Levi the Violent

In Mike's sermon this weekend,l he talked about the Levitical priesthood. They were the descendants of one of Jacob's sons named, Levi. The Levites were given a fundamentally different "inheritance" than the other tribes of Israel. Instead of receiving land where they were to settle, the Levite tribe were made into Israel's priests.

You could say that they were given a ministry instead of a land. You might think that they were entrusted with this assignment because of their unique giftedness for this purpose. But, in fact, they were given this assignment because their ancestor was a violent murder. Check out Gen 49:5-7.

Just before he died, the patriarch, Jacob, blessed each of his sons. This blessing was a prophecy about what the tribes that would come from each of their descendants would be like. Because Levi was an angry and violent man who had killed so many, Jacob said that he would be "scattered among his brothers." This is exactly what happened. The Levites, as priests, settled towns that were scattered throughout all the tribes of Israel.

Sometimes we think that being a priest (serving) others is only reserved for the spiritual people. Or we think that God can't use us for His kingdom because of the mistakes we've made in our past. But God chose as the ministers of His nation people who came from a man so violent and unstable that he couldn't be trusted with a land of his own.

God will use you to do amazing things...you just have to let him work through you and stop letting your guilt and insecurity get in the way.