1 Chronicles 23:13 says, “The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was set apart “separated” [KJV], he and his sons forever” to minister to the Lord. The three sons of Levi and their jobs are discussed in this article. Clearly, we pointed out the fact that Moses sons were not priests to the Lord, though Levites. The daughter of Amram through Jochebed was Miriam. “The name of Amram's wife was Jochebed the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and to Amram she bore Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam” (Numbers 26:59).
1 Chronicles 6:1 gives the name of the sons of Levi as Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Among them were divided the works of the Tabernacle of the Lord. For the Kohath, his sons were four, including Amram and Moses (1 Chronicles 23:12-13). Aaron was separated to be priest to the Lord. It is his job that he should “sanctify the most holy things, to burn incense before the Lord, to minister to Him, and to give the blessing in His name forever” (1 Chronicles 23:13).
Moses Sons, Not Priest
“Moses and Aaron were among His priests” (Psalm 99:6a). However, Moses descendants were not ordained as priests to the Lord, being not from the family of Aaron. Aaron, the elder brother of Moses, has his own family, so also Moses (Exodus 7:1, 7; 6:23). “Now the sons of Moses the man of God were reckoned to the tribe of Levi. The sons of Moses were Gershon and Eliezer” (1 Chronicles 23:14-15). Gershon (also written as Gershom) and Eliezer, sons of Moses, being not reckoned to the clan of Aaron could not minister as priests before the Lord to burn incense and offer sacrifices. Gershom means "I have been a stranger in a foreign land" and Eliezer (also written as Eliemzer) means "The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh" (Exodus 18:3-4).
However, Gershon and Eliezer were “reckoned to the tribe of Levi”; therefore, they could perform the tasks that other Levites could do, but not that of the priests from the family of Aaron.
Levites As Teachers
“Then he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to the Lord: "Put the Holy Ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. It shall no longer be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel” (2 Chronicles 35:3). To know and gain insight into the deep things of God, the citizens must be taught the ways of the Lord. The Levites were utilized to teach the Jews to know the laws of their God, which He commanded their fathers.
“And they have turned to me the back, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction” (Jeremiah 32:33). Teach the learners to become God’s teachers, good and efficient teachers to make God known. No matter the level of your education, you have to be taught systematically the inspired word of God (2 Timothy 2:15). The old knowledgeable adults must mandatorily teach the younger men the way of the Lord.
Today, in the church, younger brethren should be trained to grow in grace and knowledge of God (2 Peter 3:18). As future leaders in the church, conscientious and well-fashioned out training should be put in place for the youths for the furtherance of the gospel of Christ Jesus.
The world is to be taught to fear the Lord; to do His will and live a righteous life, rather than perverted and corrupted lives. Today’s trained person is tomorrow capable resource person to make deep facts known to others about the Lord. These resource persons are scarce in the world today, so the church should wake-up to train the brethren, males and females, before all the older knowledgeable brethren pass away.
Rest of the Levites
The rest of the Levites served in various capacities such as porters (gate-keepers), musicians and cleaning of Tabernacle vessels. They were never made to minister to the Lord being not from Aaron’s family. Of note is that Ahijah the Levite was “over the treasuries of the house of God and over the treasuries of the dedicated things”. Besides, the grandson of Moses (Shebuel) through Gershom was “overseer of the treasuries”. All other dedicated things from various sources, including “spoils won in battles” were kept by “Shelomith and his brethren” (1 Chronicles 26:20, 24, 26-28).
The Levites performed other important duties, aside washing of dishes. They were “officials and judges over Israel outside Jerusalem”. King David also appointed Levites as “officials over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, for every matter pertaining to God and the affairs of the king” (1 Chronicles 26: 29, 32). As a judge, Ezekiel wrote, “In controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed meetings, and they shall hallow my Sabbaths” (Ezekiel 44:24).
As Ark Carriers
Furthermore, the Priest and Levites were carriers of the Ark of God. “So all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark. Then they brought up the ark, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The Priests and the Levites brought them up…Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim” (2 Chronicles 5:4-7). The Levites carried the Ark; the Priests positioned it in the Most Holy place.
“And the Levites who were the singers, …, and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets ---indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying: "For He is good, for His mercy endures forever," that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God” (2 Chronicles 5:12-14).
The Levites were important personalities in Israel. Without the priests (Aaron family), no offering of sacrifices; and if the other Levites were not around, who would take care of the gates and songs?
Lessons to learn
There are several lessons to learn from our discussion, which include:
The church should make maximum use of skillful and capable brethren to work for the Lord (1 Chronicles 25:7). Note that not all of them were appointed to work for the Lord, but the competent ones among them. Also, the disabled Levites were not permitted to officiate before the Lord (Leviticus 21:18-19).
There should be no partiality and racist discrimination in assigning duties in the church. Love and competency should be the guiding principles.
The tasks in the church should be categorized and assigned based on commitment, purity and competence as Apostle Paul noted in 2 Timothy 2:2: “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also”. Not every member of the church is committed and reliable. Humanly speaking, it is not all church members that are living in-line with the divine word of God.
Every brother should be ready to work for the Lord at very low levels, such as cleaning the chairs, sweeping the floor and cleaning the windows. To teach the children should be the task for all competent brethren. This calls for teaching and training in the fold. To know how to teach is to teach what one knows.
Conclusion
We have addressed the goals of this article, but there are still other considerations untouched, such as concern for physically handicapped folks from Aaron family and the entire Levites. Wrapping up this piece, we note that only the family of Aaron was appointed as priests to minister in things pertaining to incense burnings and offering of different sacrifices including burnt offering, sin and meal (or grain or cereal) offerings. Besides, the other Levites assisted the priests, sons of Aaron as 1 Chronicles 23:28-32 clearly shows.
Though from the tribe of Levites, Moses and his two sons and their descendants were not ordained as priests to the Lord because they were not from the family of Aaron who was given the Priesthood. Levites could serve as “officials and judges over Israel outside Jerusalem”. The church should strategize her works in order to achieve maximum results timely and easily (1 Chronicles 23:6; 2 Chronicles 8:14; 29:25). Do not be “too big” to carry out a particular task assigned to you, and which you have insight to do, in the church. As musicians, the Levites praised the Lord; and as porters, they meticulously kept the gates and precious treasures of the house of the Lord from being stolen. Remember what Prophet Jeremiah said, “Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord deceitfully” (Jeremiah 48:10a). Are you, as a Christian today, working faithfully, truthfully and loyally for the Lord?