The Sons Of Levi

by Robertson, A. B. | Category: General | Jan 1967

Exodus 6. 16-25 gives a genealogy of the sons of Levi. This follows the shorter genealogies of the two elder sons of Israel, Reuben and Simeon. The list of Levi's descendants is most comprehensive. There are five generations and some twenty-seven names against only one generation and four names for Reuben, and one generation and six names for Simeon. The list of names in Exodus 6 is really a genealogy of the Kohathites, with the names of Moses and Aaron prominent. The genealogy of the other two tribes seems only to be mentioned as background information. Reuben and Simeon were senior to Levi. In Joseph's Egyptian home his brothers sat down, "the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth" (Genesis 43.33); but Reuben and Simeon are passed over when God seeks a leader and a lawgiver for His people, and priests and servants for His holy things. Succeeding generations of Reuben and Simeon down to Moses' and Aaron's contemporaries are passed over by God.

The selection of the tribe of Levi is surprising when we consider the early history of the family. Jacob referred to Simeon and Levi as sons who made him "to stink among the inhabitants of the land" (Genesis 34.30). And later, he said, "0 my soul, come not thou into their council ... I will divide them in Jacob, And scatter them in Israel" (Genesis 49.6,7). Seniority and birthright, the special blessings passed on from Isaac to Jacob, then to Joseph and Ephraim; and the clear promise to Judah in Jacob's blessing these might have signified where God would look for those to lead His people out of Egypt and into His presence. To select from Levi might be viewed as contrary to history and reason. But to gather the separated and appoint outcasts to His service is the very nature of the grace of God.

In Exodus 6.26, Aaron is placed before Moses as befits an accurate and natural genealogy; but, having described their commission to "bring out the children of Israel", we are told, "these are that Moses and Aaron" (verse 27). In the family it is Aaron and Moses, but when God is concerned to make the children of Israel His people it is "Moses and Aaron"-saviour before priest, lawgiver before representative.

When Stephen made his defence, he spoke of Pharaoh's command, "that they should cast out their babes to the end they might not live" (Acts 7.19). This was neither a happy nor a favourable time for Moses to be born. But he was "fair unto God" and, irrespective of circumstances, a man is born to serve his own day and generation. After three months as a babe in his father's house and forty years in the palace, Moses decided he was ready to liberate the Israelites. "He supposed that his brethren understood that God by his hand was giving them deliverance; but they understood not" (Acts 7.25). He knew the work God had given him, and whatever may be said about Moses' timing, the people were not ready to receive him. Refused by the Israelites, he is received by Jethro as the deliverer of his daughters (Exodus 2.19), and for forty years he is in the wilderness while the Israelites toiled on In their bondage. While our Deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the Saviour of all who will receive Him, it is in association with the deliverance of God's people that Moses is the special type. God remembered His covenant, and to deliver His people He sent Moses back to Egypt, where, forty years earlier, he had been rejected. The signs Moses performed among his brethren and the awful plagues God sent on the Egyptians were to show the divine authority supporting their saviour. They were also intended to bind his brethren to him. The Israelites needed to see Egypt's glory and strength overthrown by God's word before they would seek the land of God's promise. They had to learn to trust Moses in Egypt in order to follow him out into the wilderness. Believing while they were in Egypt was one thing, going out in trust into the wilderness was another. Yet it was Moses' commission to "bring out the children of Israel" and not to make it easier for them to bear the bondage in Egypt. The Israelites would never have gone into the wilderness unless their deliverer had led them forth. It is one of the chief joys of doing God's will that the Leader we follow is our Saviour Himself. He is the Author and Perfector of our faith, "let us therefore go forth unto Him without the camp" (Hebrews 13.13).

Moses was the leader out of Egypt and the lawgiver at Sinai. He gave the living oracles to Israel. Yet, to this Moses Israel "would not be obedient, but thrust him from them, and turned back in their hearts unto Egypt, Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods which shall go before us: for as for this Moses ... we wot not what is become of him" (Acts 7.39,40). Once they began to disregard the words of Moses they turned back in their hearts to Egypt and soon were making a god of their own choosing. Losing regard for the Lord Jesus, who is the Redeemer and Lawgiver to God's people today, is the first step in renunciation of God's truth, and leads towards self-seeking and heresy, which God hates. May we never lose sight of our Captain in this wilderness and never forget what His deliverance means to God's people. We have been set free from bondage so that we may learn the will of God and do it. This is true deliverance-freedom to do God's will.

It is significant, typically, that in Exodus 6 Moses' son Gershom (by Jethro's daughter) is not mentioned. The special work of Moses needed no successor; deliverance and the giving of the law were once-for-all matters, and are for ever associated with Moses, the man of God. With Aaron it was different. We are told of his four sons and the name of his grandson, Phinehas. This, of course, emphasizes the great difference between the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods. Our Lord was a priest after the order of Melchizedek; His High Priestly service is unique and without succession. Some matters in the activities of God's people are repetitive, and succession from generation to generation must be secured. When God gave to the twelve tribes the status of nationhood He said that they were to be "a kingdom of priests and an holy nation" surely the most unusual description of any nation's charter. Of Aaron, God said to Moses, "and he shall be thy spokesman unto the people" (Exodus 4.16). It was Aaron's concern to convey to the people God's will as revealed to Moses and not to initiate laws of his own. His descendants are named to signify the perpetuation of God's plan for the family of Aaron to stand before God on behalf of His redeemed and covenanted people. To be able to do this demanded knowledge of His will and strict obedience to it. To bring another mind to bear on matters of the behaviour and the offerings of the people was to invite disaster, and this took place in the case of Nadab and Abihu. That these were among those who were invited to the mount to "Come up unto the LORD" (Exodus 24.1) makes their forfeiture of priestly life and service the more sad. It is also most salutary. But God's. purposes were not to be frustrated. Others serve when disobedience to His will sets men aside.

As if to underline the unpleasant work which was sometimes part of Levitical service, the names of Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Uzziel, appear in the list in Exodus 6. These are the men who carried Nadab and Abihu from the scene of divine judgement (Leviticus 10.4).

Eleazar, Aaron's son and successor, appears in the Exodus 6 list. At various times in Israel's history he is shown as an officer of God among the people. Eleazar's life was quiet compared with that of his son, Phinehas, who succeeded him. Phinehas was zealous and active as a young man and spared no effort to see the nation holy and united. His service was sometimes harsh and difficult, but he was a true servant of God in carrying out His will.

Ithamar was the fourth son of Aaron, and from him came the common priests, as distinct from the high priest. The high priest and the priests in service together are seen in both Old Testament and New Testament worship: "For both He that sanctifleth and they that are sanctified are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare Thy name unto My brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I sing Thy praise" (Hebrews 2.11, 12) One of the most beautiful sights the Israelites saw in the wilderness was on the day of the consecration of Aaron and his sons when they stood in their magnificent garments, consecrated to serve the LORD in the midst of His people.

Other names which are given in Exodus 6 are those of the family of Izhar, one of Aaron 5 uncles The cousins of Aaron and Moses from Izhar's family were Korah, Nepheg and Zichi. Korah, with two hundred and fifty others, including Dathan and Abiram of the tribe of Reuben, were destroyed for seeking to usurp Moses and Aaron in their divinely chosen service. The stand taken by the tribe of Levi at the making of the golden calf, "on the LORD's side" (Exodus 32.26), was now taken within Korah's own family, and those that honoured the LORD were spared, not to mourn Korah's disaster but to lead divine praise. Succeeding generations of Kohathites, descendants of those faithful to the LORD at the time of Korah's rebellion, were to lead the songs in Israel, and it is touching to read in some of Psalm titles, "For the sons of Korah". Within the tribe of Levi itself there were many who were sometimes unbelieving and rebellious, while others remained faithful and received a blessing. As Eli, another Levite, was told, "Them that honour Me I will honour" (1 Samuel 2.30).

The names in the genealogy in Exodus 6 include the lawgiver, the high priest, the priests, and the branch of the Levites whose responsibility it was to carry the holy things and to assist the priests in divine service. Kohath means "assembly". They had the central, communal place in the assemblies and convocations of God's people, leading in worship, praise and teaching. These are still the first and highest services requiring the attention of God's people today. To be called a Levite had a connotation with service and community life. Whilst some were born into the family who never served because of natural defect or sin, yet to be consecrated either as priest (if of Aaron's family) or Levite, was surely the ambition of every son of Levi.

May we, likewise, be aware of our birthright and be anxious to serve "in things pertaining to God" (Hebrews 5.1).

Robertson, A. B. | Jan 1967
General