Metaphysical meaning of Levites (mbd)
Levites, le'-vites (fr. Heb.)--of or belonging to Levi.
Descendants of Levi; the Israelitish tribe of Levi. The Levites who descended through Aaron became the priests of Israel, and the other Levites filled lower places in the religious worship and services of the Israelitish nation and in the Temple (Exod. 6:25; Num. 3:5 to 4:49).
Meta. The descendants of Levi represent thoughts that spring from and belong to the love faculty in individual consciousness. As ministers and priests in the Temple and in the Temple worship they signify our natural religious tendencies, not necessarily spiritual.
The priests and Levites of I Kings 8:4 symbolize our so-called natural religious tendencies. These officiate in the rites and ceremonies of the tent, or tabernacle, and when the more permanent structure is to be built they bring up all the "holy vessels" from that structure. We can thus understand why some persons are naturally of a religious turn of mind, though they may be born of worldly-minded parents. They carry over from a former tabernacle the results of exercising the mind in religious ways. Such results are symbolized by the priests and Levites. Thus the savage with his vague understanding of Deity may, by constantly repeating certain religious ceremonies, accumulate a religious tendency that will make him "naturally religious" when he attains a higher plane of expression. This also is the basis of the formal religion where rites and ceremonies take the place of true spirituality.
The priest and the Levite of Luke 10:31,32 typify forms of religious thoughts in man that follow the set rule of the letter of the law, with little or no thought of its practical use, of its inner, spiritual import.
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Preceding Entry: Levi
Following Entry: Leviticus
