Today we begin Deuteronomy Chapter 18.
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For the King James version, click here.
“The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and his inheritance.”-Deuteronomy 18:1
Remember in the Torah, there are four classes of government leaders as follows:
-Judges
-Kings
-Priests
-Prophets
In the last chapter (Deuteronomy 17), we learned about the general boundaries and limitations that were to be placed on Judges and Kings.
Now in this chapter, Deuteronomy 18, we are given the same instructions for the remaining two categories, the priests and the prophets.
So let’s jump right into it.
Right off the bat, verse one affirms the most important point concerning the priesthood of Israel.
And that point is that any priest of Israel can has to come from the tribe of Levi.
It’s interesting to note that since the establishment of the priesthood in the Book of Exodus, pretty much every single time matters of the clergy of Israel are raised, the phrase “the Levitical priests” often comes up.
There are two reasons for this, one simple and one complex.
The simple reason is that God has declared that only ONE tribe (Levi) is to serve as God’s authorized servants AND…
…only a member from ONE clan from within the tribe of Levi (Aaron’s) is eligible to become the High Priest.
The complex reason is that the other tribes of Israel found this decision of the Lord’s bloody difficult to accept.
Why is that?
Because it was the norm in ancient Middle Eastern cultures during the Biblical era for the King to elect the top dog priest who would in turn have the privilege of choosing those lesser priests who would serve beneath him.
This means that a new king usually resulted in the establishment of a whole new priesthood with different members.
And while the families the priests came from carried some weight, matters deciding the priesthood were based more on political factors rather than an established heredity right.
Well, here, in one swift stroke, the Lord put an end to any potential political skirmishes concerning who had a legitimate right to become a priest.
Let’s not forget that until the Law was given at Mount Sinai, an official priesthood didn’t exist and neither had a so-called priestly tribe been appointed.
Instead it was the firstborns from each family of every tribe who served as a sort of de facto family priest.
The truth is the firstborns relished their special status of being the household “family priest” as informal a designation as it was.
Therefore, when Moses came around and essentially told the firstborns…,
“you’re being restructured out of your jobs and you’re going to be replaced by the Levites”…,
…naturally the firstborns were none too happy about it too put it lightly.
As has been the way of mankind since time memorial to always be seeking a loophole to get out of what the Lord has clearly commanded, so too did the twelve tribes of Israel do their sneakiest best to find a way to get around God’s law concerning who held the legitimate right to become a priest.
Heck, there was a time in Israel’s history when there were actually two high priests, one from the legitimate line of Aaron and another from an illegitimate line (can’t remember which line that was off the top of my head at the moment).
To conclude and close, that’s why we’re going to repeatedly find the phrase “Levitical priests” coming up over and over and over again in the Bible.
The Scripture wants to drive the point home to us that ONLY THE LEVITES ARE TO FORM THE CLERGY FOR ISRAEL.
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