"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" (v. 31). The tithe offered to the Levites by the sons of Israel could be eaten by the Levites and their households in any place.
Neither the priests nor the Levites had any inheritance among the sons of Israel (vv. 23b, 24b). Their inheritance was God. The very God whom they enjoyed was their reward in return for their service. Today our reward for our service is Christ. Unfortunately, however, many believers know Christ only in a very limited way. Because they do not know Him adequately, they do not enjoy Him adequately. Thus, we are studying Numbers in order that we may know Christ in a fuller way and enjoy Him more.
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram had defied the priesthood, but God strongly vindicated it. God vindicated the priesthood not only by causing Aaron's rod to bud but, even more, by giving such a reward to the priests. By comparing the reward given to the priests with that given to the Levites, it is clear that the Levites' reward was much inferior. It is possible that the enjoyment of the superior reward given to the priests was one of the primary motives, besides ambition for power and position, for the rebellion led by Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
Our service to God today is not in the realm of material things, and therefore our reward is not in the realm of material things. Our reward is Christ. If we serve as priests, we will enjoy more of Christ. If we serve merely as Levites, we will enjoy less of Christ. Strictly speaking, however, God's New Testament economy combines the priesthood and the Levitical service. In the New Testament, the priesthood includes the service of the Levites. Since these two have become one, the reward also is one—Christ as everything.
I would encourage all the saints, especially the young people, to save their time for studying the holy Word and for reading our publications. The riches in the Word will reconstitute your entire being. I hope that the holy Word will eventually become your constitution, and that you will become a person constituted with the holy Word concerning Christ.