When we hear that the Levites did not receive a land inheritance like all the other tribes, it is easy for any of us to think they were, in some way, less than the other tribes. But that would be a mistake. It would be wrong for us to think God did not care for them as much as he cared for the other tribes or love them as much as he loved the other tribes. Why do I say this? Because somewhere in the Bible, it says God did give them an inheritance, though not in the form of land. The Bible said the Lord was their inheritance – something God said to no one else but only to the Levites. To all the other tribes of Jacob, God gave each of them land as inheritance. But to the tribe of Levi, God himself was their inheritance. We are not to think the Levites were shortchanged in any way. God did not overlook the Levites.
Deuteronomy 18.2
They shall have no inheritance among their countrymen; the LORD is their inheritance, as He promised them.
As we saw, God said in Deuteronomy 18 he was the inheritance for the Levites. But the Bible doesn’t say it this way everywhere. Elsewhere in the Bible, it says it a little differently. For example, sometimes the Bible says the offerings of the tribes of Israel were the inheritance for the Levites. Yet other times, the Bible says the priesthood of the Lord was the inheritance for the Levites. Even though it feels that the Bible is saying different things regarding what was the inheritance of the Levites, I don’t think it is. The day God chose the tribe of Levi to serve him as priests, it meant that they would not need to search for how they were going to take care of themselves. The Lord himself would care for the Levites. He would give to the Levites as inheritance the offerings the rest of the tribes brought to the tabernacle. The priesthood of the Levites, along with the provisions God made to the Levites by virtue of the priesthood, was their inheritance.
Numbers 18.24
“For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore, I have said concerning them, ‘They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’”
Joshua 13.14
Only to the tribe of Levi he did not give an inheritance; the offerings by fire to the LORD, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as He spoke to him.
Joshua 18.7
For the Levites have no portion among you, because the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance.
A discussion about the Levites would not be complete if we didn’t talk about why God chose the tribe of Levi to serve him as priests. We know he could have chosen anyone he wished. He chose the Levites.
Numbers 3.12–13
“Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, the first issue of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine. For all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine; I am the LORD.”
If you recall, there was one day Moses delayed coming down from the top of Mount Sinai with the two stone tablets. The Israelites gathered all their golden rings and fashioned them into a golden calf to worship it. The Lord was furious with the Israelites. Moses was furious with the Israelites. Moses said to them, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me!” and the Bible said it was all the sons of Levi who gathered together to him. God ordered the Levites to kill three thousand of their brothers that day. When this happened, some say this was the reason why God selected the tribe of Levi to serve as priests. Not so fast. Although this sounds like a strong explanation, it cannot at all be the reason. The account of the golden calf came in Exodus 32. However, God had selected Aaron and his descendants, to be priests before Exodus 32. It had already taken place in Exodus 28. Therefore, the Levites’ exemplary behavior at the golden calf incident cannot be the reason why they were selected.
As far as I can tell from the Scripture, the Levites were picked because they were picked. They were selected as priests not because of any good reason, but because of pure grace. Can you keep a secret? Personally, I don’t have a very good opinion of Aaron. God appointed Moses to be the leader of the Israelites, guiding them out of Egypt and into the wilderness. During this time, Aaron played the role of a helper to Moses and very little of anything else, in my opinion. He later did show himself to be a leader, but a leader of the Israelites to worship the golden calf – a leader to sin! In spite of this, God still called Aaron to serve as his priest. If I am honest, I feel God was taking a chance on Aaron. God knew how Aaron took his eyes off God, and yet he got the job to lead people to keep their eyes on God. Pure grace. If the story of Aaron’s appointment does not persuade you to believe our God is a God of second chances, I don’t know what does. God selected Aaron out of his grace. God selected the Levites also out of his grace.
The Bible says that some Levites also were sometimes judges. It also says others were sometimes teachers of God’s law. But for the most part, the Levites worked in priestly functions. We must not think to ourselves, “the poor Levites”. We must not feel bad for them because they never had the chance to dream, like the rest of us, what they would become when they grew up. They may have wanted to become this, become that, but they were not given that option. They were given only one option, to enter the priesthood when they grew up. Not true. Let us help each other not to think that way. I am sure the Levites in the days of Exodus were well aware of the shortcomings of their priesthood, and their own shortcomings. They knew their work would never really bring complete forgiveness of the people’s sins. They knew they received their sacrifices, but they would have to repeat it. They knew they had their own sins as they helped others with their sins. Nevertheless, it was a high honor to serve God as priests. They were uniquely called to care for the tabernacle, and to help people with their sacrifices at the tabernacle. The Levites were special to God. God held them to the most stringent standards of behavior and ritual purity, but even that was an honor. Most of all, any Levite would have understood more than you or me about the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Levites were a people who foreshadowed our Great High Priest. The office of Christ, not called according to the order of Levi but of Melchizedek, was the one that ultimately accomplished what God’s priesthood had set out to accomplish.