Year 7, Day 206: Joshua 21

Theological Commentary: Click Here

In Joshua 21, we hear about the land being given to the Levites.  Remember that the Levites were not supposed to get an allotment of territory because they were the line to serve as priests.  Instead, they receive a few cities that are scattered among all the tribes. In this manner, they can dwell among all the people and do their priestly duties from within.  They will be able to remind the people of their devotion to God by dwelling among the rest of the tribes rather than dwelling beside them.

On one hand, I think this is great.  We all can benefit from a mentor.  We all can benefit from someone in our life that we can look upon and be inspired by their faith.  We likely have historical figures like Abraham, Samuel, Peter, Paul, and of course, Jesus.  But it doesn’t hurt to have someone in the flesh and blood that we can actually see and talk to as well.  From this perspective, having the Levites dwell among the people is a great idea.

However, look at what this inherently says about all of humanity.  What is the reason that we need mentors and examples?  We need them because it is not our nature to be faithful and obedient to God.  It is hard work to remain faithful to the Lord.  Therefore, we need bastions of faith in our life to help us when we stumble.  We need bastions of faith in our life to remind us that the things of God are more important than the things of the world.  The struggle against worldly temptation is so strong that we often fail, causing us to need these examples to look up to and to help us fix things when we make mistakes.

God sends the Levites among the Hebrew people because He knows they will need them.  The Hebrew people will sin and fall away.  They will pursue other gods.  God knows this about His people – about all people – and He puts people of faith in our life to help.

This brings us the whole way around to a good point. What this shows us, then, is the provision of the Lord.  This helps us understand the faithfulness of God.  God doesn’t let us face our humanity alone; He knows that we will lose.  God has scattered faithful people all over this globe so that in the midst of our struggle there is someone there.  We have someone to whom we can look and call upon when needed, much like the Levites who dwelt among the Hebrew people.

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