Levites

[Hedgehog]

Why did the Levites have no inheritance with the rest of the people?
I know it says their inheritance is the Lord, but didnt they all figure they had an inheritance with the Lord?

[Tishri1]

we get to share with them

[BarbB]

Didn't they receive their inheritance (living) from the tribe they lived with?

[Henaynei]

the Levitical inheritance was the intimate service in and with the Temple - they inherited and passed on the Temple service, the Ordinances.....

there are concentric circles of humanity - have been since the beginning..... Starting from the farthermost:

the whole world
the Righteous
Israel
the Levites
the Cohanim
the Cohan HaGadol.....

each loved by HaShem, each with a relationship with HaShem, each with a office/calling/etc as ordained by HaShem...

[BarbB]

Wow, thanks.

I never leave this forum without a dozen things to ponder! :wave:

[yod]

the Levitical inheritance was the intimate service in and with the Temple - they inherited and passed on the Temple service, the Ordinances.....

there are concentric circles of humanity - have been since the beginning..... Starting from the farthermost:

the whole world
the Righteous
Israel
the Levites
the Cohanim
the Cohan HaGadol.....

each loved by HaShem, each with a relationship with HaShem, each with a office/calling/etc as ordained by HaShem...



oh very very good stuff!!!

Thanks

[Henaynei]

oh very very good stuff!!!

Thanks b'vakasha.... but I can't take credit for that - it originated with my husband :)

[Hedgehog]

I can't think of a greater inheritence! I'd bypass land/possessions to have the Lord as my inheritance any day!

I see what you mean, but does that imply the other tribes had no inheritance with the Lord than?

[Hedgehog]

and thank you for all the responses. :)
I still dont understand though- were the Levites a foreshadow of the people of faith or something?
I dont understand why specifically the Levites would be said to have an inheritance with the Lord, if all of Israel figured they were holy like they told Moses here :

Num 16:3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, [Ye take] too much upon you, seeing all the congregation [are] holy, every one of them, and the LORD [is] among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

wouldnt they have figured they all had an inheritance with the Lord?
and exactly what was that inheritance, that they were allowed to do the temple services?
Type reeaaall sllooow and I migh be able to understand. LOL

[Shamash Of Yeshua]

The Levite who is within your gates, you shall not forsake him; for he has no portion nor inheritance with you. At the end of every three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase in the same year, and shall lay it up within your gates: and the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the foreigner living among you, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do. (Deu 14:27-29 HNV)

They shall be depending on those in the flock for their well being, like food and clothing, etc. That is why we should be giving to those who lay their life up to learn and teach what the Will of our Father in Heaven wants of us in the Faith Yeshua has shown.

And do you notice the fatherless, and the widow are also included here for where is their inheritance since they are without a male who has an inheritance.

Shalom,

Tag

[debi b]

Num 16:3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, [Ye take] too much upon you, seeing all the congregation [are] holy, every one of them, and the LORD [is] among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

wouldnt they have figured they all had an inheritance with the Lord?
and exactly what was that inheritance, that they were allowed to do the temple services?
Type reeaaall sllooow and I migh be able to understand. LOL

Setting aside for the moment your question about inheritance let's take a look at what the Levites were doing.

Bamidbar 1: 50 But you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of Testimony, and over all its utensils, and over all things that belong to it; they shall carry the tabernacle, and all its utensils; and they shall minister to it, and shall camp around the tabernacle.

Levi had three sons Gershon, Kehath, and Merari.
The father of Aaron was Amram, Amram’s father was Kehath.
The priests are from the lineage of Levi thru Aaron. As for the rest of the tribe of Levi the task of caring for the tabernacle in wilderness was their original job. Each family had a specific set of jobs.

GERSHON
Bamidbar 5: 25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, its covering, and the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting.
26 And the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and around the altar, and its cords for all its service.

KEHATH
Bamidbar 4: 15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary, and all the utensils of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kehath shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kehath in the Tent of Meeting.

MERARI
Bamidbar 3: 36 And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and all its utensils, and all that belongs to it.
37 And the pillars of the court around, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords.

Devarim 10: 8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi, to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day.

In Joshua it gives an accounting of the land that was given to each tribe. It makes it clear that when they are talking about the tribe of Levi having no inheritance among his brothers it is referring to land.

Joshua 21: 1 Then came near the chiefs of the fathers of the Levites to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the chiefs of the fathers of the tribes of the people of Israel;
2 And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The Lord commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to live in, with the pasture lands for our cattle.
3 And the people of Israel gave to the Levites from their inheritance, at the commandment of the Lord, these cities and their pasture lands….

After they entered the land their duties were restructure by David preparing for when they would no longer be needed to carry the items b/c of a permanent location.

[Henaynei]

Setting aside for the moment your question about inheritance let's take a look at what the Levites were doing.



Levi had three sons Gershon, Kehath, and Merari.
The father of Aaron was Amram, Amram’s father was Kehath.
The priests are from the lineage of Levi thru Aaron. As for the rest of the tribe of Levi the task of caring for the tabernacle in wilderness was their original job. Each family had a specific set of jobs.

GERSHON
Bamidbar 5: 25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, its covering, and the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting.
26 And the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and around the altar, and its cords for all its service.

KEHATH
Bamidbar 4: 15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary, and all the utensils of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kehath shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kehath in the Tent of Meeting.

MERARI
Bamidbar 3: 36 And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and all its utensils, and all that belongs to it.
37 And the pillars of the court around, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords.



In Joshua it gives an accounting of the land that was given to each tribe. It makes it clear that when they are talking about the tribe of Levi having no inheritance among his brothers it is referring to land.



After they entered the land their duties were restructure by David preparing for when they would no longer be needed to carry the items b/c of a permanent location.:clap: :thumbsup: somebody has been actually reading and studying their weekly parsha :clap: :thumbsup: ^_^

[Hedgehog]

Setting aside for the moment your question about inheritance let's take a look at what the Levites were doing.

Thank you for that post :)
Something isnt clicking for me for some reason.I've been rereading through up to the end of Deuteronomy so far, and I understand what you posted- but I just dont get the significance of the Levites not having any inheritance in the land,or why it says their inheritance is the Lord, does that imply the rest of the tribes had no inheritance with the Lord?
Maybe there is no significance of it at all?

[Henaynei]

we are created such that we develop a motivating emotional, visceral attachment to "the land" we inherit down from our forefamily - how many feuds and wars have been over possession of land??

we each are hardwired to fight to protect and defend and preserve our inheritance that which we perceive as part of our family, belonging to our family - for 11 tribes this inheritance is the physical land of Israel

for one tribe this inheritance is the House and oracles of HaShem - and the tribe of Levy were fierce and mighty warriors

[Shimshon]

I look at it this way. Yisrael represents the body of God. Lev in hebrew means 'heart'. The other tribes were parts of the body that dealt with the external world. Like the hands the eyes, the legs, the feet, the butox (someone has to be the butt;) ). But the Levi were set apart to be 'the heart' of God. They functioned within the inner part of the body. AND were the 'heart' of it.

The other tribes had inheritance, or 'interaction' with the Land. But the Leviim did not. They had interaction with the heart of God. Through them all the rest would be 'fed, provided for', through the heart we all receive our 'life blood'. It was through the leviim that Yisrael received atonement and had a way to God. Through the heart. Not through the external inheritance, but through the internal inheritance of the heart of God.

[Shimshon]

Now I know Levi means 'joined'. And I believe it is to indicate how there ministry 'joins' the body together like the heart joins our bodies together with the blood that flows through it.

But I also know that the leviim were divided into two groups.



All the Leviim in Yisrael were thus divided into two groups - those that attended only to the gates of the Temple, and those that performed the chanting at the services. It was forbidden for a Leviim of one group to do the work generally assigned to one of the other group (Arakin 11b).



And I see these two groups as the two chambers of our heart.

[Henaynei]

Now I know Levi means 'joined'. And I believe it is to indicate how there ministry 'joins' the body together like the heart joins our bodies together with the blood that flows through it.

But I also know that the leviim were divided into two groups.



And I see these two groups as the two chambers of our heart.
not to put too fine a point on it .. but our heart has 4 chambers - 2 sides, 2 chambers each - sides: right accepts from body and pumps out to lungs deoxygenated blood, the left side accepts from the lungs and pumps out to the body oxygenated blood .....

I'm a nurse - can't help it ;)
http://www.besttreatments.co.uk/btuk/images/heartbeatanimation.gif

[Shimshon]

LOL, no problem Henaynei. :wave: I should have said 'sides'. I'm not about to debate a nurse on anatomy!;) :)

[Bruce101]

The Levites inheretance of the LORD was one of reward.
It goes back to the Holy Cow incident in which Aaron through gold into a fire and a golden calf popped out.
Bruce

[kofh2u]

we are created such that we develop a motivating emotional, visceral attachment to "the land" we inherit down from our forefamily - how many feuds and wars have been over possession of land??

we each are hardwired to fight to protect and defend and preserve our inheritance that which we perceive as part of our family, belonging to our family - for 11 tribes this inheritance is the physical land of Israel

for one tribe this inheritance is the House and oracles of HaShem - and the tribe of Levy were fierce and mighty warriors

Ok, i hope mr moderater won't get mad at me for just askin'...

The Levi "were fierce and mighty warriors" but today, using scriprural exemptions, rabbi don't do military serve.

What's up with that, when it is more than the temple, its the whole of Israel?

(Just an earnest question.)

[Henaynei]

Ok, i hope mr moderator won't get mad at me for just askin'...

The Levi "were fierce and mighty warriors" but today, using scriptural exemptions, rabbi don't do military serve.

What's up with that, when it is more than the temple, its the whole of Israel?

(Just an earnest question.)np - it is just that you are misinformed :)

numerous rabbis serve in the military - in the US, in Israel and other countries - as chaplains and as regualr soldiers

what you have heard, is that chabad (sometimes called "ultraorthodox" but are not) men do not serve or chose conscious objection (these are NOT the Levites) - this is because many do not recognize the secular Israel as fulfilment of scripture for the restoration of Israel, - but even this has begun to change - many young chabad in Israel have chosen to not opt out of their military service - they serve - they serve well and proudly