Introduction
What actually determines things in life? Is it just luck? Is it karma? Is it fate? Does everything happen simply by chance or coincidence?
Herbert Asquith was prime minister of England from 1908 to 1916. On one occasion he spent a weekend at an estate owned by the wealthy Rothschild family.
The butler of the house had this conversation with him. The butler: "Tea, coffee, or a peach from off the wall, sir?" Asquith answered: "Tea, please," The butler: "China, India, or Ceylon, sir?" Asquith answered: "China, please." The butler: "Lemon, milk, or cream, sir?" Asquith answered: "Milk, please," The butler: "Jersey, Hereford, or Shorthorn, sir?"
Aren’t you glad that for most of us life is not that complicated. But we all have plenty of choices to make each day.
There was this man who’s afraid of telephone poles.
Why is he afraid of telephone poles?
Because when he was at a bus stop a car accident occurred right in front of him while he was standing next to a telephone pole. When he heard the crash of the accident, he felt his life was in danger. He comes away from there not being afraid of accidents but being afraid of telephone poles.
So here’s the question: to what extent can I choose my own destiny?
Today I would like for us to consider one of the biographies of the Bible. Let us take a few minutes and develop a sketch of the life of Levi, third son of Jacob. The biographies of the Bible were written for our admonition and encouragement. All of these biographies are important. Some personalities receive chapter after chapter of attention, others (like Levi) are very sketchy, very brief, and almost never referred to.
How much do you know about the Bible personality? Do you think that we could learn something by studying his life this morning? The Apostle Paul in II Timothy wrote that – All Scripture is given by inspiration by God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, and instruction in righteousness. In the few details the Bible gives on the life of Levi, this morning let us discover those lessons from which we may learn and profit.
Levi's life is going to be the central theme of our study this morning. We are going to see in Levi's life evidence that everyone, even those who are born with spiritual and environmental handicaps can be transformed by God's power.
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I. Levi’s Background
First, let us look at Levi's background. Turn to Genesis 27:41. What kind of a home situation was Levi born into? What was the environment he grew up in. We all know that the environment a child grows up in places a very definite stamp on that child's character.
Let's look at his environmental handicap. Levi had a tremendous handicap because of the environment he grew up in. Levi grew up in a home of cheating, fighting, jealous relatives. Gen. 27:41:
Esau hated.... Jacob vs. 43.... So, Levi's mother and father met as Levi's father was fleeing in terror from a brother who hated him because he had cheated him out of his inheritance. That's not exactly the best situation to meet under, but that's not all of it.
Genesis 29:20, it says: Jacob served seven years for who?
Jacob got over there and he met this beautiful young lady and he fell in love with her, her name was Rachel. Now, how much money do you think Jacob had with him? Money for a dowry or to set up a home somewhere for a family.
Exodus 32:20 – And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
Levi grew up in a home where his parents were married as a result of his grandpa's cheating and trickery.
Not only that, notice 29:31...Leah was unloved. Jacob held a grudge against Leah.
He had served seven hard years for the girl he loved. Lo and behold, he woke up in the morning and he looked, but it wasn't Rachel at all---it was Leah. And she was party to this. From then on, for the rest of his life, Jacob held a grudge against her.
Little Levi grew up in a home where from his very inception his mom and dad had a grudge against each other. That's no fun.
Little Levi grew up in a home where he was a pawn in a power struggle. Jacob's last years brought an evening of tranquillity and repose after a troubled and weary life. Jacob had sinned and had deeply suffered.
Many years of toil, care and sorrow had been his since his great sin caused him to flee his father's tent. A homeless fugitive separated from his mother whom he never saw again, laboring seven years for whom he loved only to be basely cheated, toiling twenty years in the service of a covetous and grasping kinsmen, seeing his wealth increasing and sons rising around him, but finding little joy in a contentious and divided home.
That's the kind of home little Levi grew up in, a contentious, divided home, where the adults all held grudges. Nice environment, right?
Even his name, Gen. 29:34, take a look at that...
Levi was a little billboard as he crawled and toddled around Jacob's camp. He was a little billboard that his mother was advertising on. He was saying by his very name, Levi, which means, should be attached.
She was saying, Look, I have born three sons for Jacob. Rachel hasn't given him any children. By the culture and customs of the times he should be attached to me. He shouldn't hold a grudge against me. Little Levi, as he walks around, by his very name, Levi, people said, there goes should be attached, but his Daddy isn't attached. He was a pawn, a billboard, in this power struggle.
Gen. 30:2,9. Jacob's anger was kindled against who? Rachel. Probably because of little Levi. Can you see that?
Here's little Levi, should be attached, he's running all over. Everybody says, “Look who's here, little should be attached. And Rachel, "Every time I see that kid it drives me crazy." She goes to Jacob and demands that he give her children. Then Jacob gets mad. Maybe you can understand. He probably trying, right?
It says, vs. 2... Then verse 9...
The story thickens as the two sister-wives now get their handmaids involved. Before we are done, in this home there are four mothers. You children think that one mother's enough to handle? Little Levi had to put up in a home where there were four mothers. They were all fighting each other.
There were twelve kids. Reuben, the oldest, was kind of a flake, he surely wasn't a leader. Then came Simon and Levi, they were kindred spirits. They were the ones to lead the pack. Simon and Levi were always under pressure from their mother Leah to get Jacob's attention away from Rachel and her handmaid and their kids.
So, Levi grew up in a home where he was constantly being pressured to grab attention. You parent's all know who kids grab attention, right? You get attention fastest by being bad. Levi grew up an expert at being bad.
He not only had an environmental handicap, he also had a spiritual handicap. Levi had the privilege, we have to say it was a privilege, to have Jacob as his father. Jacob was one of the rare men in history that have known God as a personal friend. God is often identified as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was close to God. God loved Jacob. But because Jacob was God's friend, Satan made extra efforts to magnify and zero in on Jacob's weak points.
Gen. 30 tells us about Jacob's example to his sons. It was an example that was marred, Ch. 30:4....
Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid goes is presented to Jacob. Now does Jacob say, "Wait a minute! I learned from Grandpa Abraham that that's a bad deal, that's no good, and we're not going to do that in my house. No. Jacob was a guy that wanted to keep peace at any cost. Well, that's really not right, but if it will get these women off my case, if I can make them all happy, I'll do it."
Then, vs. 9...
Can't you just imagine what's happening? All of a sudden, Rachel had legal children, even though they weren't her real children. WHOOOO, did the sparks fly. Leah wasn't having any more kids. She goes into to Jacob and insists, you did it for Rachel, you've got to do it for me! Poor Jacob, he only wants peace and harmony. And all these women are on him all the time. All right, all right, all right.
Little Levi sees his father, Jacob, who is supposed to be God's friend, he sees Jacob compromising just to keep peace in the family.
Gen. 30:14, is another example, the kids got involved in it. Vs. 14...
Mandrakes were an aphrodisiac, a plant that people thought would help them bear children. Don't you find this situation not ringing right to you? Something very basic has gone all wrong! Jacob new he shouldn't get involved in all that. But again, in order to keep peace, Jacob would compromise and go along with the foolish schemes the wives would concoct. Little Levi sees all this.
Let's back up just a minute. If you’re at all confused as to what all is going on let's try to flip back a few pages and review what's going on. First, there's Leah. Then, there was Rachel. Little Levi grows up in a home where it's Rachel versus Leah. That's not enough. So, Rachel gives her handmaid, Bilhah, to Jacob. And Bilhah has a child. But it's not really Bilhah's child, legally it's Rachel's child. So, you know what's happened?
Now, its Bilhah versus Rachel. Bickering back and forth all the time. So, Leah gives her handmaid Zilpah to Jacob. Zilpah gets pregnant and has as child. Legally Zilpah's child is Leah's child. So now we have Zilpah and Leah going at each other, back and forth, all the time. We have Rachel and Leah at each other's throat; Bilhah and Rachel at each other's throat; Zilpah and Leah are at each other's throat; and to make things worse, Zilpah and Leah are against Bilhah and Rachel. Then they get the kids involved. "Those are Rachel's kids. Them's Rachel's and Bilhah's kids. Them. Us."
Can you imagine little Levi growing up in this terrible mess? That's the picture Scripture paints. Gen. 37:3...
When Levi was 4- or 5-years old Joseph was born. Joseph was the first child of Rachel, whom Jacob loved most of all. From the beginning, Jacob allow himself to showed favouritism to little Joseph. Levi was just at that stage when parental favouritism and rejection can cause the most damage.
That's the environment little Levi grew up in. Tough, right? Not good at all. Levi allowed these circumstances to make him one bitter young man. The Interpreter's Bible Dictionary says of Levi, his ancient reputation was one of a predatory and merciless adversary. Levi was a lot like a street kid in one of our larger cities. He was tough, cruel, and mean. A young man who had resolved to give back everything life gave to him, lick for lick, and blow for blow, and a little extra if he could pull it off.
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II. Levi’s Bitter Character
We read of his character, Gen. 34:25. Levi had a sister named Dinah. (one sister) His sister was all that savoury of a character; she was kind of a run about. She got into trouble with a guy in the city of Shechem. Gen. 34:25
Dinah gets in trouble with one guy and so Levi with Simon made up a evil plan and murdered every man in the city of Shechem. That's like going up to Palmyra and killing every man that lives in that small town. That's the kind of guy that Levi was.
Gen. 49:5-7. We get another picture of Levi's character. We come to the end of Jacob's life. Jacob is on his deathbed and he calls all of his children into him to give them his last blessing. Notice what he said, vs.5... Can you find a blessing in that? Here he calls in all his children to give them his last blessing. This is what Levi got. Pretty hard, pretty hard. That's the kind of person he was. It was Simon and Levi that had the major part of selling Joseph into Egypt. Later, Joseph kept Simon in prison as a test of his brothers.
That's the picture we have of Levi in the prime of his life. He felt life had dealt him a bad hand. He was born to a wife that his father didn't want. He grew up in a power struggle for attentions and love. He was always blamed for all the trouble that 12 boys can get into. So, he and Simon banded together and vowed that in the battle of life they would dish out everything they had got and maybe more.
Even in naming his children you can see the bitterness and hardness in his soul. When Levi's first child was born, he named him Gershum. You know what Gershum means? It means extortion. I'm going to name that kid extortion because that's how I treat people. His third child he named Merah, which means bitter hard and cruel. Can you see the kind of man we are talking about? Here's a man you don't want to meet.
Unfortunately, there's a lot of Levi's around today. Men and women with a grudge against life, who hate everyone and everything, including themselves. We all have met some Levi's haven't we. Do you know a Levi? Maybe a work, maybe down the block, maybe in our own home. Perhaps, perhaps today, sitting in this congregation behind a very nice mask of religiosity, there's one or two Levi's. Bitter, hard and cruel in their hearts.
If that was the end of this biography it was be a pitiful thing wouldn't it? But, it's not the end. A miracle happened to Levi. We can see it in the tests that Joseph gave to his brothers. We don't know how, when, or where but somehow God had reached out and touched the heart of Levi. Levi was in his forties when the famine came and went to Egypt. These men had changed. Somehow, in spite of the situation, God's love and grace was victorious.
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III. Grace and Transformation
Exodus 32:19 A beautiful picture that tells us that Levi changed is in the story of what happened to Levi's grandchildren. This story takes place 122 years after Grandpa Levi's death. Israel is camped at the base of Mt. Sinai. Moses has been gone for a number of days. Israel is dancing in drunken frivolity around the golden calf. Moses comes down from the mountain and what does he see?
Exodus 32:19 – “And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.”
Exodus 32:25 – “And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies..."
Can you picture this situation in your mind?
Moses has spent days in the very presence of God. He comes down the mountain to see God's people naked and in a drunken stupor dancing around the golden calf. Moses is mad! He throws the tables of the law down. He gets on Aaron's case. He stands back. He glares at the congregation. He cries out: "Who is on the Lord's side?"
Like one man, the tribe of Levi stands forward. They said, "We are." The tribe of Levi was the only tribe who refused to join in the apostasy. And when the call was made, "who is on the Lord's side,” they were the first to stand.
Was it an accident that a vengeful father like Levi could raise children and grandchildren who 120 years after his death were the first to take the Lord's stand?
Somehow, somewhere Levi allowed the grace of God to soften that cruel heart of his. He allowed God to remove the grudge in his soul and the chip on his shoulder. By the miracle of conversion, he had set his feet so firmly on the Lord's side that 120 years later his children and grandchildren remembered their grandfather Levi.
Blessing to Levi? Levi scattered. Curse turned into blessing. Deut.10:8,9
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Conclusion
How is your relationship with the Lord? Do you have the right attitude about Him? Does He have your respect and honor and love? Are you as close to God as you can be? Are you walking with Him daily, enjoying time in His presence?
He is calling us to a higher level of living that is only found by those who will press in close to His heart and cling to Him.
I encourage you to respond to His invitation of intimacy. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30, NIV).
Come and establish or renew your relationship with Him.
