Psalms 117 - 118 (with 3 topics)

Below various topics are expounded based on their dates of composition, as noted in PerspectivesA A.; note the the 1st 5 books of the Bible together are simply cited as having been written 1450-1406 B.C.: 5x they are called the Book of the Law of Moses (Jsh 8:31; 23:6; Neh 8:1; 13:1; 2ndKi 14:6), 1x called the Book of the Law of the LORD given through Moses (2ndCh 34:14), & 4x called the Book of Moses (2ndCh 25:4; 32:12; Ezr 6:18; Mark 12:26). Actually Genesis & Exodus were written during much of this time (1450-1410 B.C.), Leviticus was written during the time the Israelites were at Mt. Sinai (1445-1444 B.C.), Numbers also (like Gen & Exo) was written 1450-1410 B.C., & Deuteronomy was written c1407 or 1406.

1. History #1-- The Priesthood, Priest & High Priest

   A. Ancient Lev 10:6 covers a specific instruction for an as-yet-unnamed type of priest, the high priest: Moses said to Aaron & His sons Eleazar & Ithemar, 'Do not let Your hair become unkempt (long/uncut), & do not tear Your clothes or You will die, because the LORD'S Anointing Oil is on You. They were told this because the other 2 sons of Aaron had died-- They added unauthorized fire before the LORD contrary to HIS Command. Aaron & the remaining brothers were not to mourn; rather they were to make atonement, as befits the anointing oil. Now, Aaron & his sons were already priests, of course, & they were hardly the 1st. The priesthood started several generations earlier with Levi-- as we saw in PART II F.1.a.4. Moses & Aaron (brothers) were great grandsons of Levi. However, this is an indication of the capacity of high priests, named/spelled out some 6 chapters later (but recall that we saw that the entirety of Lev was written during their stay at Mt. Sinai). Lev 16:1-2,32,34 says, The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the 2 sons of Aaron who died when They approached the LORD. The LORD said to Moses: Tell Your brother Aaron not to come whenever He chooses into the most holy place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else He will die. The priest who is anointed & ordained to succeed His father as high priest is to make atonement. Atonement is to be made 1x-a-yr. for all the sins of the Israelites. Lev 21:10 The high priest, the 1 among His brothers (fellow priests) who has had the anointing oil poured on His head & who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let His hair become unkempt (long/uncut) or tear His clothes. Num 17:1-5,8 Now the above was said & written during their year at Mt. Sinai; at some point thereafter (after the spies-into-The Promised Land), there was some bitter resentment/non-acceptance of Moses & Aaron as the chief leaders (led by some Levite priests, Reubenites & 250 other leaders, per Num 16:1-3). This may well be the moment when God let-it-be-known whom HE had chosen as high priest. The LORD said to Moses, Speak to the Israelites & get 12 staffs from Them, 1 from the leader of each of Their ancestral tribes. Write down the name of each man on His staff. On the staff of Levi write Aaron's name, for there must be only 1 staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. Place them in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I will meet with You. The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout. The next day Moses entered the Tent of Testimony & saw that Aaron's staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed & produced almonds.

  B. Early When the Israelites were crossing the Jordan (spoken by officers)-- Jsh 3:3 says: 'When You see the ark of the Covenant of the LORD Your GOD, & the priests, who are the Levites, carrying it, You are to move out from Your positions & follow it.'

  C. Middle David had just made son Solomon king in Jerusalem (the Tent of Meeting functioned while the Temple of the LORD was being built)-- 1stCh 23:3-6,12,24,26-32 says: The Levites 30 yrs. old or more were counted-- 38,000. David said, '24,000 are to supervise the work (construction) of the Temple of the LORD, 6000 are to be officials & judges, 4000 are to be gatekeepers & 4000 are to praise the LORD with musical instruments.' David divided the Levites into groups according to the immediate sons (not later descendants) of Levi: Gershon, Kohath & Merari. The sons of Kohath: Amram... 4 in all. The sons of Amram: Aaron & Moses. Aaron was set apart, He & His descendants forever, to consecrate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices before the LORD, to minister before Him & to pronounce blessings in HIS Name. The sons of Moses only were counted as part of the tribe of Levi-- 1 of the sons of Moses was Gershom; note the spelling in comparison to Gershon, son of Levi. However, it was the workers 20 yr. old or more who served in the Temple of the LORD. The Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle. The duty of the Levites was to help Aaron's descendants in the service of the Temple of the LORD: the courtyard, the side rooms, purification, etc. They were to stand every morning & evening to thank & praise the LORD, etc. And so the Levites carried out Their responsibilities for the Tent of Meeting, for the Holy Place &, under Their brothers the descendants of Aaron, for the service of the Temple of the LORD.

  D. Late When Nehemiah went from Babylon to Jerusalem, became governor, & lead the exile-returnees in the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem (note that very shortly later Malachi began his ministry); this does not at all cover the prior priest-"contribution" of the downfall which began with Solomon; temporarily (apparently) there was a revival, after Ezra the priest-scribe read the Book of the Law (see Neh 8); the Levites & priests confessed, made a written binding agreement (see Neh 9); the rest of the Israelites bound themselves with a spoken curse & oath (see Neh 10)-- Neh 10:38-39 says: 'A priest descended from Aaron is to accompany the Levites when They receive the tithes, & the Levites are to bring a 10th of the tithes up to the House of Our GOD, to the storerooms of the treasury. We will not neglect the House of Our GOD.' However in Neh 13 Nehemiah saw some desecrating the sabbath & intermarrying, Nehemiah responded by calling curses down; I beat some & pulled out their hair-- reminiscent of Moses striking the rock, of Saul assuming the role of the late-coming Samuel (see 1stSa 13:1-13), etc.