Gtcotr/ws032223
Exodus 6:16 These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven.
Born-Again Believers in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, as the promised Messiah and Savior of our souls, believe in the Bible as the Holy Word of Almighty God. We believe it cover to cover and embrace it as the truth above all other claims.
Here
are 7 things we confidently say about the Bible.
1.
God
did not intend the Bible to explain everything in the universe.
2.
The
Bible tells One Story, it’s the story of Redemption.
3.
God
said what He meant, and He meant what He said.
4.
We
choose to believe God … that’s called faith.
5.
Every
word in the Bible is there for a reason.
6.
The
Holy Spirit is our Guide to God’s Word.
7. God watches over His Word to perform it.
With these things in mind, let’s re-read our key scripture for this evening and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to understand what God intends.
Exodus 6:16 These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven.
Two
major things about Levi for tonight:
·
He was the third son of Jacob and Leah. (Genesis 35:23)
o Reuben, Simeon, Levi,
Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
·
Levi represents the priesthood.
o Called and anointed to
shepherd the Children of God.
o Stood before God for the people and before the people for God.
Allow
me to share an historical chronology leading up to our key scripture:
·
Jacob
made an agreement with Laban to work for 7 years as a dowry so that he could
marry Laban’s daughter, Rachael.
·
At
the end of the 7 years, Laban deceived Jacob and secretly gave him Leah in
marriage. Jacob complained …
·
After
1 week, Rachael was given to Jacob under the agreement that he work an
additional 7 years as added dowry for both women.
·
Leah
immediately began to bear sons, 4 in perhaps in as many years.
o Reuben; Simeon; Levi;
and Judah.
o Then she didn’t get
pregnant the next year.
·
Rachael,
the beloved wife, was barren for the first 5 to 6 years.
·
Towards
the end of Jacob’s 14 year commitment to Laban, Rachael bore her firstborn son
named Joseph.
·
Levi
was only 3 or 4 years old when Joseph was born.
· Jacob moved his family from Syria back to Canaan when Joseph was 6 years old and his brother Levi was either 9 or 10.
Fast forward to Genesis 37 and we find Joseph at 17. He is the favorite son of Jacob and all his brothers hate him for it. Levi is 20 at this point and has to go out into the fields to shepherd the sheep while Joseph gets to stay home with daddy in the tents and take it easy.
Another 23 years fast forward and we find Jacob moving his family down to Egypt to live under the protection and provision of Joseph who was the second in command of all Egypt. The Bible makes a point to tell us that Joseph is 40 years old. This would make Levi about forty-three.
This event starts the 430 year clock which would be how long God said the Children of Israel would live in Egypt before He delivered them and returned them to the promised land of Canaan and gave them the land according to the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Jacob died 17 years later. Joseph lived another 53 years after Jacob died, to the ripe old age of 110. When Joseph died, Levi was 113 years old.
As far as we know from Exodus 6:16, Levi outlived all the sons of Jacob. Levi died at the age of 137 years old. Levi lived in Egypt for 94 years of his life. When he died it would still be another 256 years before Moses would be born. That’s about a decade longer than the 247 years since the US Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.
All of these facts are easy to deduce from the written historical account recorded in the Bible. And it is good to have a perspective when reading the stories and discussing these accounts. Knowing the historical chronology and the implications of the things written in the Bible has its valued place and I am very glad it’s there. However, the Bible is more than a book of history … more than just a mere record of times, dates, people, and events.
I have found there is always a spiritual revelation and a personal application hidden and waiting for me within even the most obscure verses in the Bible. A truth that is just waiting for me to uncover it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is why it is always a good idea to pray and invite the Holy Spirit into your Bible reading and Bible study time. Even right now in Church!
It is always a good idea to invite the Holy Spirit to guide you into truth as you participate in worship and listen to the preacher deliver the sermon. You never know when God is going to drop a great revelation right into your lap … something that will change your life and the lives of others forever. Invite the Holy Spirit to speak directly to your heart today.
So, what is the spiritual revelation and application I have received concerning our key scripture for this evening? It came about as a result of me asking God the question: “Why did you choose Levi to live longer than the others?”
As we heard earlier: Levi represents the priesthood. He was the one chosen by God to shepherd God’s family. He stood before God for the people, carrying their burdens and desires to God. As well, Levi stood before the people for God, delivering the answers and giving direction to the Children of God concerning what they might do to please God.
Reading the account of Exodus 1:1-14, a person understands why the family of God, the Church of that day if you will, needed a shepherd. It was going to be a long time before deliverance would come from heaven and things in the world were going to get worse and worse, almost unbearable at times. God did not want to leave His family without a shepherd and without comfort and encouragement.
Even when the Children of God were right in the middle of God’s will and living in the place He put them, they still experienced trouble and injustice. We all wake up in a world in trouble. Listen to what the family of God endured during those 257 years.
Exodus 1 NKJV
6 And
Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation.
7 But
the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and
grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8 ¶ Now
there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
9 And he
said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more
and mightier than we;
10
“come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it
happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against
us, and so go up out of the land.”
11
Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens.
And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.
12 But
the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were
in dread of the children of Israel.
13 So
the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor.
14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage — in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.
Life was hard, as it is today for so many. 257 years in only 9 verses. We all wake up in a world in trouble. The leaders of that day were afraid of the Church … afraid of its power and growth and potential. Once they embraced them as leaders blessed by God. Egypt was saved by a son of Israel. Now, the world wanted to contain and control the family of God.
So the world set taskmasters over the Jews and made it hard on them. Nonetheless, they could not destroy the love, the purpose, and the plan of God. God blessed and multiplied His children anyway.
The children of God held on to the promise of God. God was going to send a deliverer. And the more they were afflicted the more they multiplied and grew.
Next Wednesday we will discover just how far the demon leaders of a nation will go to try and stop the plan of God.
But for this evening … what did we learn?
1.
Every verse in the Bible is important to the One Story God is
telling.
a. All scripture is given
by inspiration … 2 Timothy 3:16
2.
We should invite the Holy Spirit to guide us to truth.
a. In our personal time
of worship and Bible reading.
b. At Church and when we
listen to preaching.
3.
Our world is in trouble and people need a shepherd more than
anything else.
a. Without respect to how
it got there, it’s bad.
b. We all wake up in a
world in trouble.
c. Your family needs a
shepherd. Someone to pray for them and someone to teach them.
d. God left Levi, sent
Moses, and then Jesus – all Shepherds.
e. God does not leave us
without a shepherd.
4.
The more the Church is afflicted, the more it will multiply and
grow.
