Looking at Levi by nature, there could not be any point farther removed from God than that at which he stood; but _grace_ in exercise, through the blood, could _lift him up_ out of that ruin in which he stood, and "bring him nigh," yea, bring him into association with the great head of the priestly family, there to serve in the tabernacle. Thus, we read, "You _hath He quickened who were dead_ in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.... _But God_, who is _rich in mercy_, for His _great love_ wherewith _He loved us_, even _when we were dead in sins_, hath quickened us _together with Christ_ (by grace ye are saved), and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. ii. 1-6). And again, "But _now_, _in Christ Jesus_, ye who sometime were _afar off_, are _made nigh_ by the blood of Christ" (ver. 13). When _nature_ is left free to work, it will ever go as far away from _God_ as it can. This is true since the day when man said, "I heard _Thy voice_, and I was _afraid_ and I hid myself" (Gen. iii. 10). But when grace is left free and sovereign to work, it will ever bring the soul "nigh." Thus it was with Levi. He was by nature "_black as the tents of Kedar_;" by grace, "comely as the curtains of Solomon:" by _nature_ he was "_joined_" in a covenant of murder; by _grace_ "joined" in a covenant of "life and peace." The former, because he was "_fierce and cruel_;" the latter, because he feared and was afraid of the Lord's name. (Comp. Gen. xlix. 6, 7; Mal. ii. 5.) Furthermore, Levi was by _nature_ conversant with the "instruments of cruelty;" by _grace_, with "_the instruments of God's tabernacle_:" by _nature_ God could not come into _Levi's assembly_; by _grace_, Levi is brought into _God's assembly_: by nature, "his feet were swift _to shed blood_;" by grace, _swift_ to follow the movements of the cloud through the desert, in real, patient service to God. In a word, Levi had become a "_new creature_," and "old things had passed away," and therefore he was no longer to "live unto himself," but unto Him who had done such marvelous things for him in grace. I would further observe, on the last cited passage, that the Levites are, in the first place, declared to be God's property, and then they are "WHOLLY GIVEN UNTO AARON." Thus we read: "_Thine they were_, _and Thou gavest them Me_, and they have kept Thy word" (John xvii. 6). And again, "All that _the Father giveth Me_ shall come to Me" (John vi. 37). I would now look a little into the detail of their service, in which, I doubt not, we shall find much to edify and refresh us.