하나님이 부여한 레위인의 역할 민수기 18장

민수기 18장은 하나님께서 아론과 레위 지파에게 주어진 제사장 직분과 관련된 책임 그리고 제사장과 레위인의 생계에 관하여 규정하는 내용입니다. 이에 따라 제사장 직분과 성막 봉사에 대한 구체적인 지침을 제공합니다.

 

 

제사장의 책임과 특권

1. So the Lord said to Aaron, "You and your sons and your father's house with you shall bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood. 2. And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 3. They shall keep guard over you and over the whole tent, but shall not come ear to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar lest they, and you, die. 4. They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for  all the service of the tent, and no outsider shall come near you. 5. And you shall keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel. 6. 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. 7. And you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and that is within the veil; and you shall srve. I give your priesthood as a gift, and any outsider who comes near shall be put to death."

 

 

하나님이 명하길, 아론과 그의 자손들은 제사장으로서 성소와 제단에서 봉사하며 일을 잘하지 못할 경우 마땅한 죄를 받을 것이라 경고합니다. 또한, 제사장과 레위인이 아닌 자가 성소나 성막에 가까이 가면 죽임을 당할 거라는 경고가 주어집니다.

 

 

 제사장의 몫

 

8. Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, "Behold, I have given you charge of the contributions made to me, all the consecrated things of the people of Israel. I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual due. 9. This shall be yours of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, every grain offering of theirs and every sin offering of theirs and every guilt offering of theirs, which they render to me, shall be most holy to you and to your sons. 10. In a most holy place shall you eat it. Every male may eat it; it is holy to you. 11. This also is yours: the contribution of their gift, all the wave offerings of the people of Israel. I have given them to you,  and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. 12. All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the firstfruits of what they give to the Lord, I give to you. 13. The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. 14. Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. 15. Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours Nevertheless, the firstborn of man you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. 16. And their redemption price(at a month old you shall redeem them) you shall fix at five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. 17. But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall burn their fat as a food offering , with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 18. But their flesh shall be yours, as the breast that is waved and as the right thigh are yours. 19. All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to yours sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. It is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you."

 

이런 목회자 제도를 철저하게 정비시킨 것도 감탄할 일이긴 한데요. 하나님께 봉사하는 직위를 물려 받은 만큼 그만큼의 대가를 받아야겠죠. 하나님은 자신에게 충성을 하면 이스라엘 백성이 하나님께 드리는 제물 중 일부를 받아 생계를 유지하게 해 주었습니다. 또한, 곡물, 기름, 포도주 및 첫 번째 열매와 속죄제 그리고 속건제의 고기 등 거룩한 예물의 일부가 제사장들의 몫으로 할당됩니다. 하나님은 이 모든 것을 아론과 그의 자손들에게 제물을 주는 것으로 영원한 언약으로 삼으셨습니다.

 

 

20. And the Lord said to Aaron, "You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.

 

민수기 17장 읽기

아론의 싹이 난 지팡이 민수기 17장

 

 

 레위인의 몫과 십일조

 

21. "To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting, 22. so that the people of Israel do not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. 23. But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance. 24. For the tithe of the people of Israel, which they present as a contribution to the Lord, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance among the people of Israel."

 

이스라엘 백성이 바친 제물로 제사를 지내고 남은 음식은 레위인들이 일부를 받아 생계를 유지하며 그밖의 일부가 제사장들의 몫으로 할당됩니다. 그리고 이러한 특혜 혹은 배당을 영원한 언약으로 삼으셨습니다. 제사장직의 대가로 주어지는 생계 보장입니다.

 

 

25. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 26. "Moreover, you shall speak and say to the Levites, ' When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present a contribution from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe. 27. And your contribution shall be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the wine press. 28. So you shall also present a contribution to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel. And from it you shall give the Lord's contribution to Aaron the priest. 29. Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every contribution due to the Lord; from each its best part is to be dedicated.' 30. Therefore you shall say to them, 'When you have offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be counted to the Levites as produce of the threshing floor, and as produce of the wine press. 31. And you may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting. 32. And you shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have contributed the best of it. But you shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, lest you die'"

 

또한, 레위인은 이스라엘 백성으로부터 받은 십일조로 생계를 유지합니다. 현대 교회의 목사가 헌금 받아 생활하는 것과 같은 것 같은데요. 레위인은 십일조 중 일부를 다시 하나님께 예물로 드려야 하며, 이는 제사장 몫으로 돌아갑니다. 이러한 조건 대신 레위인은 땅을 소유하지 못하게 하셨습니다. 그러니까 배당된 몫을 가질 수 있지만 소유는 절대 못한다 이거죠. 

 

 

 레위인의 책임과 역할에 관한 정리

 

민수기 18장은 제사장과 레위인이 하나님께 특별한 직분을 받았지만, 그만큼 엄격한 책임과 의무가 따릅니다. 또한 전반적으로 십일조나 일정 몫을 받는 것이 포인트 같지만, 실제로는 이스라엘 백성이 하나님께 십일조 등을 바치는 게 더 중요해 보입니다. 그러면서 순종과 경건을 요구합니다. 성막 봉사와 예물 등에서 순종과 거룩함이 강조되며 잘못된 접근이나 소홀함은 심각한 결과를 초래할 것을 경고하는 내용입니다.