Numbers 18:3 –
But as the Levites go about all their assigned duties at the Tabernacle, they must be careful not to go near any of the sacred objects or the altar. If they do, both you and they will die.
Imagine if you went to church every weekend and if you did not do everything right the penalty was death. The Levites has specific duties and Aaron was responsible to make sure that they understood the rules. They needed to be careful and respectful of the Lord. Interestingly, if they failed the penalty fell on their teacher also, not just them. I am sure this motivated Aaron to ensure the teachings were correct and people were understanding them fully.
Our relationship with God is so much more casual today than it was in Moses’ time. I often wonder if our attitude has gotten too relaxed and we don’t take our time with God serious. A quote from Crocodile Dundee, “Me and God our mates”, shows our casual attitude when coming before God. Maybe we need to take a different approach and respect God and treat Him as holy. Although on the other hand I don’t think God wants us to be terrified to come to him with our worries, so it’s a fine line on respecting and still keeping the relationship open.
The rest of the chapter deals with how the tithes are to be used. Notice some are to go directly to God, but some is to support the Levi priesthood. That is what happens today with our tithes and offerings, granted we no longer bring goats to church, but our money in part supports the ministry team so they can focus their energies on God. Today as then I think the excess in “blessing” do have a way of corrupting some and that becomes a reason not to tithe. I can only say God instructs us to tithe, let Him deal with the teacher and their students on how the tithe is used. I wonder if the penalty were the same as before if that would be a question today or then?