And of Levi he said, Thy Thummim and thy Urim are for thy godly one, Whom thou didst prove at Massah, With whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;
Moses ends his life by blessing the tribes, and Levi's blessing opens with the two objects the priest used to learn God's mind. It also names two places of failure, Massah and Meribah — so who was tested there, and who is "your godly one"?
Both words are Hebrew, and their story runs from Aaron's breastplate to the return from exile.
The meaning of these Hebrew words is "lights" and "perfections." They were not the same as the gems on the breastplate. Moses put the breastplate on Aaron, and then put the Urim and the Thummim in it (Leviticus 8:8). It is clear that God answered questions by means of the Urim and Thummim. Numbers 27:21; Deuteronomy 33:8; 1 Samuel 28:6. When the Jews returned from Babylon, some claimed to be priests but could not show their family line. They were not allowed to eat of the holy things until a priest stood up with Urim and Thummim and got an answer from God. This great privilege has never yet been restored.
Commentators differ. Some read the phrase as a description of character, and take Moses' request as covering the whole priestly tribe.
Levi occupies the third place, Simeon being left out. What the prophet-king asks for Levi is the everlasting priesthood of the people of God (on earth, of course). "His holy one" is used in the sense of piety towards God — grace in the heart. He asks that light and perfection (Urim and Thummim) might be with the man of grace and piety — officially, the priestly tribe. This is light and perfection in understanding the relations that would really exist at all times between the people and God, and between God and the people in return.
Others look ahead to one Person who will hold all guidance.
Levi's thummim and urim are said to be "with your holy One" (v.8). The meaning of thummim and urim is "perfections and lights," seen in the reflections of the precious stones in the ephod. Priests used this when inquiring of God, when needs of discerning His will arose. In the millennium Israel will gladly commit this entirely to God's Holy One, the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone is all-wise and discerning. Israel had proved Him at Massah and Meribah. There they found grace in Him that far surpassed both their need and the quarrelling they were guilty of in complaining against Him.
Massah and Meribah were places where Israel doubted whether God was among them. The blessing turns that history around and makes those same scenes the testing ground of the priest.
God proved the people at Massah, and strove with them at Meribah. Now that is exactly what is attributed to Israel historically. They tried (or tempted) God at Massah, and strove with Him at Meribah. But where the flesh showed itself in Israel, there God put His priest to the test. At the waters of Meribah, where Moses did not sanctify Him, God was in controversy with Moses. God subjects His priests to painful trials. One is being cut off from the stream of clear and felt blessing among the people of God. That state leaves room for rebellious flesh to show itself, and for grumbling against God in the wilderness, tempting God and saying, "Is He among us?"
Levi's own nature was no qualification for such a trust.
Levi can lift up his head. By nature he knows only "instruments of cruelty" — things that must have kept God forever at a distance from "his secret and his assembly." By nature he is cruel, fierce, self-willed, scattered and divided. Yet God, in His mercy, can make him familiar with "the instruments of the tabernacle." God can bring him into the enjoyment of the covenant of life and peace, in union with the great head of the priestly family. And in the power of this blessed union, God can give him his "lights and perfections with his Holy One." (Deut. 33:8; Mal. 2:4-5)
The testing was not an obstacle to the priesthood; it was the road into it.
God tested Levi in his priesthood. But God had tested him first, and that testing was how he received the priesthood. Levi did not hesitate for one moment in choosing between man and God — even man in the nearest family tie. That is the sole basis of all priesthood. One can only stand before God on behalf of another in proportion as one has oneself stood truly for God before man.
- Proved — At Massah and Meribah Israel doubted God's presence. God makes that same ground the place where He tests His priests.
- Chosen — Levi is cruel and divided by nature. God's mercy hands him the instruments of the tabernacle instead.
- Lighted — Urim and Thummim mean "lights and perfections." Through them God answered the questions Israel asked.
- Disputed — Commentators differ on "your godly one." Some see piety of character in the priestly tribe. Others see Christ, to whom Israel will one day commit all guidance.
- Costly — Levi chose God over his closest family. Standing for God before men is what qualifies anyone to stand before God for others.
Who said to his father and to his mother, I see him not, And he acknowledged not his brethren, And knew not his own children; For they have observed thy word, And kept thy covenant.
Moses ends his life by blessing the tribes, and Levi's blessing looks back to a day of hard decision. The words sound harsh until you know what that day cost.
Levi had used a sword before, in anger. Here the sword is at his side again, but the cause has changed:
It is true we find him here again with his sword at his side, but for what a different purpose, and in what a different cause! It is not now anger and self-will killing a man, but holy jealousy and care for the honour of the Lord God of Israel, and simple obedience to His command. And although this may, and will, lead to the cutting off of a brother, a son, or a friend, Levi does not care; for the word is, "Consecrate yourselves to the Lord, that He may bestow upon you a blessing." This was enough for Levi.
Jacob had cursed Simeon and Levi together. Here Simeon is missing from the blessing altogether, and Levi stands alone — which tells us something about how this blessing was reached:
Where was Simeon on this occasion? He was with Levi in the day of nature's self-will, fierce anger and cruel wrath; why not in the day of bold decision for the Lord?... Moses' call went out to the whole congregation. Levi alone responded, and he got the blessing. He stood for God in a dark and evil day, and for this he received the priesthood — the highest honour open to him... In Simeon we see nature's actings judged; in Levi we see the fruits of grace rewarded.
The call reached inside Levi's own home:
It was a searching trial — a trial which demanded that Levi put aside every claim of the flesh... It was obedience at all costs to the divine call, and so complete separation from the evil into which Israel had fallen. God often tests His people in the same way. Whenever confusion and decline have begun, the only path for the godly is the one Levi took — full-hearted, unquestioning obedience. Such a path must be painful. It means giving up some of the closest ties of life, family ties included. But it is the only path of blessing.
Some read the verse as permission to neglect their own family. One writer rules that out:
It is in no way to be inferred from this scripture that natural relationships may be refused. To be "without natural affection" is one of the features of the "perilous times."... What we have here is wholly different.
The clearest picture of this verse is not a tribe but a Person. Both tenderness and refusal appear in Christ, each in its own place:
In the terrible moment of the cross, when His service was finished, He could say, "Mother, behold your son," and "Son, behold your mother." The same Lord could also say, "Woman, what have I to do with you?" when He was simply carrying out His service. He was a stranger to His own mother's sons, like Levi in the blessing of Moses, the man of God. Levi said of his father and mother, "I regard them not"; he disowned his brothers and ignored his children, because they observed Your word and kept Your covenant.
The verse gives its ground at the end: they kept God's word and His covenant. That obedience is what qualified them for the teaching work described in the next verse:
Moses' blessing in Deuteronomy speaks of their terrible testing at a time when, in carrying out God's judgment on the idolaters, he "did not acknowledge his brothers, and did not know his own children," and of the result in God's approval: "They shall teach Jacob Your judgments, and Israel Your law." Those are to teach the lesson who have learned it; and so it always is.
The same pull works on us today:
Perhaps there is nothing that hinders full loyalty to Christ so much as natural affection. We find it so hard to give Him the place of absolute supremacy in our hearts and lives... The natural must be subject to the spiritual if we would follow Him. The rejected One laid it down emphatically: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me." What a test for our hearts!
- Cause. At the golden calf, Levi drew for God's honour the same sword he had once drawn in self-will.
- Grace. Simeon shared Levi's violence but not his blessing. Levi's place came from grace at work in him, not from a better nature.
- Cost. The path meant setting aside every claim of flesh and blood, and it hurt to walk it.
- Limit. This is devotion to God, not contempt for family. Scripture elsewhere calls hardness toward one's own a mark of evil times.
- Result. Levi kept God's word, so God set Levi to teach it. Those who learn the lesson are the ones who pass it on — and Christ walked this path first, a stranger to His own mother's sons.
They shall teach Jacob thine ordinances, And Israel thy law They shall put incense before thy nostrils, And whole burnt-offering upon thine altar.
Moses' last words over the tribe of Levi give them two duties: teaching God's law to the nation, and bringing incense and offerings to His altar. Yet this tribe had once been cursed. How did that change, and why do teaching and worship belong to one calling?
Jacob's words over Simeon and Levi in Genesis 49 sound nothing like Moses' words here. One writer sets the two passages side by side:
When we compare Genesis 49 with Deuteronomy 33, we see two things: human responsibility on the one hand, and divine sovereignty on the other. We also see nature and its actings, and grace and its fruits. Jacob looks at Simeon and Levi linked together in nature, showing nature's tempers and ways. As far as they were concerned, both alike deserved the curse. But in Levi we see the glorious triumphs of sovereign grace. It was grace that enabled Levi, in the days when Israel worshipped the golden calf, to take up the sword and stand for the glory of the God of Israel.
Jacob's judgment on Levi was to be scattered through the nation. That same judgment became the path to blessing:
Levi is a helpful example of God making His judgment an occasion of blessing. Genesis 49:7 says, "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." But in Deuteronomy 33:10 we see God overruling that dividing and scattering, so that they may teach "Jacob your rules and Israel your law" better. "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more."
The verse names teaching first. Who is fit for such work?
Only the man who himself tries to walk in power before God can speak with effect to the hearts and consciences of others. Nothing else will do. Nothing else will tell, either on the hearts or in the lives of Christians. Sadly, there is much merely systematic teaching and preaching of things the mind alone has received. A natural fluency of language lets us give them out. But all such teaching is empty, and far better avoided in God's sight.
The second half of the verse turns from the people to God:
The second consequence reaches a very high point: "they shall put incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar." This is worship. We put incense before God when we can present, in the power of communion, the sweet odour of Christ in His person and work.
Nothing in the whole burnt offering was held back:
Why does the burnt offering speak most clearly of worship? Because it differs from the other offerings in one way: the whole of it went up to Jehovah. Whether the animal offered was a sheep, a goat or a bull, all of it went up. The entire body was placed on the altar, consumed by fire, and went up in smoke to heaven. In picture, it rose to God as the sweet-smelling aroma of Christ in His complete devotion to God's will, even as far as death on the cross.
One writer refuses to rank either duty above the other:
For a Levite to instruct his brothers was as acceptable in God's sight as to burn incense before God. Both were just as much a divine exercise of his office. This is very important. We should never separate these two things. The same Spirit must fit us to speak for God and to speak to Him. If we do not see this, our souls clearly lack moral order.
A later prophet gives Levi the same work in a day still ahead:
To the Levites fell the solemn responsibility and high privilege of teaching Israel the law of the Lord. "They shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law." A day of blessing is still to come for Israel. Of Levi the prophet Ezekiel then says, "They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments" (Ezekiel 44:23-24). For God does not take back His gifts and His calling. He will carry out His great purpose promised to the fathers, and will yet establish His word in the land of Canaan.
- Grace first. Levi and Simeon both deserved the curse. What set Levi apart was sovereign grace, not better material.
- Scattering reversed. The punishment of scattering became the very means by which Levi taught the whole nation.
- Teaching costs. Only someone who walks before God can reach hearts and consciences. Fluent words learned by the mind alone stay empty.
- Worship answers. Incense before God presents the sweet odour of Christ. The whole burnt offering pictures His devotion to God's will, right to the cross.
- One Spirit for both. Speaking for God and speaking to Him please Him alike. To separate them shows disorder in the soul.
Bless, Jehovah, his substance! And let the work of his hands please thee; Crush the loins of his adversaries, And of them that hate him, that they may never rise again!
Moses ends his blessing on Levi with a prayer, not a promise. He asks God to bless what the tribe owns, to accept their work, and to put down their enemies for good.
This prayer follows two duties named in verse 10: teaching Israel and leading them in worship. One writer treats those duties as the ground the prayer stands on.
Only those who put God first in this way are fit to be teachers of the people. So the Levites were to teach Israel (v.10). They were also to lead Israel in worship, offering incense to God and burnt offerings. This is a solid basis for the prayer that follows: "Bless, O LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands." On the negative side, it asks God to judge those who rise against him or who hate him.
Commentators differ on where the weight falls. One points to what the tribe itself did.
Moses blesses Levi not merely on the ground of God's purpose and intention, but because they had earned it by faithfulness in a day when everyone was turning away from God.
Another sets this chapter beside Jacob's words in Genesis 49, where Simeon and Levi stood together under the same curse.
When we compare Genesis 49 with Deuteronomy 33, we see two things: human responsibility on the one hand, and divine sovereignty on the other... Jacob looks at Simeon and Levi linked together in nature, showing nature's tempers and ways. As far as they were concerned, both alike deserved the curse. But in Levi we see the glorious triumphs of sovereign grace. It was grace that enabled Levi, in the days of the golden calf, to take up the sword and stand for the glory of the God of Israel.
The first half of the prayer asks for increase. One writer says God does not forget faithful service.
Real, whole-hearted devotion to Christ will always bring increased blessing... Levi had shown great diligence in the Lord's service. He had shown himself ready to defend God's name against every merely human thought and affection, strongly and decidedly. Now the Lord will show Levi that He is not unrighteous to forget his work and labour of love, for He will bless his substance.
One translator renders "substance" as "force": "Bless, Jehovah, his force" (William Kelly).
How can anything a person does be acceptable to God? One writer answers that God gives life first.
The Lord does not ask a sinner dead in trespasses and sins to serve Him. Sin would spoil everything such a person could do. His very prayers are polluted, his thoughts are polluted, his acts of kindness are polluted... But the Lord gives life to those who are dead in trespasses and sins. Then He teaches them to walk worthy of Him as dear children, and to be fruitful in every good word and work, to the praise of His name. And when we do this, in grace He stoops to accept the work of our hands.
The last clause asks for a defeat with no comeback. One writer ties power over enemies to the way a person walks.
There is nothing that gives the soul such remarkable power over enemies as an obedient, holy walk... when a person believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, God brings him at once into a place where Satan, the world, and the flesh are under his feet. He can hold this blessed ground only as he walks in the power of resurrection life. But how often the opposite happens. Instead of having these enemies under our feet, we are under theirs. This dishonours our Lord, and it brings sorrow and weakness to our own souls. And why? Because we do not walk in simple obedience.
This last prayer looks beyond any single battle.
And now the deliverance is not a temporary one... Here, then, a day begins for them which does not set.
- Cause — Levi stood for God when everyone else turned away. Commentators trace that stand to two things: faithfulness rewarded, and grace at work in a tribe that deserved the curse.
- Ground — the prayer rests on Levi's daily work — teaching God's law and leading worship. Service first, then the prayer for blessing.
- Gift — "bless his substance" is increase given to devotion. God does not forget what a servant gives up for His name.
- Acceptance — God gives life to the dead first. Then He teaches them to work. Only then does He stoop to accept the work of their hands.
- Result — enemies that "rise not again" mean a deliverance that is final, a day that begins and does not set.