Gentile Levites and Talking Snakes
A dive into Hebrew Bible metaphors that we can apply today
“But who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner’s fire. And He shall purify the sons of Levi, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” (All passages are NKJV, biblegateway.com)
I love to study biblical metaphors. Refiner’s fire…a process in which the impurities of an ore are burned away, changing the nature of the ore, leaving the pure substance like gold or silver. We discussed how fire is good…it cooks our food, gives us light, and keeps us warm. It has the capacity to drastically change the substance of what it burns. It can purify metal, sterilize or cauterize a wound, or turn a house into ash. Fire has to be restrained. Out on its own it can burn a town to its foundations, killing people and animals. And of course, it’s painful. The passage in Malachi is so beautifully poetic, it’s easy to pass it off as just…poetry. For them, maybe, or for others, not us. But we can all be a little better. Keep reading. We’ll pin it to today.
For those with little Bible knowledge, Levi was one of the 12 sons of Jacob from whom the Hebrew people emerged as a force to be reckoned with. The Levites were those of Levi’s clan who were charged in the Law of Moses to carry the sacred furniture of the Tabernacle through the desert. The priests also had to be Levites, but they were specifically from the line of Aaron, the brother of Moses. Moses was also a Levite, but he could not be a priest or part of the group that handled the sacred Temple accoutrements. Still, as a prophet, he was a leader, so Malachi, one of the last writing prophets, is not just talking about the professional religious class of priests and acolytes. The sons of Levi were all the Jewish leaders of his day.
Malachi’s message accuses the leaders of cooling in their ardor for God and His law. Sin, pride, self-interest, negligence, corruption, and even boredom with the daily ritual were replacing the high standard called for in their sacred scrolls.
Well, that was a long time ago. What does that have to do with Gentiles like me or Pope Francis in Italy, today’s politician, or a Lutheran Wall Street broker? To answer that, we have to look at another important metaphor. Isaiah 66:18-21:
18 “For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory. 19 I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. 20 Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the Lord out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. 21 And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites,” says the Lord.”
To rephrase, the “sign” is the Jewish Messiah, whom we Christians call Jesus. When the time comes for God to gather all nations, He will send Jewish missionaries (like Paul, Barnabas, and Luke) to all the nations, including some known for their warlike culture. Not only will the dispersed Jewish brothers return to Zion, but the Gentiles will be gathered as well. They will (metaphorically) come to Zion, to Jerusalem, to offer pure sacrifices…but wait, this will be a new Jerusalem, a new (renewed?) heavens and a new earth (v. 22). Don’t think in terms of material earth dissolving and turning to pure spirit. That comes at the end of the world. This is a shared space for now because God is going to take some of those Gentiles for priests and Levites!
How can Gentiles be Levites? The Law of Moses was very strict about who could do what in Temple worship. The sentence for malpractice could result in death. Jesus answered that question in Luke 3:8:
“Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.”
Jewish friends, we are not replacing you. We are joining you. We stand upon the shoulders of your devout followers, prophets, and holy priests.” Jesus also said:
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him,” (John 4:23). The boundaries of specific location or unique DNA don’t matter anymore…not just in the world-to-come, but here on earth. God is using the language and descriptions of the earthly shadow to describe the eternal heavenly reality. Jews and Gentiles will no longer bring goats and lambs. They will bring the sacrifice of praise, inward virtue, truth, justice, mercy, thanksgiving, repentance, and obedience.
Question, what about the commands in the Torah to offer lambs and goats for atonement of sin? Answer, Psalm 50:12-15:
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness. 13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? 14 Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High. 15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
Then add to that Psalm 51:15-17; Ps. 40:6-8: Ps. 69:30, 31; Isaiah 1:10-17; Jer 3:16; 7:21-23; 31:34; and Amos 5:21-27. Among the prophets, starting with King David, there was an anti-animal-sacrifice party, but it could never gain traction because of the power of the priestly class.
According to Isaiah, the Almighty has an unpleasant surprise for those who dismiss his requirement of walking in righteousness:
“And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” (66:24)
This passage was important enough for Jesus to quote it as applying to His day. And that would bring it to our day. The passage above applies to the rabbi in Ohio, the grandma in Colorado, the banker on Wall Street, the militia member riding around Africa in the back of a truck, the head of the United Nations, or members of the U.S. senate.
Let’s close by looking at one more metaphor. God planted a tree in the Garden of Eden. Eating the fruit of it could open one’s eyes to the world of ethics. Knowing the difference between right and wrong is the difference between a toddler and a thinking adult. A serpent came to the woman and tempted her to eat the fruit, and she in turn tempted her husband, who was standing right beside her (Gen. 3:6). Why do I say this is a metaphor? Because the serpent had perfect speech, spoke the language fluently, was not scary or repulsive enough to frighten Eve, and he had legs and feet.
His curse was to be silenced and to slither around on his belly. Do you really think that before 6,000 BC there were no slithery snakes? The first thing described in the Judeo-Christian Bible is creation. The next thing is mankind facing ethical dilemmas awash in voices telling us to make the wrong decision. At the end of the Bible in Revelation 21 and 22, the separation of the earthly Jerusalem and the heavenly city is complete. The Book of Life is open, the Bridegroom receives the Bride, and the Tree of Life is available to all. The weighing and sifting of the souls of mankind has come to an end, and the time to make the right choices is over. Eternity is at hand. The end of the Bible reprises the beginning.
Leadership, wealth, and legal authority are all good, but like fire, all those things need to be restrained. Leaders, whether they be secular or religious, with no boundaries or accountability wind up being bloody tyrants or oppressive cult leaders. We mortals are here to choose, to grow, to learn, to meet the challenge to do what is right in spite of all negative consequences. The riches that await those who stand firm in doing what is right cannot be compared to all the wealth on earth. The billionaires that rule our world by buying and selling leaders will inherit only fire and worms.
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