Deuteronomy 18

De 18:1-8.

THE

LORD

IS THE

PRIESTS' AND THE

LEVITES'

INHERITANCE.

1. The priests the Levites . . . shall eat the offerings--As the tribe

of Levi had no inheritance allotted them like the other tribes but were

wholly consecrated to the priestly office, their maintenance was to

arise from tithes, first-fruits, and certain portions of the oblations

presented on the altar, which God having by express appointment

reserved to Himself made over, after being offered, to His ministers.

3. this shall be the priest's due from the people--All who offered

sacrifices of thanksgiving or peace offerings

(Le 7:31-33)

were ordered to give the breast and shoulder as perquisites to the

priests. Here "the two cheeks" or head and "the maw" or stomach,

deemed anciently a great dainty, are specified. But whether this is a

new injunction, or a repetition of the old with the supplement of more

details, it is not easy to determine.

6-8. if a Levite . . . come with all the desire of his mind--It appears

that the Levites served in rotation from the earliest times; but, from

their great numbers, it was only at infrequent intervals they could be

called into actual service. Should any Levite, however, under the

influence of eminent piety, resolve to devote himself wholly and

continually to the sacred duties of the sanctuary, he was allowed to

realize his ardent wishes; and as he was admitted to a share of the

work, so also to a share of the remuneration. Though he might have

private property, that was to form no ground for withholding or even

diminishing his claim to maintenance like the other ministering

priests. The reason or principle of the enactment is obvious

(1Co 9:13).

At the same time, while every facility was afforded for the admission

of such a zealous and self-denying officer, this admission was to be in

an orderly manner: he was to minister "as all his brethren"--that is, a

Gershonite with Gershonites; a Merarite with Merarites; so that there

might be no derangement of the established courses.

De 18:9-14.

THE

ABOMINATIONS OF THE

NATIONS

ARE TO

BE

AVOIDED.

9-14. thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those

nations--(See on

Le 18:21;

Le 19:26;

Le 19:31;

Le 20:4).

In spite of this express command, the people of Canaan, especially the

Philistines, were a constant snare and stumbling block to the

Israelites, on account of their divinations and superstitious

practices.

De 18:15-19.

CHRIST THE

PROPHET

IS TO

BE

HEARD.

15-19. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet--The

insertion of this promise, in connection with the preceding

prohibition, might warrant the application (which some make of it) to

that order of true prophets whom God commissioned in unbroken

succession to instruct, to direct, and warn His people; and in this

view the purport of it is, "There is no need to consult with diviners

and soothsayers, as I shall afford you the benefit of divinely

appointed prophets, for judging of whose credentials a sure criterion

is given"

(De 18:20-22).

But the prophet here promised was pre-eminently the Messiah, for He

alone was "like unto Moses" (see on

De 34:10)

"in His mediatorial character; in the peculiar excellence of His

ministry; in the number, variety, and magnitude of His miracles; in His

close and familiar communion with God; and in His being the author of a

new dispensation of religion." This prediction was fulfilled fifteen

hundred years afterwards and was expressly applied to Jesus Christ by

Peter

(Ac 3:22, 23),

and by Stephen

(Ac 7:37).

19. whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in

my name, I will require it of him--The direful consequences of unbelief

in Christ, and disregard of His mission, the Jewish people have been

experiencing during eighteen hundred years.