“4So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand,” says the Lord of hosts. “5 My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name.
“6True instruction was in his mouth, and no
wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he
turned many from iniquity. 7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge,
and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of
the Lord of hosts.
“8But you have turned aside from the way. You
have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the
covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of hosts,
“9and so I make you despised
and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show
partiality in your instruction.”
This passage is a continuation of the previous part. God is bringing
the Priests and the Levites to task about their insincerity and the bad example
they have set for the people with their disobedient leadership. If the priests
are being disobedient then it is like saying to the people, “Its ok to sin.” Therefore,
God will deliberately discredit them, publically humiliate them until they
learn to be worthy representatives of God.[1]
God begins by reminding the Levites of the specific covenant He made
with them. Now technically, the Bible doesn’t ever record there being a
specific covenant with Levi. However, the tribe of Levi was given the specific
duties of the priesthood in Deuteronomy 10:8: “At that time the Lord set
apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord, to serve Him and to bless in His
name until this very day.” Therefore, upholding the sacredness of God and
serving Him, was their own part of the Mosaic Covenant with God.
Verses 6-7 provide a beautiful description of what it meant to be a Levite
and priest. It was not just about being able to perform the ceremonial
functions, or being an expert in the law, he was supposed to be God’s messenger
among His people to teach and have a strong moral influence in their lives. The
devotion and integrity of the Levites was supposed to encourage the rest of the
Israelites to follow their example and live holy lives.[2] Think
of it as having your own Mother Teresa nearby to give advice, interpret
Scripture, and provide moral correction.
Look at Isaiah 52:7:
“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good
news,
Who
proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation,
Who
say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
This was who the Levites were supposed to be: heralds of God’s glory,
grace, and love for His people. Instead, there is no good news, there is no
peace and no blessings, and there will be no salvation because the Levites have
forgotten who God made them to be, and are living a lie. They are providing a
good moral example for the people and are even active in leading them astray,
and leading them to believe lies about who they are and who God is.
There is a reason James says that not many of his audience should wish
to become teachers: “Not many of you
should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach
will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never
at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.”
What is James saying here? That those who teach are likely to make mistakes and
lead others astray because they are human and dealing with the effect of sin in
the world. It doesn’t mean there isn’t grace to cover those mistakes, but it
means teachers accept a heavy responsibility when they take on that role
because what they say, if not accurate or completely right, may lead others
astray. This is why God is so harsh with the Levites. They were the teachers,
and they were doing a terrible job.
God is going to cause them to be publically despised and humiliated
because of their insincerity and how they have led others astray. What were
they doing though? Verse 9 says they showed partiality in matters of the law.
That means the guy with the nice suit and the wallet full of cash was told
exactly what he wanted to hear: “God wants you happy, so it’s ok to do X, Y,
& Z. That’ll be $100 please. The poor man who had no money to buy the Levite’s
favor was dismissed, humiliated, and shown injustice.
Last night, while watching the Jay Leno show, he made a joke about a Jack
Schaap, a mega church priest that admitted he had told a seventeen year old
young woman in his congregation that Jesus wanted them to have sex, or become
eternal lovers, in order to get her to sleep with him.[3] This
is a married man, a father of two, and a spiritual leader using the power and
authority of his position to manipulate others. This is what the Levites were
doing: gross, inappropriate, and unrighteous acts for their own selfish desires.
This is why God was going to judge them.
Not all of us have such power and authority as the Levites, or Jack
Schaap though, yet, as mentioned in the previous post, we are all part of the
priesthood of believers, and therefore we are all going to be held accountable
for what we say to others and how we may be leading them astray. This is why it
is so important to read and intimately know Scripture, because it reveals God’s
character, will, and desires to us. If we don’t know God’s truth, we will fall
for the devil’s lies and take others with us. If we don’t know God’s truth, the
counsel and advice we give to others will always fall short of inspiring
righteousness and true submission to His will. We must know our Creator and
Sustainer, and we must know and understand who He has made us to me and how our
words and actions do or do not reflect His glory.
[1][1][1] James
T. H. Adamson, “Malachi,” in The New
Bible Commentary: Revised, edited by D. Guthrie and J. A. Motyer, (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Co, 1970), 807.
[2]
Adamson, 807.
[3]
Check out an article on this monstrosity here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/14/jack-schaap-pastor-sex-teenage-girl-indiana_n_2877551.html
It is amazing that there is nothing new under the sun, when it comes to human behaviour.
ReplyDeleteI love verse 6 describing how a priest should be. It applies to us as generally as Christians, but maybe more personally as parents. In a conversation with another parent I was struck by how much we need to be in God's word, being reminded of how we are to live, and teach others how to live, and yet how demanding parenting is and how little time there is to read God's word &/or spend quiet time listening. Maybe that's why grandparents are so important! We hopefully have the time and have reflected back on what we would do differently.