Joshua 21 THE LORD GAVE After all other tribes had received their designated portions of the promised land, the Levites came forward to get the cities where they would live. The attitude of humility, lowliness and meekness was consistent with the role God gave them to fill. Those who serve God as His representatives among His people need these Christ-like characteristics as they serve Him by serving His people. When we have personally learned the value of God's grace, we have the responsibility to demonstrate that to those among who we live.
The cities the Levites were given included the cities of refuge, and the others were strategically located so that almost everyone in Israel was within a day's journey of those who represented God's interests. God was faithful in all His promises to Israel even though they were not totally faithful to Him. The more we experience of the promises of God, the more assurance we have in relation to the future. We don't know what the future holds, "but we know Who holds the future." God will bring to pass all His promises in His own time and way. There is no reason for us to ever doubt Him or His Word.
Levites had their work defined and cut our for them. They were to do what others were not allowed to do. The service of the sanctuary was their responsibility. The Levitical priesthood had their work explained. They had the custody of the law so every event that arose had to be judged by the law the Levites were responsible to know. Theirs was the responsibility to guard and set the example for the culture of the nation. Their instructions came from God and they were to pass them on as a power to the people to preserve them from all the evil influences around them. We are "blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ," and it is our responsibility to in turn point out to others the value of all that means.
We had to first learn our own need of Christ before we learned what He is for us. There is the "prize of the high calling of God" that motivates us to be a distinct testimony among the nation even though we do not look any different. That distinction comes from knowing who we are before the Lord and that service to which we are called. We don't need to compare ourselves and what we have called to do, with that of others. Our inheritance is very plain. We have been called to serve the Lord, and what a great privilege that is! The Levites dwelt in the cities of refuge so they were free to give themselves to the Lord's service in close association with Him. It is up to us to apply ourselves to learn from God so that we can speak for God to the people of God as well as to all those around "who know not God."
Even among the Levites there were different roles to fill and different work to do. Each was important, though different, and each was needed to complete the work of God. In a similar way each one of us has our own work and reason for serving the Lord. There is no reason for any believer to covet that which the Lord has called others to do. "Coveting the best gifts" does not lead us to covet that which God has given another person, but to apply ourselves with love for God and men to that for which we have been chosen. We learn Christ through His Word. We learn ourselves through His Word. We learn how to comprehend, appreciate and use our gifts through His Word.
The Levites learned God's mind through the types and shadows given by the law. It is our great privilege to learn from God the Holy Spirit who dwells in us and teaches us all things and at all times. Levites knew they were separated to the Lord Himself and to the service to which He had designated them. We are separated to the Lord and find our occupation in life to be in Him alone. All other interests are subservient to His interests and really are counted as loss if they conflict in any way with His. The Lord knows what we desire more than all else. When we know who we are and where we belong, and are content to live there, God in His grace and love fills our hearts with Himself and fills our hands for His service. It is there we find rest for our souls amidst all the turmoil and uncertainty of life around us.
The real value of the Levites inheritance was their relationship with God, not the size of their cities and possessions. The value of our lives lies in the value of our relationship with the Lord, not the size of our congregations. Hebron was a city where priests lived and the land around was the inheritance of Caleb and his family. The promises of the Lord and all that we can claim for ourselves as possessions, are the things that are valuable in this life. Even though there were enemies around, the people of God had a God-given rest in their God-given land. God fulfilled all His good promises. What a blessing it is for us to have the wonderful God-given portion we enjoy as our spiritual inheritance. It no doubt seems small to those who measure things by the world's standard, but to us who believe, it is "exceeding abundant," far more than we deserve. Not only that, we have a God-given rest that those in the world know nothing about, and many of God's people have never claimed for themselves. How great and wonderful is our portion in our Lord Jesus Christ!