THE LIFE OF A LEVITE

A life dedicated to God

Of the twelve tribes of Israel, Levi was chosen by God to serve him in the temple. This was part of the instructions he gave Moses when the time for allocation of roles came. The allocation exercise happened after they had all crossed the red Sea. The time had come to rehabilitate and organize them. God had looked forward to the time when he would reunite with his people; his chosen people, the descendants of his friend Abraham. His friend Abraham was now with him while his descendants have become numerous like the sands of a Seashore. Beautiful! Our God is a covenant keeping God.

To keep them closer through an intimate relationship he simulated Heaven on Earth. You had Pillar of fire and clouds of thunderstorms. You had birds falling from the Sky, Manna more than sufficient to feed generations. He then introduced Heaven’s system of worship. The way he is worshipped in Heaven where a multitude of Angels and the elders all bowed in reverence. So he Tutored Moses on how to go about it. And commanded him to declare the Levites as his Tabernacle Servants forever. God unleashed his Glory on Earth for the sake of Israel. The world had never seen anything like that before.

A life of total dedication was demanded. Read:

The Lord had said to Moses: You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites. Instead, appoint the Levites to be in charge of the tabernacle of the covenant law—over all its furnishings and everything belonging to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they are to take care of it and encamp around it. Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who approaches it is to be put to death. The Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each of them in their own camp under their standard. The Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the tabernacle of the covenant law so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are to be responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the covenant law” – Numbers 1 vs 48 – 53

They will not live like the rest. Will not live under the government of their time. They will stand out because they operate on a whole different dimension. They by their calling have become citizens of Heaven and officials of a System which represents what is obtainable. A people that God can communicate and be with. A bridge between God and mortals.

Here is more: They are not to work for a living. The Tabernacle will take care of their feeding and clothing. They are not to buy Land or inherit it. Their life is within the Tabernacle. By this God demanded that by no means should they be attached to the world.

Seeing that Man’s weakness usually lies in his intimacy with the things of the world, separating him from every other thing is necessary. For what you love you adore. So the Levites then (and whoever assumes their role today) were/is expected to live with zero attachment to the world.

“But to the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance, since the food offerings presented to the Lord, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as he promised them” – Joshua 13 vs 14