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God’s Oath Against the Levites Therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord Jehovah, and they shall bear their iniquity.—Ezekiel 44:121 The Levites were commissioned to be teachers of the nation of Israel. But many of them were not faithful to their charge. Moses’ own grandson sold himself to the Danites to minister before idols in the north of Israel: “The children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of 2Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land” (Judges 18:30).The penalty for this idolatry is given in the prophecy of Ezekiel’s temple: “The Levites that went far from me, when Israel went astray, that went astray from me after their idols, they shall 3bear their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house: they shall slay the burnt-offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them. Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and became a stumbling-block of iniquity unto the house of Israel; therefore have I lifted up my hand [sworn] against them, saith the Lord Jehovah, and they shall bear their iniquity. And they shall not come near unto me, to execute the office of priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, unto the things that are most holy; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed. Yet will I make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.”—Ezekiel 44:10-14 Surprising to most of us fallen human beings is not that there is an irrevocable penalty for causing people to worship idols, but in spite of it, these Levites are to be ministers in the Lord’s sanctuary. But what does it mean to us?Just as Ezekiel’s temple is a prophetic picture of Christ’s thousand-year kingdom, so the Levites depict the great multitude of Revelation, the members of which must also wash their “robes” (Numbers 8:7; Revelation 7:9,14; 19:1). These Christians do not hate their Lord, nor do they utterly refuse to teach, but they are too fearful to be the faithful priests, the bride of Christ, the 144,000 (Ezekiel 44:15,16; Revelation 7:3-8). From early times there has been a strong temptation to worship idols in one form or another, whether it be a person or an organization of people. There is a temptation to say or think, “You must join us to be saved,” but that is a role that God has reserved for Christ alone.Whose word is greater than (or even equal to), the Bible, the word of God? Is it the denomination or the local church? Is it the pope, the patriarch, or the archbishop? Luther? Calvin or Knox? Wesley? Shall I say to one, I will be accepted because I worship a good idol in Pastor Russell, while you will be rejected because you worship a bad idol in a human organization? No! All idol worship is wrong. Indeed, good examples and good teachers are to be fully appreciated. We properly thank God for them; but no man’s word (including our own) can ever take precedence over the word of God. That word is found in the holy Bible alone.As one said of his own writings, “Neither must you lean upon the [MILLENNIAL] DAWN and the TOWER as infallible teachers4 … since their author claims no inspiration, but merely the guidance of the Lord, as one used of him in feeding his flock.” (Reprints, p. 1536. See also Convention Report Sermons, p. 124.) As the apostle concludes, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).
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