Levite Priesthood and genesis 49

[eraja]

In Genesis 49 Jacob says genesis :5“Simeon and Levi are brothers—their swords a are weapons of violence. 6Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. 7Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel

Now before that jacob says Genesis 49:1“Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come." Indicating that the blessings and curses spoken by jacob in chapter 49 are prophetic instead of current.

the words of jacob warn us against the council and "joining" of their assembly

i find this odd considering the tribe of Levi is the tribe of the priesthood and they are the one who the covenant comes through.

i also find it extremely odd because the only tribe the warning is applicable to is the tribe of Levi as no other tribe is known for their council or assembly. however despite this warning, the Levites go on to lead the entire assembly of israel and all of israel ends up under the council of Levi in the priest hood and under moses who is also a levite.

now some people may think that jacobs warning only applies to Levi and simeon the individuals and only to that specific incident but this is not the case as ive already pointed out jacob declares that what he speaks to his sons is what will befall them in days to come in other words "future tense"

also there are other incidents of violence where Levi is concerned where we can see that jacobs warning was indeed valid. for instance, Moses a Levite kills an Egyptian man in his anger and hides the body deceptively. So we can clearly see that Jacobs warning is appicalble to later generations of Levi as well EVEN MOSES!

later under moses command the Levites slaughter 3000 other israelites who are their friends, brothers sisters etc.

Exodus 32:26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “All of you who are on the LORD’s side, come here and join me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.

27Moses told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Each of you, take your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Kill everyone—even your brothers, friends, and neighbors.” 28The Levites obeyed Moses’ command, and about 3,000 people died that day.

Here we can see in exodus 32:26 EXACTLY what jacob warned us about in genesis!!! ive never so much as even heard this touched on before! what is the significance of this and how do you guys makes sense of this?

[Fenris]

In Genesis 49 Jacob says genesis :5“Simeon and Levi are brothers—their swords a are weapons of violence. 6Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. 7Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel

Now before that jacob says Genesis 49:1“Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come." Indicating that the blessings and curses spoken by jacob in chapter 49 are prophetic instead of current.

the words of jacob warn us against the council and "joining" of their assembly

i find this odd considering the tribe of Levi is the tribe of the priesthood and they are the one who the covenant comes through.

So uh, a few things.

During the first Temple period, the members of the tribe of Levi didn't just work in the Temple, both as Cohen-priests and as Levites, but they were also the teachers of the rest of Israel. This is significant, as they transmitted the bible precisely as written, even though it was disparaging to their ancestor.

Also, the fact that Levi along with his brother Shimon avenged their sister Dina's kidnapping and rape was not clearly wrong in biblical terms, even though their father objected. When they defend their actions to Jacob, saying “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?” (Gen 34:31), Jacob has no answer.

And Jacob in the blessings says "Cursed be their anger" but he doesn't curse them as people.

And the actions of the Levite ancestor doesn't condemn the descendants. The opposite, their actions we will discuss below sanctified their descendants. 

also there are other incidents of violence where Levi is concerned where we can see that jacobs warning was indeed valid. for instance, Moses a Levite kills an Egyptian man in his anger and hides the body deceptively. So we can clearly see that Jacobs warning is appicalble to later generations of Levi as well EVEN MOSES!

The bible doesn't condemn Moses for his action, so why should we?

later under moses command the Levites slaughter 3000 other israelites who are their friends, brothers sisters etc.

Uhhh Moses comes down from Sinai and sees people worshipping a golden calf. He says “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him. (Exodus 32). And they slay the idolators. Again, the bible doesn't condemn this action, the opposite, God sends a plague on those who were not slain but deserved it. It is because they answered this call that they had the honor of serving God in the Temple.

Here we can see in exodus 32:26 EXACTLY what jacob warned us about in genesis!!!

Jacob warned us that people who worship idols are going to be slain and die in a plague?

ive never so much as even heard this touched on before! what is the significance of this and how do you guys makes sense of this?

I think the significance is that you should attend some bible lessons. In your church, from your pastor or another well meaning and educated person.

[davy]

....

i find this odd considering the tribe of Levi is the tribe of the priesthood and they are the one who the covenant comes through.

i also find it extremely odd because the only tribe the warning is applicable to is the tribe of Levi as no other tribe is known for their council or assembly. however despite this warning, the Levites go on to lead the entire assembly of israel and all of israel ends up under the council of Levi in the priest hood and under moses who is also a levite.

Like the start of that Genesis 49 chapter says, those are all... prophecies for the end of this world, the latter days, and the one given about Judah includes the time of Christ's future return, so it's the literal "last days" Jacob was pointing to, and that would mean under the New Covenant, when the Levitical priesthood was no longer a requirement.

Per the history of the Jews after God split old Israel into two separate kingdoms, the tribe of Levi became joined with the "house of Judah" at Jerusalem/Judea which was made up of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Thus the "house of Judah", or "kingdom of Judah" became the 3 tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, even as it still is today in the holy land. A small remnant out of the northern ten tribes refused Jeroboam's calf idol worship also like the Levites did, and they too joined with the "house of Judah" at Jerusalem (See 1 Kings 11 thru 2nd Kings 17 and 2 Chron.11).

All the prophecies involving the other ten tribes in Genesis 49 involve today's existing lost tribes of Israel which today's Jews don't know where they are, nor does today's world. But God knows where they are, because He promised to gather them in final when Christ returns.