Numbers 18

Jaws, the seminal shark film directed by Steven Spielberg, ushered in the blockbuster era when it chomped up its box office competition in 1975. But unlike certain recent cash cows (Transformers, Twilight), Jaws was a supremely well-crafted film, featuring masterful direction, committed performances from Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss, a lean, efficient screenplay, and a sublime musical score by John Williams. Sadly, the same can't be said about its sequels, though the Jaws 2 did have another fantastic score by Williams as well as one of the most effective poster tag lines: "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…"

Well, just when you thought it was safe to assume that you'd never have to read a bunch of Israelite laws and regulations again, Numbers reverts to Leviticus mode for a couple of chapters. However, these regulations in Numbers 18 about the duties and offerings of the priests and Levites connect thematically with the proceeding story. Remember how Kohath and his band of not-so-merry-men wanted to usurp the priests' duties? Well, now God reminds His people how real priests should act.

This chapter basically codifies laws we've already read in Leviticus, but the major point of interest is that much of the offerings and tithes made by the Israelites are consecrated for the priests' use. Lest you suspect that the priests wrote these directives just so they could eat as much tasty veal, bread, and wine as they could, the law goes on to state that the priests don't receive any inheritance or share of the Promised Land (verse 20). The tithes and offerings take the place of the priests' inheritance instead of augmenting it. Still, it's pretty terrific to get first crack at all the first fruits of your fellow Israelites' harvest.

Although priests receive tithes, they aren't exempt from tithing themselves (verse 28). I've written a bit about tithing before, but I still need to work on being more mindful about giving my first and best to God. Is it enough for me to mindlessly drop a check in the offering basket? Recently, I believe God has been nudging me about particular social issues that I could be devoting my resources or even my time into fixing. Said issues of injustice make me mortifyingly emotional--is that a sign that God wants me to get involved? Probably, so I pray for the motivation to actually do something about it.