A little while back I wondered whether God approved of the Levite killing spree in Exodus 32. Jim Jordan has convinced me that God not only approved, but chose the tribe of Levi to be priests on the basis of that action. As Moses declares once they have completed their killing "Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord" (32:29, 'service' being priestly language).
In Exodus 18 Jethro offers a sacrifice to God. In Exodus 24 the "young men of the people of Israel" are commanded to make sacrifice. Sharing in the food that belongs to God in the holy place was a priestly privilege (c.f. Lev 24:9), but in Exodus 24 God invites representatives from the whole people (Moses "Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel") up the mountain, his holy place, to eat and drink with him. But after Exodus 32, the God restricts such activities to the Levites, and this seems to be particularly tied to their willingness to take violent action.
That priests should be particularly violent may seem strange to us, but Phinehas later in Numbers 25 was certainly not afraid to draw the sword, and a significant part of the priest's job description was guard duty (Num 1:53; 3:6-38; 18:3-7).
It could even be argued that when God declares that he has "taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel" (Num 8:18), indicates that before the Golden Calf it would have been the firstborn who would have been priests (the "young men" of Exodus 24:5?).
It's interesting that the Levites were the ones selected to engage in the purifying massacre. Certainly, they were the 'appropriate' choice in the sense that they were meant to be in God's service, but the tribe, in their ancestor, have form for this sort of thing. You may recall the Shechem incident, which certainly was not approved! It was at Shechem that Simeon and Levi avenged the honour of their violated sister Dinah by massacring the residents. A part of Jacob's 'blessing' to the Levites was that they would be scattered throughout the promised land: obviously, that happened when they were instituted as Levites.
ReplyDeleteSimeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
Let my soul come not into their council;
O my glory, be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel. (Gen. 49:5–7)
Indeed. I've thought before that Levi's actions in that incident led to the blessing of rule being passed onto Judah. Not 100% about either, but they both seem to have some weight.
ReplyDeleteNot totally sure how this links, but I guess slaughter is a priestly activity in very much the same way offering a sacrifice is. Destruction of enemies is often described as devoting things to the LORD. The Levites are appointed priests because they have shown themselves more than capable enough of the kind of killing that God requires.
ReplyDeleteWhen we get into the NT, gospel ministry is often described in priestly/ sacrificial terms. Paul wants to offer the nations up as a sacrifice, etc. I think this perhaps combines the cultic and the warfare imagery, since the conquest/ warfare motif is evangelistic in the NT.
Yes, although its warfare within the church that the Levites were into. So perhaps guarding the deposit against false teaching and church discipline would be another link?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess I was trying to say (among other things)that judgment killing as well as conversion killing is depicted in sacrificial terms - hence the 'devoted to destruction' thing, and the way Sodom and Gomorrah are depicted somewhat as a burnt offering, and the whole 'everything will be salted with fire' thing - which has sacrificial overtones.
ReplyDeleteIn one sense, you will be a sacrifice to God whether you like it or not. You can either have the sort of death that leads to resurrection unto life or the sort that doesn't. Or something like that. Gospel preaching will either smell like death or life to you. That sort of thing.
(In other words, yeah, discipline/ guarding the deposit, is a part of it too. I guess that's what's closest to the Exodus example)
Excellent Pete. Yes, you're quite right. I should not think so narrowly, but see the bigger themes involved.
ReplyDelete