Joshua 21:20-33.  Today we continue to read of the allotment going to Levi. Levi had three sons, Kohath, Gershon, and Merari.  One of Kohath’s descendants was Aaron, Moses’, brother.  Aaron was the first high priest and his descendants were the priests who would make the offerings in the Tabernacle and later the Temple.  The rest of the Levites also had responsibilities related to the Tabernacle and the Temple but the descendants of Aaron were the main priests.  Yesterday’s reading was about the cities given to the descendants of Aaron.  It is interesting that those cities were from Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.  All of those areas were near Jerusalem.  Jerusalem would ultimately become the capital of Israel and the site of the permanent place of worship, the Temple.  Also later in Israel’s history, when the nation was divided into two kingdoms, the lands of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin became the southern kingdom called Judah.  Judah had a longer history and was generally more faithful to Yahweh while the Northern Kingdom, called Israel, defected from God pretty quickly.  In Exodus 28-29 are some of the rules about how God was to be honored and remembered by the Israelites.  Those rules describe how Aaron’s descendants were to dress and act in the Tabernacle (later the Temple).  All of the rules pointed to the character and nature of God and the brokenness of our relationship with him.   In Exodus 29:9 we are told that this job of being the leading priests permanently belongs to Aaron’s descendants.  So it was providential that the descendants of Aaron lived in this southern area and were near the Temple.

The rest of the sons of Levi were also considered priests but they had different functions related to remembering Yahweh in Israel.  During the wandering in the wilderness they had different responsibilities with respect to the Tabernacle and the objects related to the sacrifices.  When they entered the land, while the Tabernacle was still in use, they would have still had theses responsibilities (Numbers 18:21).  After they took the land it appears that these other divisions of Levi did some sacrificing and represented God in certain matters, just not the main national sacrifices at the Tabernacle/Temple (Deuteronomy 21:1-10).

So in today’s reading we see that the rest of the sons or descendants of Kohath (not the ones through Aaron) received cities in the land and so did the sons of Gershon.  The Levitical cities are spread pretty uniformly among the various tribes.  In general each tribe gave four cities (Naphtali gave three cities and Judah/Simeon gave nine).  It is cool that all the sons of Levi got the same sort of inheritance.  In Numbers 18:21 we are told that the sons of Levi (not just Aaron) received the offering that was brought to God by the Israelites as their provision.  There is no distinction between them.  The sons of Aaron are treated the same as the rest.

I think it is interesting that even though the Levites got the “tithe” or offering from the Tabernacle/Temple that they were also given land around the cities for their cattle.  We also see throughout the law that the priests had to make offerings for themselves as well as the people.  They were basically people with a different job that the rest.  It appears that they had to plant and work too, to some extent.  They were not a special class of people.   Also it is cool to see that all of the “priests” were scattered among the people geographically.  So what does this mean to me?  God uses ordinary people.  And God’s people are ordinary.  We are not personally special but we represent a special God who uses us in special ways as we live our normal lives. I see that God wants His influence out among the people and that God cares for all of his priests regardless of their function.  As I pointed out yesterday God considers all believers priests.  We do see that we have a responsibility to those who are spending a lot of their time in particular service to God, Paul said he had the right to earn a living from his activities in starting churches.  He said that he had a right to be supported by them, though he did not personally use this right.  He did not ask for pay from them because he did not want it to interfere with what they people though about the message of Jesus (1 Corinthians 9:1-14).  We need to work hard, represent God where ever we are, and share with others who are working hard in representing God.  Lord thank you for this great thing the church.  Thank you that we have an opportunity to represent you to those around us.  Thank you for being aware of our physical needs.  Thank you for providing for us though our own efforts and through the generosity of others.  Help me be diligent in both work and in sharing you with others.  Fill me up so I may fill others.  Give me joy and peace that overflows to the people around me.