Scripture Daily

Context No. 3872 of 4322 · Numbers

Context · Reflection

Numbers 35:1-5: in context

1The LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2“Command the children of Israel to give to the Levites cities to dwell in out of their inheritance. You shall give pasture lands for the cities around them to the Levites. 3They shall have the cities to dwell in. Their pasture lands shall be for their livestock, and for their possessions, and for all their animals. 4“The pasture lands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward one thousand cubits around it. 5You shall measure outside of the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall be the pasture lands of their cities.

Unlike the other tribes, the Levites received no large territory of their own in the promised land. Instead, God commanded that they be given cities to live in, scattered throughout the inheritance of all the other tribes, with pasturelands around them.

There is meaning in this arrangement. The Levites, set apart for the service of God, were not gathered into one region but dispersed among all the people, so that God's ministers and teachers would be near to every tribe, present throughout the land. And their lack of a territory of their own reflected a deeper truth: the LORD himself was their inheritance, their portion, in place of land. Two things stand out. God provided for those who served him, giving the Levites cities and pasture; those set apart for his work were not left destitute. And they were placed among the people, not apart from them, so that the knowledge and worship of God would be within reach of all Israel. There is a picture here of how God spreads his servants and his truth throughout the world, so that his presence is near to all his people.

Do I value having God's servants and his truth near at hand, and do I understand, if I am set apart for his service, that the LORD himself, not any earthly portion, is my true inheritance?

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