At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day. Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, just as the Lord your God promised him. (Deuteronomy 10:8-9)
When Moses descended Sinai to find that many of the people had given themselves over to idolatry, is said that the tribe of Levi had already taken measures to distance themselves from the rest of the tribes. So then, when Moses asked, “Who is on the LORD’s side,” Levi was prepared to gather to him in opposition to the rebels. As a result of their dedication to God and to Moses, very soon after the first tables were broken, the tribe of Levi was elevated to the status of priests. Their inheritance was ministry unto the LORD; their mission was to care for and administer the duties related to the Sanctuary.
It is interesting to consider that, before Moses showed up carrying the tablets of the Law, this tribe may have already, of their own volition, set themselves apart from the rest of the nation. Presumably, their motivation was seeing their countrymen quickly descend into a pit of immorality. We would like to think that they had taken their vow to “hear and obey” very seriously. Moreover, it is conceivable that they realized when Moses returned there were likely to be severe consequences for such rebellion. I guess the point, then, is that they were elevated to being the ministers unto the LORD, not because they agreed to exact vengeance upon the guilty, but because they had already determined to be on the LORD’s side.
Perhaps we should sit up and take notice of this. Today, our culture is continuing to descend into a pit of decadence and immorality but, even more disturbing is the fact that so many of God’s people are joining them — to some extent at least. Seeing this, I would suggest that we need to make a decision today: are we on the LORD’s side? There will come a day when Messiah will return and we don’t want to be found standing too close to rebels and revelers. No, to the contrary, we need to put distance between them and us, now, so that when the Son of Man returns, He will find us faithful. Let’s not be so focused on finding an “inheritance” in this world that we lose sight of the most important benefit we could ever hope for — to be faithful ministers to the Most High God.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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