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. 

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.