The Levites The Lord's Side I have taken the
Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel. Michael
Nekora Before there was a Tabernacle, the tribe of Levi distinguished itself in a special way. When Moses was communing unseen with God in the mount, the people grew restless because he had been away so long. Eventually they pressured Aaron to make them a god they could see and the golden calf was the result. God in his displeasure sent Moses down from the mount to deal with the rebellion. Moses, astounded when he saw what they had done, issued this call: “Who is on the LORD’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him” (Exodus 32:26). They became the “Lord’s army” and went through the nation slaying 3,000 of the worst offenders. Although the first-born of Israel did not die the night the avenging angel went through the land of Egypt, God considered them to be his special possession. But rather than taking all the first-borns from all the tribes, he exchanged them for the entire tribe of Levi. Levi was the smallest tribe. It had exactly 22,000 males who were at least one month old. There was a total of 22,273 first-born males from all the tribes. The formula of substitution required that five shekels for each of the 273 “unredeemed” be paid (Numbers 3:42-47). This became the standard redemption price for every subsequent first-born after this exchange took place (Numbers 18:16). Israel did not become God’s special people because they were good. The opposite was true. “The LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people” (Deuteronomy 9:6). Likewise Levi and his descendants were not selected for special honor because of an innate goodness. Levi and his brother Simeon deceived Shechem when they told him they would allow their sister Dinah to become his wife if he and all the other males were circumcised. The men agreed. “And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. . . . And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites” (Genesis 34:25,30). Later when Jacob prophesied about each of his sons, he said, “Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel” (Genesis 49:5-7). “As we examine ourselves in the light of God’s holiness, do we find ourselves any better qualified for God’s service than was Levi of old? Why even today, who is there among us that does not still find within himself traces of that basic cruelty?—and were it not for the grace of God (who by way of the indwelling spirit, the holy spirit, has sharpened our consciences and tenderized our hearts) to what depth of iniquity towards our fellowman would not our selfishness (our selfish nature) lead us!” —Anton Frey, Notes on the Tabernacle, p. 348. The Levitical Service The males from the age of 30 to 50 disassembled and transported the Tabernacle whenever the cloud covering it moved from one place to another. “From fifty years old the Levite retires from the labour of the service, and shall serve no more; but he shall minister with his brethren in the tent of meeting, and keep the charge (Numbers 8:25,26). Three different thoughts come before the mind in this connection. First, it seems to indicate that Levitical service is to be marked by full competence, and that no feature of decline or decrepitude is to appear in it. It suggests the maintenance of a high standard of efficiency, in a spiritual sense, as being the only thing suitable in the service of God. Second, it conveys an impression of a time limit to active service. We should labour in the sense of this all the time. Even the Lord said, ‘I must work the works of him that has sent me while it is day. The night is coming when no man can work’ (John 9:4). Each of us has his ‘day’ of service; it will soon be over; how important to fill it up rightly! The Levite had the sense all the time that he had a measured period in which to serve, and that the time was coming when it would close . . . Our allotted period of service here in the tent of meeting will soon be over, and we shall never have another opportunity for that service. . . . But a third thought seems to be also suggested in this Scripture: namely, that when arduous labour is no longer permitted to the Levite, he retains an honorable place in the ministry with his brethren, and keeps the charge. He is not degraded but rather dignified . . . there comes a time when strenuous toil is no longer possible; it has to be left to younger servants. But how precious is the grace that still permits an aged, and perhaps invalid, Levite—brother or sister—to ‘minister with his brethren in the tent of meeting, and keep the charge.’ ”—Coates, An Outline of Numbers, p. 110. Although a Levite had to be at least 30 years old to have an active part in the service of the Tabernacle, in fact the Levites began to serve when they turned 25. “Though the Levites might come to labor in the work of the service of the tent of meeting from twenty-five years old (Numbers 8:24), they did not serve in carrying the Tabernacle and its furniture until thirty years old. They had, if we may so say, to serve a five years’ apprenticeship in relation to holy things before they were qualified to render the service of which [Numbers] chapter 4 speaks. We must not suppose that a desire or readiness to serve on our part will give spiritual competency. This must be divinely given, and it will be normally in keeping with the spiritual maturity of the servant. A babe in Christ might be fresh in his affections, and fervent in spirit, but something more than this is needed for service of a high order spiritually. The more spiritual any service is the more does it require spiritual maturity in the one who renders it.”—Coates, An Outline of Numbers, p. 32. No Inheritance in the Land Because they were considered as the Lord’s, the Levites received 48 cities scattered throughout Canaan but no territory when the land was divided up (Numbers 35:7). They were considered to be so devoted to the Lord that when Moses numbered the Israelites to determine how many were able to go forth to war (Numbers 1:3), the Levites were explicitly excluded (see verse 47). “[The Levites] were consecrated to the priestly office, which in all countries has been exempted customarily, and in Israel by the express authority of God, from military service. The custody of the things devoted to Divine service was assigned to them so exclusively, that ‘no stranger’—i. e., no person, not even an Israelite of any other tribe, was allowed, under penalty of death, to approach these, and hence they encamped around the tabernacle, that there should be no manifestation of Divine displeasure among the people.” —Jamieson, Faussett & Brown, A Commentary [on Numbers 1:47-54]. The Levites were exempt from military service. It is likely they also escaped the death penalty that fell on Israel soon after the people left Egypt. In Numbers 13 Moses selects 12 representatives and sends them on a spying expedition. Upon their return, ten say they can’t go in because the people “that dwell in the land” are too strong; Joshua and Caleb say, with God’s help, they can. The people agree with the ten and want to stone Joshua and Caleb. For this gross violation of faith and trust in God, a terrible judgment falls: “Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun” (Numbers 14:29,30). When we take a careful look at the listing of the 12 spies, we find the tribe of Levi was not represented. Each spy is named in Numbers 13:4-15. Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph’s two sons, plus Jacob’s other ten sons, but not Levi, make the number 12. Levi stands apart from what happens. Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons, had to have been at least 30 years old to “minister in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron their father” (Numbers 3:4). Eleazar succeeded his father as high priest and worked with Joshua after the nation entered Caanan. So Eleazar, like Joshua, Caleb, and probably a great many other older Levites, did not die during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. The Levites had not participated in the spying, in the evil report, and it is likely they were also exempt from the judgment of death on those 20 years old and older. Six of the Levitical cities had a special function: “And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites there shall be six cities for refuge” (Numbers 35:6). “And they appointed [as cities of refuge] Kedesh . . . Shechem . . . and Kirjatharba [known as Hebron today] . . . And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer . . . Ramoth . . . and Golan” (Joshua 20:7,8). By selecting Levitical cities God arranged that all tribal prejudice or bias would be eliminated when someone being pursued should enter asking for asylum. The procedure was that if anyone should accidentally be responsible for the death of another, he would flee to a city of refuge and ask for protection from those who might kill him to avenge the death. If the authorities hearing the circumstances of the case agreed that it was accidental, the person could safely dwell in the city of refuge. In a sense it was a kind of house arrest. If the person strayed from the city, he lost the protection it afforded. However, when the high priest died, those in the cities of refuge were emancipated. They could go forth and no longer be in danger of death. These cities of refuge picture what is available to the one condemned by the strict justice of God. Where might a sinner obtain refuge? “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). We “have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:18). Pastor Russell writes: “From the moment, therefore, that we recognize that we are sinners—that we could not stand approved in the divine presence —from that moment we realize that the avenger, Justice, is upon our trail, and that it is only a question of time when we will be overtaken and destroyed unless we reach some place of refuge. . . . Christ is the only place of refuge, and to him we have to flee. . . . If we leave the city of refuge, if we abandon our trust in the precious blood which cleanseth us from all sin, we become liable again to the demands of Justice and that without mercy. Divine justice is represented in the avenger, as divine mercy is represented in the city of refuge, and he who would leave the city of refuge necessarily falls into the hands of Justice. . . . We must thus abide ‘until the death of the high priest.’ . . . Soon the entire high priest, its every member, will have died. Then the new dispensation will be ushered in and no longer will we be obliged to own our own imperfection and the need of a covering before justice; from thenceforth having been made perfect by a share in the First Resurrection, having been made like our Lord and Master, we shall be presented before the Father blameless, unreprovable, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, without any vengeance against us on the part of divine justice. The entire arrangement is of God —Justice is the avenger of sin, and Christ is the refuge and deliverance.”—Reprints, p. 3093. Typical Significance of the Tribe of Levi The tribe of Levi consisted of two groups: a small number of priests and underpriests, and a great number of non-priests. Only the priests saw the glory and beauty of the inner chambers of the Tabernacle. In fact the priests had to cover all the articles of furniture before the Kohathite Levites carried them from one place to another (Numbers 4:5-15). Yet both priests and ordinary Levites were treated the same in one respect: none of them received land. Paul writes, “These things occurred to [Israel] typically, and were written for our admonition on whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11, Diaglott). What might this tribe and its service typify? “In order to have a full and complete picture of what is typified by the tribe of Levi, we must remember how they came into their position of either being priests or of serving the priests. They were all a part of Israel, but God separated them unto himself; he gave them no inheritance in the land. All their rights were withheld from them and they were made dependent upon the other tribes. Why was this? The answer is that they were taken by the Lord as instead of the ‘firstborn’ of all the tribes of Israel. Thus the tribe of Levi became the typical ‘church of the first-born.’ Then out of this typical ‘church of the first-born’ the Lord selected a priestly family, Aaron and his sons, who typified the royal priesthood, Christ and his church. All of the tribe of Levi represented the church of the first-born and the family of Aaron represented the ‘very elect.’ ”—Reprints, p. 4745. Paul writes, “To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven” (Hebrews 12:23). The first-born in typical Israel were the Levites because they were substituted for the literal first-borns. Here in Hebrews we are told they are “written in heaven.” And that is what we should expect since they literally did not inherit the land. So it is in the reality: a small number of priests and underpriests (the church with her head Jesus Christ) has a special role, and a Great Company have a secondary role to play in the plan of God. Yet both have no inheritance in the land. Both groups are in heaven: the church is seated on the throne, the great multitude is before the throne (Revelation 7:9; 19:6). Under King David the Levites are described as “officers and judges” responsible for all the “business of the LORD, and in the service of the king” (1 Chronicles 26:29,30). In the days of Hezekiah the Levites “taught the good knowledge of the LORD” (2 Chronicles 30:22). In Josiah’s time the teaching function had become a title: “The Levites that taught all Israel” (2 Chronicles 35:3). When Nehemiah reestablished the broken walls of Jerusalem, the Levites “taught the people” (Nehemiah 8:9). Thus in the kingdom those who are part of the “church of the first born,” antitypical Levites, will be used by God to teach the people his righteous laws so all may worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23, 24). A Picture of the Kingdom The three major families of Levites had responsibility for different parts of the Tabernacle. The Gershonite Levites were given two wagons and four oxen to transport the curtains, hangings, etc. (Numbers 3:25,26; 4:24-26; 7:7). The Merari Levites were given four wagons and eight oxen to transport the boards, pillars, sockets, cords and pins, etc. (Numbers 3:36,37; 4:31,32; 7:8). The Kohathite Levites were given no wagons. They carried the sacred articles of the Tabernacle upon their shoulders (Numbers 3:31; 4:34-36; 7:9). The clear status difference among these three families could picture the state of the completed work of God’s great plan of the ages. Looking at the groups camped on the four sides of the Tabernacle (and ignoring all the other tribes camped some distance away), we can see four distinct classes after the world of mankind reaches perfection in the kingdom:
NOTE: Much of this article was taken from Notes on the Tabernacle by Anton Frey. |