These also, Numbers chapter 3
verse 1, these also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day
that the Lord spake with Moses in Mount Sinai. And these are
the names of the sons of Aaron, Nadab the firstborn. and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons
of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated
to minister in the priest's office. And Nadab and Abihu died before
the Lord, when they offered strange fire before the Lord in the wilderness
of Sinai, and they had no children, and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered
in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Bring the tribe of Levi,
bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron
the priest, that they may minister unto him. So we're going to have
the priest, the high priest, priest, subordinate priest, and
then the Levites are going to minister unto him. And they shall
keep his charge and the charge of the whole congregation before
the tabernacle of the congregation to do the service of the tabernacle. And they shall keep all the instruments
of the tabernacle of the congregation and the charge of the children
of Israel to do the service of the tabernacle. Thou shalt give
the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons that are wholly given
unto him out of the children of Israel. Thou shalt appoint
Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest's
office, and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. The Lord spake unto Moses saying,
And I behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children
of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix
or the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore, the Levites
shall be mine. because all the firstborn are
mine. For on the day that I smote all
the firstborn of the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto me all
the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast, mine shall they
be. I am the Lord. What a wonderful passage of scripture
that informs us a great deal about the Lord's grand sovereignty
over all things. Now, it was his sovereignty that
chose Israel to begin with. It was sovereignty that chose
Jacob who was renamed Israel to begin with. Then we will find
out by his sovereign mercy and his sovereign grace, he gives
four women, the children of Israel. I would that you turn back with
me to the book of Genesis chapter 29 for just a moment. It is this
Levi and the tribe that's named for him that we wish to share
a few words about this morning. This Levi, the tribe that is
named after him and here in the book of Genesis chapter 29 we
have these words about the birth of Levi and his brothers that
were born to this wife, this woman by the name of Leah. Now,
we know the story that Jacob loved a beautiful girl and his
father-in-law snuck in the firstborn. Firstborn one more time. There
was such an emphasis put on the firstborn. As I mentioned, it
was Abel that offered the firstling or the firstborn of his flock,
and it was Mary that gave birth to her firstborn son. In between that time and this
time of the Lord, we have so much mentioned about the firstborn.
We read some of it there, we'll look at that next week. But here
in the Book of Genesis Chapter 29, we have God's great miracle
of birth. We have God blessing a lady with
birth, and he has stopped another wife of Jacob from having any
children. Here in the book of Genesis chapter
29, and there in verse 31, would you look there, Genesis chapter
29 and verse 31. Genesis chapter 29 and verse
31, it says, and when the Lord saw that Leo was hated, you know,
Jacob thought he had been taken. This is not his plan. He would
have never have done this in his life, but it was God's plan. Now, sometimes I really chafe
at God's plan, do you? It just rankles us at times.
I heard someone the other day share with me, a friend of mine
says, my spirit agrees with it all the time, but my flesh grates
against it at times. Well, Jacob's flesh grated against
this plan that God had for him, that he first married the oldest
daughter of Laban, and then he worked some more time for that
wonderful, beautiful bride that he was after. Well, here in the
book of Genesis chapter 29, and there in verse 31, it says, and
when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, now the Lord didn't have
to look down and find this out. He knew it all along, but for
our benefit, he's sharing this. And he opened her womb, but Rachel
was barren. This is God's sovereignty in
action. This is God's dealing with humanity,
with human beings, with those of the choice of his very being
before the foundation of the world. Leah conceived and bear
a son and she called his name Reuben. We're going to find out
that Reuben lost his birthright, his firstborn relationship. over
a crime he committed against God and against his father. For
she said, surely the Lord hath looked upon my affliction, now
therefore my husband will love me. She conceived again, and
bear a son, and said, because the Lord hath heard that I was
hated, he hath therefore given me this son also, and called
his name Simeon. She conceived again and bear
a son and said, ''Now this time, will my husband be joined unto
me?'' Can you hear the words of those lawyers that we heard
about in Luke today? Can you hear them through Leah?
Surely, my Lord will pay attention to me now. Surely, my Lord will
pay attention to me now. Surely, my Lord will pay attention
to me now. Because I have borne him three
sons, therefore was his name called Levi. And she conceived
again and bare a son and said, now will I praise the Lord. Therefore,
she called his name Judah and left bearing. Now, we're going
to find out in chapter 35 that she has two more sons and a daughter.
She has half the tribes of Israel. She has half the sons of Israel.
Three other women are going to bear the other six, but she's
going to have six out of 12. And one of them is the name of
Levi, and she gave him that name. We find over, if you would turn
with me, to the book of Genesis chapter 46. In Genesis chapter
46 and there in verse 11 we find that Levi has some sons and we'll
meet them more as we travel through the book of Numbers. In Genesis
chapter 46 and verse 11 we have these words recorded, and the
sons of Levi Now, they're going to be the folks that are camped
around the tabernacle, that are protecting the tabernacle from
all the rest of the folks that wanted to get up close to it.
They're those people that are going to protect us, protect
those who have an interest in doing something that they should
not do. It says in Genesis chapter 46 and verse 11, the sons of
Levi, Gershon, Kohath, and Merai. We'll find out as we travel through
the numbers chapter 3 and chapter 4, that all of these families,
these households are going to have great responsibilities when
it comes to moving the tabernacle and keeping it going as it should
be going. Levi is the great-grandfather
of Moses and Aaron and Miriam. Turn with me to the Book of Exodus,
if you would. The Book of Exodus Chapter 2.
There is a strong tie, a strong relationship. We have a family
going on here. When Aaron goes into the Holy
of Holies, he is paying particular attention to his family. There
is no one else there to pay attention to, and it is representative
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ going to the cross on
the behalf of his family. No one else. He did not go to
the cross for people that are going to reject him. He's going
to the cross for those he will give the new birth to. Well,
here in the book of Genesis chapter 2, we find that there is an edict
gone out and Moses is part of the fulfillment of that edict.
He is supposed to be disposed of. Now, we already have Aaron
and we already have Miriam, but we have Moses coming along and
he is supposed to, by law, by the law of Pharaoh be thrown
into the Nile River and destroyed. Well, notice here, and there
went a man of the house of Levi. Exodus chapter 2 verse 1, there
went a man of the house of Levi and took a wife of the daughter
of Levi. Now, I thought that's probably
just a way of saying that she's the granddaughter or some. No,
we find out she is actually the daughter of Levi. This woman,
her name was Jochebed, we'll get over there in just a moment,
and took the wife of the daughter of Levi, and the woman conceived
and bear a son, and when she saw that he was a goodly child,
she hid him three months. She knew by revelation that there
was something about this boy whose name was going to be named
Moses, there was something about him that was going to be a deliverer
of Israel down in Egypt. Now how did she know that? How
do you know anything? How do I know anything about
spiritual things? It's the revelation of Jesus
Christ. It's the revelation of God to
his people. She knew something. She just
didn't follow the rules. She saved that boy by putting
him in the river. Now, we know Miriam was put there
to keep an eye on and she recommended Mama to be the nurse and all
of that. By the providence of God, all
of this worked out as it always does, everywhere, throughout
every place in the world. Well, turn with me just a little
further here. in the book of Exodus chapter 6. Exodus chapter
6 as we find that, Exodus chapter 6 verse 20. It says, an Amram. Now, that's Moses' dad. As I read through here, it makes
a lot more sense for me after I've been in Europe for a while
and hear people's names over there. My third grade teacher knew one
word from Bohemia. It was Mathieu. I says, what's
that? And he says, Matthew. Names over there are much like
our names, just said differently. Well, I'm going to appreciate
the names I find in the Bible much more now because they were
names of people and their names, once again, were given by Almighty
God just like your name was and my name was. God moved on our
parents to do that name. It says here in the book of Exodus
chapter 6 and verse 20, it says, and Amram took him Jochebed,
his father's sister, to wife. And she bare him Aaron and Moses,
and the years of the life of Amram were 137 years in Egypt. All of this is spent in Egypt. Jacob died in Egypt, but his
bones were taken out, his body was taken out. He's the only
one except for Joseph that we know of who was taken out of
Egypt and put over in the land, the land that God had promised
them. The rest of them appear to have been buried there in
Egypt. Turn with me if you would to
the Book of Numbers 26. Now, I realize I'm jumping way
ahead in the Book of Numbers. I wish I could do what Brother
Lance did and just spend my time in the book of Numbers, but I'm
just going to have to go around a little bit. Numbers chapter
26. Remember when he preached only
from the book of Colossians? Numbers chapter 26 and verse
59. The scriptures share this, and
the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, and the daughter of
Levi, whom her mother bare her to Levi in Egypt. Guess what? That's where we are born, in
Egypt. We're not born in some holy land. We're born in Egypt. We're born
here with all of the characteristics and attributes that we were given
by Adam, our father. And what are those characteristics
and attributes? dead in trespasses and sin. We have no good qualities. It
doesn't mean that we don't do good things for other people,
but before God Almighty, we cannot do anything good. There's none
good, no, not one, but God. We're incapable of that. We're
incapable as what we heard this morning there in the Book of
Deuteronomy, loving God as we're required to do 24-7, 365 days
a year. We cannot do it. So somebody
is going to have to take care of the problem. We're thankful
to the Lord God Almighty. The name of Amram's wife was
Jochebed and she was the daughter of Levi. So we have, a wife and
an aunt. The Levites were given a call
by Moses and were effectually called and came. Now, turn with
me back to the book of Exodus, if you would. As we follow the
Levites, just briefly this morning, in the book of Exodus chapter
32, they're going to be the servants of God. They're going to serve
around the tabernacle. They're going to be the servants
of the priest. They're going to be called Levites. Now, we
find a Levite in the New Testament that saw what Brother Mike's
going to bring next week, That guy left for half dead and
did nothing. Now under the law, he could do
nothing. A Levite couldn't touch someone
that was coming that close to death or sick like that. He did
what he could do, nothing. That's what the law can do for
us is absolutely nothing. It is nothing to us. Here in
the book of Exodus chapter 32, there is a great situation that
has come up. Exodus chapter 32 and verse 25. A great situation has come up
just like so often happens in the Book of Exodus, just like
so often happens in the Book of Genesis, or Leviticus, or
Numbers, or Deuteronomy, or Matthew, or Acts, or the Book of Revelation. There is a problem that develops,
and this problem is simply the outpouring of our natural condition
before God, and it is not good. In the book of Exodus chapter
32 and verse 25, and when Moses saw that the people were naked
for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their
enemies. What a statement is made here
about our friend Aaron, the high priest. He's going to be the
high priest and what a statement is made about him. And yet we're
going to read just a little bit in the book of the Psalms. Saint
of God. I've had a lot of people recently
talk to me about, you know, things that people can do that makes
them not acceptable in God's eyes. It says just go through
the Old Testament a short time and you'll find there's nobody
over there that's worth anything except for the grace of God given
to them and that he is going to keep them by his sovereign
power just like he promised. All right, here in the book of
Exodus, chapter 32, verse 26, and Moses stood at the gate of
the camp and said, who is on the Lord's side? Let him come
unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered
themselves together unto him." Oh, to have a call like that
and to have the response like that. We find another place like
that, and that's on the day of Pentecost, when the whole host
As Peter preached the gospel, as the other 11 preached the
gospel, and God worked his miracle of grace to them and brought
them out of their bondage. Here we have the whole host of
Levi. They answered the call of Moses. Who else came? Nobody. There's
nobody out of Judah. There's nobody out of Dan. There's
nobody out of Naphtali. There's nobody out of Zebulon. There's nobody out of Simeon
comes. Moses gives out the call and says, who's on the Lord's
side? And we have one group of people coming up and saying,
what? They're in the book of Exodus
chapter 32 and verse 27. He said unto them, thus saith
the Lord God of Israel. put every man his sword by his
side, and go in and out from the gate to gate throughout the
camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion,
and every man his neighbor." Now, what do we do? I'm not advocating,
the Lord does not advocate us to do that physically, but there
is an advocation that God gives to us that the only thing that
will ever help anybody is the sword of the spirit, the word
of God. It's not arguing, it is simply
declaring. That's what the Apostle Paul
says, I declare unto you the gospel. I'm not going to make
a deal with you. I'm not going to plead with you.
I'm not going to do anything but declare the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace in Christ Jesus, and that he has completely
and totally taken care of the sins of his people on the cross,
and that is it. He preached that and he preached
that, and that's the only success story we find in all the scripture
is God taking his word and through the Holy Spirit giving people
the new birth. That's what we find recorded
in the 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews by Faith Abel. Why did he do that? Why did he
offer the firstling of the flock? Because God had given him the
new birth. That's the only thing, only difference
between him and his brother. The only difference between these
Levites and the rest of the folks was God's free grace. The children of Levi did according
to the word of Moses, and there fell on the people that day about
three thousand men. For Moses had said, Consecrate
yourselves today to the Lord, even every man upon his son and
upon his brother, that he may bestow upon him the blessing
this day. And then it tells us there And
it came to pass in the morrow that Moses said unto the people,
ye have sinned a great sin, and now I will go up unto the Lord
peradventure, I shall make atonement for your sin. In the book of
Deuteronomy chapter 10, Book of Deuteronomy chapter 10. Let's
go over there. As we follow the tribe of Levi,
the call went out, who's on the Lord's side? And all of the sons
of Levi came. Here in the book of Deuteronomy
chapter 10, we find in Deuteronomy chapter 10 verses 8 and 9. Deuteronomy
chapter 10 verses 8 and 9, the scriptures say here, and at that
time, the Lord separated the tribe of Levi. What a statement
is made. Who could do a better separation
than God? Those two couple of verses in
the Old Testament about natural man saying God's not fair. He's righteous. He's holy. And he does as he pleases. If he hadn't been in that character,
not one would ever be saved by the grace of God. Not one would
be saved. So notice here, at that time, the Lord separated
the tribe of Levi. Now, if you follow Levi's life
just a little bit, you'll find out he's quite a scoundrel. His
father was very upset with him when he gave those blessings.
Jacob is about ready to die over there in the country of Egypt
where he's been brought down to and he gathers all his sons
in front of him and he gives them blessings. Well, when he
came to Levi and Simeon, he didn't bless them very much because
they were a thorn in his flesh. And yet we get down here to the
book of Deuteronomy and we say, at that time, who is it that
God chooses? It seems to be the scoundrels,
doesn't it? It seems to be the sinners. It seems to be the publicans
and sinners. It seems to be the halt and the
lame and the main. It seems to be the oddballs.
For he said that not many others are called. All right. At that time, the Lord separated
the tribe of Levi to do what? To bear the ark of the covenant
of the Lord. To stand before the Lord, can
you imagine? Descendants of Adam, descendants
of Levi, being asked being imposed upon to do this great service
of the Lord. What in the world does he do
with his people today? We can go back just a very short
time and find out we know what we are by birth and to have him
put us in a position that we have the blessing of declaring
the gospel to our friends, to our neighbors, to our family. They'll never hear it anywhere
else. He says, to stand before the Lord, to minister unto Him,
and to bless His name unto this day. What an opportunity is granted
to God's people, granted to God's people, sinners saved by grace,
to have this opportunity to touch the holy garments of Jesus Christ
the Lord, to touch the hem of His garment, if you please, to
be at the burning bush and bow before Him in holiness, recognizing
the fact that he is the righteous one. As Mike read that passage
this morning, there in Luke chapter 7, he said, the publicans, they
justified God. Those lawyers, we don't agree
with this at all. If they had truly known something,
they'd have bowed. That's what God does for His
people. He causes us to bow before Him. It goes on to tell us there
in the book of Exodus, or excuse me, Deuteronomy chapter 10, there
in verse 9, Wherefore, Levi hath no part nor inheritance with
his brethren. Now isn't that interesting? Everything
is going to be given to the rest. But these folks are going to
have no part of it. You know, really, God's people,
the church, has no inheritance here. We have no inheritance
here. Now, God, by his mercy, gives
us food and shelter. And sometimes we have the privilege
of setting aside some. but we have no inheritance here
whatsoever. This is not our home. We're just
passing through. We're just pilgrims and sojourners
here. Our inheritance is in heaven.
Our hope is in heaven. Our Christ is in heaven. Our
God is in heaven. Our God is at high and lifted
up and his train fills the temple. Our inheritance is not down here.
We're not looking for a physical inheritance down here. how sad
it is that people would look to the end times as a physical
inheritance when God has said, I have a far greater inheritance
for my church and that's in heaven. That's in the presence of God.
That's to worship him face to face. That's to be able to bow
before him in a not just spiritual sense, but to bow before him
in a physical sense. Wherefore, verse 9, Levi has
no part nor inheritance with his brethren. The Lord is his
inheritance. That's what it says with regard
to Abraham. I am thy inheritance. according to the Lord that God
promised him. So what a blessing it is here.
You know, as we follow three people that were members of the
tribe of Levi, they were born in Egypt, they crossed the Red
Sea, but none of these folks ever went into the land. Aaron,
Miriam, and Moses all died in the wilderness. And we say, Well,
that doesn't seem fair. You know, the day or the place
of our passing from this world to the next is all marked out
by God. For just a second, I thought
the Lord was going to cause me to pass in Prague, Czech Republic. Just for a moment. And I mentioned
it's going to be hard, if that happened, for the kids to get
our bodies home. And Nancy says, they won't have
to worry about it. I'll be burned up anyway. The truth. Where we die, what we die of. Nancy and I were in a number
of towns there in Europe that during the Black Death, the plague,
thousands and thousands of people died from a flea on a rat. Religious people built monuments
out there with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit pictured
at the top saying this will protect us. Are you kidding me? We say that's just superstition,
but that's the world around is superstitious. These three folks
died at their appointed time in the wilderness before they
ever crossed the Jordan River. Aaron and Moses were told by
God, you'll not cross into the land because you struck the rock
twice. I thought it was just Moses,
but he spoke to both of them at the same time. God has his
purpose in where we die, what we die of, who we die with, who
we die without. He has his purpose. If all the
people in the begats and the begats and the begats in the
Old Testament, the final line is always said, and he died. We're not going to get out alive
folks, unless the Lord should return. I don't think we're going
to find anybody else carried out of this life in a whirlwind
or a chariot like we find a prophet in the Old Testament. Well, Miriam died, tribe of Levi. Aaron died, tribe of Levi. Moses
died, tribe of Levi. Just before Moses died, he did
similar to what Jacob did to his 12 sons. And would you look
with me to Deuteronomy 33, Deuteronomy chapter 33. This is Moses speaking
with regard to Levi. Now he does this for all the
tribes. He does this for all the tribes. In Deuteronomy chapter
33 and verse 1, we have, and Moses went and spake these words
unto all Israel. He's going to, just before he
dies. Now it's going to end the chapter and say, His eyes were
still good. His strength was still good.
He was 120 years old, and he was not dying from old age. He's going to die, though. And
then in that same chapter, verse 8, it says, with regard to this,
Deuteronomy 33 and verse 8, and when the Most High, excuse me,
33, And of Levi, he said, let the
Thuman and the Urim be with the Holy One whom thou didst prove
at Masha, with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah. Now, this Thuman is lights and
perfections, and the high priest wore this. And he said, let with
Levi this shall be. There's going to be a tribe that
has this special blessing. You know, we're not of the law. But we certainly get the blessings
that were given here because this speaks of Christ. He is
our light and he is our perfection. I have not seen him, neither
did he acknowledge his brethren, nor know his own children, for
they are observed thy word and kept thy commandment. They shall
teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law. They shall put
incense before thee, the whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar. Bless the Lord, his substance,
and accept the work of his hands. Smite there the loins of them
that rise against him, and them that hate him, and they rise
not again." Words to Levi. There is a wonderful, wonderful
particular blessing to Levi that's mentioned over in the book of
Hebrews. Would you turn there with me? Levi owed a great deal. Under the law, they were commanded
to tithe. That was a commandment. Now,
there was freewill offerings too, but there was a commandment,
you tithe. But that law has passed away. I remember Brother Henry
sharing, don't you come to our church and preach tithing because
a whole bunch of my folks would have to be required to cut back. Don't preach that stuff. Preach
God loveth the cheerful giver. Preach that it is our responsibility
to take care of our building. That's our responsibility. But
I don't have to go preaching on it because God does that to
the heart. Well, here in the book of Hebrews, we find that
the tribe of Levi did not pay tithes. everybody else in the
children of Israel were required to. How in the world did they
escape that? How did God not require that
of them? Because they were of the children
of Israel. Now, they didn't get any land,
they got a few cities. But here in the book of Hebrews
Chapter 7, we find that someone else stepped in their place even
before they were born and took care of the problem. How reflective
of that is of what Jesus Christ did for the church, before we
were even created, before Abel was created, Adam and Eve were
created, this was all taken care of before time. In Hebrews chapter
7 beginning with verse 4, now consider how great this man was
unto whom the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.
Now he's talking about Melchizedek. And he says, barely they that
are of the sons of Levi who received the office of the priesthood
have commanded to take tithes of the people. They were commanded
to take tithes of the people. This is required under the law. That is, of their brethren, though
they come out of the loins of Abraham. But he whose descent
is not counted from them receiveth tithes of Abraham, and blessed
him that had the promise. And without all contradiction,
the less is blessed of the better. And here men that die receiveth
tithes. But there he receiveth them,
of whom it is written, It is witnessed that he liveth. And
as I may say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, now notice
this. There is a great debt that must
be paid. It must be paid. They're not
going to go out scot-free. But notice this. Levi also, who
receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. Isn't that something? That we
have a picture of exactly what Christ did for the church? A
great debt is owed. A debt we could never pay. It
is more than a tithe. It's everything. We owe everything. And we cannot pay it. And yet,
there was one lycan to Abraham that paid the debt for us. You know, those Levites never
had to pay a dime. They had been paid for already. When Abraham went to Melchizedek
and gave him a tenth of the spoils, it took care of the tribe of
Levi. They never were bothered with
it. It was not something that they had to deal with. And you
know what? That's the way sin is with God's
people. We don't have to deal with it.
It's something that doesn't bother us. Now, we sin. We know that. But the consequences is not something
that we are concerned about. Because the consequences have
been taken care of at the cross. The payment has been made. It
was made before the foundation of the world. There's a lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. It was covered in
the covenant of grace. So God gives us this wonderful
picture when Abraham went over to Melchizedek, priest of the
Most High God, king of Salem, and gave him this tithes. God
said here in the book of Hebrews, and it was evident in the lives
of the tribe of Levi, paid in full. And that's what Christ said at
the cross. It is paid for. It is finished. So it's wonderful
to be in the tribe of Christ that all the debt is paid for. Chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Levi was chosen, set apart. Levi, he himself was a rascal. But God chose out of that rascal
a tribe for himself that would minister at the tabernacle, carry
the ark of God. What blessings are given unto
the church today. So Christ came with the only
way. He came with I hate to call it money, but
he was able to pay that would fulfill the requirements with
his blood. Brother Mike.