When God brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt, He did it by sending ten plagues (Ex 7-12). The last plague was the death of all the firstborn of Egypt, even including their animals. Not one firstborn of Israel died because they were protected by the blood of the lamb (Ex 12). Thus, God sanctified the firstborn of Israel unto Himself (Ex 13:2 & 15, Ex 22:19, Ex 34:20, Num 3:13). However, after Israel sinned with the golden calf at Mt. Sinai, Moses asked who was on his side and those of the tribe of Levi answered his call (Ex 32:26). After that, the Levites were chosen instead of the firstborn (Num 3:40-45, Num 8:16). Aaron, the brother of Moses, was chosen to be the first high priest (Ex 4, Ex 27:1, Ex 28-30, Ex 40). Only his direct descendants were to be priests and perform the ministry in the tabernacle. Moses and Aaron were from the tribe of Levi (Ex 2:1). The others of the tribe of Levi were to assist the priests in their ministry (Num 3). So, all priests were of the tribe of Levi, but not all Levites were priests. This is illustrated in the parable of the good Samaritan (Lk 10:30-37).
Everyone has moments of discouragement. This is not due to God being unfaithful. It is due to us looking on our current circumstances instead of God. Peter walked on the water with Jesus as long as he kept his eyes on Him. When he turned his focus on the storm, he began to sink
(Mt 14:22-33). Even those with a most holy calling of God go through discouragement. Abraham (Gen 15), Moses (Ex 5:22-23), David (1Sam 27:1), Elijah (1Ki 19, Jam 5:17-18), the apostles (Lk 24:36-43), and many others experienced it. The danger is setting up camp in the valley of discouragement instead of passing through it. Then it becomes apathy. This is a lack of interest or concern. It is giving up hope and faith and surrendering to the current circumstances. It is the feeling that our efforts are meaningless, so why bother?
The priests and Levites had an important, holy responsibility to minister before God on behalf of His people. However, when Israel fell into a state of apostacy, they would fall into apathy. Their service would go unfulfilled, which only compounded the problem. After Israel split into two separate kingdoms (1Ki 12), the northern kingdom fell into sin and never recovered (2Ki 17). The southern kingdom went on a spiritual roller coaster until it was also destroyed (2Ki 25).
Some kings were good and led the people into revival, and other kings were evil and led them into sin.
Jehoshaphat was a good king. He restored the Levites and their ministry (2Chr 19:8). Joash commanded the repairing of the temple (2Chr 24:5-14). He told the Levites to go and collect the temple offering money and use it for this work. Yet they were apathetic and did not do it. 16 years went by (2Ki 12:1-14). Joash called for the priests and demanded an explanation. He told them they could no longer receive financial support from the people but rather take it to repair the temple. They consented to neither receive money nor use it to repair the temple. He had a chest placed at the entrance of the temple to put the money in, and when it was full it would be emptied and the money would be put to use for repairing the temple.
Hezekiah led one of the greatest revivals in the Old Testament. It was go great, the entire account is recorded in 3 different places in the Bible (2Ki 18-20, 2Chr 29-32, Is 36-28). He reinstituted the Passover, but the priests were apathetic to sanctify themselves for their service, and they had to be shamed into it by the Levites who were more righteous to do it (2Chr 29:34, 2Chr 30:15, 2Chr 31:4).
After the exiles began to return from captivity, their circumstances were difficult. Their capital city had been destroyed, their temple had been burned, and the walls of Jerusalem had been knocked down. They were under the authority of Gentile kings. The books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Haggai describe the challenges they faced and the discouragement they had to battle. God had warned Israel through Moses to be very careful who they married, because if they married unbelievers they would lead them away from God ((Ex 23:28-33, Ex 34:11-16, Num 33:55-56, Duet 7:1-6). This is exactly what happened. After the exiles returned, they fell into this again (Ezra 9). Ezra got so frustrated that he pulled out his hair and his beard and ripped his clothes. His prayer shows how discouraged he was. Yet some of the people said to him that there was still hope. They could repent and separate themselves from the unbelievers.
Nehemiah was a contemporary of Ezra. He returned to Jerusalem to provide leadership and to rebuild the walls. He returned to Babylon for a time because he still held a position with the king there. While he was gone, the people fell into allying with the enemies, stopped paying tithes to support the ministry, stopped celebrating the Sabbath, and married unbelievers (Neh 13). Nehemiah returned to find all this mess. As the saying goes, when the cat’s away, the mice will play. Nehemiah could see that the people were not paying tithes, because the Levites had left their service and gone back to their lands to grow their own food (Neh 13:5 & 10).
Leaders need to recognize these problems and proactively protect themselves against apathy. They can do this by maintaining their relationship with God and by ensuring they have relationships with people around them to encourage and support them. Christians also need to be aware of these issues, not only for themselves, but for their leaders. No leader is perfect, but if Christians have leaders that are striving to execute their office, Christians need to be supportive and encouraging. They can do this by abiding in their place in Christ and doing His will, by following godly leadership, and by making it clear to their leaders that they are loyal.
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