Bemidbar (Numbers) 8:14-16
Thus shall you separate the Leviyim from among the children of Israel: and the Leviyim shall be mine. 15 And after that shall the Leviyim go inֺ to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and you shall cleanse them, and offer them for an offering. 16 For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Yisra’el; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Yisra’el, have I taken them unto me.
This phrase - they are wholly given unto me - is an interesting one, begging the question as to what is meant by the word wholly. In the Hebrew, we have the word nathaniym, not once but twice. (םינִתֻנְ םינִתֻנְ יכִּ kee nathaniym nathaniym – literally, they are given, given). The Leviyim are wholly separated from the people of Yisra’el. How separated? Consider:
Bemidbar (Numbers) 1:47-54
But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. 48 For YAHUAH had spoken unto Mosheh, saying, 49 Only you shall not number the tribe of Leviy, neither take the sum of them among the children of Yisra’el: 50 But you shall appoint the Leviyim over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle. 51 And when the tabernacle sets forward, the Leviyim shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Leviyim shall set it up: and the stranger that comes nigh shall be put to death. 52 And the children of Yisra’el shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts. 53 But the Leviyim shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Yisra’el: and the Leviyim shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony. 54 And the children of Yisra’el did according to all that YAHUAH commanded Mosheh, so did they.
So the Leviyim were separated and not even counted. However, this is not their only separation.
Bemidbar (Numbers)18:20
And YAHUAH spoke unto Aharon, You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any part among them: I am your part and your inheritance among the children of Yisra’el.
As we look at this priesthood of Leviy, there is yet more to consider, because Leviy is not entirely eliminated, even under the tutelage of Mashiach. In the book of Malachiy, we find the following discussion:
Mal’akiy (Malachi) 3:1-2
BEHOLD, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and ADONAI, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his Temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, says YAHUAH TSEVA’OT. 2 But who may abide את eth-the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appears? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
Can it be denied that this is prophecy concerning both Yahuchanon the Immerser (John the Baptist) and Mashiach, our ADONAI? In the first verse, YAH says that he will send his “messenger” which in the Hebrew is malach, the word so often interpreted as angel. ADONAI is then described as the messenger, and again the word is malach, or angel, of the covenant (brit). See Yermiyahu 31:31, and Ivriym 8:8.
Mal’akiy (Malachi) 3:3-6
And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify את eth-the sons of Leviy, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto YAHUAH an offering in righteousness. 4 Then shall the offering of Yahudah and Yerushalayim be pleasant unto YAHUAH, as in the days of old, and as in former years. 5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the breakers of wedlock, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, says YAHUAH TSEVA’OT. 6 For I am YAHUAH, I change not; therefore ye sons of Ya`aqov are not consumed.
Here, this witness in the book of Mal’akiy gives us the definition of both righteousness and unrighteousness. Unrighteousness is declared to be sorcery (kawshaph), the breaking of wedlock (na’aph), and false swearing (sheqer shabah). Righteousness is declared to be not oppressing the hireling in his wages, not oppressing the widow, the fatherless, not turning aside the stranger from his right, and fearing YAHUAH. Where have we read that before?