Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

God designated the tribe of Israelites who were descended from Jacob's son Levi (of which both Moses and his older brother Aaron were members) to be devoted exclusively to priestly responsibilities. This included maintaining, teaching, and enforcing the ceremonial and moral laws that God handed down to Israel, as recorded in the books of Exodus through Deuteronomy.

The "down side" of this responsibility was that, over time, the Levites added numerous petty and corrupt "man-made" provisions or requirements to the God-given Law that nullified the original intent of the Law; that burdened and oppressed the non-Levitical tribes in doing so; or that even actively violated the Law in doing so. (Jesus gave an example of this in Mark 7:1-23.)

As Jesus Himself said, the entirety of the Law could be reduced to only two commandments -- loving God with all one's heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving one's neighbor as oneself (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34). (Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:17-18.)

May 30 2023 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report