Today, we’re going to follow on the heels of my last post when I talked about how Jacob adopted Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh away from him.
Honestly, it might not even be appropriate to use the word “adopted” because through Jacob’s own “untraditional” version of the cross-handed blessing, Ephraim and Manasseh literally (not metaphorically, nor spiritually, nor allegorically but LITERALLY) became his own two children.
And once that happened, you know what?
For a time, there were NOT 12 tribes of Israel, but 14 of them.
Remember, BEFORE Israel left Egypt, the tribal name of Joseph was removed and replaced with 2 the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, both coming from the line of Joseph.
Are you getting the picture here?
In a nutshell, the tribe of Joseph was split into two tribes.
Once this happened, from that point onward, Ephraim would represent one line of Joseph and Manasseh the other.
However, for all you mathematicians out there, after we drop the tribal name of Joseph, we’re still left with 13 tribes of Israel and not 12.
So how do we get back to the original number of 12 tribes of Israel?
Well homies, that’s where the Tribe of Levi comes in.
Actually, it would be more accurate to say that’s where the Tribe of Levi goes out.
Why?
Because later, out in the desert wilderness, just as Jacob adopted Ephraim and Manasseh away from Joseph, so too did God adopt the Tribe of Levi away from the rest of tribes of Israel.
The Scriptures tell us that Levi was no longer to be counted as part of Israel.
That’s right.
They were separated away from their Israelite brethren, yet their identity still remained Hebrew.
Instead Levi would be considered a special tribe chosen away from his brothers to become Hashem’s own special servants.
We know from our past Torah studies that they became God’s priests and keepers of the Tabernacle.
This also answers the question concerning why the Tribe of Levi was not to inherit any part of the promised Land of Canaan.
Instead of giving land to Levi, the Lord proclaimed that He Himself would be their inheritance.
And not only that, as we discussed earlier, God would also share His holy property with them.
For those of you who truly recognize the significance of this (and most people don’t including I would say 99% of pastors, preachers and Bible teachers out there), you would know this was just an incredible privilege of gargantuan proportions.
A unique advantage that NONE of the 12 tribes were ever entitled to.
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