“HOW MANY LOAVES HAVE YE?”
By L. A. Reed
We have said that what we give to God determines, under him, what is to be, and we cited the life of Jacob as illustration. We have another striking illustration in the lives of Simeon and Levi and their descendants. These two men were very cruel in their conduct toward the Shechemites, and God declared that they should have no possession in Israel. Gen. 49:7. God declared that this act determined their future, just as every other act of their lives had done its part to determine this one cruel act, and hence all future acts. And this divine law of continuity, that character perpetuates itself, is to such as Simeon and Levi the most hopeless truth that man can know. And yet it has another aspect. Simeon, true to destiny, received no inheritance in Israel. Now follow the life of Levi and the Levites. By this act of cruelty they, too, are disinherited, and to them comes the hopeless decree. But is it forever?—Yes, the decree is forever, but not the hopelessness. Levi repented. Mal. 2:4, 5. At the giving of the law, when Israel rebelled against God, it soon became apparent that the Levites alone had been true to God. Now God makes a new decree; and in making it does he set aside the first?—No; like the laws of the Medes and Persians, that first decree must stand, but nevertheless a new decree is issued, and this new decree contains all that the first contained, and oh, how much besides! Though Levi has no inheritance in Israel, God says, I shall be his inheritance; and though he has no possession, I will be his possession. Besides this he gives to the Levites the holy ministry of the sanctuary, and places them closer to him than any others in Israel. He gives them the tithe, one tenth of all the increase, although, granting that they should have been able to secure their own relative proportion in Israel by their own work, such proportion would have been but one twelfth of the whole, since there were twelve tribes. And last of all, certain cities are allotted to them, and cities we all know contain the treasured wealth of the country. The Levites were “scattered in Israel,” but it was in blessing, for their cities were the cities of refuge. So with Levi and the Levites, the act of cruelty to the Shechemites determines under God what the future is to be; it is not set aside; it has perpetuated itself, and will perpetuate itself throughout the life of that people. But another great act comes in, one of repentance and of loyalty to God; and though it does not remove the effects of the first, under God it changes it all to blessing. Of all the tribes of Israel, the Levite is placed in the nearest relation to God, and is favored above all others. Do not forget the lesson. “How many loaves have ye?” God will not break the continuity of your life. As you sow, you reap. Out of the acts of your life a chain is woven to bind you either to hell or to heaven. Out of it all must come a blessing or a curse. We all have sinned, and our sins have dragged us down, and degraded us with their filth. We have become not saints, but images of evil. And God has said that because of this thou shalt have no part in this or that. But at last we rose from our sin, we gave ourselves to God. Yes, hearing the question, “How much have ye?” we have answered, “Only this, O Lord,” and have given it all to him. Then out of the old experiences he builds the new. By the light of God and the life of God all is changed, and we move on to the high and noble destiny that under him is ours. Have you heard the voice, “How many loaves have ye?” Ah, it is little we have. It seems as nothing. But for this he asks. It is the Lord who asks, even he, great in power and marvelous in working. In this that we give he sees infinite possibilities, therefore he calls us to a glorious hope, and points us to a wondrous destiny. In closing, I would say another word: Every act of your life has in it two possibilities—one for evil destiny, the other for good. Separated from God, you will see, yes, there will be, but one possibility—the evil. But there is the other possibility, this possibility only when you are given up to God. So only when yielded to him will you see this second possibility. And then when life’s race is run, looking back upon it all, whether your path has led downward to the pit, or upward to the gate, you will see that through it all character has perpetuated itself. The early acts of your life when performed seemed utterly insufficient for such result as has come from them. But you have either let the evil one bring to bear all his accumulated power of six thousand years of evil working, or you have let God work in the wondrous powers of an endless life, and the result is what you never thought or dreamed—what otherwise could not have been.