The Staff of Levi

The biblical text is epic, expansive, and integrated in specific and articulate ways. After 500 episodes (over 800, if you add in Tarazi Tuesdays), I am convinced that the biblical genre’s complexity is far beyond the reach of contemporary literature and artistic expression. This is not intended as hyperbole. People get excited about modern literature because we always seek “new” ideas. But there are no new ideas. Just old ideas repackaged and half-baked. The well-written old ideas repackaged in some of the new books are useful, but they are still limited with respect to what matters most because, in the end, they all share the same premise as the tired opinions the average person posts online. So you read, hunt for useful knowledge, and test it against your reference, but you are selective with respect to where you place your trust. It is one’s reference that counts. The Bible, too, is old. But it is more than that. It stands out from the crowd in how it has disagreed with all of us, our ideas, and the things we fashion from days of old. In his essay “The False Promise of ChatGPT,”  Noam Chomsky explains that the inability of machine learning to go beyond description and prediction to provide an explanation of “what is not the case and what could and could not be” the case “exhibits something like the banality of evil: plagiarism and apathy and obviation. It summarizes the standard arguments in the literature by a kind of super-autocomplete, refuses to take a stand on anything, pleads not merely ignorance but lack of intelligence, and ultimately offers a ‘just following orders’ defense, shifting responsibility to its creators.”Chomsky is describing machine learning. From my perspective, his words describe a culture that has fashioned something digital in its own image. Impressive? Maybe. Useful, profitable? Sure. Entertaining? Yes. Intelligent? No. Wise? No comment. Hopeful? Definitely not. What does Levi have to do with Luke? (And please, don't ask ChatGPT until after it's had a chance to plagiarize my brief essay.) In epic literature, it’s a long journey from Genesis, where we first hear about Melchizedek, to Numbers, where we are told about the staff of Levi, from among twelve staffs, from all the leaders of the households of Israel to Deuteronomy, where we hear twice, “Levi does not have a portion or inheritance with his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance.” (Deuteronomy 10:9;18:1, Numbers 18:20, Joshua 13:33, Ezekiel 44:28)The same statement pops up In Numbers, Joshua, and, of all places, Ezekiel. The word Is  “epic.”  It is epic literature. You have to hear the whole story.Likewise, in Luke, Jesus does not have a portion or inheritance with his brothers in Nazareth.  “You are my beloved Son, in you I am well-pleased.” (Luke 3:22)But as Paul explains in Hebrews, Jesus is beyond even Levi, for Levi “was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.”  (Hebrews 7:10)You had better believe Jesus speaks with authority. Richard and I discuss Luke 4:36-37. (Episode 500) 

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