GATE 3: Levi – “Joined”

Theme: The Fusion of the Soul with God – Entering Union through Inner Priesthood

I. INTRODUCTION: THE GATE OF CONSECRATED UNION

Gate Three, inscribed with the name Levi, marks the soul’s entrance into spiritual joining—the mystical union with God. In the order of the sons of Israel, Levi is the third child born to Leah, and his name comes from the Hebrew לֵוִי (Levi), meaning “joined,” “attached,” or “united.” This gate represents the shift from being merely aware of one’s sonship (Reuben) and learning to hear the inner Voice (Simeon), to now entering into intimate, burning union with the Source.

“And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.”
— Genesis 29:34

Just as Leah longed to be joined to Jacob in love, so too the soul yearns for full union with the Divine Bridegroom. To pass through this gate is to become not a servant or even a seeker—but a lover of God. The Levi within you is the part that burns for fusion with the Holy.

II. QUALITY NEEDED: UNION WITH GOD

Union with God is not theological—it is experiential. It is the mystical state in which the line between “God and me” dissolves. As Jesus declared:

“I and my Father are one.”
— John 10:30

This is not metaphor. It is the final goal of all spiritual life: to become what you seek.

Levi represents the soul that has left behind religious hierarchy, temple shadows, and external rituals, and has now become a living altar where God and human are joined in flame.

This is echoed by Paul:

“But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.”
— 1 Corinthians 6:17

At this gate, oneness is no longer a concept, but the living truth of being. The soul sees that it is not separate, not cast out, not broken off. It is of God, in God, and burning with God.

III. INNER REQUIREMENT: SHED SEPARATION CONSCIOUSNESS

To enter this gate, one must die to the illusion of separation. The greatest lie is not that God does not exist, but that God is far away. Religion often reinforces this by building walls between the sacred and the secular, the priest and the layman, the divine and the human.

But the inner Levi must awaken to the truth that God is your source, your breath, your life, and there is no place where He is not.

“That they should seek the Lord… though he be not far from every one of us:
For in him we live, and move, and have our being.”
— Acts 17:27–28

To shed separation is to let go of duality. No longer “God above and me below,” but God within me, as me, through me.

“At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.”
— John 14:20

This is not pantheism—it is intimate interpenetration. It is perichoresis, the mutual indwelling that Jesus reveals, and that the soul must now embody.

IV. WHAT TO BRING: THE VOW OF CONSECRATION, THE FIRE OF DEVOTION

The Levites in the Old Testament were the priestly tribe, set apart for service in the tabernacle. They bore no land inheritance, because “the Lord is their portion” (Numbers 18:20). Their lives were devoted not to acquiring the world, but to ministering to the Divine Presence.

So too, the spiritual Levi brings a vow of consecration: “I am not my own. I am Yours.”

“Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
— Romans 12:1

This is not a vow of burden, but a flame of joy. The fire of devotion is the soul’s spontaneous burning for God, not from fear, but from divine attraction. David echoes this fire when he says:

“My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.”
— Psalm 63:8

And again:

“Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.”
— Psalm 73:25

The priesthood of Levi is the inner altar where the soul says yes to intimacy, yes to nearness, yes to union—forever.

V. MELCHIZEDEKIAN INSIGHT: PRIESTHOOD NOT BY BIRTH, BUT BY FLAME

The order of Levi in the Old Covenant was based on genealogy. One had to be born into the tribe to serve as priest. But the order of Melchizedek, which Christ fulfills and bestows, is not based on bloodline—it is based on eternal origin and inner fusion.

“For this Melchizedek… without father, without mother, without descent… made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.”
— Hebrews 7:1–3

“Thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
— Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:6

This new priesthood is eternal, internal, and initiatory. You are not ordained by men, but by the fire of union. You do not pass seminary—you pass through the flame of surrender. You are joined to God by a divine oath, just as Christ was:

“The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever…”
— Hebrews 7:21

The Melchizedekian priesthood is not about temple walls—it is about becoming the temple, where God dwells:

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
— 1 Corinthians 3:16

VI. BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM OF LEVI’S TRANSFORMATION

Levi’s early violence transformed
Levi and Simeon were violent in their youth (Genesis 34:25), and Jacob rebukes them: “Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations… I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.”
— Genesis 49:5–7 Yet Levi was redeemed. His zeal was transformed into priestly passion. When Israel worshiped the golden calf, only the Levites stood with God: “Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.”
— Exodus 32:26 Passion becomes consecration. Zeal becomes priesthood. Rage becomes holy fire. Your past does not disqualify you—it prepares you.
No inheritance but God
The Levites received no land, but instead were distributed among the tribes, carrying the presence of God. “Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the Lord is their inheritance…”
— Deuteronomy 10:9 This is the spiritual archetype of the mystic: one whose portion is not material, but divine presence itself.

VII. CONTEMPLATIVE REFLECTIONS

Am I living in union, or in separation?
- Union is the true state; separation is illusion. Are you living as joined?
Have I consecrated myself to the Flame?
- The Levi soul burns. It does not serve out of obligation, but passion.
Have I become a priest of Presence?
- The new temple is you. Have you let God indwell your being?

VIII. PRAYER FOR PASSING THROUGH THE THIRD GATE

Holy Flame,

I approach the Gate of Levi. I lay down my illusion of separation.

I cast aside all roles, all masks, all identities not given by You.

Join me to Yourself, not by doctrine, but by fire.

I offer my heart as altar, my mind as temple, my life as sacrifice.

Consecrate me—not by men, but by the eternal Word.

May my soul burn with the joy of oneness.

I and the Father are One.

Amen.

IX. CONCLUSION: THE GATE OF HOLY UNION

Gate Three is the gate of the lover, the priest, the mystic. The soul who enters here no longer seeks merely to know about God, or to hear Him, but to merge into Him—to become fire in the Flame.