Joshua 20:7-21:19. In yesterday’s reading Joshua started the process of designating the cities of Refuge (3/24/12). In an earlier post (3/17/12) we looked at what a City of Refuge was. The concept for a city of Refuge really highlights the importance of human life. Even an unintentional killing was a serious matter. I suggested that even that was a sin, though an unintentional one. In Leviticus 4 we see rules for making an offering when you sin unintentionally. Ultimately all sin needs to be dealt with whether it’s on purpose or not and the ultimate solution to our sin is Jesus, unless you want to die and spend eternity separated from God. If that is your desire see Mark 9:44-48, Matthew 8:12, 22:13, 25:30, Revelation 20:14-15 and think again.
Today we read what cities were designated as Cities of Refuge. The list starts on the west of the Jordan River with the land that was just divided and then continues on the east side of the Jordan River in the land that Moses had given Reuben, Gad, and part of Manasseh. In Deuteronomy 4:41-43 we see that Moses had already designated which cities were to be used as Cities of Refuge and that listing is repeated here (Remember that that was years before, at least five and possibly many more.).
Our reading continues with an echo of Joshua 14:1-2. Joshua 14 was the beginning of the allotment to the nine and one half tribes on the west side of the Jordan River. That allotment ended in chapter 19 with chapter 20 laying out the Cities of Refuge. Joshua 20:2 literally says “give to your selves the Cities of Refuge”. So even those cities were a part of the allotment, a sort of spiritual allotment, a gift from God to the whole nation. The effect of those cities extended beyond the citizens of Israel to any permanent resident of the land (Joshua 20:9). A little hint of how Israel was to be a “blessing to the nations” (Genesis 12:1-3). The echo of Joshua 14:1-2 is found in Joshua 21:1-2 where Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun is approached about one more allotment. Levi has not been taken care of yet. In two of the posts (3/16/12 and 3/17/12) I talked about the Levitical cities. The Tribe of Levi did not get a land but rather got several cites (48 to be exact) scattered through out Israel. This was in keeping with the “blessing” (curse?) of Jacob in Genesis 49:5-7. Of those 48 cities 6 were the cities of Refuge.
Many of these cities are not mentioned later in the Bible and for that reason some scholars think that this is some sort of made up passage with no reality in history. The historical reality though is that Israel did not follow God whole-heartedly and there were consequences for that. If you read through the book of Judges with us you might remember the story about Dan not taking their land (Judges 18). I think I mentioned that yesterday or the day before also). The period of the Judges follows the history in Joshua and in that story Dan had not taken their land and actually did not take their land, they moved north and took a city in Naphtali’s territory. Later we will see cities given to the Levites that were part of Dan’s land. If the Levies were going to live there they would have to take the cities over themselves. In Numbers 1:1-3 Moses was told to count all of the Israelites according to the number of men who could go out to war. In Numbers 1:47-54 we find that the Levites were excluded because they were supposed to be dedicated to caring for the Tabernacle (a sort of portable church where the Israelites worshipped). It seems unlikely that a tribe of non-warrior priests would take over cities that their more capable cousins had failed or refused to take over. Apparently many of the Levitical cities were not settled until much later in Israel’s history if at all. As we studied the book of Judges there were a couple of times when we saw Levites kind of wandering around not really being God’s representatives in Israel but doing their own thing (Judges 17-18. Judges 19-20). So it is not surprising that the cities listed here seem to disappear from the historical radar, but that does not mean that the story is untrue and that the allotment never happened.
It is interesting that a God who knows everything was still willing to assign the land and the cites even though he knew they would not be conquered. I think it is a sign of His faithfulness and his love. Many times last summer I went and waited in the gym on Tuesday nights hoping that the guys from across the street and guys from church would show up and play ball together. Most ot the summer neither group came. One Tuesday, Reality Check was cancelled for a beach party but I did not know that. I was running late and had Cookie go to the Gym,, “Just in case”. A bunch of guys from across the street showed up that night. Weird, huh! I spent the evening with them, let them play ball, then took them out for ice cream. I hoped and stayed faithful and they returned, and have been ever since. God is way more faithful than I will ever be but maybe that is what it was like. God was and is being faithful waiting for people to return. He has done his part now we need to do our, we need to come to him. But there’s more, Peter tells us that we are a “Royal Priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9) if we are believers. We are the “Levites” and we need to be among the people helping them be in touch with God. We need to be leading them to the ultimate refuge from their sins. We cannot give up the territory God has given us and wander around doing our own thing. Lord thank you for giving us what we need to do our part in your forever kingdom. Help us “be courageous” and take the land or city or whatever you have given us and be your representatives. Make me bold, make me faithful, let me be a blessing to those around me.