Groothuis's rebuttal that prophets had more authority than Levites is a red herring — Levites were the regular, widespread spiritual authorities throughout Israel.

Groothuis responds that prophets are a better example of authority than Levites. Mike calls this a red herring: prophets were rare (most Jews never met one), while Levites were spread throughout Israel in towns within every tribe, serving as regular spiritual mediators, teachers, and administrators. Levites had more practical authority than modern local pastors.