The Story of Levi: By Grace Are Ye Saved

Daniel Whittle penned many hymns.  One of those which have become more obscure today is “By Grace Are Ye Saved”.  The first stanza of the hymn reads, “In grace the holy God did full salvation plan, electing in His sovereign grace to save rebellious man.”  When we look at the prophecy that Jacob makes for his sons in Genesis 49 we can see the grace of God poured out on two particularly rebellious men.

Simeon and Levi, the second and third sons of Leah, had taken vengeance on the city of Shechem for the sin of the prince of the city.  He had raped their little sister.  These two brothers had then killed every man in the city in retribution.  In modern parlance we might say that their father Jacob was “not amused”.  In his prophecy regarding these two sons he seems to make an end of them as an enduring part of the tribes of Israel.  What he saw dimly in speaking the prophecy, however, God saw fully in the grandeur of His grace to an end that Jacob could not see.  The prophecy came from God and God had grace in his plan. 

By the words of Jacob the brothers were to be dispersed in Israel and have no land of their own.  This indeed did come true.  But it did not mean their insignificance or destruction.  Levi went on to become the tribe of the Aaronic priesthood.  God made a covenantal statement regarding this priesthood that it would perpetuate until the end of time. We see this priesthood still at work in the restored Israel of the millennial age found in Ezekiel 40-48.  God’s grace did not eliminate but saved this rebellious son.

The tribe of Simeon was also dispersed.  It is where they were dispersed that shines the grace of God.  Simeon was given an inheritance within the tribe of Judah.  While they did in many ways lose their own identity, the identity of where they were was the blessed capital of Israel.  Judah was the crowning tribe.  It was the home of the temple where the Levites served.  The tribe of Simeon survived foreign attacks until the tribe of Judah itself succumbed to the weight of their own sin.  Therefore, the people of Simeon were among the first to be restored to the land after the captivity of Babylon.  God preserved these two brothers by His grace alone.  What seemingly was their end, the prophecy of Jacob, was to be in truth their salvation.  God in his grace planned it all and saved the sinner.  Praise God that He is still in the same planning and saving grace “business” today.