‘And of Levi he said,“Give to Levi your Thummim, and your Urim to your godly one, whom you tested at Massah, with whom you quarrelled at the waters of Meribah; who said of his father and mother, ‘I regard them not’; he disowned his brothers and ignored his children.  For they observed your word and kept your covenant.  They shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law they shall put incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.  Bless, O Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands; crush the loins of his adversaries, of those who hate him, that they rise not again” (Deuteronomy 33:8-11).

The blessing of verses 8-11 is directed at the tribe of Levi.  This is the second longest blessing that Moses gives, the longest being to the tribe of Joseph.  Once again the blessing for the tribe takes the form of a prayer for the future of the tribe and their dedication and role in serving the Lord’s people in the years to come.

The: ‘Thummim’ and: ‘Urim’ of verse 8 referred to the means by which the Lord’s will was often discerned.  They were probably two flat stones which the high priest kept in his breastplate (Exodus 28:30 and Leviticus 8:8).  The origin of the words on each side of these stones is interesting; ‘Urim’ is derived from the word that means ‘curse’ whereas ‘Thummim’ is derived from the word which means: ‘perfect.’  If, when thrown, both sides showed ‘Urim’ then the answer was in the negative and the consequences for the person asking the question, if proceeding with the action connected with that question, could be to incur a curse.  If ‘Thummim’, the answer was positive.  In the case of a combination of the two words the priests would say that it was impossible to give a definite answer.[1]  What this clearly shows is the pastoral role of the tribe from which the priestly office derived.  It is also a reversal of Jacob’s curse from Genesis 49:5-7.

At first it seems unclear as to how the tribe of Levi was responsible for testing the Lord at Massah or how they: ‘quarrelled’ with the Lord at Merbeth (Exodus 17:1-7 and Numbers 20:1-13).  But I think Allan Harman has the answer in the sense that both Moses and Aaron, who represented Levi, had both been tested through this event.[2]  What is clear from the following verses is the loyalty to the Lord that Levi had shown.

There’s no doubt that the tribe of Levi acted with great zeal for the Lord’s cause at key points in the history of the exodus.  For example, they carried out the Lord’s judgement to the letter in the aftermath of the idolatry of the Golden calf (Exodus 32:27-28) and Phinehas, a Levite, had acted zealously when the men of Israel indulged in sexual immorality and idolatry with the Moabite women (Numbers 25:6-13).  Indeed, their faithfulness concerning the incident with the Golden Calf is what led to the tribe being set aside for the Lord’s service.  The three areas that service covered were seeking the Lord’s will, instructing the people in God’s Law and taking responsibility for Israel’s formal worship.

The words of verse 9 for can be compared to Jesus’ comments when He teaches, using an extreme example (which was common in Jewish teaching), that love for God and the sacrifice that that entails is to come first in all the Christian says and does (Matthew 10:34-39 and Luke 14:26).  Just as the Levites were to guard the Lord’s Covenant, those who minister to God’s people are to hold God’s Word as precious.  This role is the focus of verse 10 as this was Levi’s unique role within the people of Israel and throughout the Old Testament as teachers of the people.  Those who were priests had a special role in that they offered incense and sacrifices to the Lord in accordance with the Law.  In other words, they acted as intercessors to the Lord on behalf of the people.  Moses ends his blessing with a call to the Lord that this role would continue and the Lord would bless the work of the Levites and protect them from anyone who would oppose them.  In our day and age it is just as important that we pray that the Lord strengthens and protects those who minister His Word.

[1] Raymond Brown, The Message of Deuteronomy, The Bible Speaks Today  (Inter-Varsity-Press, 1993) 314.
[2] Allan Harman. Deuteronomy, the Commands of the Covenant God (Christian focus publications, Fearn, 2001) 279.