Do you remember that as a little boy or girl, what did you want to become when you grew up? A musician? A scientist? A writer? What did you dream about? I don’t remember how old I was, but I do remember that by the time I was in middle school, I dreamed about studying automobile designing in Italy to become a designer or about becoming a meteorologist, not one of those meteorologists standing in front of a camera at a local tv station, but a real meteorologist who stares at real weather charts and measures atmospheric pressure.
Young people dream about what they like to do for a living when they became an adult. But there is at least one group of people in the Bible who didn’t. They didn’t have to. They already knew what they would eventually be doing for a living since the day they were born. They were the Levites. From the time they were born, they already had a job when they grew up. They would take care of God’s tabernacle and the sacrifices of the people. They didn’t need to look for a job. They were all set.
I don’t know about you but I used to hear people say that the first priest in the Bible was Aaron. And so for a long time, I went along with that understanding. God gave instructions to Moses how Aaron, as God’s priest, was to perform his duties. However, one day I found out I was wrong. Long before Aaron was born, there was a priest in the Book of Genesis. Melchizedek was known as the king of Salem, which later became Jerusalem. But the Bible also said something else about him. He was “priest of God Most High”. Staying in Genesis, we learned that the Pharaoh of Egypt gave a wife to Joseph, but this wife was the daughter of Potiphera, a priest –– not a priest of God, but still a priest, nonetheless. Finally, in the Book of Exodus, we are told that Moses’ father-in-law was Jethro, and Jethro was the priest of Midian. All to say that by the time God made Aaron a priest, Aaron may not have understood very much what the job entails, but he had to at least have some idea what it was.
Exodus 28.1
Then bring near to yourself Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, to minister as priest to Me — Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.
As you probably know already, God would later choose the tribe of Levi to serve him as priests. Aaron’s descendants would serve as priests in Israel, working in the tabernacle and, later, the temple. They were responsible for the offering sacrifices of the people. One must have Levi’s genes in order to become a priest. He must be a male. He must also meet certain physical and age qualifications. Some people think that every Levite was a priest. That is an incorrect statement. Every priest was a Levite. But the opposite is not true. Only some Levites were priests. Those who were Levites but not priests still had jobs related to the tabernacle. They cared for the tabernacle and its furnishings.
Numbers 3.25–26
Now the duties of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle and the tent, its covering, and the screen for the doorway of the tent of meeting, and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the doorway of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords, according to all the service concerning them.
Being a priest came with high privilege. Only those who were priests were permitted to enter the Holy Place in the tabernacle. But there were disadvantages too. Priests must be careful to stay ceremonially clean in order to carry out their duties. Being a priest in the days of the Levites was also a dangerous job. When Abihu and Nadab disobeyed God, they were instantly struck down and killed. You had to be on top of your game all the time.
In addition to God designating the Levites to serve him in the tabernacle as well as overseeing the sacrifices and offerings of the people, he did something else that was quite unique. While he gave a land inheritance in the Promised Land to each of the tribes of Israel, he did not do the same to the Levites. Zero. Not a single Levite received a land inheritance of any size. However, it is not true God gave the Levites nothing. What he did was give them certain cities located within lands that he gave to the other tribes. When this happened, the Levites naturally became scattered throughout the Promised Land, living among lands that belonged to the other tribes of Israel. One could find Levites, or priests, living in every corner of the land. Interestingly, God prophesied many years before this that this would happen to the Levites.
Genesis 49.5–7
Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Their swords are implements of violence.
Let my soul not enter into their council;
Let not my glory be united with their assembly;
Because in their anger they slew men,
And in their self-will they lamed oxen.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
And their wrath, for it is cruel.
I will disperse them in Jacob,
And scatter them in Israel.
But on what would the Levites live? What would they eat? Well, God thought of that. In exchange for their services, God would provide for the Levites a portion of what people brought to the temple.
Deuteronomy 18.3–5
Now this shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, either an ox or a sheep, of which they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. You shall give him the first fruits of your grain, your new wine, and your oil, and the first shearing of your sheep. For the LORD your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes, to stand and serve in the name of the LORD forever.