Numbers 18:1, 23 And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood….But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity.
The Lord set aside the tribe of Levi to do the service of the tabernacle. They were to have no land of their own, but dwell in certain cities. And out of the tribe of Levi the Lord called only Aaron and his descendants to serve as priests. The Levites and the priests were called to respond to the Lord by serving Him and the worship of God. They served God (who needs no service) by serving people (who need service). The function of the Priest is to bring the people to God. The function of the Levite was to do all the support work so that the priest could function. The function of the people is to support the priestly service with their tithes.
The phrase, bear the iniquity, means to be responsible for the guilt. The priest takes the guilt of the sinner upon himself, makes the sacrifice, and brings it before God on behalf of the worshipper. In this way the priest acts as intermediary between the sinner and a holy God, bringing the two together. Jesus Christ is the great, definitive, and final High Priest, who bears our guilt on Himself and takes it away.
Our response, as Levites, is to do everything we can to support this vital ministry in our church. Our response, as priests, is to pray for others, to be forgiven, and to forgive: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive…” We respond to Grace by becoming a priesthood of all believers, praying and forgiving.