STACK 
 ANNEX 
 
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 THE HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE TRIBE OF LEVI 
 
 CONSIDERED. 
 
 OS 
 
 0! 
 0! 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 g = g=5 lisoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that 
 2 s^=S~ patience and comfort of the scriptures might have Kope." ROM. sv. iv. 
 
 8 
 
 SECOND EDITION, 
 
 HUNTED BY JOHN WRIGHT, STEAM PKESS, BRISTOL. 
 SOLD BY, 
 
 ISAAC BRYANT, TRACT DEPOT, 8, WALCOT BUILDINGS, BATH: 
 J. K. CAMPBELL, 1, WARWICK-SQUAKE, LONDON. 
 
 1847.
 
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 Li sending forth a Second Edition of this little tract it may be well to 
 state that it differs from the First Edition in a very few particulars. The 
 o/ily material alteration that has been, made, is the removal of a statement wilk 
 rejard to ministry in the word and worship, where the former is asserted 
 io be inferior to the latter. This, seeing it interferes with the dignity and 
 importance of the ministry of the Word, has been removed, and the subject //* 
 been put in a more Scriptural point of view. 
 
 As to the other alteration*, they have reference merely to the struct a. 
 sentences, and the softening dwcn of yfatemt-nts which appeared hars/, 
 strong. 
 
 With so much of correction this little paper is once more commended to 
 tlie care of the great Head of the Church. 
 
 March, 1847.
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE TRIBE OF LEVI 
 
 CONSIDERED. 
 
 THE TRIBE OF LEVI ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THEIR FAMILIES. 
 
 FIRST CLASS. 
 
 GERSHOX, ... -A Stranger? 
 
 LAEL, ' Dedicated to God." 
 
 EI.IASAPH, .. ' God addeth increase." 
 
 SilI.MEl, 'Hearing." 
 
 LIBI, ' For edification." 
 
 SECOND CLASS. 
 KOHATH, ... "Congregation? 
 HEBRON, ... " Association together," 
 AMRAM, ... " An exalted people. 
 
 I/.riAK, ...... " Oil." 
 
 " The strength of God." 
 
 THIRD CLASS. 
 
 MEIIARI, ... " Bitterness, or sorrow? 
 MAHLI, ... " Pardon, or a harp." 
 Mvsni, ... " One who has found a refvge. 
 ABEHAIL, . . ' Father of strength? 
 ZUKIEL, ... " My rock is God." 
 
 THERE are fc\v oxercises r.iorc profitable for the Christian than that 
 of reflecting upon the character of God, as unfolded in the history of 
 the Saints and Fathers of ancient times recorded in the Scriptures of 
 the Old Testament : and indeed this might be expected from the 
 very nature of the subject, which is such, that, whatever be its ex- 
 tent, it unfolds principles to us which stand intimately connected with 
 all that is important for us to know, or be established in Thus, 
 whether we get the dealings of God on a limited scale, as with any 
 one of the fathers personally, or more widely extended, as with the 
 seed of Israel afterwards; it is nevertheless, the same lesson we are 
 called upon to learn, namely, God and man. Now, this is what should 
 enhance exceedingly the value of the Old Testament to the Christian ; 
 almost the great body of its teaching is of the above character : and 
 not only so, but it also (as looked at in this point of view) guards 
 effectually against the mere exercise of imagination : for when we 
 consider the history of any man or people it is not necessary that we 
 should decide positively what is shadiAced out therein,* it \z enough 
 for us to see that we have before us a more or less extensive develop- 
 ment of the character and actings of God and man; and this, with- 
 out ever descending beneath the surface of Scripture, cannot fail 
 of being instructive and edifying to the soul. 
 
 But, of all the histories in the Old Testament, embodying instruc- 
 tion of the above character, I believe there are few more copious, 
 deep and varied, than that which is about to engage cur attention. 
 If the narrative of a soul taken up by sovereign and eternal grace, 
 from the pit of corruption and deep depravity, carried through the 
 
 i 1 Testament Narratives, howevrr, the instruction is so manifestly typical 
 ;-a the most cautions reaik-r, if at all familiar with Scnptuiv c;tnuot refuse to look at it in 
 riew. 
 
 2071335
 
 4 THE IllSTOltY OF THE 
 
 various stages which grace and truth had enacted for sinful man, 
 until at last he is set down in the very Sanctuary of God, and estab- 
 lished in the enjoyment of the covenant of life and peace for ever : 
 If I say, such a narrative would possses charms, and present attrac- 
 tions to us, then does the history of Levi demand our most serious 
 consideration ; and it is only a matter of astonishment that a history 
 fraught with such rich and varied instruction has not occupied more 
 of the thoughts of those luminaries of the Church, whose writings 
 have been a source of comfort and instruction to all who have been 
 taught to value the truth of God. 
 
 Yet much as I see in the history of Levi, and much as I admire 
 what I do see; I could not think of directing the reader's thoughts to 
 the subject without informing him, that I purpose doing little more 
 than to bring before his mind, in a connected way, the various Scrip- 
 tures which treat of this most interesting question however, these 
 Scriptures are so plain and striking that no one who is at all familiar 
 with Scripture truths can fail to enter into them. Now, as I purpose, 
 with the Lord's blessing and grace, to follow the history of Levi 
 through all the Scriptures in which it is brought before us, I will 
 commence with his birth as record^! in 
 
 GENESIS, xxix. 34. 
 
 " And she (Leah) conceived again, and bare a son : and said, Now this time will my husband be 
 joined unto me, because I have borne him three sons : therefore was his name called Levi." (i, e. 
 "joined," see margin.) 
 
 Here then we are presented with the birth and name of this most 
 remarkable character ; a name of wondrous significance as looked at 
 in connexion with his after-history, whether in nature's wild and 
 lawless extravagance, in which we find him "joined" with his brother 
 in the perpetration of a deed of blood and murder: (Gen. xxxiv.) or 
 in the day in which he was called to drink deeply and largely of 
 the cup of God's electing grace, when "joined" with Aaron in " the 
 work of the tabernacle." (Numb, viii.) 
 
 GENESIS, xxxiv. 25 26. 
 
 " And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, 
 Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and 
 slew all the males. And they slew Hamor and Shechem his sou with the edge of the sword, and 
 took Dinah out of Shechem's house and went out. 
 
 As the Spirit of God in Jacob has furnished us with a striking 
 commentary on the above piece of cruelty, I will reserve my ob- 
 servations upon it until we come to consider the Scripture in which 
 the commentary is given, namely, 
 
 GENESIS, xlix. 5 7- 
 
 " Simeon and Levi are brethren ; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. my soul, come 
 not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor be not thou united: for in their auger they 
 slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; 
 and their wrath, for it was cruel, J ici/t dtciJe them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." 
 
 We have here a truly humbling view of human nature, as 
 looked at in the light of the holiness of God. It is as if the Lord 
 \vould say to us " look here behold a man clothed' in nature's
 
 TlUr.E OF LEV! C<> VSIDKRKI). 5 
 
 blackest garb, and presenting nature's most forbidding aspect exam- 
 ine him closely, in order that you, seeing what man is, when stripped 
 of all tl; at false clothing which ignorance or vain self-righteousness 
 would put upon him, may know the rich ahoundings of my grace 
 which can avail to lift even such an one into the loftiest heights of 
 communion heights which human conception would utterly fail to 
 mount, but which, my grace through the blood of the Cross, can 
 make available to the very chief of sinners." 
 
 In reading such a description as that which the above passage 
 presents to us, how needful it is for the sinner to bear in mind that 
 it is not only in the light of God's holiness that he is called to look at 
 himself, but also in the light of his grace ; when this is learned he 
 needs not be afraid to penetrate deeply into the dark recesses of his 
 heart's corruption, for if God in grace fill the scene, the sinner (so far 
 as his own righteousness is concerned) must necessarily be out of the 
 scene, and then it is no longer a question of what we think about Sin ? 
 but how God will deal with it in grace, and that is simply to put 
 it away for ever yea, to bury it for ever in the waters of his forget- 
 fulness, thus it will be placing our sin side by side with God's Grace; 
 which is what the gospel invites us to do, and which, moreover, is the 
 only way to arrive at a proper settlement of the question of Sin. On 
 the other hand, where this saving principle is not known not be- 
 lieved the sinner will undoubtedly seek to make the load of his 
 guilt as light as possible, in order that he may have as little to do as 
 he may ; this will ever lead to the most unutterable and intolerable 
 bondage; or if not to this, to that which is much worse, even to detes- 
 table religious pride which is of all things most truly abominable in 
 the sight of God. Reader, if you have not as yet got the question of 
 Sin settled between your conscience and God, ponder, I do beseech 
 you, what I have now stated to know this principle in the Spirit is 
 life eternal. Christ has once for all borne Sin's deepest curse, in his 
 own body on the tree, and now even Levi can lift up his head ; for 
 although he be by nature only conversant with " instruments of cruelty" 
 things which must have kept God for ever at a distance from " his 
 secret and his assembly" although he be by nature cruel, fierce, self- 
 willed, scattered and divided, yet God can, in the exercise of his 
 mercy, make him conversant with " the instruments of the tabernacle" 
 bring him into the enjoyment of the covenant of life and peace, in 
 union with the great head of the priestly family, and, in the power of 
 this blessed union cause him to have " his light and perfections with his 
 Holy One." Deut. xxxiii. 8 Mai. ii. 4, 5. However we must not an- 
 ticipate the teaching of passages which are yet to come under our 
 notice ; I will therefore close my remarks on this part of our subject 
 by requesting my reader to compare attentively the character of Levi, 
 as above recorded, with that which the Apostle Paul, quoting from 
 the Psalms, has given of man generally, whether Jew or Gentile, 
 " there is none righteous, no not one ; There is none that understand- 
 eth, there is' none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
 
 6 THE HISTORY OP THE 
 
 the way, they are together become unprofitable ; there is none that 
 cloeth good, no not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre ; with 
 their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their 
 lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness : their FEET ARE 
 SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD : Destruction and mis ry are in. their ways: and 
 the way of peace have they not known : there is no foar of God before 
 their eyes-." Rom. iii. 10, 18. 
 
 EXODUS, xxxii. 25 29. 
 
 " And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their 
 shame among their enemies :) Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the 
 Lord's side ? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto 
 him. And he said unto them. Tims saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword IJY his 
 side and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and 
 every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. And the children of Levi did according to 
 the word of Moses : and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. For Moses 
 had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his 
 brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day." 
 
 Here a new scene opens to us, and we are called to witness 
 the dawning of a new day upon Levi ; a day moreover, which may 
 justly lead us to anticipate great things ; it is true we get him here 
 likewise with his sword by his side, but oh ! for what a different pur- 
 pose, and in what a different cause ; it is not now in anger and self- 
 will slaying a man, but in holy jealousy and care for the honor of 
 the LORD God of Israel, and in simple obedience to his command, 
 and although this may, and will lead to the very cutting off of a bro- 
 ther, a son, or a friend, Levi cares not ; for the word is " consecrate 
 yourselves to the LORD, that he may bestow upon you a blessing." 
 This was enough for Levi, and although by nature he was vile and 
 utterly unfit either for the fellowship or service of God, yet is he now 
 the foremost in jealous vindication of his holy name and worship 
 against those who would seek to "turn their glory into the similitude 
 of an ox that eateth grass." Nor is Levi now seen "joined" with 
 his brother Simeon no he might join in league with him in the days 
 of his wickedness for the perpetration of deeds of blood, but here, as 
 I before observed, we get the opening of a new scene, and therefore 
 he is seen ''joined with the LORD and his servant Moses for the 
 execution of righteous judgment upon idolatry. 
 
 And henceforth in following the footsteps of Levi, we shall find, 
 that, instead of being " swift to shed blood" they are to be " swift" 
 in following the movements of the cloud, and " swift " in performing 
 the service of the tabernacle . 
 
 It would of course, be quite foreign to our subject to dwell upon 
 the sad and humbling scene that called out the above act of service 
 OH the part of Levi. " Suffice it to say that it was, as we know, on 
 the part of Aaron and the camp, a ceasing to exercise faith in the 
 fact, that Moses was alive in the presence of God for them. The 
 consequence of which was, an entire forgetfulness of the mighty band 
 and stretched out arm that had brought them up out of the land of 
 Egypt ; and of their present position in the Wilderness, hence, as 
 might be expected, " the people sal down to eat and drink and rose UT>
 
 TRIBE OF LEVI CONSIDERED. 7 
 
 to play." May the LORD preserve us from like forgetfulness ; and 
 seeing "those things were written for our admonition," may we be 
 truly admonished thereby not to '' lust after evil things." 
 
 We shall now pass on to the next Scripture where we get the 
 Lord's own thoughts upon the above act of service, namely, 
 
 DEUT. xxxiii. 8 11. 
 
 " And of Levi he (Moses) said, Let thy Thumniim and thy Trim lie with thy holy one, whom thou V 
 didsl~~p"rove at Massah. and icith 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 : for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant. They shall teach 
 ihy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt 
 ce upon thine altar. Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work ofhis hands.- smite' 
 through the loins of them that rise against him, and of Them that hatn him, that they rise not again. 
 
 In this passage we get real Levite service brought before us in the 
 Avords, " who said unto his father and mother I have not seen him, &c." 
 The true and decided servant of God will ever have to experience some- 
 thing of this : indeed the measure thereof will just be in proportion to 
 he faithfulness and power of his walk : " flesh and blood cannot in- 
 herit the kingdom of God," therefore every heir of that kingdom must 
 shew himself in readiness to deny all the claims which " flesh and 
 blood " would make on him whether in himself or in others. Most 
 happily does the address to u the queen," in the 45th psalm, connect 
 itself with this point, "hearken O daughter, and consider, and incline 
 thine ear; forget also thine own people and thy father's house ; so shall 
 the king greatly desire thy beauty : for he is thy Lord and worship 
 thou him." (ver. 10, 11.) We have all to watch against a tendency 
 to be influenced by the claims of flesh and blood, in our testimony for 
 Christ. He himself has said on this subject, that "no man having 
 put his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit for the kingdom 
 of God." (Luke ix. 62.) And, as some one has observed, it was upon 
 this point that the prophet Elisha's character seemed a little defective, 
 for when Elijah cast his mantle over him, or, in other words, \vhen 
 he had put upon him the high honor of making him a prophet of 
 the Lord God, Elisha's 1 eart seemed to yearn after home, and he said, 
 " Let me, I pray thee kiss my father and my mother, and then I will 
 follow thee." (1 Kings, xix. 20.) Now this was most natural, and, as 
 some would say, amiable and affectionate, but Oh ! amiability and 
 natural affection have often hindered people from entering as they 
 should into the Lord's service ; and although it is one of the marks of 
 the latter-day apostacy to be "without natural affection" yet does 
 Moses, in the above cited passage, ask the Lord to bless Levi, because 
 " he said unto his father and his mother, I have not seen him, neither 
 did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children." How 
 grossly inconsistent would it have been for Levi to have said '' Let 
 me kiss my father and mother," when called to enter upon the Lord's 
 work, and not less so is it for us to allow the claims of "flesh and 
 blood" to interfere with our true hearted Levite service to our God 
 who has done so much for us. But let us carefully observe the 
 blessed consequences of this decision of character on the part of Levi. 
 These are, 1st. u They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel
 
 8 THE HISTORY OF THE 
 
 thy law." 2nd. " They shall put incense before THEE, and whole 
 burnt sacrifice upon thine altar." 3rd. "Bless his substance." 
 4th. "Accept the work of his hands." 5th. " Smite through the 
 loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that 
 they rise not again." All these fruits are distinct, and yet intimately 
 connected, as springing from the same source, namely, simple, de- 
 voted, and uncompromising obedience to the Lord. As to the first of 
 these fruits, how true it is that it is only the man who himself endea- 
 vours to walk in power before God, that can speak with effect to the 
 hearts and consciences of others ; nothing else will do nothing else 
 will tell, either upon the hearts, or in the lives of Christians. There 
 may be, and alas! is, much of mere systematic teaching and preaching 
 of things which the mere intellect may have received, and which, by 
 a natural fluency of language, we may be able to give out ; but all 
 such teaching is vain, and had much better be avoided in the sight ot 
 God True, it might often give to our public assemblies an appearance 
 of barrenness and poverty which our poor, proud hearts could ill 
 brook ; but would it not be far better to keep silence than to substi- 
 tute mere carnal effort for the blessed energy of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 True ministry, however, the Ministry of the Spirit, will always com- 
 mend itself to the heart and conscience. We can always know the 
 source from which a man is drawing who speaks in " the words which 
 the Holy Ghost teacheth," and with the ability which God giveth ; 
 and while we should ever pray to be delivered from the mere effort of 
 man's intellect to handle the truth of God amongst us, we should dili- 
 gently cultivate that power to teach which stands connected, as in 
 Levi's case, with the denial of the claims of flesh and blood, and 
 entire devotedness to the Lord's service. 
 
 In the Second Consequence above referred to, we get a very elevated 
 noint; ''they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice 
 ppon thine altar." This is worship. We put incense before God when 
 we are enabled, in the power of communion, to present, in His pre- 
 ence, the sweet odour of Christ in His person and work. This is our 
 proper occupation as members of the chosen and separated tribe. 
 
 But it is particularly instructive to look at both the above men- 
 tioned consequences in connection; i. e. the Levites in ministry to their 
 brethren, and the Levites in worship before God ; it was as acceptable 
 in the sight of God and as divine an exercise of his functions, for a 
 Levite to instruct his brethren as it was for him to burn incense 
 before God. This is very important. We should never separate 
 these two things. If we do not see that it is the same Spirit who 
 must qualify us to speak for God as to speak to Him, there is a 
 manifest want of moral order in our souls. If we could keep this prin- 
 ciple clearly before our minds it would be a most effectual means of 
 maintaining amongst us the true dignity and solemnity of ministry in 
 the word ; having lost sight of it, has been productive of very sad 
 consequences. If we imagine for a moment, that we can teach Jacob 
 by any other power or ability than that by which we put incense before
 
 TRIBE OF LRVI CONSIDERED. 9 
 
 God, or if we imagine that one is not as acceptable before God as 
 the other, we are not soundly instructed upon one of the most impor- 
 tant points of truth ; for, as some one has observed, " let us look at 
 this point illustrated in the personal Ministry of Christ, and we shall 
 no longer say that teaching by the Holy Ghost is inferior to praise by 
 the same, for surely the Apostleship of Christ, when He came from 
 God, was as sweet in its savor to God as His Priesthood, when ffe 
 went to God to minister to Him in that office. The candlestick, in the 
 Holy place, Avhich diffused the light of life God's blessed name, was 
 as valuable, at least in His view, as the altar; in the same place, 
 which presented the perfume of praise, whether of Christ personally 
 or His body the Church, for in both do we not equally see Christ?" 
 
 We now come to speak of the 3rd point, namely, " bless, Lord his 
 substance." This is just what we might have expected; an increase of 
 blessing will everbe the result of real true-hearted devotedness toChrist. 
 " Every branch in me that beareth fruit he purgeth, that it may bring 
 forth more fruit." " The diligent soul shall be made fat," and "to him 
 that hath shall more be given." Levi had exhibited much diligence 
 of soul in the Lord's service he had shewn himself in readiness to 
 vindicate His name in strong and decided opposition to every mere 
 human thought and affection, and now the Lord will shew Levi 
 that He is not unrighteous to forget his work and labor of love, 
 "for He will bless his substance." We find the Apostle Paul bring- 
 ing forward the same principle to his son Timothy, when he tells him 
 to " meditate on these things ; give thyself wholly to them, that thy 
 profiting may appear to all. Here he connects the " profiting" with 
 the " giving himself wholly ;" this will ever be the case, and if we 
 would experience more than we do, the meaning and power of the 
 words " bless, Lord his substance," we must first endeavour to enter 
 into the meaning of what goes before, namely, " who said to his 
 father and to his mother, I have not known them, &c." " every one 
 tha r hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, 
 or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an 
 hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life." (Matt. xix. 29.) 
 
 Not less striking is the connection between what has just been 
 stated and our 4th point, namely, " accept the work of his hands" 
 this, I conceive to be a point of the greatest importance to us, and 
 one which involves a question upon which we frequently display 
 much want of intelligence. We often find it difficult to reconcile the 
 idea of salvation through free grace, with that of an increase of bless- 
 ing and power for walking in obedience ; and yet we find the two 
 tilings constantly maintained in scripture ; thus we read, " he that 
 hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; 
 and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and I will love 
 him, and will manifest myself to him," and again, " if a man love me, 
 he will keep my words : and my father will love him, and we will come 
 
 him and make our abode with him." (John, xiv. 21, 23.) 
 This is very clear and decided upon the subject ; we see here that
 
 10 THE HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the manifestation of the Son, is made to depend on our keeping the 
 commandments of Christ. Grace takes up a sinner and leads him into 
 the knowledge of the full forgiveness of his sins through faith in the 
 blood of the Lord Jesus Christ : but all this is simply a means to an 
 end : it is, in a word, to set him down in a position of responsibility to 
 ^Christ, which position he, by nature, could never have sustained, be- 
 cause, "the carnal mind is enmity against God, it is not subject to 
 the law of Gol neither indeed can be" if then, a man be put into 
 a place of responsibility, it is clear, that the more faithfully and dili- 
 gently he maintains that place, the more enlarged will be his com- 
 munion. 
 
 A father may have two children, the one obedient, the other the 
 very reverse ; now, they are both his children ; neither the obedience 
 of the one, nor the disobedience of the other can interfere, in the 
 least, with the relationship existing between them ; but can we have 
 a question as to which of 'them would enjoy most of the father's pre- 
 sence and affection ? Surely not a father likes to be obeyed, and 
 Avill love the obedient child there maybe extraordinary cases where, 
 from a warped judgment, or a blind and unmeaning partiality, the 
 disobedient, lawless son may have more of the heart of the parent 
 than the other, but this is not so with God His judgment is clear 
 and unerring He can accurately distinguish between the one that 
 honors Him, and the one that despises Him: the former "He will 
 honor," the latter He will " lightly esteem.'' The Lord does not ask 
 a sinner, dead in trespasses and sins, to serve Him, for all such an 
 one c mid do would be polluted with sin his very prayers are pol- 
 luted his meditations are polluted his acts of benevolence are pol- 
 luted; in a word, he is all polluted, from the crown of his head to the 
 sole of his foot, and therefore can do nothing acceptable in the sight 
 of God. But the Lord quickens those that are dead in trespasses 
 and sins, and then teaches them to " walk worthy of Him as dear 
 children," and to be fruitful in every good word and work to the 
 praise of His n ima : and when we do this He graciously conde- 
 scends to " accept the work of our hands." But not only does scrip- 
 ture abound with precepts which confirm what has been above stated : 
 it also affords numerous examples and illustrations of the same; thus, 
 for instance,the case of Abraham and Lot, in the opening of the book 
 of Genesis. These were both servants of God, but yet how differently 
 they walked; one loved God the other loved the well watered 
 plains of Sodom, and the consequence was, that while the Lord him- 
 so'If could meet with Abraham, and sup with him, and, moreover, 
 unfold to him His counsels with reference to Sodom ; He merely 
 sends angels to Sodom, and we can plainly perceive in their manner 
 toward Lot their marked disapproval of his circumstances, for when 
 he invites them into his house, they reply " nay, but we will abide in 
 Ike street all night." 
 
 This is plain the angels of the Lord would rather abide all night 
 in the street of filthy Sodom thau go into a child of His who was not
 
 TRIBE OF LEVI CONSIDERED. 11 
 
 walking in obedience nor does the fact that they afterwards con- 
 sented to go in, at all interfere with the point which 1 am seeking to 
 establish ; no, their answer speaks volumes of the most solemn and 
 practical instruction to us ; they enter into Lot's house, it is true, but 
 if they do it is only to counteract the sad effects of Lots sin. May we 
 then seek by prayer and communion with God, to keep ourselves in the 
 path of obedience ; that so we may prove in our souls' happy ex- 
 perience, the meaning of the prayer in our text, " accept the work 
 of his hands." 
 
 We have now arrived at the oth and last point in this branch of 
 our subject, namely, " smite through the loins of them that rise 
 against him, and of them that hate him that they rise not again." 
 This is properly the last point, when there shall be neither " adver- 
 sary nor evil occurrent," we shall rest from our labour and conflict, 
 and enter into possession of that upon which hope now feeds, there- 
 fore when it can be said of our enemies " that they rise not again" we 
 shall be happy indeed. 
 
 However, there is much of practical value in this point, in the con- 
 nexion in which it here stands, i. e. as a consequence of obedience; 
 there is nothing that gives the soul such marvellous power over 
 enemies as an obedient holy walk. Christ has conquered the devil, 
 death and hell ; and He has moreover, crucified the flesh, for " they 
 that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts ; " 
 and therefore when a soul believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, he is 
 introduced at once into a place where he has Satan the world 
 and the flesh under his feet, and it is as he walks in the power of re- 
 surrection life, that he can at all maintain this, his blessed ground ; but 
 alas ! how often does it happen that, instead of having all these our 
 enemies under our feet, we are found beneath their feet, to the gross 
 dishonour of our Lord, and the sorrow and debility of our own souls; 
 and why, but because we walk not in simple obedience ? 
 
 Every step we take in real obedience to Christ, is, so far, a victory 
 gained over the flesh and the devil, and every fresh victory ministers 
 fresh power for the conflict which follows ; thus we grow. And, on 
 the other hand, every battle lost only serves to weaken us, while 
 it gives power to our enemies to attack us again. Thus we see that 
 the man, whose heart is truly devoted to the Lord will have power 
 to teach power to worship he will increase in substance, for Christ 
 causes those that love him "to inherit substance" (Prov. viii.) He 
 will enjoy more of God's favour and the light of his countenance, for 
 " they that honor me I will honor" and, finally, he will have enlarged 
 power over all enemies; all these are the fruits of that true Levite 
 devotedness which will enable a man to say " to his father, and to his 
 mother, I have not seen him ;" or, in other words, those fruits can 
 only be enjoyed by one who is ready to "leave all and follow Christ." 
 Tiiis being the case then, we can have little difficulty in account- 
 ing for the poverty in gifts of ministry the poverty in worship 
 the meagreness of growth the many interruptions in the enjoyment
 
 12 THE HISTORY OP THE 
 
 of divine favour the almost total lack of power over enemies of 
 which we have all to complain : many seek to satisfy themselves by 
 saying that we cannot expect the same power in gifts and worship 
 now, as that which fell to the lot of the saints in the apostolic day, 
 and this of course, we are not going to deny ; but then, the ques- 
 tion is, have we as much power and freshness in these things as \\ e 
 might have ? I believe (and my reader will join me in asserting) we 
 have not and why ? Is not Levi's God our God ? Yes He is, blessed 
 be His name, and the same everlasting and abundant fountain of 
 blessing as ever He was, but we alas ! are far behind in the matter of 
 Levi's true devotedness, and this is the root of it all, for it remains un- 
 alterably true that " to him that hath shall more be given," and " we 
 cannot serve two masters." This is true solemn and practical. 
 
 We are now called to consider a scripture which will unfold to us 
 at once, the wondrous secret, of how a sinner, so degraded as Levi, 
 could hold a place of such marvellous elevation and nearness to God, 
 as that which he afterwards occupied. There is nothing in a sinner 
 by nature with which God could hold any intercourse ; therefore if 
 ever He brings any one into a place of blessing and high communion, 
 He does so in pure grace, and thus excludes " boasting" altogether, for 
 " no flesh shall glory in His presence." Those who look upon it as 
 presumption in a sinner to speak of holding a place of much nearness 
 to God seem to lose sight of this completely ; it could never be pride 
 that would lead any one into a place where he would be broken to 
 pieces, and be shewn that he was altogether corrupt and worthless ; 
 if God were to elevate flesh, and bring flesh into a place of nearness 
 to Himself, then, indeed, there would be some force in the objection 
 on the ground of presumption ; but God does no such thing ; the flesh 
 is so far gone in ruin, that it cannot be improved, and therefore God 
 declares in the cross, His mind about the flesh, namely, that it is a 
 dead thing; but He, by the same cross, gives the poor sinner life, and 
 in the power of that life, and not in the power of life in the flesh, He 
 brings the sinner into His presence and sets him down at His table; 
 so that it is not the presumption of a poor prodigal that assigns the 
 place which he is to occupy, but the grace and boundless loving kind- 
 ness of the father ; thus, God says to Noah, " the end of all flesh is 
 come before me," and what then? "Make thee an ark of Gopher 
 wood" and in that ark is Noah raised up beyond the region of judg- 
 ment, and a judged world, into a place of undisturbed communion. 
 Now, we shall find the very same principles developed in God's deal- 
 ings with Levi, in the scripture which is about to engage our attention. 
 I shall first consider their cleansing. And secondly their'position and 
 service ; and first, I say, with regard to their cleansing, as recorded in 
 
 NUMBERS, viii. 5 14. 
 
 " And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and 
 cleanse them. And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them ; Sprinkle water of purifying 
 upon them, and let them shave all their nesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make thein- 
 selves cleau Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled 
 with oil and another your, '.<. thou take for a sin offering. And thou shalt bring the
 
 TRIBE OF LEVI CONSIDERED. 13 
 
 Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation : and thu shall gather the whole assembly of 
 the children of Israel together;, And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord: and the 
 children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites : And Aaron shall offer the Levites before 
 the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the sen-ice of the Lord. 
 And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks : and thou shalt offer the one 
 for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the Lord, to make an atonement for. the 
 Levites. And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an 
 offering unto the Lord. Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel . 
 and the Levites shall be mine." 
 
 This passage furnishes us with a very rich and blessed branch of 
 our interesting subject. We were enabled to see, in looking at Levi 
 by nature, that such was his character that God would have no fel- 
 lowship with him whatever, and that so far as Levi was concerned, 
 he should abide for ever in his own habitation in company with the 
 " instruments of cruelty" which were therein. But God will not leave 
 him there, and therefore God must Himself provide the remedy 
 God Himself must cleanse this self-willed, cruel and fierce one. And 
 here we are invited to recall a thought which occurred to the mind 
 in the opening of this paper, viz : that man's sin must ever be 
 brought into the presence of God's grace. Levi had nothing else to 
 look to ; his sin was such as to preclude every thought of human 
 remedy ; the law condemned Levi's nature ; and God had pronounced 
 him unfit for His presence, and what then had Levi to do ? Could 
 he set himself with heart and soul to keep the law ? Impossible : 
 the law not only condemned his works, but pronounced the curse 
 of God upon his very nature ; the law said, " thou shalt do no mur- 
 der." And having said this it added, " cursed is every one that conti- 
 nueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do 
 them." But Levi had murder in his nature, therefore Levi's nature 
 was cursed. 
 
 What then could Levi do ? Might he not cast himself over upon 
 the mercy of God, with the hope that he would deal lightly with his 
 sins? No; by no means: God had given forth His solemn and unal- 
 terable decree, "O my soul come not thou into their secret:" God 
 could not come into a habitation wherein were "instruments of cruelty." 
 
 Thus then, Levi was completely shut up without a single means 
 of escape, the law nailed him down to this one point, "answer my 
 demands." And all that Levi had towards the discharge of these de- 
 mands was, " anger, fierceness, murder, self-will, cruelty," &c., poor 
 resources, alas ! Nor would the Law of God enter into any composi- 
 tion with the sinner ; it should have u the uttermost farthing," or 
 else the word was " cursed art thou." Therefore Levi, as a man alive 
 in the flesh, or, in other words, Levi, as seeking to get life through 
 the law, was judged, condemned, and set aside, and it only remained 
 for him to take thus, the place ot one dead, in order that God might 
 in grace quicken him into new life, which God was ready and willing 
 to do, and which, as we shall see, He graciously did according to His 
 own marvellous thoughts, and in His own way.* Levi then had just 
 to see himself as one that was, in God's account dead, as we read," for 
 
 * The reader will of course bear in mind, that what is stated about Levi in this paper is to be re- 
 garded as typical of that which the believer now knows in reality through the Holy Ghost.
 
 14 THE HISTORY OF THK 
 
 they (i. e. the Levites,) are wholly given unto me from among the 
 children of Israel ; instead of such as open every womb, even instead 
 of the first-born of all the children of Israel have I taken them unto 
 me : for all the first-born of the children of Israel are mine, both man 
 and beast : on the day that I smote every first-born in the land of 
 Egypt, / sanctified them for myself ; and I have taken the Levites, for 
 all the first-born of the children of Israel." (Chap. viii. 16 18.) 
 
 The Lord passed through the land of Egypt with the sword of 
 justice unsheathed, to smite all the first-born, nor would Israel's first- 
 born have escaped, had not the sword fallen upon the neck of the spot- 
 less victim, and thus, (as seme one has beautifully observed) " there 
 was death in every house, not only in the houses of the Egyptians, 
 but also in those of the Israelites, in the former, it was death of 
 Egypt's first-born, in the latter, the death of GOD'S LAMB." 
 
 The Levites then, were taken instead of those upon whom the sword 
 of the destroying angel should have fallen, or in other words, the 
 Levites were, typically a dead and risen people, and thus were no 
 longer looked at in the circumstances of nature; but of new life through 
 grace, in which they were placed by God himself. And here, let 
 me observe, that this is the path which every sinner must travel if 
 he would know experimentally anything of Levi's after history. 
 There is no other way in which to escape from the judgment of the 
 law on the one hand; or the horrid workings of in-dwelling corrup- 
 tion on the other, than simply to see ourselves "dead" to both, aud 
 " alive unto God through Jesus Christ." " How shall we, ' says the 
 apostle, " that are dead to sin live any longer therein ? Know ye not, 
 that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were bap- 
 tized into his death ? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism 
 into death; that, like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the 
 glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life." 
 (Rom. vi. 2 4.) And again, " wherefore, my brethren, ye also are 
 become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be 
 married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we 
 should bring forth fruit unto God." (Chap. vii. 4.) But, not only 
 is death and resurrection the only possible means by which a sinner 
 can escape the condemnation of the law, and the tyrannical sway of 
 sin ; it is also the only means by which he can acceptably serve God, 
 The flesh, or carnal mind cannot serve God, for it is not subject to 
 His law, neither indeed can be; therefore, we infer, that the sources 
 of that life by which we can serve God are not to be found in the 
 flesh ? but only in union with the Lord Jesus in resurrection. " If a 
 man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered." 
 (John xv. 6.) Consequently, when God would bring Levi into a 
 place of nearness and service to Himself, He shews him to us as 
 passing through those circumstances which, in the clearest manner, 
 illustrate death and resurrection; for they are taken instead of those 
 that were as dead but who escaped through the death of the lamb, 
 and thn, having thus passed through the circumstances of death.
 
 Till BE OF LEV1 CONSIDERED. 15 
 
 they are told in this 8th chapter to "put off the old man and put on 
 the new" for that is the meaning of the ;i washing of water" and 
 "shaving the flesh," &e. This is in full keeping with what the apostle 
 states to his son Titus, " for we ourselves also were sometimes fool- 
 ish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in 
 ma'ice and envy, hateful and hating one another: hut after that the 
 kindness and love of God our Saviour to man appeared, not by works 
 of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he 
 saved us, by the toothing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy 
 Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our 
 Saviour." (Tit. iii. 3 6.) 
 
 But, in order that we may have a clearer and more comprehensive 
 view of the grounds upon which the Levites stood before God, I would 
 refer, in as brief and concise a manner as I can, to the offerings con- 
 nected with their consecration: these were, namely, the burnt offer- 
 ing, the meat offering, and the sin offering, all as we shall see, shew- 
 ing out the Lord Jesus Christ, in his varied aspects. 4 * And first, the 
 burnt offering ; the principles unfolded in this offering are brought 
 out in the first chapter of Leviticus where we read, " it his offering 
 be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish : 
 he shall offer it of his own voluntary will, at the door of the taber- 
 nacle of the congregation, before the Lord." (ver. 3.) 
 
 Here then is something for the soul to feed on, and rejoice in ; here 
 is a subject to the consideration of which we can approach with fullest 
 confidence, as feeling assured that we shall meet nothing herein but 
 what is eminently calculated to cheer and refresh the heart. We get 
 in the burnt offering the Lord Jesus Christ, in all His fulness and 
 perfection?, as offering Himself " without spot to God," and also as 
 accepted before God/or iig. In this, He was found to be "a male 
 without blemish" so much so, that the One in whose sight the very 
 heavens are not clean, could say, " in whom I am well pleased ;" 
 and again " mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth." 
 
 But further, this unblemished offering presents himself voluntarily 
 at the door of the tabernacle. " No man " says the Lord Jesus, 
 speaking of His life, " taketh it from me, I lay it down of myself, I 
 have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again : this 
 commandment have I received of my father." And truly in tracing 
 the way of the blessed Jesus, through this defiled world, we can re- 
 cognize this feature of the burnt offering in a very striking manner. 
 From first to last, His course was marked with all the steadiness, 
 and divine uninterrupted calmness of true devotedness to God. The 
 billows of dark and fierce temptation might roll and toss themselves 
 with a rage and fury which would have crushed a less than God. The 
 devil might stir up all his deadly malice against Him ; man might 
 display all his unalterable enmity ; enmity which could only be out- 
 done by the eternal friendship of this devoted One. His disciples 
 
 * It may be well just in observe here that in considering the offerings above referred to, 1 have 
 merely looked at them with reference to the question of Levi's history.
 
 16 THE HISTORY OF THE 
 
 moreover, may refuse to " watch with Him one hour." Death may 
 arm himself with all his ghastly terrors, and pour out a cup mixed 
 with hell's bitterest ingredients ; and further, display his deadly sting 
 in all its infernal keenness and power to wound. The grave may con- 
 jure up all its unutterable horrors to make one grand struggle for 
 " victory" but all in vain. The answer of this unblemished voluntary 
 offering to all these was, " my meat and my drink is to do the will of 
 him that sent me, and finish his work." He had His eye upon one 
 object, and that was, " the joy that was set before him." He looked 
 forward to the moment when He would be able to draw forth from 
 the inexhaustible treasuries of eternal love, the rich and princely fruits 
 of His hard-bought victory, and pour them forth in divine profusion 
 upon " the travail of his soul ; " even the church which He loved 
 and purchased with His own most precious blood. He eagerly anti- 
 cipated " the morning without clouds," when, surrounded by the 
 myriads of His ransomed brethren, He will sound forth in everlast- 
 ing strains, the mighty answer to all the foul aspersions of the enemy 
 as to the love of God toward the sinner. All these attractions, I say, 
 He had before Him, and therefore He marched onward in the great- 
 ness of His strength. " He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusa- 
 lem." Lord Jesus Christ, invigorate our poor cold hearts to sound 
 forth the eternal honors of thine adorable name ; and may our lives 
 be more and more the decided evidence of our hearts love to thee, 
 for " thou alone art worthy." All this is surely most blessed for us ; 
 but, blessed as it is, it is not all, there are other strokes from the 
 pencil of the divine artist calculated, in the highest degree, to captivate 
 our spiritual tastes, yea more ; to feed our souls. " He shall put his 
 hand upon the head of the burnt offering ; and it shall be accepted for 
 him, to make atonement for Him." (v. 4.) Here then is grace ! Levi, 
 the self-willed, cruel, fierce and bloodshedding Levi, is accepted in all 
 the perfectness and acceptableness of this "unblemished male" be- 
 fore God : whatever of excellency, whatever of value, whatever of 
 purity God beheld in this offering, that did He likewise behold in 
 Levi as " accepted in the offering. Thus look at Levi apart from 
 the offering, and you find him such that God could not come into //is 
 assembly : but look at him as in the offering, and you find him, through 
 grace, as pure and as perfect as the offering itself. Nothing could 
 surpass this most excellent grace. The grace that could take up a 
 sinner from such a pit of corruption as that in which Levi lay grovel- 
 ling, and lead him into such high elevation, deserves the highest note 
 of praise, and, blessed be God, it shall ere long have it from all who, 
 like Levi, have felt its sacred power. 
 
 However, we must not enter too minutely into the detail of this 
 burnt offering, and there are just two points further to which I will 
 refer. The first is presented to us at the 6th ver. " And he shall 
 flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces." Here we see at 
 once to what a process of strict, jealous and uncompromising scrutiny 
 the Lord Jesus exposed Himself in offering Himself before God. It
 
 TRIBE OF LEVI CONSIDERED. 17 
 
 was not enough that the animal should be APPARENTLY " without 
 blemish," for the skin or outward surface might look very well, and 
 at the same time, the offering be not at all fit for God's altar, there- 
 fore the outward surface must be removed, in order that this offering 
 may be examined in all its sinews, joints and veins, and thus be 
 found, as to the springs of action, the structure of his frame, and the 
 source and channels of the life that animated him, a perfectly un- 
 blemished off ring. But further, "he shall cut it into his pieces, i. e., 
 take the offering asunder, and examine its various parts, in order 
 that it may not only form a perfect whole, but that each distinct joint 
 may be found perfect. Thus, in whatever aspect Ave look at the Lord 
 Jesus we get divine perfection. He could say to God, " thou hast 
 tried me and shall find nothing," and God could answer " I am well 
 pleased." He could say of the devil, " the prince of this world cometh, 
 and hath nothing in me," and the devil could reply, " I know thee 
 who thou art the Holy one of God." He could say to men, " which 
 of you convinceth me of sin," and man could answer, " Truly this 
 was a righteous man." Thus, I say, our divine burnt offering, who 
 voluntarily presented Himself at God's altar, and there poured forth 
 His most precious blood, was found in every feature, and in every 
 aspect pure, and perfect, in the very highest sense of the word, and 
 confessed so by heaven, earth, and hell.* 
 
 All therefore having been found pure, and fit for God's altar, it be- 
 comes the happy place of Aaron's sons to send up before God the 
 sweet savor of this most acceptable offering, as we read. " And the 
 sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the 
 wood in order upon the fire. And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall 
 lay the parts, the head and the fat, in order upon the wood that is 
 on the fire which is upon the altar. But his inwards and his legs shall 
 he wash in water : and the priests shall burn all on the altar, to be 
 a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire of a sweet savor unto the 
 Lord." (ver. 7 9-) The fat of the offering was God's peculiar part, 
 no one could with impunity touch that, yea, the punishment for so 
 doing was the same as for eating blood ; i. e. it was as wrong, and as 
 daringly presumptuous for man to intrude upon God's portion of the 
 offering as it was for him to assume life in his own right, which 
 latter was an open denial of the state of death and ruin in which he 
 was by reason of sin. God then, I say, claimed the fat. He alone 
 could feed upon the inward excellency and peerless perfections of 
 Jesus, just as in the case of the unmeasured ointment in the 30th of 
 Exodus, where we see, as well as in the above cited passage, that the 
 infinite mind of God could alone appreciate the infinite value of Christ. 
 But we find the head burnt in connexion with the fat, shewing us, I 
 
 * NOTE. We may also observe, in the act of cutting the offering into his pieces, this important 
 truth, that in whatever relationship of life we contemplate the Lord Jesus, we find the same 
 unsullied perfection. . .whether we consider Him as a public or as a private character, in one position 
 or another, all is alike... not so with man.. .here there must be failure in one way or another. 
 
 If a man be a good public character he may be the very plague of the family circle, and nee versa 
 ...And surely, in all this, we learn the glorious truth which shall shortly be owned by all created in- 
 telligence that " He alone is worthy ."
 
 18 TUB HISTORY OP THE 
 
 suppose, that both the hidden energies of the Lord Jesus, and the 
 seat of his understanding, were equally suited to be a sweet savor 
 unto God. Lastly ; the inwards and legs were washed and burned 
 upon the altar, shewing us that the secret thoughts, purposes and 
 counsels of the Lord Jesus, as well as the outward development of 
 these in His walk, were perfectly pure and fit for the altar : and, in 
 connexion with this last point, one cannot help dwelling with comfort 
 upon the marvellous contrast between the Lord Jesus and His poor 
 people. How often may our outward iealk. shadowed out by " the 
 legs," appear quite right in the eye of man, when, at the same time 
 perhaps, in the eye of God, our " inwards " may be full of gross im- 
 purity. But it is well for us that such was not the case with our 
 great Head : in Him all was alike, for all was pure. May our hearts, 
 dear Christian reader, enter more and more fully, under the teaching 
 of the spirit, into the intrinsic excellency of the Lord Jesus; and may 
 we be enabled daily, standing at the altar before God, to send up in 
 his presence the savor of ail this. 
 
 As to the meat offering, we need not enter minutely into it. It 
 was composed, as we know, of that which sprang from the earth, and, 
 as such, aptly shadowed out "the man Christ Jesus," the frankin- 
 cense thereon marking the entire devotedness of all the actings of 
 Christ's human nature to God His Father. Nothing was done by 
 Him to meet man's eye, or man's approbation ; nothing was done to 
 produce mere effect ; no all was directly before God. Whether we 
 trace the footsteps of the Lord Jesus, while, for thirty years, He was 
 subject to his parents at home ; or, while, for three years, he was en- 
 gaged in public ministry amongst the Jews ; all was alike : all shewed 
 forth the pure frankincense that marked Him, in all things, as God's 
 peculiar and devoted servant. We may observe further, that this 
 meat offering was baked with oil, and anointed with oil ; thus showing 
 forth, I suppose, the incarnate Son of God, who was first "conceived 
 of the Holy Ghost," (MATT. i. 20.) and then " anointed with the 
 Holy Ghost." (MATT. iii. 16. ACTS x. 38.) 
 
 We now come to speak of the sin offering, and may the Lord gra- 
 ciously refresh our spirits while dwelling for a little on the blessed 
 principles unfolded therein. The sin offering is brought before us in 
 Lev. iv., from whence we may select one case for our present pur- 
 pose. " If the priest that is anointed do sin, according to the sin 
 of the people ; then let him bring, for his sin which he hath sinned, 
 a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord, for a sin offering. 
 And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the 
 congregation before the Lord ; and shall lay his hand upon the 
 bullock's head, and kill the bullock before the Lord." (v. 3, 4.) 
 
 The reader will, no doubt, observe a marked difference between the 
 above passage and that in which the burnt offering was referred to ; 
 and the difference so^far, mainly consists in this, that in the last cited 
 passage the words ''voluntary will" are not found, and this was quite 
 to be looked for. In the burnt offering we were enabled to recognise
 
 TRIBE OF LEVI CONSIDERED, 19 
 
 the Lord Jesus Christ offering himself voluntarily before God, in which 
 aspect of His blessed work He could say "no man taketh it (my life) 
 from me, I lay it down of myself." In other words, " He offered 
 Himself of His own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of 
 the congregation before the Lord." But in the sin offering it is quite 
 different, " he shall be brought" and "he shall be killed" i. e. instead 
 of coming he shall be brought, and, instead of laying down his life of 
 himself, his life sha'l be taken from him. These, I say, are important 
 distinctions, and such as arise from the very nature of the two offer- 
 ings. Tn the burnt offering the Lord Jesus is seen offering Him- 
 self, in all the unblemished perfectness which belonged to Him, and 
 in this His soul had great delight because He was presenting that be- 
 fore God which was so acceptable to Him. 
 
 But in the sin offering, the Lord Jesus is seen standing in con- 
 nexion with that which His pure and spotless soul must have deeply 
 abhorred and keenly resented ; ahhorred and resented indeed, in a 
 way of which we cannot form the faintest idea. He is seen, in a 
 word, as standing in connexion with sin; yea more ; as "made sin." 
 (2 Cor. v. 21.) 
 
 Thus it was that the prophet, through the Spirit, viewed Him, 
 when he said, " He was wounded for our transgressions. He was 
 bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement of our peace was upon 
 Him ; and with His stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have 
 gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord 
 hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (!SAIAH liii. 5, 6.) Now, 
 I believe that, by looking at the two offerings in connexion, we get a 
 very deep and wondrous view of sin's dark and dreadful enormity in 
 the sight of God, for, sin, in this point of view, appears sinful just ac- 
 cording to the measure of Christ's perfectness in God's account. If, 
 in the burnt offering, we were enabled to see that, such was the 
 beauty and excellency of Christ, that His whole man could go up be- 
 fore God as a sweet savor, and that God could " find nothing" in Him 
 but perfection ; as a necessary consequence then, we must see in the 
 sin offering, the blackness and heinousness of sin, which could oblige 
 God to hide His face from "His elect, in whom His soul delighted." 
 This brings us to the next point connected with the sin offering, viz., 
 " He shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head." (ver. 4.) Here 
 \ve have at once, the secret of the deep and profound mystery of the 
 three hours' darkness. 
 
 It was before observed, that God had to hide His face from the 
 Lord Jesus on the cross, but how are we to account for such a mys- 
 terious circumstance ? Simply by the words, " he (the sinner) shall 
 lay his hand on the bullock's head." If, in contemplating the burnt 
 offering, we were struck by the fact that all the perfectness of the 
 offering was communicated to the " fierce and cruel " Levi ; so here, 
 we are called upon to adore the grace that devised the wondrous plan 
 whereby that could be effected, which was by imputing to the offer- 
 ing all the sin and defilement of Levi, and dealing with the sin of
 
 20 THE HISTORY OP THE 
 
 Levi in the person of the sin offering, in order that Levi himself might 
 be dealt with in the person of the burnt offering. 
 
 And all this, be it observed, is conveyed to us in the action of " the 
 laying on of hands." This action was performed in both cases: i. e., 
 Levi laid his hands on the head of the burnt offering ; and Levi laid 
 his hands on the head of the sin offering. As to the act it was the 
 same in each case, but oh ! how different the results : they were, in a 
 word, as different as life and death, heaven and hell, sin and holiness. 
 In fact, we cannot conceive a wider contrast than that which is observ- 
 able in the results of this action, to all appearance, the same in each 
 case. We may perhaps be able to form some idea of it by consider- 
 ing, that the act of imposition of hands was at once the imputation 
 of sin to one "?Ao knew no sin," but was "holy, harmless and unde- 
 nted," and whose very nature abhorred ail sin. And, on the other 
 hand, it was the imputation of perfect righteousness to one, who was 
 by nature "a cruel, fierce and self-willed murderer."* Furthermore, 
 the act of imposition of hands obliged the one, who, from before all 
 worlds, dwelt in the bosom of the Father, to travel far away into the 
 cold and barren regions of death and darkness, where the genial and 
 life-giving rays of his Father's countenance, which He alone could 
 truly appreciate, had never penetrated, and standing upon the confines 
 of which He cried out, '"If it be possible, let this cup pass from me;" 
 and again, when these gloomy regions, with their ten thousand un- 
 utterable horrors burst upon his spotless soul, "my God, my God, WHY 
 HAST THOU forsaken me." And, on the other hand, it enabled the one 
 who dwelt in "the habitations of cruelty," into whose "assembly" 
 God could not come, to stand in the very blaze of the light of God's 
 throne. These considerations, I say, may perhaps assist our concep- 
 tions in some measure, upon this astounding truth. Now, the Apostle 
 states the same truth in the didactic language of the New Testament 
 when he says, " He (God) hath made him to be sin for us, that we 
 might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Cor. v. 21,) i. e. 
 He hath made the one whose perfectness is seen in the burnt offer- 
 ing, to be judged as sin, and treated as such in the sin offering; in 
 order that we, who deserved the treatment of the sin offering, might 
 be treated as accepted in the burnt offering. 
 
 I would also observe here that there is much force and value in the 
 word " made," it shews out most fully that righteousness was just as 
 foreign to the nature of man, as sin was to the nature of Christ : man 
 had no righteousness of his own, or, in other words, he kneu no right- 
 eousness, and therefore he had to be " made," righteousness. Christ 
 
 * NOTE I would observe here, that in speaking of " the imputation of righteousness," I by no 
 means desire to be understood as giving any countenance to the prevailing theory of " the imputed 
 righteousness of Christ "...of this expression, so much in use in the theology of the present day, it 
 would be sufficient to say that it is no where to be found in the oracles of God. I read of "the right- 
 eousness of God." (Kom. iii. passim,) and moreover, of the imputation of righteousness (Rox. iv. 
 11,) but never of " the righteousness of Christ." Tis true, we read of the Lord Jesus being " made 
 of God unto us righteousness." (Jer. xxiii, 6,) -But these passages do not support the above theory; 
 I would further add, that the moral effect of this idea will be found to be decidedly pernicious because 
 it, of necessity, supposes the believer as standing apart from the Lord Jesus, whereas the doctrine 
 of scripture is that the believer is " made the righteousness of God IN HIM." (2 COK. v. 21.) 
 And again, " we are in Him that is true even in His Son Jesus Christ." (1 JOHS, v. 20.)
 
 TRIBE OF LEVI CONSIDERED. 21 
 
 " knew no sin," and therefore had to be " made sz'n,'' in order that we 
 might be made righteousness, even " the righteousness of God in 
 Him." But further, we learn from the passage to which we are refer- 
 ring, that the Lord Jesus having been " made sin for us" is not more 
 real, not more true, not more palpable than that the believer is " made 
 righteousness in him." 
 
 If there be any truth or reality in the record concerning the Cross 
 and passion of the Lord Jesus, then it is plain that, the moment a 
 soul acts faith upon Christ in His death and resurrection, that moment 
 he is accepted in all the acceptableness of Christ. His consciousness 
 of this is, of course, quite another question ; a truth, and the realiza- 
 tion of a truth are quite distinct. 
 
 The measure of our realization will be in proportion to the measure 
 of our communion with God. If we are satisfied to move at a cold 
 and heartless distance from God, our consciousness of the power and 
 value of any truth will, as a consequence, be meagre and shallow. 
 While therefore it is not to be forgotten, that the root and source of 
 all life and communion is the truth stated in the passage to which 
 we are alluding ; it is manifest that the more we walk in communion 
 with Him who gives us the life, the more shall we enjoy both Himself, 
 and the life which He gives. Dear Christian reader, let us pray that 
 the cross and passion of the Lord Jesus may sink so deeply into our 
 hearts, that we may have, on the one hand, such a view of the loath- 
 someness of sin as shall lead us to abhor it with a holy abhorrence, 
 " all the days of our life." And, on the other hand, such a view of 
 the amazing love of God, as shall constrain us " to live not unto our- 
 selves, but unto Him who died for us and rose again." 
 
 Thus then, we see that the laying on of hands shews forth nothing 
 less than a change of places on the part of the sinner and the saviour. 
 The sinner was out of the favor of God, " O my soul, come not thou 
 into their habitation." The Saviour was in the favor of God, "daily 
 His delight" dwelling in His bosom from before all worlds. But the 
 amazing plan of redemption shews us the Saviour out of the favor of 
 God, and God fwsakinq him, while, at the same time, a condemned 
 malefactor is brought at once into the very presence of a loving and par- 
 doning God. Amazing, deep, inconceivable, eternal love ! unfathom- 
 able wisdom ! Love, which soars far aloft above the most gigantic 
 conception. Wisdom, which has written everlasting contempt upon 
 all the power and base designs of the great enemy of God and man. 
 For, ere Levi..could be introduced into the enjoyment of the " cove- 
 nant of life and peace" (MAL. xi. 5.) a spotless victim must stand 
 the shock of the King of terrors, and all his thunders. But, who is this 
 victim ? We ask not " who is this King of glory ?" But, who is this 
 victim ? The answer to this question it is which gives to the plan of 
 redemption its grandest and most divine characteristic. The victim 
 was none less than the Son of God Himself ! Yes ! Here was love, 
 here was wisdom. The Son of God had to stoop because man had 
 exalted himself. And surely we may say if God had not entered
 
 22 THK HISTORY OF THE 
 
 upon the work, all all were lost, and that for ever : no mere mor- 
 tal could have entered into that dark scene where sin was being 
 atoned for, no one hut the Son of God could have sustained the 
 weight which, in the garden, and on the cross, rested on the shoulders 
 of the "one that was mighty." And here we might refer to the 
 Lord's language to His disciples when He was ahout to enter into con- 
 flict with the adversary, " Hereafter I will not talk much with you ; 
 for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." 
 (JOHN, xiv. 30.) Why could He not "talk much with them?" 
 Because He was just going to enter upon the work of atonement in 
 which they could do nothing, because the prince of this world, had 
 he come, would have had plenty in them ; but then, the moment 
 He, as it were, in Spirit, passes through that sorrowful hour, He says 
 *' arise let us go hence." i. e., although we could not move a single 
 step in the achievement of the victory, yet, we could enjoy the fruits 
 of it, and not only so, but display the fruits of it in a life of service 
 and fruit-bearing to God, which forms the subject of teaching in the 
 next chapter. Here then is what gives peace to the awakened con- 
 science of the sinner. God Himself has done the work. God has 
 triumphed over all man's wickedness and rebellion, and now, every 
 soul who feels his need of pardon and peace can draw near in faith 
 and holy confidence, and reap the fruits of this wondrous triumph of 
 grace and mercy. 
 
 And now, dear reader, if you have not as yet made these wondrous 
 fruits your own ; if you have not as yet cast the whole burden of your 
 sins on God's eternal love, as seen in the cross, I ask you, why do you 
 stand aloof? Why do you doubt? Perhaps you feel the hardness of 
 your heart, perhaps you are ready to say that you feel yourself even 
 now unmoved by the contemplation of -all the deep sorrow endured 
 by the Son of God. Well, what of that? If it be a question of your 
 guilt you may go much further than even this, for, in that hour of 
 which we have been speaking, you stood unmoved, looked on with 
 cold and heartless indifference, while all creation owned the wond- 
 rous fact, yea more, you yourself crucified the incarnate God, you 
 spit in His face, and plunged your spear into His side. Do you 
 shrink back and say, oh ! not so bad. I say it was the act of the 
 human heart, and if you have a human heart it was your act. But 
 the scriptures at once decide this point, for it is written, " of a 
 truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both 
 Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel 
 were gathered together." (ACTS, iv. 27.) This passage, I say, proves 
 that all the world were, representatively around the cross. But why 
 insist on this ? simply to shew forth the riches of the grace of God, 
 which can only be seen in all its effulgent lustre in the cross, and 
 therein it is seen mounting far above all man's sin and malignant re- 
 bellion, for, when man, in the fiendish pride of his heart, could 
 plunge his spear into the side of Incarnate Deity ; God's reply was, 
 BLOOD ! And through that blood '' remission of sins beginning at
 
 TRIBE OF LEV I CONSIDERED. 23 
 
 Jerusalem.''' Thus, " where sin abounded, grace did much more 
 abound" and "grace REIGNS through righteousness by Jesus Christ 
 our Lord." Enough, I trust, has been said to show the grounds upon 
 which the Levites stood before God. These grounds were free and 
 eternal grace, grace exercised toward them through the blood, which 
 is the only channel through which grace can flow, man has been 
 found to be utterly ruined before God, and therefore it must be a 
 question, either of salvation through free grace, or eternal damnation, 
 for " by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh living be justified." 
 But then, while man is by nature utterly unfit to render anything like 
 an acceptable righteousness or service to God, yet, when God gives 
 us new life through grace, He of course looks for the development of 
 that life. In other words ; grace brings the soul into circumstances 
 of responsibility and service, and it is as we meet those circum- 
 stances that God is glorified in us, and our souls grow in the know- 
 ledge of God. Thus it was in the case of the leper, up to a certain 
 point in his history he had nothing to do, the priest was the sole 
 actor. But, when the priest had done his part, when, by virtue of 
 the blood which had been shed, he had pronounced him " clean," 
 the leper had then to begin to ''wash himself!' (LEV. xiv. 8.) Xow 
 we shall find that the history of Levi develops all these principles 
 most fully. 
 
 "We have hitherto been engaged with Levi's condition and charac- 
 ter by nature, and also the wondrous remedy devised by grace to meet 
 him in his lost estate, and not only to save him/row that estate, but 
 also to raise him up to an elevation which could never have entered 
 into the heart of man, even into the very tabernacle of God. We 
 shall now, with God's blessing and grace, proceed to examine that 
 high elevation to which we have referred, and also the service which 
 it involved, as put before us in 
 
 NUMBERS iii. 
 
 " And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, bring the tribe of Leri near, and present them before 
 Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. 
 
 And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation, before the tabernacle 
 of the congregation, to do the sen-ice of the tabernacle. 
 
 And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge 
 of the children of Israel to do the service of the tabernacle. 
 
 And tiiou shall give the Levites unto Aaron, and to his sons : they are wholly given unto him out 
 of the children of Israel." (v. 5 9.) 
 
 Here then, God's marvellous purposes of grace toward Levi, fully 
 open before us, and truly marvellous thev are indeed. We see that 
 the sacrifices were but a means to an end ; but both the means and 
 the end, were in every way worthy of each other. The means, were, 
 in one word, " death and resurrection," and all included therein. 
 Th end was nearness to God, and all included therein. 
 
 Looking at Levi by nature there could not be any point further 
 removed from God than that at which he stood, but grace in exer- 
 cise through the blood, could lift him up out of that ruin in which 
 he stood, and " bring him nigh " yea, bring him into association with 
 the great head of the priestly family, there to serve in the taber-
 
 24 THE HISTORY OF THE 
 
 nacle. Thus, we read, " you hath he quickened who were dead in 
 trespasses and sins, wherein in time passed ye walked according to 
 the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the 
 air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. 
 But God who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He 
 loved us, even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together 
 with Christ ; (by grace ye are saved ;) and hath raised us up together, 
 and made us sit together, in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (PH. 
 ii. 1 6.) And again. "But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes 
 were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." (v. 13.) 
 
 When nature is left free to work, it will ever go as far away from 
 God as it can. This is true since the day that man said " I heard thy 
 voice, and I was afraid, and I hid myself." (GEN. iii. 10.) But when 
 grace is left free and sovereign to work, it will ever bring the soul 
 " nigh" Thus it was with Levi. He was by nature " black as the 
 tents of Kedar" by grace, " comely, as the curtains of Solomon" 
 by nature, he was "joined" in a covenant of murder by grace, 
 "joined" in a covenant of "life and peace," the former, because 
 he was "fierce and cruel," the latter, because he feared and was 
 afraid of the Lord's name. (CoMP. GEN. xlix. 6, 7- MAL. ii. 5.) 
 Furthermore ; Levi was by nature, conversant with the " instruments 
 of cruelty" \>y grace, with '' the instruments of God's tabernacle-" by 
 nature, God could not come into Levi's assembly ; by grace, Levi 
 is brought into God's assembly by nature, " his feet \vere swift to 
 shed blood" by grace, swift to follow the movements of the cloud 
 through the desert, in real patient service to God. In a word, 
 Levi had become "a new creature" and "old things had passed 
 away," and therefore he was no longer to " live unto himself," but 
 unto Him who had done such marvellous things for him in grace. 
 
 I would further observe, on the last cited passage, that the Levites 
 are, in the first place, declared to be God's property, and then they 
 are " wholly GIVEN UNTO AARON.'* Thus we read: " Thine they 
 were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word." 
 (JoHN, xviii. 6.) And again, " all that the Father giveth me 
 shall come to me." (JoHN, vi, 37.) I would now look a little into 
 the detail of their service in which, I doubt not, we shall find 
 much to edify and refresh us. 
 
 We find, that although the whole tribe of Levi were, as to standing, 
 "joined with Aaron" yet as to service, they were divided into classes. 
 " All had not the same office ;" and this is what we might have ex- 
 pected, for, although in the matter of life and standing they were all on 
 a level, yet in the development of that life, and in the manifestation 
 of the power of that standing, they would no doubt display different 
 measures ; and not only so, but there would also be seen an assign- 
 ment to each of distinct position, and line of service which would serve 
 to distinguish him from his brethren in a very marked and decided 
 manner. And here I would observe, that I know of nothing, con- 
 nected with the walk and service of (he Christian .which demands more
 
 TRIBE OF LEVI CONSIDERED. 25 
 
 attention than this point to which I am now alluding, viz. : unity in 
 the matter of life and standing, and, at the same time, the greatest 
 variety in the manifestation of character, and in the line of service. A 
 due attention to this important point, would save us from much of 
 that " unwise," comparing of ourselves and our service with the per- 
 sons and services of others, which is most unholy, and, as a consequence, 
 most unhealthy.* And not only would it lead thus, to beneficial 
 results in a negative point of view, it would also have a most happy 
 effect in producing and cultivating an originality and uniqueness of 
 Christian character which are so much and so earnestly to be sought 
 after by us, but alas ! which are so much lacking amongst us. But, 
 while there was this diversity in the line of service amongst the Levites, 
 it is also to be remembered, that there was manifested unity. The Levites 
 were one people, and seen as such ; they were "joined" with Aaron in 
 the work of the tabernacle; moreover, THEY HAD ONE STANDARD, round 
 which they all rallied, and that was " the tabernacle of the congrega- 
 tion," the well-known type of Christ in his character and offices. And 
 indeed, this was one of the ends which God had in view, in calling 
 out the Levites by His grace, from amongst the people of Israel ; it 
 was that they should stand in marked association with Aaron and 
 his sons, and, in that association, bear the tabernacle and all pertaining 
 thereto, on their shoulders, through the barren wilderness around.f 
 
 God did not call out the Levites merely that they might escape 
 the sad effects of God's absence from their assembly ; or, in other 
 words, God had more than THEIR blessing and security in view in His 
 dealings with them. He designed that they should serve in the taber- 
 nacle, and thus be to His praise and glory. We shall, however, I 
 trust, see this principle, upon which I am dwelling, in a clearer and 
 stronger point of view*, as we proceed in our subject. 
 
 We find that Levi had three sons, viz. : " Gershon, and Kohath, 
 and Merari." (Cn. iii. 17.) These formed the heads of the three 
 classes alluded to, and we shall find that the nature of the service of 
 each was such as of necessity to impart that tone of character signified 
 by their very name. Thus ; " of Gershon was the family of the Lib- 
 nites and the family of the Shimites : these are the families of the Ger- 
 shonites. And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites 
 shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael. And the charge of the sons of Ger- 
 shon, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall be the tabernacle and 
 the tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the taber- 
 
 * NOTE It is worthy the serious attention of the Christian reader, who may desire the unity 
 of the Church, that the tribe of Levi, in the desert, was a truly striking example of what may he 
 termed " unity in diversity." Gershon was, in one sense, totally different from Merari ; and Merari 
 was totally different from'Kohath, and yet Gershon, Merari, and Kohath were one they should not, 
 therefore contend ahout their service, because they were one, nor yet, would it have been right to 
 confound their services, because they were totally different Thus, attention to unity would have 
 saved them from contention ; and attention to diversity would have saved them from confusion In 
 a word, " all things could only be done decently and in order " by a due attention to the fact of 
 their being " unity in diversity." 
 
 + NOTE I say, one of the ends, for we should ever remember that the grand object before 
 the divine mind in redemption, is to shew in the ages to come His kindness towards us through 
 Christ Jesus, and this object will be secured even though our poor puny services had never been 
 heard of.
 
 26 THE HISTORY OP THE 
 
 nacle of the congregation. And the hangings of the court, and the 
 curtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and 
 by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service there- 
 of." (VER. 2126.) 
 
 Here was Gershon's work, to carry through the waste and 
 howling wilderness the tabernacle and its coverings. This was in- 
 deed true Levite service, but it was most blessed service, and its anti- 
 type in the Church now is what we should much seek after, because 
 it is that which alone puts the Christian into his right place in the 
 world, i. e. the place of a STRANGER. There could be but little at- 
 tractiveness in the rams' skins and badgers' skins, but, little as there 
 was, it was, nevertheless, the high privilege of the Gershonite to take 
 them all up and bear them cheerfully on his shoulders across the 
 trackless sand. What then are we to understand by the covering of 
 the tabernacle ? I believe, in a word, it shadowed out the character 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was that which would meet the eye. 
 There might be, and were, other services among the Levites of a very 
 blessed nature, but surely it was most elevated service to carry through 
 the desert that which so strikingly prefigured the character of Christ. 
 
 This is what makes the saint "a stranger" (as the name Ger- 
 shon imports) in the world. If we are walking in the manifestation of 
 the character of the Lord Jesus, and, in so doing, realize our place as in 
 the wilderness, we may rest assured it will impart a very decided tone 
 of strangership to our character in the world. And oh ! would that 
 we knew much more of this. The Church has laid down the rams' 
 skins and badgers' skins, and with them the Gershonite character ; in 
 other words, the Church has ceased to walk in the footsteps of her re- 
 jected Lord and master, and the consequence has been that instead of 
 being the wearied and worn stranger, as she should be, treading the 
 parched and sterile desert, with the burden on the shoulders, she has 
 settled herself down in the green places of the world and made her- 
 self at home. But there was another feature of the stranger character 
 shadowed out in the curtain, viz. : anticipation. This was most blessed 
 God dwelling in curtains shewed plainly that neither God, nor the 
 ark of His strength had found a resting place, but w 'ere journeying on 
 toward "a rest that remained." 
 
 And how could there be a rest in the desert ? There were no 
 rivers and brooks there no old corn there no milk and honey 
 there. True the smitten rock sent forth its refreshing streams to 
 meet their need, and Heaven sent down their daily bread; but 
 all this was not Canaan. They were still in the desert, eating 
 wilderness food, and drinking wilderness water, and it was Gershon's 
 holy privilege to carry upon his shoulders that which, in the fullest 
 manner expressed all this, viz. : THE CURTAIN ; " Thus saith the 
 Lord, shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in ? Whereas 
 I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the 
 children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in 
 a tent and a tabernacle." (ii. SAM. vii. 5, 6.) Here too we have 
 sadly failed. The church grew weary of the curtain, and wished to
 
 TRIBE OF Ll-VI CONsIHJ: 27 
 
 build an house before the time ; she grew weary of ' walki,^, 
 tent" and earnestly desired to " dvsell in a house." 
 
 And truly we have all to watch and pray against this disposition 
 to grow weary of our Gershonite character. There is nothing so 
 trying to nature as continual labor in a state of expectancy; our hearts 
 love rest and fruition, and therefore nothing but the continual re- 
 membrance that " our sufficiency is of God " can at all sustain us in 
 our Gershon or stranger condition. 
 
 Let us therefore remember that we bear on our shoulders the 
 curtains, and have beneath our feet the sand of the desert, above our 
 heads the pillar of cloud, and before us " the land of rest " clothed in 
 never withering green, and, both as a stimulus and a warning, let us 
 remember that " He that endureth to the end THE SAME shall be 
 saved." * 
 
 We shall next consider the Merarite feature of character ; for, 
 although the family of Merari does not stand next in order in the 
 chapter, yet there is a kindredness of spirit, as it were, arising out 
 of the very nature of their service, that would link them together in 
 the mind. But, not only is there this intimate connexion between the 
 services of these two classes of Levites, which would lead us to link 
 them together thus; the Lord Himself presents them to us in 
 marked unity of service, for we read, " And the Kohathites set 
 forward bearing the sanctuary ; and the other (i. e., the Gershonites 
 and the Merarites) did set up the tabernacle before they came" 
 (Num. x. 21.) Here then we see that it was the great business of 
 these two families to pass onward through the desert, in holy com- 
 panionship, bearing with them, wherever they went, " the taber- 
 nacle" and, moreover the tabernacle as looked at in its character 
 of outward manifestation or testimony; which uould as a matter of 
 course, put those who carried it thus, into a place of very laborious 
 discipleship. ' And under the custody and charge of the sons of 
 Merari, shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, 
 and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels 
 thereof, and all that serveth thereto. And the pillars of the court 
 round about, and their sockets, and the pins and their cords." f 
 (Chap. in. 36, 37.) Here then was what Merari had to do, he had 
 to take his place here or there, according to the movement of the 
 cloud, and set up the boards of the tabernacle in their sockets of 
 silver, and all this, be it remembered, upon the sand of the desert. 
 
 * It would surely be of all importance, in tliis day, when so many are declining from the narrow 
 path of obedience to the written word, and entering upon the wide and bewildering field of human 
 tradition, to bear in mind that the Levite, when earning the tabernacle through the desert, found 
 no support nor guide from beneath no the grace in "which he stood was his sale support, and the 
 pillar above his sole guide. 
 
 It would have been miserable indeed, had he been left to find a guide in the footmarks on the 
 sand, which would change at every wind that blew lint, /"' thr smut did for him was to add to his 
 tabor and toil while he mdearovred tn foliate the hfarenly </"i<t-: obrjre his head. 
 
 t XOTK [ would .just observe here that what would tend, not a little, to add to the sorrow and 
 
 anxiety of the Meraritc iimuir.:-' us would be the charge of "the pins and their cords." For these, 
 
 ion-, were designed to secure the manifested unity of the whole thing ; and truly the present 
 
 the Clinrcl; Mainly what a dimc'ult thing it would "be to secure such unity 
 
 IIDW. 
 
 * NOTE It has been well observed that, in the tabernacle, God was seen bringing all His glory
 
 28 THE HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Could anything be more opposed to another than the nature of all 
 that Merari had to set up was to the waste and howling wilderness 
 around? What could be more unlike than silver and barren sand ? 
 But Merari might not shrink from all this no his language was, 
 when he had arrived at a spot in the desert at which the cloud halted, 
 ' / am come to set up the patterns of things in Heaven in the very 
 midst of all the desolation and misery of the wilderness around.' 
 All this was most laborious, and would, no doub_t, impart to the 
 character of Merari a tone of sadness or sorrow which was at once 
 expressed in his name which means " sorrow." And surely the 
 antitype of all this in the Church now will fully confirm what has 
 been stated about the character of Merari. Let any one take his 
 stand firmly and decidedly in the world for Christ let him penetrate 
 into those places where " the world" is really seen in its vigor let 
 him oppose himself firm as a rock to the deep and rapid tide of 
 worldliness, and there let him begin to set up '' the sockets of silver," 
 and rest assured of it, he will find such a course attended with very 
 much sorrow and bitterness of soul, in a word, he will realize it to 
 be a path in which the cross is to be taken up "daily," and not only 
 taken up but borne. Now, if any further proof were needed of the 
 above interpretation, we have a most striking one in the fact that there 
 are but very few of the laborious Merarite character to be found 
 amongst us ; and why is this ? Simply because the exhibition of 
 such a character will ever be attended with very much labor and 
 sorrow to nature, and nature loves ease, and therefore human nature 
 never could be a Merarite; nothing will make us true Merarites, 
 but deep communion with Him who was "A MAN OF SORROWS." 
 Indeed, there is even something in the Gershonite character which 
 might not offend nature so much, for, do we not often find a charac- 
 ter tinged with misanthropy which, to a certain extent, savors of the 
 Gershonite ? 
 
 And further, there is something in the service of Gershon from 
 which one does not shrink at all so much as from that of Merari. 
 For what had Gershon to do ? He had only to throw the curtains 
 and badgers' skins over the boards winch had been already set up by 
 his laborious and sorrowful brother. And just so now : if a laborious 
 servant of God has gone to a place where, hitherto, the world and 
 Satan have reigned supreme, and there raised a testimony for Christ, 
 it will be comparatively easy for another to go and walk on in the 
 simple manifestation of Christian character, which would, of itself, 
 put him into the place of '* a stranger." In other words, it is more 
 difficult to set up the sockets and boards of the tabernacle than it is 
 to arrange the curtains thereof. But, although nature may assume 
 
 into immediate connexion with the sand of the dtsert ; and when the high priest went into the holy 
 place, he found himself in the very presence of that glory with his feet upon the sand of the desert 
 likewise. In the Temple, however, this was not the case, for the floor of the house was overlaid 
 vitkqM. H Knurs \ , 
 
 So is it with the Christian now, he has not as yet his feet upon the " pure gold " of the heavenly 
 city, but his deepest and most abiding knowledge of God is that which he obtains in connexion 
 with his sorrow, toil and conflict in the wilderness.
 
 TUIBE OF LEVI CONSIDEUK1). 29 
 
 the character of a misanthropist, as above observed, yet nothing but 
 grace can make us Merarites, and the true Merarite is the true 
 philanthropist, because he introduces that which alone can bless; and 
 the very fact that a Merarite should have to take a place of sorrow 
 is a most convincing proof that the world is an evil place. There 
 was no need of a Merarite in Canaan, nor a Gershonite either, for 
 the Merarite was happy there, and the Gershonite at home ; but the 
 world is not the Levite's home, and therefore if any will carry the 
 curtains he must be a stranger; and, if any will carry the sockets and 
 boards, he must be a man of a sorrowful spirit ; for, when He, 
 who was a true Gershonite, and a true Merarite came into the 
 world, He 'Avas emphatically u The man of sorrows who had not 
 where to lay his head." However, if the Gershonite and the Merarite 
 had to occupy a place in which they endured not a little of " the 
 burden and heat of the day," yet, the Lord graciously met them in 
 that with a very rich reward, for, " He is not unrighteous to forget 
 your work and labor of love," and therefore, if they had to labor and 
 toil amongst their brethren, they were blessedly ministered to by 
 their brethren. Thus we read concerning the offerings of the princes. 
 " And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, take it of them that they 
 may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and 
 thou shall give them unto the Levites, to every man according to 
 his service. And Moses took the wagons and the oxen and gave 
 them unto the Levites, two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the 
 sons of Gershon, according to their service. And four wagons aud 
 eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their 
 service, under the hand of Itharnar the son of Aaron the priest. 
 But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none ; because the service of the 
 sanctuary belonging unto them was, that they should bear upon 
 their shoulders." (Numb. vii. 4 9.) Here we see that the service 
 of Gershon and Merari was that which met the rich and blessed 
 ministrations of their brethren. Grace had filled the hearts and 
 affections of the princes, and not only filled but overflowed them, and, 
 in its overflow, it was designed to refresh the spirits of the homeless 
 Gershonite and sorrowful Merarite; on the other hand, the Koha- 
 thites had no part in these ministrations, and why ? Because their 
 service, as we shall see presently, was, in itself, a rich reward indeed. 
 We see the very same doctrine taught in case of the Levites generally, 
 as contrasted with the priests, in the 18th Chapter, where we read: 
 " And the Lord spake unto Aaron, thou shalt have no inheritance 
 in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them, I am thy 
 part and thy inheritance among the children of Israel." (v. 23.) On 
 the other hand, He says of the Levites " Behold I have given the 
 children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their 
 service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the 
 congregation." And again, " ye shall eat it in every place, ye and 
 your households, for it is your reward for your service in the taber- 
 uacle of the congregation." (Ver. 21, 31.) Aaron occupied a
 
 30 THE HISTORJT OF THE 
 
 position so truly elevated that any inheritance in the way of e;.: 
 things would have been to him most degrading, whereas the Le- 
 vites, (looked at in one aspect) had not this high standing, but had 
 much hard labor, and consequently, while Aaron's very place and 
 service was " his reward,' the Levites had to get a tenth for 
 " their reward," 
 
 AVe now come to consider the third and last division of the Levites. 
 viz. the Kohathites, of whom we read, "the families of the sons of 
 Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward. And 
 the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites 
 shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. And their charge shall be 
 the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the 
 vessels of the sanctuary wherew ; th they minister, and the hanging, 
 and all the service thereof." (Chap. iii. 30, 31.) We can n >vv have 
 no difficulty in understanding why it was that Kohath had no shar 
 in the ministrations of the princes. Gershon and Merari migM ne^ 
 wagons and oxen to carry the boards, &c., but not so Kohath, hi: 
 charge was too precious to be committed to any or aught but him- 
 self, and therefore it was his high and honored place to carry all 
 upon his shoulders. AY hat a privilege, for example, to be allowed 
 to carry the ark, the table, or the golden candlestick. And would i' 
 not have argued an entire absence of ability to appreciate Ms elevated 
 calling, if he had sought for the assistance of oxen in his holy 
 service? What then, we ask, would have been the effect produced 
 upon the character of Kohath, by this his service ? AVould it not 
 have imparted a very elevated tone thereto? Surely it would. 
 AVhat can be more elevated, at least as far as development of 
 character in the world is concerned, than the display of that congre- 
 gational, spirit which is expressed in the name of Koath ? Should 
 not Christians be found rebuking by a real union in every t 
 man's oft repeated attempt at forming associations for various purp< 
 ses? And how can they effect that if it be not by gathering more 
 closely around their common centre, Christ in all the blessed fulnes!^ 
 and variety of that name, a fulness and variety, typified by tht 
 varied furniture of the tabernacle, some of the most precious parts o 
 which were designed to be borne on the shoulders of this favore* 
 division of the tribe of Levi. 
 
 And surely we may safelv assert that, what would lead the saint 
 now into more of the congregational spirit is just communion wirl 
 Him whom the ark and table shadowed forth. If we were more con 
 versant with Christ as the ark, covering in the ministration of death, 
 and moreover, with the table of shew bread, whereon stood the fooi 
 of the priest*. If, I say, we knew more of Christ in these blessec 
 aspects of His character, we should not be as we are, a proverb and 
 a by -word, by reason of our gross disunion. But alas! as the Churcn 
 weary of the curtains and the boards, and laid aside her Ger- 
 shonite and Merarite character, so has she bid aside her Kohathite 
 chamcu r, because she has ceased to carry the ark and the table upon
 
 TRIBJ 
 
 her shoulder, and cast the A 000 091 828 4 [h the 
 
 grace of God, her peculiar piupcu.^, iu me awiue, <um tuus uas she 
 lost her elevated character and position in the world. 
 
 Thus, let us review those three grand features of character shewn 
 forth in the tribe of Levi. 
 
 1st, Strangership, ' Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it 
 knew him not." " Here we have no abiding city." "Dearly beloved, 
 I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims to abstain from fleshly lusts 
 which war against the soul." 
 
 2nd, Sorrow in the world. " In the world ye shall have tribula- 
 tion." " If they have persecuted me they will also persecute you." 
 " I RECKON that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to 
 be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." " After 
 that ye have suffered awhile make you perfect." "ye have need of 
 patience" " ye yourselves know that ye are appointed thereunto " 
 " If we suffer with him we shall also reign with Him." " These 
 are they that came out of great tribulation, and have washed their 
 robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." 
 
 3rd, Union, " That they all may be one." " He should gather 
 together in one the children of God that are scattered abroad." " That 
 He might reconcile both unto God in ONE body by the cross." And 
 here again, I would request of my reader to bear in mind that, 
 while there was this beautiful diversity in the character and line of 
 service of the Levites, yet they were one people, and that manifestly 
 they were one in life, one in standing, one in calling, one in in- 
 heritance ; and so should it be with cbristians now. We are not to 
 expect uniformity of opinion on every point, nor yet are we to look 
 for a perfect correspondence in the line of service and development 
 of life ; but then the saints should be seen as one people, one in 
 worship,* one in labor, one in object, one in sympathy ; in a word, 
 one in everything that belongs to them in common as the people of 
 God. 
 
 How sadly out of order it would have been for a Levite to call 
 upon one of the uncircumcised of the nations around to assist him 
 in carrying any part of the tabernacle ; and yet, we hear Christians 
 now justifying, and insisting upon the propriety of conduct not less 
 disorderly, viz. : calling upon the openly unconverted and profane to 
 put their hands to the Lord's work. Thus we see that the Levites 
 have become scattered, and have forsaken their posts. The Ger- 
 shonite has refused to carry the curtains, because he has become 
 weary of the stranger condition. The Merarite has laid down the 
 boards and sockets, because he grew weary of bearing the cross; 
 and the Kohathite has degraded his high and holy office by making 
 
 t s;>y, one in worship, and I would press this point, because, at the present day. it 
 seems to be a thought in the rumds of many that there may be unity in service, and, at th> 
 
 greatest diversity in worship. I would appeal to the spiritual mind of the Christian reader, 
 aud I would ask him can tins really be'r What should we say to a family who would un 
 
 ' heir father's work, but who cutild n 
 
 isfy a father who loved his
 
 32 THE HISTORY OP THE TRIBE OF LEVI CONSIDERED. 
 
 it the common property of those who have no authority from God 
 to put their hands thereunto. Thus the name of God is blasphemed 
 among the heathen, by us, and we do " not sigh and cry for the 
 abominations" thus practised, but lift up our heads in proud indif- 
 ference as if all were right, and as if the camp of God were moving 
 onward in all Heavenly order, under the guidance of the cloud, 
 communicated by the silver trumpets. " My brethren, these things 
 ought not so to be." May we walk more numbly before our God, 
 and, while we mourn over the sad fact that, " overturn, overturn, 
 overturn" has been written, by the finger of God, upon all human 
 arrangements, let us remember that it is only " until He come whose 
 right it is," and then all shall be set right for ever, for, God, in all 
 things, shall be fully glorified through Jesus Christ. 
 
 Thus, dear reader, have wte followed Levi in his course, and oh ! 
 what a marvellous course has it been, a course, every step of which 
 displays the visible marks of sovereign grace abounding over man's 
 sin. Grace, which led God to stoop from His throne in the Heavens, 
 to visit " the habitations of cruelty," in order to lift a poor perishing 
 sinner from thence, and bring him, through the purging power of 
 the blood, into a place of marvellous blessing indeed, even into the 
 very tabernacle of God, there to be employed about the instruments 
 of God's house. We have found Levi to have been indeed the one 
 who "was dead and is alive again ; who was lost and is found." May 
 we then, adore the grace that could do such mighty acts, and 
 if we have felt in our hearts the operations of the same grace, in 
 delivering us from the death and darkness of Egypt, may we re- 
 member that its effects should be to constrain us to live, not unto 
 ourselves, but unto Him Avho died for us and rose again. We are 
 now in the wilderness, where we are called to carry the tabernacle, 
 may we cheerfully move onward, "declaring PLAINLY that we seek a 
 country," and anxiously look out for " THE REST THAT REMAINS." 
 
 Jolm "Wright, Printer, Thomas Street, Bristol.