Moses, Israel’s great lawgiver, stood upon Mount Nebo overlooking the borders of the promised land. It was the land he had held up before the children of Israel as their inheritance from God for forty years. And now, after telling the childen of Israel that God “set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.”; Moses had come up to the mountain ending his journey on earth.
With all the great and mighty deeds that God had performed through Moses; he still came up short of the Holiness that the great “I am” required. The LORD’s charge against Moses which kept him and Aaron from crossing the border into the promised land was that they failed to sanctify the LORD in the midst of the people when they murmured at Meribah.
Here at the border Moses finished his work of preparation with the poetic song comprising chapter 32 of Deuteronomy and the blessings upon the tribes (chapter 33).
Deuteronomy 32:8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
9. For the LORD'S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
The word used for “nations” in this passage of scripture is “goy” or “goyim”, meaning Gentiles. From this passage we see that the Most High, the Holy one, set a boundary or dividing line between Jacob’s descendants and the Gentiles.
This does not mean that Gentiles have no inheritance or that Israel is destined to have all the earth. What it does mean is that the Gentiles and the house of Israel have a relationship with one another that has certain boundaries spiritually and physically.
We might paraphrase this passage of scripture like this: “When the Most High issued His decree; he gave the Gentiles their inheritances and reserved Israel to himself as His own inheritance.”
In the descendants of Israel God intended to set His name apart among mankind to manifest His very nature in the relationships within Israel. Israel was called to be the model or measuring line for all civilization.
To the Gentiles, God asks, “How are you treating my people Israel?”
To Israel, God asks, “How are you treating the Gentiles?”
In placing boundaries between Israel and the Gentiles God has not implied superiority of one over another. What God has done is set boundaries for balancing of relationships.
Within the household of Israel itself we see that there are spiritual boundaries of separation for the tribe of Levi. Like the Gentiles; the Levites have no inheritance in Israel.
Deuteronomy 14:27 And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.
28. At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates:
29. And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.”
This setting apart of Levi (and Aaron) amongst the house of Israel is a witness to Israel of how they should treat the Gentiles. This is why the law of tithes that became effective three years after Israel’s entry into the promised land includes the strangers (Gentiles) with the Levites.
When Jesus Christ, a descendant of Judah through the line of David, said, “inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me”, he was referencing his relationship with the Levites as a Jew. For here in the form of a parable, Jesus speaks of himself as the king. And it is the line of Judah that bears rights to the throne.
Matthew 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43. I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45. Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
A close reading of this passage of scripture reveals three ways that Jesus stated the principle taught by Moses in Deut 14:28,29.
Jesus said:
1. “the least of these my brethren” (Levites)
2. “I was a stranger, and ye took me not in”. (Gentiles)
3. “Inasmuch as ye did it not to the least of these” (Levites and Gentiles).
When Jesus spoke these words before his disciples he was preparing them for what lay ahead. Each disciple was either Jewish or of another tribe gathered to Judah. Jesus was preparing them for the dispensation of God's grace to the Gentiles.
This is specifically the reason Jesus used three variations on the same theme. These three references were straight from the Torah delivered through Moses. In Deuteronomy 14 the children of Israel were told that they would provide for the Levite and the stranger. They were to take them in. In Dueteronomy 26: 12-13 the Torah commands the children of Israel to declare that they have indeed done what the law required concerning the Levite and the stranger (Gentile).
Within the house of Israel, according to the law of Moses, the Levites who had divested themselves of all claims to their worldly possessions, were at the mercy of the other tribes. If the other tribes did not keep the law of tithes; Levites would suffer and not fulfill their role for the good of the whole family.
From this we see that when the Most High sets bounds of inheritances between Israel and the Gentiles, he also set the Levites in the midst of Israel as a barometer and object lesson in what Israel’s relationship should be with the stranger (Gentiles). The Levites received no inheritance in the earth as the Gentiles and other tribes of Israel.
Yet, these boundaries, which are physical and spiritual, are still in effect today. The relationship of Israel, Levi, and the Gentiles is still a barometer of whether or not God’s word is being kept.
The Messiah king asks “what are you doing to the least of these?”
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