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Context No. 2071 of 4322 · Joshua

Context · Reflection

Joshua 21:27-33: in context

27They gave to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Be Eshterah with its pasture lands: two cities. 28Out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands, 29Jarmuth with its pasture lands, En Gannim with its pasture lands: four cities. 30Out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands, 31Helkath with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands: four cities. 32Out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, Hammothdor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands: three cities. 33All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

As the land is divided among the tribes, the Levites receive their portion, and it is unlike the others. They are given no territory of their own, but cities scattered throughout the tribes, with their surrounding pasture lands, thirteen cities here for the Gershonites among them. The Levites, set apart to serve God, would not hold a block of land like the other tribes. They would live dispersed among all the people, for the LORD himself was their inheritance and portion.

The Levites' portion was different because their inheritance was different. The other tribes received land, territory to hold and pass down. The Levites received scattered cities among the tribes, but no land of their own, because, as God had said, the LORD himself was their inheritance and portion. They were not shortchanged; they were given something greater than land: God himself. Their inheritance was not a territory but a relationship, not a possession but the LORD. This is a truth that reaches beyond the Levites to all who serve God. God himself is the inheritance of those who are his. The Levites had no land, but they had God, and that was a greater portion than any territory. And Scripture takes up this language for the believer: the LORD is my chosen portion, the psalmist says; the LORD is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him; God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. To have God as our portion is to have a greater inheritance than any earthly possession, an inheritance that cannot be lost, that does not fade, that outlasts all the land and goods we might hold. This reorders how we think about what we have and lack. We measure our portion by what we possess, land, goods, security, the things we can hold. And the Levites' inheritance reminds us that the greatest portion is not any of these but God himself, who is the inheritance of those who serve him. Those who have little of the world's goods may yet have the greatest inheritance of all, if they have God as their portion; and those who have much of the world but not God are poor in what matters most. My flesh and my heart may fail, the psalmist says, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. This calls us to count God himself as our inheritance and portion, as the Levites did, valuing him above the possessions we might hold, and finding in him a portion that no earthly inheritance can equal and no loss can take away. The Levites had no land, but they had the LORD, and that was enough, and more than enough; and God himself is the inheritance and portion of all who are his.

Do I measure my portion by what I possess, land and goods and security, and feel poor when these are lacking, or can the Levites, who received no land because the LORD himself was their inheritance, teach me to count God as my portion and inheritance, valuing him above all earthly possessions and finding in him a portion that no loss can take away and no earthly inheritance can equal?

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