Verbal Assault
“The sovereign then said to the guards
who stood about him, “Turn and put the priests of יהוה to death, because their hand also is with
Dawiḏ, and because they knew when he fled
and did not reveal it to me.” But the servants of the sovereign would NOT LIFT
THEIR HANDS TO COME AGAINST THE PRIESTS OF הוה … So Do’ĕḡ the Eḏomite turned and came against the
priests, and put to death on that day eighty-five men who wore a linen shoulder
garment.” (1Sam 22:17-18), emphasis mine)
The
entire tribe of Levi belongs to Elohim (Num 3:12; 8:14); their purpose was to
minister to and serve Him, first in
the Mishkan (the Tabernacle), and
then later in the Hekal (the Temple,
see Num 1:50, 8:22). Not only were the
Levites given certain cities to dwell in (Num 35:2), but they were also to be
supported through the tithes, in order that they might spend their time in the
duties required of them in service to Elohim (see Num 18:24). They were Yahweh’s anointed, appointed,
sanctified and set-apart tribe of priests, that their entire lives might be
dedicated to Him.
And
yet we find, in 1Samuel 22, a crazed and demented king ordering the murder of a
group of priests, simply because they aided and abetted someone that Saul
believed to be his enemy. Eighty-five priests
were killed, along with an entire city consisting of the families of these
priests (1Sam 22:18-19). While I could
find nowhere within the pages of Torah that gave a direct warning concerning
harm to the tribe of Levi, I understand that there are those injunctions found
within the Talmud and the Oral Torah.
However, most of us are familiar with the verse that says, “Do not touch My
anointed ones, and do My prophets no
evil.” (Ps 105:15)
At
this time in history, we do not have a Temple, or a tribe of Levi that is
standing before our Creator day and night on our behalf. Nevertheless, we do have those anointed and appointed men and women that are set in
place to act as our teachers, guides and leaders. When we choose to use our words – verbal or
written – to judge and condemn those that stand in a ministry position, we are
inviting trouble. Daily, and not just on
social media, I see evidence of folk verbally assaulting servants of Elohim
with not only the spoken word, but those that are written for all the public to
bear witness to. Brethren, this ought
never to be.
Miriam
and Aaron chose to ridicule and mock their brother Moses and were judged
accordingly (Num 12:1-16). Miriam was
stricken with Biblical leprosy, and it was only because 0f the intervention of
her brothers that this leprosy was taken away from her. In the case of Saul, Elohim repaid him
measure for measure, in that most of his family was completely wiped out (see
1Sam 31; 2Sam 4:1-7; 2Sam 9; 2Sam 21).
If it had not been for the covenant between Jonathan (Saul’s son) and
David, there would have been no left alive of the family of Saul.
We
will not always agree with everyone on anything and everything. However, we can make the choice to disagree RESPECTFULLY,
and not slay one another with the words that come out of our mouths (and our
fingertips).
“And I say to you that
for every idle word men speak, they shall give an account of it in the day of
judgment. For by your words you shall be declared righteous,
and by your words you shall be declared unrighteous.” (Mat 12:36-37)
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