11 Traits of The People of God – Part 2

Christian Shields

11 Traits of The People of God / Tribes of Israel / Genesis 29:31–30:24

Going over Levi (Joined). God’s people are joined together and to Him.

Introduction

Genesis 29:34 NKJV

She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.

•     This morning I want to briefly continue our series on the birth of the first 11 tribes of Israel. There is one that is not mentioned in chapter 29 and 30, that is the tribe of Benjamin, and we will get to him in chapter 35… but for this series we are going over the first 11 tribes and looking at the circumstances of their births and the how their names hold prophetic and theological meanings.

•     This text is particularly important because these children become the tribes of Israel, God’s chosen people… so if these are traits of the tribes of Israel, then I think it is appropriate to apply them to our lives as God’s people today.

•     Thus instead of naming this series “11 tribes of the people of God” I named it “11 Traits of the people of God”.

•     Show Title Slide

•     Now for the sake of time I am not going to do a full recap, I will do a more in-depth recap when I preach the next sermon in the series, or you can go online and watch last weeks… but in short we went over the first too sons of Jacob.

•     Reuben, which comes from the hebrew phrase “Re’u Ben” Which means “See a son” or “I have been seen and this son proves it.

•     Reuben reminds us that God sees us in our afflictions, we are not forggoten, God is not asleep at the wheel. Even when we don’t see the delivernce near, we can at least know that God sees us where we are.

•     Next we talked about Simeon, who’s name comes from the word “Shama” which means “to hear”… and not just “hear sounds” but “to hear, to consider, and to act based on what you heard”. Like a judge hears a case. When you get a hearing with a judge the judge listens to you, considers the evidence, and then acts accordingly…

•     So it is with God, when we live by the righteousness that God has given us, then He Shamas us… He hears us… He considers our prayers and our cries.

•     This week we get to talk about one of the most important tribes of Israel, and I think one of the most important traits of a Christian… We are going to talk about the son and the tribe known as Levi. Let’s read that key verse one more time.

Genesis 29:34 NKJV

She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.

•     Leah had a third son and she hoped beyond hope that this son would cause her husband to be attached to her… so she named him Levi, based on the Hebrew word “Lavah” which means:

לָוָה Lavah

•     To join.

•     To Attach.

•     To Be bound to

•     To Accompany

•     So that brings us to our only point this morning… but it is a big one… The People of God should be Joined with God

Levi–  Joined With God

•     The People of God should be Joined With God… what does that mean? Well I am going to spend the rest of the morning explaining just that… let’s start with the first scripture that came to mind when I thought of the word “Joined”.

Matthew 19:5–6 NKJV

and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

•     Now Jesus would have said this in Aramaic, and it was recorded in Greek, so the Hebrew word Lavah is not used here… but it has the same meaning… Marriage is a joining together of two people, so they become one.

•     Now, following this line of thinking: Who is the Bride of Christ? WE ARE! The Church… in fact I believe that God gave us the institution of Mariage to demonstrate how we as Christians are supposed to see our relationship with Christ.

•     We are supposed to be joined together with Christ in the same way that a husband is joined together with his wife…

•     We are to be Lavah with God… we are to be attached to God… Bound to God… Joined with God… Wherever God goes we go… whatever we are doing, we do with God and for God… in every moment, in everyplace, in every action, in every spoke word, whispered prayer, passing thought… Everything about who we are should be JOINED with God.

•     Listen, I love my wife! I am joined to my wife… I sleep better when my wife is in bed with me… I think better when my wife is in the room. Everything I buy, I consider what my wife would think… everything I do I consider how it will effect my wife… as I lead my family I first think about leading my wife… as I run the church I constantly think “Is this honoring to my wife and building her up”… I don’t want to watch a TV show unless my wife is watching it… I don’t want to read a book that my wife is not reading… I mean don’t get me wrong, I have my own hobbies… my wife doesn’t like building computers and playing video games… and I have my own responsibilities that are totally independent from her… but even when I am playing games or building computers my thoughts are constantly on Pastor Amanda…

•     “Well pastor is sounds like you are dependent on her”… “what?! I AM JOINED TO HER… WE ARE ONE FLESH! When she hurts, I hurt, when she rejoices, I rejoice… if someone insults her, I am insulted… if someone honors her, I am honored. She is my wife, we are the Shields, we are joined together… I am not ashamed of that fact… I am still the leader of the house, but I take these verses very seriously. Amanda and I are joined together… we are one flesh…

•     Now let me ask you, does that describe your relationship with Christ?

•     Can you sleep well outside of the presence of God? Can you do things without considering how it effects Christ? Can you do your Job without considering Christ, can you shop without thinking of Him? Can you melt away into a book or hobby without ever considering your relationship with Christ your bridegroom?

•     If so, maybe you are not JOINED together with Christ… maybe he is just a nice addition to your life.

•     LISTEN… LISTEN… I COULD NEVER SLEEP WITH A WOMAN WHO IS NOT AMANDA… I would NEVER dishonor her that way, yet how many of us forget we are married to Christ to chase after the harlotry of idle amusement and sinful pursuits?

1 Corinthians 6:15–17 NKJV

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

•     See you thought I was making up the harlotry example… THAT’S SCRIPTURE… Being Joined with Christ means being married to Him… Any time you leave Him for something else, you stop accompanying Him, you break your bounds to Him… anytime you walk away from Christ to chase after sin you are CHEATING on Jesus.

•     There is forgivness, yes. There is grace, yes… but don’t be that husband who goes out on Saturday with a harlot then comes home and asks forgiveness from his wife, then next week does it all over again.

•     And further… if the harlotry example is to harsh for you, let me put it to you another way… Your wife is not a ball-and-chain… your husband is not an annoying addition to the household that is sometimes useful when you have a flat tire… your spouse is not “a part of your life”… if you are in a healthy marriage your spouse should BE YOUR LIFE… outside of Christ Amanda is Mi Vida…

•     The only person who defines my life more than my wife is my Christ… Jesus is my life fully, completly, and eternally… He is not just an addition to my life… no I am bound to Him, I am joined to Him, I am Lavahed to Him…

•     You see Leah was just an addition to Jacob’s life… He wasn’t really joined to her… he was tricked into marrying her… he would sleep with her from time to time… but a man can do that with a harlot… she was not much more to him than that it seemed… But Leah desired more than that… She wanted to really be his wife… she really wanted him to be joined to her… and she foolishly thought this son Levi would Lavah her husband to her.

Genesis 29:34 NKJV

She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.

•     Unfortunately Leah was wrong… her husband did not attach to her after Levi was born. There was no Lavah because of Levi…

•     Her name for her son was wrong… and yet God allowed the name to stand… why? Because the people of Levi would be joined together with God… they more than maybe any other tribe would be attached to God.

•     Other tribes were attached to land, with clear boarders and boundaries… The tribe of Levi was given no land to join themselves to.

•     Other tribes were attached to physical inheritance… this tribe gets this, this tribe gets that… But the tribe of Live was not attached to physical inheritance…

•     In fact, every other tribe seemed joined together in wealth and in land… and Levi was left out… so why would God allow the name Levi to stand…

•     Because more important to being attached to land… more important than being attached to material things… more important than all things on earth… is to be attached to God… to be joined with God… to be bound to God.

Deuteronomy 10:8–9 NKJV

At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day. Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, just as the Lord your God promised him.)

Numbers 18:20 NKJV

Then the Lord said to Aaron (A Levite): “You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.

•     God gave the Levites the priesthood for inheritance… the only way you could be a priest was to be from the Line of Levi or in one specific case, from the order of Melchizedek… but other than Jesus and Melchizedek… you had to be of Levi to be a priest… only those most Lavahed to God, those of Levi could hold the position of priest… now, what does God call us oh people of God? He calls us ROYAL priests!

1 Peter 2:9 NKJV

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

•     As a royal priest I am Lavahed to God, I am joined to God… not material inheritance…

•     If this church building would burn down, my faith would remain unshaken, my worship would go on… I am Joined to Christ, not this building.

•     If America were to fall and be conquered by foreign enemies… I would not slow down in my worship and life for God… I am joined to God, not this nation.

•     If my brothers and sisters and all the tribes of the world turn against me… In Christ I will remain… I am Lavahed to Christ.

•     I am planted.

•     I am steadfast.

•     I am bound.

•     I am a LEVIT… a royal preist, and nothing this world can do can seperate me from the one I am joined to.

•     I mean it for my wife… Nothing can separate us but death… and I mean it for my Christ… nothing can separate us, NOT EVEN Death… I am a Levite, joined with Christ…

•     Now as we close I want to read this verse that will encourage you to be joined with Christ too.

Conclusion

The New King James Version Chapter 14

14 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob.

•     The word there for “joined”… that is Lavah… it is not used much in scripture, there are other words that mean joined that are used more commonly… but here God uses the same word that we get Levi’s name from…

•     This verse is about how Israel will posses foreign lands and take in foreigners as slaves and servants… a prophecy that came true in Ancient Israel… but like most prophecies, scholars believe this prophecy has dual fulfilment, one fulfilment in ancient times… and one in modern times… a BC and an AD fulfilment if you will.

•     So then this verse can apply today as well… You and I can be a part of Jacob’s family… we can be a part of Israel… we can be God’s people… We can be Joined to God… and the only way to do that is through the redemptive work of Christ and the cross…

Gospel Call