ceremony is performed
for the removal of sin.

The man who gathers up the ashes
of the heifer must also wash

his clothes, and he will remain
ceremonially unclean until evening.

This is a permanent law for
the people of Israel and any

foreigners who live among them.

All those who touch a dead human body will
be ceremonially unclean for seven days.

They must purify themselves
on the third and seventh days

with the water of purification.

Then they will be purified.

But if they do not do this on the third
and seventh days, they will continue to

be unclean even after the seventh day.

All those who touch a dead body and do not
purify themselves in the proper way defile

the Lord's tabernacle, and they will be
cut off from the community of Israel.

Since the water of purification
was not sprinkled on them,

their defilement continues.

This is the ritual law that applies
when someone dies inside a tent.

All those who enter that tent
and those who were inside when

the death occurred will be
ceremonially unclean for seven days.

Any open container in the tent that was
not covered with a lid is also defiled.

And if someone in an open field
touches the corpse of someone who

was killed with a sword or who died a
natural death, or if someone touches

a human bone or a grave, that person
will be defiled for seven days.

To remove the defilement, put some of the
ashes from the burnt purification offering

in a jar and pour fresh water over them.

Then someone who is ceremonially
clean must take a hiss up branch

and dip it into the water.

That person must sprinkle the water on the
tent, on all the furnishings in the tent,

and on the people who were in the tent.

Also on the person who touched a human
bone or touched someone who was killed

or who died naturally or touched a grave.

On the third and seventh days, the person
who is ceremonially clean must sprinkle

the water on those who are defiled.

Then on the seventh day, the people being
cleansed must wash their clothes and

bathe themselves, and that evening they
will be cleansed of their defilement.

But those who become defiled and do
not purify themselves will be cut

off from the community for they have
defiled the sanctuary of the Lord.

Since the water of purification
has not been sprinkled on

them, they remain defiled.

This is a permanent law for the people.

Those who sprinkle the
water of purification must

afterward wash their clothes.

And anyone who then touches the
water used for purification will

remain defiled until evening.

Anything and anyone that a
defiled person touches will be

ceremonially unclean until evening.

This concludes today's
Immer Reading experience.

Thank you for joining us.