Did Israel care for the Levites? Did they engage in pagan practices? What was a prophet required to preach? What did Jesus command His disciples to teach? Let’s begin in Deuteronomy 18.
How was the entire tribe of Levi including the priests cared for?
The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the Lord's food offerings as their inheritance. They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them. And this shall be the priests' due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. The firstfruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for all time. (Deuteronomy 18:1-5 ESV)
What of the itinerant Levite or one who transfers to another place?
Any descendant of Levi who wishes to do so may come from any city or part of Israel where he resides to the place that the Lord will choose. There he may serve in the name of the Lord his God. Like his fellow descendants of Levi who stand there in the Lord’s presence, he may eat the same share as they do regardless of what he receives from his ancestral estate. (Deuteronomy 18:6-8 ISV)
What about pagan practices like child sacrifice, fortune tellers and witchcraft?
When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable customs of those nations. No one among you is to make his son or daughter pass through the fire, practice divination, tell fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery, cast spells, consult a medium or a familiar spirit, or inquire of the dead. Everyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and the Lord your God is driving out the nations before you because of these detestable things. You must be blameless before the Lord your God. Though these nations you are about to drive out listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do this. (Deuteronomy 18:9-14 HCSB)
Would there be prophets for the nation like Moses?
The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. (Deuteronomy 18:15-19 KJV)
What of those prophets who are tempted to speak words God did not authorize?
But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ Now you may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. (Deuteronomy 18:20-22 LSB)
What did Jesus command His disciples to teach?
teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20 NASB)
Did Israel care for the Levites? Did they engage in pagan practices? What was a prophet required to preach? What did Jesus command His disciples to teach? You decide!
