Who were the Levites in The Bible?
It all started when…
5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him. 7 They are to perform duties for him and for the whole community at the tent of meeting by doing the work of the tabernacle. 8 They are to take care of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, fulfilling the obligations of the Israelites by doing the work of the tabernacle. ~numbers 3:5-8~
let’s start by understanding their relevance in The Bible.
who were they:
from BibleOdyssey.com, the differences between levites and priests - levites were members of a tribe that were said to be descended from levi, the third son of jacob and leah. during the monarchic period, all male Levites had the right to be priests, and they were generally regarded as more legitimate than the non-Levitical priests (e.g., 1 kings 12:31; judges 17:13).
what did they do:
from Chabad.org, who were the levites - most served in peripheral roles, playing music, opening and closing the gates, and standing guard. in the case of the portable Tabernacle (which preceded the Holy Temple in Jerusalem), they were responsible for packing up, transporting, and reconstructing the Tabernacle whenever the Israelites traveled to a new camp.
why should we learn about them:
from BibleProject.com, what made the tribe of levi special - the tribe of levi is set apart from the other tribes of israel and instructed to live in the area directly surrounding the tabernacle so that they can act as “facilities and maintenance,” taking care of God’s dwelling place.
i write this as i once was serving as a levite with my fellow brothers-in-Christ. we’d get up very early in the morning to setup the day before for our church services. it was simply a bunch of men, women, and children who are dedicated to serving our Heavenly Father, while making for a better or nicer experience for the congregation who are there to worship and praise Him while receiving a message that will help them in their walk with The Lord.
sometimes it was just a handful of people who’d come, other times quite a bit, each played a role that utilized their skills, their abilities. while we may not have been ‘chosen’ as those in the old testament, what i loved about doing church as a team, even as i see those who do so today, is that they served with a heart for our King, Our Savior, Jesus, and wanting to welcome Him into the sanctuary.
while i don’t serve in that ministry as i once did, i do help where i can, where needed, in whatever capacity i can, mainly it has been in media/online team. this was completely new to me years ago and i’m grateful for the opportunity to grow in this team, of whom welcomed me with open arms even though i had no clue of how the audio & video stuff really worked at all. my area has been mainly online - web/social, so i was totally stoked to learn new skills to be of service to God, our Heavenly Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus. i encourage anyone out there to just jump right on it if you aren’t sure where your calling may be. i started with youth groups and, fast forward, i actually work with kids and even some who could be my grandkids - pretty awesome how God has prepared me for this.
Father God, thank you for the opportunity to serve you in whatever position or place you put me in. may i use the skills you helped me learn for Kingdom purposes. may it be done so to bring you always the glory, honor, and praise. in Jesus’ name i pray, amen!