To conclude March, we take a look at the Tribe of Levi as part of my "Twelve Tribes of Israel" series. The first video focuses on the Scriptures and poem, while the second one will offer some insight into the details behind both Levi and his tribe. May this story of repentance and redemption encourage our souls today! Much love, Lucy x
The Tribe Of Levi
Key Facts
Order of birth- Third.
Mother- Leah.
Meaning of name- Attached.
Character details- Cruel, filled with anger, linked with Simeon in treachery.
Tribe details- Scattered among the nation of Israel, repented of idolatry, given the role of helpers in the priesthood, the Lord was their inheritance.
Relevant Scriptures
Genesis 29:31-34 “When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, “The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.” Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi.”
Genesis 49:1 and 5-7
“And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:
“Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place.
Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honour be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel.”
Exodus 32:19 and 25-26
“When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.”
“Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.”
Numbers 18:6-8
“I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord to do the work at the tent of meeting. But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death.”
LeviThe Tribe Of Levi
Key Facts
Order of birth- Third.
Mother- Leah.
Meaning of name- Attached.
Character details- Cruel, filled with anger, linked with Simeon in treachery.
Tribe details- Scattered among the nation of Israel, repented of idolatry, given the role of helpers in the priesthood, the Lord was their inheritance.
Relevant Scriptures
Genesis 29:31-34 “When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, “The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.” Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi.”
Genesis 49:1 and 5-7
“And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:
“Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place.
Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honour be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel.”
Exodus 32:19 and 25-26
“When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.”
“Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.”
Numbers 18:6-8
“I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord to do the work at the tent of meeting. But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death.”
Twelve tribes of Israel from twelve different brothers,
All the sons of Jacob, but from four different mothers.
Leah bore him six of them, while two came from Zilpah.
Rachel bore another two, and two more came from Bilhah.
Levi was the third, and his name declares “Attached.”
It seems the pain in Leah’s heart was really quite unmatched.
Three times she called for Jacob through the choosing of each name,
And yet he shunned her every time. Poor Leah hoped in vain.
Her husband didn’t grow in his affections for his wife.
His hardened heart towards her brought much anguish to her life.
And as we saw with Simeon, more grief was yet to come—
Jacob’s words: a warning to his violent, vengeful son.
Levi acted harshly, an accomplice to his brother.
Murdering the innocent alongside one another.
Jacob’s words of prophecy condemned their brutal crime.
And so the tribe of Levi would be scattered over time.
Yet thankfully this scattering was not the tragic end;
Their faithfulness would mean this tribe could be repaired again.
As helpers to the priesthood, they would serve among the nation.
The tribe of Levi shows, with God, there’s room for restoration.
Psalm 80:3
“Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!”
1 John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Insight to Levi
Mother-Leah
Leah is the mother of Jacob’s first four sons, and here we read about the birth of their third son, Levi. Just as with the birth of his older brothers, Reuben and Simeon, we clearly hear Leah’s ongoing heartache being revealed through the naming of this third boy.
Feeling continuously unloved and neglected by her husband, Leah declares after the birth of Levi, “‘Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.’ So he was named Levi.” The meaning of Levi’s name is “attached,” so for a third time, Leah’s desperate hope that her husband will become emotionally attached to her through her ability to provide him with male heirs is communicated through her choice of name for her son.
As I’ve studied and written about this troubled marriage between Leah and her husband, it’s really struck me how much the Bible doesn’t shrink away from allowing the faults and flaws of people to be openly seen in Scripture, even “spiritual greats” such as Jacob.
It amazes me to think that Jacob, the grandson of Abraham and the son of Isaac, a man highly revered among thousands of people, could actually have failed in such a spectacular way. It also fascinates me to think that God made sure this part of Leah and Jacob’s story was included in His Word. I do love this about the Bible, as the Scriptures never seek to hide the offences and shortcomings of mankind or make excuses for the sinful behaviour we see, even within the “heroes” of the text.
I think this is something many non-believers don’t know or don’t expect about the Word of God. Many times I’ve heard comments from people I’ve worked with, and they talk about the Bible as if it’s full of pious “Thou shalt not…” statements and self-help tips on self-righteous living. Having spent years studying and reading the Bible, I think it’s very clear to see this is not the case at all. The Scriptures show us the undiluted, ugly truth about human nature over and over again.
If anything, I think this helps us relate to the real-life stories of the Bible all the more, as we see there is nothing new under the sun, and we’re all prone to the same weaknesses and temptations.
For me, it also serves to highlight the biblical truth that there are none righteous, no, not one. Reading about the failures of even the likes of Jacob really emphasises the incredible fact that we are all saved by grace. Anything in our lives used for the Lord’s purposes is thanks to God’s goodness, not our own, and so all glory must go to our Saviour. It’s clear to see that left to ourselves, we’re all liars and cheats and selfish at our core.
I’d like to make the point here, however, I don’t say this to be discouraging. On the contrary! I find the Bible’s openness and unashamed honesty in sharing the faults of mankind to be incredibly encouraging. It shows us that all of us fall short of the glory of God, and yet He still loves us, still chooses us and still works through us for Kingdom service.
Jacob’s Prophetic Blessing
Jacob, nearing the end of his life, addresses his words of prophecy to both his second son, Simeon, and third son, Levi, at the same time. We hear his address to these two sons in particular in Genesis 49:5-7, which reads,
“Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place.
Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honour be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel.”
I took a closer look at what Jacob is referring to here in my study of Simeon last month, and the brother’s cruel acts of vengeance are certainly a lesson for us that the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Vengeance is the Lord’s to take, as His justice will never punish the innocent with the guilty and will be meted out fairly, according to His wisdom and sovereignty.
For this study, I decided to delve deeper into the prophecy of dividing and scattering, and we can see that it became a curse for Simeon as his tribe became the weakest numerically and shared an allotment of land with the tribe of Judah. The prophecy of dividing and scattering became a blessing for the tribe of Levi, however, as a result of their faithfulness during the rebellion of the golden calf.
We can read about this event in Exodus 32, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai, having inscribed the tablets with the ten commandments, only to discover everyone was worshipping a manmade golden calf. Incensed, Moses destroys the tablets and asks who will take a stand against this idolatry. Penitent and remorseful, the tribe of Levi comes forward, and because of this repentance, they were then allowed a ministry within Israel.
We read later on in the Bible that the tribe of Levi were appointed as God’s chosen helpers to the priests in their ministry at the altar and the tabernacle. Only Aaron (brother of Moses and a Levite himself), along with his own descendants, was given a priesthood, but the whole tribe of Levi had a special calling to help Aaron and his sons in this responsibility. The Levites weren’t priests in training and they didn’t have the same prominent position as the priests themselves, but they were called to support the priests’ work which was considered a role of great honour.
Numbers 18 describes the duties of the priests and the Levites, and so while the tribe of Simeon was dispersed and eventually assimilated into the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Levi was spread throughout the whole nation of Israel with the distinction and divine calling of assisting the priests. They received no large portion of land, as other tribes did, but rather, the tribe of Levi’s inheritance was the Lord Himself. As Joshua 13:33 tells us,
“But to the tribe of Levi Moses had given no inheritance; the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance, as He had said to them.”
What we can really see here is a beautiful picture of repentance and restoration. Levi’s sinful actions had cost him dearly, but thankfully, that’s not where the story ended. The tribe of Levi repented of their idolatry and returned in faithfulness to serve their God. The Lord restored and preserved this tribe, turning their suffering into blessing. As 19th-century preacher, Charles Spurgeon, once said on this matter,
“Happy is that man who, though he begins with a dark shadow resting upon him, so lives as to turn even that shadow into bright sunlight. Levi gained a blessing at the hands of Moses, one of the richest blessings of any of the tribes.”
Closing Thoughts
The tribe of Levi really does give us a wonderful example of how wise it is to draw near to God when we’ve made a mistake, fallen into sin, or gotten off course. We can approach our Heavenly Father with confidence, knowing that if we come with a truly repentant heart and a contrite spirit, He is faithful to forgive us and can take the mess of our situation, turn things around, set us back on track and restore us, according to His mercy.
The story of the Levites also reminds us that it is by God’s grace that any of us are used for Christ’s Kingdom, and any role in ministry is a precious gift, straight from the hand of the Lord. With the honour of any ministry comes the weight of responsibility and accountability. We are ambassadors for Christ and are equipped for His purposes in many different, unique ways. We needn’t envy or covet the callings of others. We also needn’t allow our past mistakes to stop us from coming to God and making ourselves available for Kingdom service.
Our beautiful Saviour is the God who can take the broken and wayward things of this world, repair them and use them for His glory. He is the God of second, third and fourth chances. Praises to the forgiving, merciful and gracious God of Israel!
