The Levites obeyed your word and guarded your covenant. They were more loyal to you than to their own parents. They ignored their relatives and did not acknowledge their own children.
The earth opened its mouth and swallowed the men, along with their households and all their followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned.So they went down alive into the grave, along with all their belongings. The earth closed over them, and they all vanished from among the people of Israel.All the people around them fled when they heard their screams.“ The earth will swallow us, too!” they cried.Then fire blazed forth from the Lord and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.
Then at last you will know it was I who sent you this warning so that my covenant with the Levites can continue,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.“ The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name.They passed on to the people the truth of the instructions they received from me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin.
For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished.So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak?
