A basic review of some Bible history is required to skip through the rest of the Old Testament to the time of Christ. God had stated to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. Abraham did, in fact, have several descendants who became nations. However, Israel is the primary nation in view throughout the Bible. The other nations are mentioned merely as they relate to Israel. This holy nation was formed from a specific genealogical line. That is, only the descendants of Isaac were qualified to inherit the land. Furthermore, Isaac had twins, but only the sons of one twin, Jacob, were chosen for the covenant fulfillment. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, and he and his sons went into Egypt during a great famine. They ended up serving that nation as slaves as God had explained to Abraham during the oath ritual (Genesis 15). Even though all these sons had died during the four hundred year stay, the descendants carefully kept records indicating from which son of Jacob they had descended. The family of about seventy-five grew into a sizeable nation during their enslavement. As they traveled out of Egypt and through the desert to the Promised Land, they operated as a unit and became known collectively as Israelites. So they were one nation comprised of twelve tribes; each tribe was named after a descendant of Jacob, also known as Israel.
Levi was the third son of Jacob and his descendants were known as Levites. Moses and Aaron were brothers that descended through Levi’s line. The Levites were the only ones to align themselves with Moses after the golden calf incident (Exodus 32). God used them to execute judgment on the rest of the tribes, and they slaughtered about three thousand fellow Israelites that day. After that time, the Levites were set aside for priestly service. Aaron served as high priest, and his sons carried on the core priestly duties including sacrifice and prayer. The other Levite descendants assisted in setup, maintenance, administration, music, singing and teaching. The Levite tribe received no inheritance of the Promised Land, but rather the other tribes supported the Levites via a tithing system.
It should be noted that Melchizedek was a man who lived during the time of Abraham, so he predates any tribal association. In fact, he was not an Israelite at all. Furthermore, we have no record of his genealogy or death.
Judah was the fourth son of Jacob and received his father’s greatest blessing. Many generations later, Christ descended through Judah’s line. That is to say, Jesus’ legal father was Joseph, a descendant of Judah; Mary also was a descendant of Judah and was the natural mother of Jesus. By the time of Christ, the temple in Jerusalem was being used as the place of worship instead of the tabernacle.
Next Section: Blinded by the Light
Table of Contents: Faith, Hope and Love
Text for this post has been borrowed from my Kindle eBook Faith, Hope and Love (Book 2 of the Grace and Knowledge Series), by Brother Woody Brohm. Copyright 2013.
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New International Version (NIV)
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