LEVI
Address by James Taylor at Coombe Street, Croydon, April 18, 1915 Psalm 50:5; Deuteronomy 33:8,9; Luke 10:17 - 20 I wish to speak about the tribe of Levi, a tribe, as you all know, specially selected from among the other eleven tribes of Israel, and as such, specially typical of Christians, those who are partakers of the heavenly calling. A very great thought for us, as I hope to show, especially as it suggests the thought of our being a kind of firstfruits of God’s creatures. There is always something special about firstfruits, and they refer to the early product of the Spirit as coming from heaven. The Lord having ascended into heaven as Man proposes to bring about a heavenly state of things down here, and hence He gave the Spirit in a unique way to His followers, so that in the freshness and enjoyment of the Spirit there might be brought about here a heavenly order of things; a people whose calling is heavenly, whose relationships are heavenly, and whose spirit, being the spirit of the ascended Man, is heavenly. In that way, we have brought to light the sovereign act of God referred to by James, “According to his own will begat he us by the word of truth, that we should be a certain first-fruits of his creatures”. James 1:18. The sovereign will of God came into evidence in that which was being begotten from the coming of the Spirit, a kind of firstfruits for God. There was a freshness and enjoyment of the Spirit given characteristically to the disciples of Jesus, so that the sovereignty of God was apparent in it and then He had something for Himself, God had something for Himself - a firstfruits. Wonderful that we should come in, dear brethren, on those lines: that we should have part in that which is called in scripture the firstfruits. Jesus was the firstfruits from the dead; we are the firstfruits of God’s creatures and our destiny is heavenly. We belong to what is called the assembly of the firstborn, the firstborn ones, enregistered in heaven. Now that is what the tribe of Levi points to; and I wish to draw your attention to the road travelled by us, dear brethren, in order to get on to the Levitical platform. Not now the Levites of the book of Numbers, but the Levites of the book of Joshua. The Levites of the book of Numbers - the same family of course - refer to us as God’s servants, as carrying on the service of God down here - bearing burdens; whereas the Levites of the book of Joshua refer to us as the privileged family. But before we get on to that platform, there had to be sacrifice. So I felt encouraged to read that passage in Psalm 50, because it refers to God’s interest in a people who sacrifice. I do not say that God is not interested in us before, beloved brethren. God’s [p. 183] interest was in me before the world was, and in you and in every saint. Our names were known before the foundation of the world - wonderful thought! And the divine wishes were there, not according to what our history may be on earth, but according to God’s work in us, answering to His counsel of love. We are of interest to Him in that connection, He delights in us; He predestinated us, we are told, unto sonship, that we should be “to the praise of the glory of His grace”, Ephesians 1:6; “that we should be holy and blameless before him in love” Ephesians 1:4. In His eternal counsels He had us in view according to the full fruition of His own work in us. There will be no crowding there, beloved brethren, but a place for every one for us. Every name will be there according to the fixity of eternal counsels. But God has great interest in our movements down here, and takes account of sacrifice. It is a sad deflection that, as far as Scripture shows, the Israelites offered no voluntary sacrifice in the wilderness. There were doubtless mixed sacrifices offered by appointment through Moses and Aaron, but there is no evidence of voluntary ones. Full provision was made for them - the book of Leviticus shows the provision divinely made for voluntary sacrifices, but alas! there is no evidence of any having been offered. And yet before ever the people left Egypt, Moses asserted that the cattle had to go in order that there should be sacrifices. Pharaoh would detain them with the children, but Moses [p. 184] stipulated that the cattle must go in order that there should be sacrifices. The Gadites and the Manassites and the Reubenites represent the saints in their earthly-mindedness - they had much cattle. Had they sacrificed them, they should not have had so many; but the retention of the cattle was what detained them on the wilderness side of Jordan. We have to beware of the increase of the cattle - worldly goods. Had they sacrificed more, they would have had less cattle but more heavenly-mindedness. Alas! they had no thought of heaven for themselves.
They went over the Jordan to procure for others a portion in the heavenlies. But that accomplished, they went back to their wives, their children and their cattle. They fell short of heavenly-mindedness. Remember, you may have a heavenly mind without being in heaven. No one ever goes in without having a heavenly mind. It is heavenly-minded persons who go in. I take Moses to have been the most heavenly-minded man in all Israel. He had the land in his heart; it was in his mind, he was a heavenly-minded man. I am not saying anything about the reasons why he did not go in. He was not detained, beloved brethren, by his cattle. Now I will tell you what cattle, earthly belongings, tend to. They tend to the strengthening of natural links. Natural family links are fostered most where there are most cattle. You find that as an historical fact and it is established by Scripture; hence the great restorative for us is [p. 185] sacrifice. We are all His saints, I need not say, called out of the world, but not now simply His saints but those who have made a covenant with Him by sacrifice. He has made a covenant with us by sacrifice. Think of the sacrifice that the blessed God had made in order to establish in your soul a link with Himself. That holy life of Jesus here upon earth - what else did God think of? The cattle upon a thousand hills are His. “The earth is Jehovah’s, and the fulness thereof” Psalm 24:1. He did not give the cattle or the earth for us - that were a small matter to Him, He gave the Son of His love, beloved brethren. He gave up Jesus, and when I say ‘Jesus’ I speak advisedly, for ‘Jesus’ refers to what He was as a Man down here among men for the divine pleasure. During the thirty-three years of His blessed life down here, God’s eye was delighting; His eye rested on that green spot, we may say, for He was a green tree cut off in the midst of His days. “His life is taken from the earth” Acts 8:33. God made a sacrifice in order to establish a link between Himself and your soul; that is what the blood of Christ means. “The new covenant in my blood” 1 Corinthians 11:25, says the Lord. The covenant refers to God, the covenant is not between Christ and the people. He is the Mediator of it. The covenant is between God and the people. God made a sacrifice in order to establish a link between Himself and our souls. Well now, He looked for a return, and He called for an assembly of those [p. 186] who make a return, those who on their side make a covenant with Him by sacrifice. You may say, ‘I have not anything to give, I have not any cattle’. Levi was not over-burdened with cattle, although he had some. He sacrificed what was more than cattle; he sacrificed his father and mother, he sacrificed his brother and his sister, he sacrificed his own children. He repudiated all on the ground of nature. How perfectly that is seen in Christ! He says, “What have I to do with thee, woman?” John 2:4, and yet she was His mother. Have you not something to sacrifice? Are natural ties more than spiritual ties? If they are, you are not on the Levitical platform; you are on the ground of nature. Look at the history of job. His sons and his daughters were all together feasting in the house of the firstborn. Why not their father’s house? That was divine order. They were simply on the ground of nature - recognized family precedent - natural honours. Job sacrificed for his family, but they feasted without him in their elder brother’s house.
They were on the ground of nature. Now Levi sacrificed natural ties for the spiritual, and I want just briefly to show you what he came into.
Three times over it is said in the book of Joshua that Levi received no inheritance. First of all, it is said Moses gave him none on the other side of Jordan among the two and one half tribes, but he had an inheritance in connection with the tabernacle. “The sacrifices of the Lord [p. 187] God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance”,
Joshua 13:14 (A.V.). Moses valued such an inheritance. And in that connection I would just say a word as to the distinction between an inheritance given to you by Moses and an inheritance given to you by Eleazar and Joshua -they are quite distinct. To be brief, the Spirit is given to you under Moses. The Spirit is given by Moses, but Moses could never give you a heavenly inheritance. He may command it for you, the light may indicate that it is yours, but to put you in possession of a heavenly portion does not belong to the ministry of Moses. That was reserved for Eleazar the priest, the son of Aaron, and Joshua the son of Nun. Well, now it says that Moses gave the Levites no inheritance because the sacrifices of the God of Israel made by fire were the inheritance of the Levites. Now think of that to begin with. Think, beloved brethren, what you are called to, making a covenant with God by sacrifice. The sacrifices brought into the court were for the Levites. The Levites had their part in them. I am not omitting that they were brought to be offered to God. Surely they were, but the Levites had their part in that. Think of what we are called to as sacrificing the earthly for the spiritual. No earthly inheritance, no land, the Levites had no land. Their portion was the sacrifices of the God of Israel made with fire. And then secondly, it is said that they had the Lord God of Israel Himself as their inheritance. Are you following [p. 188] me? I say, what a portion to have the sacrifices of the God of Israel made by fire! Is it not worthwhile surrendering your earthly portion for that? The Levite thought it was. Levi was the family that resorted to Moses in the camp of Israel when the golden calf was set up there. “Who is on the Lord’s side?” Exodus 32:26 (A.V.) How the Spirit of God would cause that cry to come home to our hearts; “Who is on the Lord’s side? Let him come unto me”. Let us ever remember in hours of dilemma to consider for the Lord. A true Levite prefers God to all else. You may depend upon it that dilemmas soon disappear if the rights of God are over your soul. “Who is on the Lord’s side?” Take the Lord’s side of the matter, be it little or great. It will entail suffering, but the suffering will bring its own recompense. You know, many believers at the present time are suffering from want of recompense. It is not that recompense is not there, but they do not avail themselves of it. Levi had a recompense; he sacrificed all earthly titles for the Lord, and the Lord said to him, ‘My covenant with thee is life and peace’. Think of that, how God valued the sacrifice of Levi. So he took the Lord’s side and he sanctified himself. In that way the tribe was distinct, it had its place in the mind of God before, but from that point onward Levi is marked off as a privileged tribe on this earth. Well now, also they had the Lord God as their inheritance. You will not suffer hunger, you will not suffer want as committing yourself to God’s side of the question; your soul will be sustained. The Levite was sustained by the sacrifices made by fire and then they had God Himself as their portion. Think of that! And then thirdly, as you will find later on in Joshua 18, priesthood was theirs. You may not think that is an inheritance, but every spiritual man regards it as an inheritance. What a wonderful thing it is to have access to God, to be one of those who draw near, those whose privilege it ever is to look at the breastplate of glory, that in which all the names of the saints are. The Levites are in possession of the divine secrets.
There is just one other thought in regard to the Levite, and that is, they come forward in the book of Joshua chapter 21 and they claim their own proper portion. All the other three allusions to them refer to what they had in the wilderness. The three allusions to them prior to the twenty-first chapter refer to what they had in connection with the tabernacle, sacrifice, God Himself and the priesthood. A city is a heavenly thought, though you may say that the thought originated upon earth, which is true, but God always goes one better, as we say. If man built Babel, God will call Abraham out and point to another city not of earth but of heaven. He has prepared for them a city, which is a heavenly one. The Levites have forty-eight cities. The number doubtless is typical, which I cannot dwell upon, but they had forty-eight cities and [p. 190] they claimed them all. Now that is what I want to come to. You find that the book of Joshua is a book of claims. God loves claims. The daughters of Zelophehad had a claim, the Levites had a claim, but why claims? Because divine counsels had given them a portion.
Think of the divine counsels of God, think of the allotments made in the counsel books of God for us. God loves to see His people come forward and lay claim to their own proper portion. Have you made a claim? I am speaking simply. It is all given to you by divine purpose and you get it, but let us go by the lines of Scripture. Scripture shows us that we come into our inheritance by claiming it. The Levites claimed theirs, and they received every city they had been promised - forty-eight cities. Now I take that to be the brightest feature of the Levitical position. The seventy whom the Lord sent out, to whom I made reference in reading the passage in the tenth of Luke, were so to say, Levites of the type presented in the book of Numbers. They were servants and most successful ones. Now I have been speaking about certain things that detain us - natural ties and distinctions, but there is another element of detention, namely, success in the service of God.
It is a poor thing if we are not servants in some sense, and as taking up service with purpose of heart, we are sure to be supported, the Lord will support us. The seventy were wonderfully supported, and they returned to the Lord [p. 191] flushed with victory. They were most successful, and the Lord says, ‘I am not going to take away the occasion of your success, that is to continue. You are to have power to tread on serpents and scorpions and on all the power of the enemy, but nevertheless’, He says, ‘do not rejoice in that’. It is something surely to be thankful for, for the Lord’s sake, for these seventy men going over the cities two by two had brought the kingdom to men. He says, You are to say to the cities that reject you, “The kingdom of God is nigh at hand” Luke 21:31. That is the idea of service, to bring the kingdom as a matter of relief to men. That is to go on surely, and we are thankful for it, it brings relief to souls and it glorifies God. For the Lord’s sake we are thankful for the success, but then it is not to be that in which you rest. The Lord says, “Rejoice that your names are written in the heavens”. In other words, you are not to rest in the book of Numbers, wonderful as it is, in carrying out divine service here in the wilderness - rejoice in the book of Joshua. I am putting things to you as simply and concisely as I can, you will understand me. Our true enjoyment lies in the divine calling, that our names are enregistered in heaven. Now who is there to put in a claim? God loves that. There is the true Joshua at our disposal in wonderful grace and the true Eleazar. In fact Eleazar comes first in the book of Joshua in the apportioning of the inheritance. It is a holy inheritance; it is not an inheritance [p. 192] of the flesh - the flesh abhorred it. Eleazar gives nothing to the flesh - nothing. The priestly state amongst God’s people resents the flesh, refuses it at every point. The great exercise of the priestly state is that our souls should be put in possession of a heavenly inheritance. It is a holy inheritance, an unfading one, a spiritual portion. Oh, beloved, come forward to claim that! The Lord meets the servants, the seventy missionaries, with the word “Rejoice”. He says, “That your names are written in the heavens”.
Think of that, think of having your name placed there and to regard that as a matter of joy.
Peter tells us that the inheritance is reserved there. Think of the reservation held there for us!
As I was saying at the beginning, there is no crowding there. The inheritance is there reserved and your place in it. Well now, just one other word in regard to the assembly. In the fiftieth Psalm, as I was saying, the Lord says, “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice”.
That marks us down here. We have committed ourselves publicly to a relationship with God by sacrifice. He is not ashamed to be called our God, He has committed Himself to us. Now you commit yourself to God by sacrifice, and He assembled such saints as these. How one loves to see an assembly like that, an assembly that makes a covenant with God by sacrifice. Now presently there will be another assembly. The Lord shall descend from heaven with an [p. 193] assembling shout; not now to call us together for the public view. Our public position, I repeat, is by sacrifice. It is obvious that you are committed to God by surrender; without surrender there is nothing morally. But when the Lord descends with an assembling shout, the dead in Christ, we are told, rise first, and then we which are alive and remain are all brought together. The word ‘assembling’ is there, 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17. In the second letter to the same Christians, the Thessalonians, the apostle beseeches them “by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him” 2 Thessalonians 2:1. There you come to the great private assembly; the other is the public assembly, and morally if you are not in the public one you are not fitted for the private one. I do not say you will not be there; many will who have not appeared much here for Christ, but surely a longing heart would like to have part in the public one - the one that is marked by sacrifice, by giving up, by surrendering to God. We go out of the world publicly. We go out of it in our baptism and we commit ourselves to an outside position in the world in the Lord’s Supper, all that is public, baptism and the Lord’s supper. We are committed to an outside position, but what is it without sacrifice? God has pleasure in sacrifice. Scripture abounds with testimony to that. That marks the public position. Now the private one is alluded to in the passage I quoted, “Our gathering together to Him”. Not now to break bread, not now in His Name, but “to Him”. The last great assembling on earth is private. We are brought together, beloved, to be translated, to be brought into our Levitical portion. That is now imminent, and the Lord would have it before our hearts. But in the meantime He would have you to come forward and claim the inheritance, and in claiming it, make it your own. Take possession of it and live in it. Now there is just one other thought to add to that. As we live in our heavenly portion, we become an influence. My reason for saying that is that the Levitical cities were found in every tribe. They were not only in Canaan, they were also in Moab, the thought being that God would influence all by what is heavenly. It is important, beloved brethren, that we should be in our souls in possession of what is heavenly, so that our influence may be heavenly. May the Lord grant that we may go in for our own proper heavenly portion! Our names are there - we want to take possession.