Opening the Gates of Heaven Perry Stone

of the harvest were marked in the fields and on the trees and were cut from their stems, vines, and trees to be presented to the Lord as a firstfruits offering (Deut. 26:2). God went so far as to say, “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine” (Exod. 13:2). It appears that God’s original plan was that every firstborn male child born into twelve Hebrew tribes would be called into the priesthood. God said to Israel:

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. —E XODUS 19:5–6

When Israel sinned with the golden calf, Moses asked who was on the Lord’s side, and the Levites assembled around him. Moses instructed these men to slay the idolaters, which they did (Exod. 32:26– 28). Instead of choosing all of the firstborn sons to form a kingdom of priests, the tribe of Levi—the tribe of Moses and Aaron— was chosen. The Levites were given charge of the ark of the covenant and the tabernacle (Deut. 10:8–9). The sons of Levi were not given a land grant in Israel, because they were to live and minister at the tabernacle and, later, in the