Main news for 30 September 2023

Since the time of Moses, the Levites, that is, representatives of the tribe, or as people sometimes say, the clan, of Levi, had been entrusted with everything connected with the Tabernacle and the cult. Here a role was played both by the traditional idea in clan and tribal society of hereditary clan and tribal occupations, which often became the exclusive prerogative of one tribe or clan, and by the authority of Moses and Aaron as the spiritual leaders of the people. The exclusive right of the Levites to everything in any way connected with the Tabernacle, and later with the Temple, goes back precisely to those times.

At the same time the Levites were not entitled to any other material support except what they could receive from the altar: a certain part of every sacrifice was assigned to them, and by it, as was supposed, they were to live. In addition, they had special settlements where houses belonging to representatives of their tribe were located, but they never had their own ancestral allotments like those possessed by representatives of all the other Jewish tribes; by law such allotments were not assigned to them.

On the one hand, a certain purely professional division was presumed here: the cult and everything connected with it was also viewed as a profession, an occupation that had to feed those who devoted their lives to it. On the other hand, the issue was to protect those who devote their lives to serving God from everything connected with the inevitable consequences of owning significant real estate, especially land, which requires close attention and constant care.

A person who dedicated himself to God and to the altar had to be free from such cares; he could have a house and household property, but a large land allotment would inevitably have demanded such attention and such involvement in the life of "this world" that it would have negatively affected the main work of his life.

And Ezekiel, speaking on God's behalf, only confirms the rightness of such an approach and the truth of such a position: God wants the whole person, He wants his heart, soul, and body for Himself. Of course, He does not want to deprive His servants of what they need for life, but He is against this world consuming most of their strength and time. For, as is known, a person's heart is where his treasures are.