Sam Taylor - Class 7: Levites - The Teaching Priests

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   As there is no introductory reading, I ask Brother Sam to come forward to deliver his class, the Levites Teaching Priests. Brother Sam. Well, thank you very much, and good afternoon, my brothers and sisters in Lord Jesus Christ and my dear young people and friends.

2. 0:39

   I want to offer a brief disclosure about this particular study we're going to undergo concerning the teaching priests. A few years ago at Mahoma Ecclesia, Paris Avenue, we undertook a pretty, for lack of a better word, epic look at the work of the priesthood in our Sunday school. Beginning in September of 2013 and spanning all the way until May of that year, we spent week after week looking at different facets of the priesthood.

3. 1:08

   From the concept of holiness, to the garments of the high priest, to the examples of various priests. And it was during that time where we looked at the examples of various priests that I had written a class, a CYC, it was originally a Sunday school class on somebody who I thought was particularly interesting, Zadok the priest.

4. 1:24

   It started as a Sunday school class. And then the principles of it expanded and eventually became the study weekend that we considered just this past weekend. And among those classes that we gave during the course of that Sunday school year was this one on the Levites, the teaching priests. And a lot of the inspiration from, particularly when the other brothers and I were looking at the examples of the offerings and various aspects of the priesthood, we took a lot of encouragement and a lot of inspiration from not only some pioneers like Brother Thomas and Brother Roberts, but some speakers who have covered it extensively in the past, such as Brother John Martin.

5. 2:05

   And it was from Brother John Martin that helped inspire a lot of the structure and the narrative of the Levites, the teaching priest. And that ties in pretty well for really the first concern that we have concerning the teaching priests, is that more than ever in our community, we have a need for teachers.

6. 2:28

   And as we looked at in our first class, these teachers, they don't necessarily need to be the people behind the platform. We need people who are willing to teach by their example to be consistent and to be reliable teachers of the word. Because our lampstand in the worldwide ecclesia, we need to be prepared for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, the most drastic and dramatic event in human history.

7. 2:55

   We need to be prepared because if we don't know our Bible well and if we are not teaching it both in word and in deed, we will not be prepared when the bridegroom comes. You only need to turn to the parable of the ten virgins to understand that. The virgins knew he was coming, but they weren't prepared.

8. 3:13

   So we must understand God's word not for our personal benefit only, but so we can teach God's truth to what could very well be the last generation before the return of Jesus Christ. And God understood the need for teachers in his ecclesia. He's understood that for all generations. And he set apart the Levites as an object lesson for Israel and all believers afterward to follow.

9. 3:41

   So take a look with me, if you will, over to Numbers chapter 3. As we're looking at Numbers chapter 3, we're going to see how the Levites were a tribe set apart. And though we've talked extensively about Zadok, the priest, it was not just the sons of Aaron that were set apart, but the entire family of Levi.

10. 4:19

    For all priests were Levites, but not all Levites were priests. In Numbers chapter 3, looking at verses 5 to 13, Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying, Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. And they shall keep his charge, and where did we hear that before, but our exhortation, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of congregation to do the service of the tabernacle.

11. 4:47

    And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, the charge of the children of Israel. So we must remember, brothers and sisters, that it's important to remember the entire family of Levi was consecrated to be God's firstborn at Mount Sinai. It was not just the sons of Aaron. And in the wilderness, we saw that the Levites, their responsibility was to minister, not only to Aaron and his sons, but they were to minister to the things of the tabernacle, full time.

12. 5:15

    This was their job day and night. And once they entered the land, later on they were set in courses by David, and he worked with Zadok and Abiathar in 1 Chronicles 24 to work the divisions of the priesthoods. That way they could be set up in courses, so that each week there was a specific family of priests that would go down and do the work of the temple service.

13. 5:41

    And our phrase, a teaching priest, if you just want to turn with me briefly over to 2 Chronicles 15, we're going to briefly look at the reformations of one of the kings of Judah. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 3. And this was about the spiritual reformation of King Asa, who was the father of King Jehoshaphat.

14. 6:15

    Both of these kings were righteous kings of Judah, and they both sought to enact spiritual reform. And the narrative tells us this in 2 Chronicles 15, verse 3. Now for a long season, Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. So while the sons of Aaron, they were ordained to be priests that offered sacrifices on behalf of the people, and yes, in those sacrifices they diagnosed and they acted as spiritual teachers, but the rest of the tribe also served as teachers, set apart to teach the people the significance of the law and the offerings within their Levitical cities.

15. 6:54

    And you might remember we took a brief look at the age of the Levites. In Numbers 4, in 8 times it mentions that the Levites between ages 30 and 50 were called to serve in a tabernacle and to serve the people. But at the end of David's life, at the end of David's life, and I believe this occurred probably after the rebellion of Adonijah and the rebellion of Abiathar, David recognized that there was a need for people to teach in the land because they were going to establish a central form of worship in this temple.

16. 7:34

    And in 1 Chronicles 23, verses 25 and 28, for David said, Yahweh God of Israel hath given rest unto his people that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever, and also unto the Levites they shall no more carry the tabernacle. So this is David saying, you don't need to bear the burdens of the tabernacle anymore.

17. 7:50

    And this is a further allusion to the kingdom age when we no longer bear the tabernacle of our flesh, as Paul comments on in 2 Corinthians 5. So we no more carry the tabernacle, nor any vessels of it for the service thereof. Now listen to this. For by the last words of David, there's a few occurrences where the last words of David show up.

18. 8:11

    In 2 Samuel 23, we read about David's last words, speaking about how a ruler must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And here, after David had seen what happens when the high priesthood, when they trust in their own eyes, and they don't use that humility to be teachable, to seek God's counsel, David says by the last words of David, the Levites were numbered from 20 years old and above.

19. 8:38

    So why was their age restriction lowered? The age restriction was lowered, so that way there were more Bible students, more Bible teachers, that were there and ready to teach, and ready to stand and minister, not only before Yahweh, but before God's people. And if you remember, in Joshua 21, Joshua distributed all the Levitical cities, and by providing this better opportunity for Levites to teach the people, David, in a sense, is channeling that spirit of Joshua, and he led the distribution of Levites' Levitical cities here.

20. 9:11

    And so what we're going to do real quick is I'm going to bring up this slide, and you'll see all these cities. All those cities that are marked in black on the screen, they're all Levitical cities. And you can see how they just weren't centered in one place, in one particular tribe. They were scattered all throughout the entire land.

21. 9:32

    And so with that in mind, you see how it was supposed to work in the time of the judges, in the time of the king, in the time of the first advent of the kingdom of God. But this failed. And they were brought into captivity. And they returned again. And with this slide up on the screen, I want you to turn with me over to Nehemiah chapter 8.

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    We're going to take a look at verses 1 through 8 here of Nehemiah chapter 8. And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate. And they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which Yahweh had commanded to Israel.

23. 10:45

    And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation, both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand, and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.

24. 11:07

    And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose. And beside them stood Matthiah and Shema and Ananiah and Uriah and Hilkiah and Maesiah on his right hand, and on his left hand, Pedeiah and Mishael and Malchiah and Hashem, Nehash Padana, Zechariah and Meshulam. And Ezra opened up the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people.

25. 11:36

    And when he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed Yahweh the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands. They bowed their heads and worshipped Yahweh with their faces to the ground. And I want you to take special note of verse 7 here. Also, Jeshua and Bani and Cherubiah, Jamin, Aqab, Shabbathei, Hodijah, Maesiah, Kalita, Azariah, Jezabad, Hanan, Peliah, and the Levites caused the people to understand the law, and the people stood in their place.

26. 12:14

    So what is this? What's happening here? So Nehemiah, he arranged a special effort to ensure people would serve God properly upon completion of the wall. And what he did is that he brought the most knowledgeable Bible scholar at the time, and this was Ezra. He was one of the older Bible scholars as well.

27. 12:35

    And what they did is they had him read from the law, and he had all these Levites that are interspersed among the crowd, ready to help them understand. You know what this is, brothers and sisters? This is a working model of how Israel was supposed to be in the time of the Levitical priests.

28. 12:50

    Because think about it, Ezra is standing up on a pulpit, even as we think about in Micah chapter 4, how Jerusalem, the law comes forth from Jerusalem, from Zion's holy hill. The law comes forth from there, from a place of elevation, and then you have all the Levites acting as the figurative Levitical cities scattered around the entire Ecclesia of Israel at the time.

29. 13:15

    And they're all scattered there, ready to help all who would want to understand to come to them, ready to give interpretation. And let's take a look at verse 8. So they read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. Now there's a couple of words that I want to dissect in particular.

30. 13:41

    The word distinctly, it's a Strong's word, if you're looking at a Strong's word, it's H6567. It's parash. It means to separate. And what they did is, they broke the law, they didn't just read it as one unmanageable chunk that nobody would take in, but they broke down the law, piece by piece.

31. 14:04

    And they gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. That word reading is mikra, the assembly. Everybody there understood what was going to be said. So consider this translation, which might give a better understanding of what the Levites were there to do, with those definitions in mind. So they read in the book of the law of God, piece by piece, and gave the sense, and caused the entire assembly to understand.

32. 14:36

    That's what the Levites were supposed to do in the Levitical cities. And during the time of the exiles, Nehemiah, with the help of Ezra and the Levites, they enacted a living parable of the way that the ecclesial body was supposed to live. By having those teachers interspersed throughout the crowd, interspersed throughout the ecclesia, ready to help all those who would seek to understand exactly what the law meant and what it represents.

33. 14:59

    And so there's a result to this understanding, because at the end of the day, academic knowledge does nobody good unless there is a meaningful response to God. And that shows up in verses 9 through 12. In Nehemiah, which is the Tershethah and Ezra, the priest, the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people said unto the people, This day is holy unto Yahweh your God, more not, nor weak, for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.

34. 15:29

    Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy unto our Lord. Neither be ye sorry, for the joy of Yahweh is your strength. So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for today is holy, neither be ye grieved.

35. 15:49

    And all the people went their way to eat and to drink and to send portions and to make great mirth because, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them. So what was the result of understanding the words of the law? Of understanding the greater principles? Fellowship. Fellowship with one another.

36. 16:17

    Giving to those in need because they understood the words of the law, because they understood the Bible. And how do we act with our understanding? Is our Bible study just academic study for the purpose of accumulating knowledge, or is it meant to generate a meaningful response that's outworked in channeling the merciful character of God towards our brothers and sisters?

37. 16:40

    Providing those who lack. Fellowshiping with those who are alone. That's what the fruit of understanding is, brothers and sisters. believers. And as we consider the Levites, we consider their consecration. Because back in Numbers 3, we read how he had taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of the firstborn of the children of Israel.

38. 17:11

    Israel. Because in times past, those who were separated to God were not a particular tribe, but the firstborn child. The firstborn of each family was to be a priest unto God. But you see the flaw of a priesthood by birth. The flaw of a priesthood by birth was that many firstborn were unfaithful.

39. 17:38

    Think about Adam. Adam was an unfaithful priest in the garden. You have Esau who gave away his inheritance for a meal. Think about Reuben who Jacob called unstable as water. Thou shalt not have preeminence. And then you have Nadab who was Aaron's firstborn who died offering strange fire before the Lord. Priesthood by birth is that firstborns were unfaithful.

40. 18:04

    But the Levites were not ordained through birth, but they were ordained through obedience. To God. When the Levites sided with God at the cost of their flesh and blood, they proved their loyalty at the incident of the golden calf. And their willingness to recognize and condemn wrongdoing even in the face, even in family members.

41. 18:27

    And remember, this was Eli's flaw. This was Eli's flaw. It's the quality that God needs to teach in his people. The willingness and the ability to recognize wrongdoing even in those we love.

42. 18:40

    An example we have is over in Deuteronomy chapter 33. At near the end of Moses' life, when he's giving the blessings towards the tribes, he has this much to say.

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    Verses 8 through 10. And Levi, he said, let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy Holy One, whom thou didst prove at Massa, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah, who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him. Neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children.

44. 19:17

    For they have observed thy word and kept thy covenant. They shall teach. They shall teach. That's the reward that the Levites had for recognizing wrongdoing even in their family, their own flesh and blood. They were given the privilege of teaching God's people.

45. 19:41

    They shall teach Jacob thy judgments and Israel thy law. And one has to ask, what was the motivating factor that caused the Levites to separate from their families and unto God?

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    And I believe the answer for that is actually back in the book of Malachi. We've looked at this a fair bit over the course of this weekend, both when looking at Eli and when looking at Zadok in Malachi chapter 2.

47. 20:15

    Let's take a look at Malachi chapter 2, verse 5. And I want you to notice the one word that's emphasized multiple times in Malachi 2, verse 5. My covenant was with him of life and peace. And remember who we were talking about, Phineas here.

48. 20:37

    And I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me and was afraid before my name. So what's the motivating factor here? Well, it's fear, isn't it? Because fear shows up three times. The fear wherewith he feared me and was afraid before my name. Because brothers and sisters, if we don't stand up against what's wrong on God's behalf, God himself will.

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    Phineas was told, Phineas was claimed as saying that he stayed the plague. Had Phineas not executed judgment with zeal, with a spear, recognizing what the wrongdoing, then Israel would have gone probably under a tremendous plague and lost far more than they did. But Phineas stood up and taking the spear and executed judgment, as it says in Psalm 106.

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    And brothers and sisters, these teachers of the ecclesia, and remember, it's not always about just the people behind the platform. It's all of us who teach by example, who teach our young ones in word and in deed how we ought to live.

51. 21:54

    They represent almost a wave offering of the ecclesia. Now, what's a wave offering? Turn with me over to Numbers chapter 8, if you would. Because here we're going to see in Numbers chapter 8, and we visited this chapter in our first class yesterday, we're going to look at verses 10 and 11 of Numbers 8.

52. 22:29

    Numbers chapter 8, verses 10 and 11. Here's what it says. Now, you might have it in your offering, but this is a wave. Sorry, you might have it in your margin. This is a wave offering. That's the literal translation of that. That they may execute the service of Yahweh. So, the Levites weren't literally waved, but they were in principle.

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    They were consecrated as a gift to God and received back from Him again. The wave offering was from the people to God and then God to the people.

54. 23:15

    To represent this, to more better explain this principle, we're going to take a look at two passages real quick. First, I want you to turn with me over to Psalm 68, which we considered a little bit yesterday when considering the Ark of the Covenant. we're going to actually take a look at the very verse that we looked at yesterday in Psalm 68 and verse 18.

55. 23:50

    Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou hast received gifts for men. yea, for the rebellious also that Yahweh God might dwell among them. And now, if you look in your margins, you're going to see that where it's exactly quoted by the Apostle Paul. So, if you don't have it in your margins already, keep your finger there and go to Ephesians chapter 4.

56. 24:20

    Because in Ephesians chapter 4, we're going to see something pretty remarkable when it comes to this passage. in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 8. Because look what it says in Ephesians 4, verse 8. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. So which one is right?

57. 24:59

    Is it Psalm 68, verse 18, where it says that God received gifts for men? Or is it Ephesians 4, verse 8, where it says that God gave gifts unto men? Well, brothers and sisters, I think the answer is both. I think by using both parts, both translations, they reflect on the principle of the wave offering, being given first to God and then from God back to the people.

58. 25:28

    And Paul picks up on this principle of the wave offering because look what he mentions just a little bit further down in verse 11. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

59. 25:55

    Because brothers and sisters, in order to become worthy of being given as a gift from God to the ecclesia, we first have to offer up ourselves to God to be given to the ecclesia. By dedicating ourselves to God, we can then be utilized as gifts from God to benefit, to teach, to edify our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ.

60. 26:21

    So brothers and sisters, to conclude, to become effective, effective teachers in our ecclesia, through speech and action, we must do the following. Be in the midst of our ecclesia, readily accessible to all who desire to learn, even as the Levitical cities and the Levites that echoed that parable of the Levitical cities were scattered among the body of Christ, readily accessible for all who wish to learn.

61. 26:56

    We must remember to never compromise God's standard, even when family ties are at stake. That was the lesson of the golden calf. God's word, it has to truly impact our walk, and that's what we got from Nehemiah chapter 8, wasn't it? That by breaking the word apart piece by piece and understanding the sense, it developed, it cultivated a response that allowed us to fellowship and to give unto those who had none if we truly understood, if we truly made it a response.

62. 27:34

    And brothers and sisters, above all, we must offer ourselves fully to God's service, that we might be a gift worthy of being given to God's elect, even as the Levites were that wave offering that God received from men and that God, in turn, gave from men.