“Only to the tribe of Levi did Moshe give no inheritance; because the offerings made by fire for Adonai the God of Israel are its inheritance; as [Adonai] had said to Moshe.”-Joshua 13:14
Yesterday, we broached the topic of why the Levites were to receive ZERO land inheritance and instead…
…why they were to receive what many English Bible translations refer to as the “Offerings of Fire”.
So what exactly are these so-called “Offerings of Fire”?
Well, the original Hebrew is ISHSHEH and it could be referring to both the “burnt offerings” as it is here in Joshua Chapter 13…
…OR…
…in a more general sense to all of the sacrificial offerings devoted to Hashem in whatever way they were offered up.
Dang, that was a mouthful, wasn’t it?
Let me break it down real simple for you.
Do you remember our many discussions about “holy property” in the past?
Well, in a nutshell, ANYTHING that is to be offered up to God is considered to be holy property (this would also include the vow offerings).
Remember that Achan and his whole family were put to death because he stole some of the spoils of war when the Israelites attacked the city of Jericho.
However, and I find this quite amazing, it was okay for the Levites to receive those same spoils of Holy War the Israelite soldiers were forbidden under pain of death from taking.
That’s right.
With the exception of the homes of the Canaanites and the Canaanite people themselves, everything else that fell under the category of holy property (the spoils of war designated as God’s portion), were to go to the Levites.
And here’s the verse straight from the Torah substantiating that everything I just said is true:
“This is why Levi has no share or inheritance with his brothers; ADONAI is his inheritance, as ADONAI your God had said to him.”-Deuteronomy 10:9
Leave a Reply