Numbers 18

This chapter covered the use of all kinds of offerings made to the Lord as the sustenance of the Levites, the priests of Israel. It is very similar to how tithing works in churches today - we give a portion of what we make so that the pastor and other church staff can be paid, and so that the facilities can be maintained. It is quite a logical setup, and when done correctly it scales quite well: with more people, more ministers are needed and larger buildings... but more money is also provided. I imagine the same was true in Israel: as the community as a whole grew, so would the Levite population and the amount of offerings that they were given as their portion.

One other interesting thing to note here is that the Levites were not to have any other part of the inheritance with their brothers. I wonder if that meant they could not own land at all, or if it just meant that when the time of the Year of Jubilee rolled around they had no "native" lands of their own.