Joshua 21:1 – 43 “Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribal families of Israel at Shiloh in Canaan and said to them, “The Lord commanded through Moses that you give us towns to live in, with pasturelands for our livestock.” So, as the Lord had commanded, the Israelites gave the Levites the following towns and pasturelands out of their own inheritance:
The first lot came out for the Kohathites, according to their clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest were allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. The rest of Kohath’s descendants were allotted ten towns from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan and half of Manasseh. The descendants of Gershon were allotted thirteen towns from the clans of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan. The descendants of Merari, according to their clans, received twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun. So, the Israelites allotted to the Levites these towns and their pasturelands, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
From the tribes of Judah and Simeon they allotted the following towns by name (these towns were assigned to the descendants of Aaron who were from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them): They gave them Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pastureland, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.) But the fields and villages around the city they had given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession. So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron (a city of refuge for one accused of murder), Libnah, Jattir, Eshtemoa, Holon, Debir, Ain, Juttah and Beth Shemesh, together with their pasturelands—nine towns from these two tribes.
And from the tribe of Benjamin, they gave them Gibeon, Geba, Anathoth and Almon, together with their pasturelands—four towns. The total number of towns for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, came to thirteen, together with their pasturelands. The rest of the Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted towns from the tribe of Ephraim: In the hill country of Ephraim they were given Shechem (a city of refuge for one accused of murder) and Gezer, Kibzaim and Beth Horon, together with their pasturelands—four towns.
Also, from the tribe of Dan they received Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Aijalon and Gath Rimmon, together with their pasturelands—four towns. From half the tribe of Manasseh they received Taanach and Gath Rimmon, together with their pasturelands—two towns. All these ten towns and their pasturelands were given to the rest of the Kohathite clans.
The Levite clans of the Gershonites were given: from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan (a city of refuge for one accused of murder) and Be Eshterah, together with their pasturelands—two towns; from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion, Daberath, Jarmuth and En Gannim, together with their pasturelands—four towns; from the tribe of Asher, Mishal, Abdon, Helkath and Rehob, together with their pasturelands—four towns; from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for one accused of murder), Hammoth Dor and Kartan, together with their pasturelands—three towns. The total number of towns of the Gershonite clans came to thirteen, together with their pasturelands.
The Merarite clans (the rest of the Levites) were given: from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam, Kartah, Dimnah and Nahalal, together with their pasturelands—four towns; from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer, Jahaz, Kedemoth and Mephaath, together with their pasturelands—four towns; from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead (a city of refuge for one accused of murder), Mahanaim, Heshbon and Jazer, together with their pasturelands—four towns in all. The total number of towns allotted to the Merarite clans, who were the rest of the Levites, came to twelve.
The towns of the Levites in the territory held by the Israelites were forty-eight in all, together with their pasturelands. Each of these towns had pasturelands surrounding it; this was true for all these towns. So, the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hands. Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”
One last time, Joshua went through the ordeal of casting lots for land ownership. This time, the land went to the Levites. God had already ordered Moses to allot a certain amount of land in each portion of Israel so that the Levites would be able to sustain themselves and so that all the Levites wouldn’t cluster in one place. And once more, Joshua had to give very specific descriptions of the villages with their lands that would be allotted to the Levites. One allotment that I have always felt was unfair is the city of Hebron. Remember that 85 year – old Caleb went down to Hebron and demolished the giants who were living there. Before Caleb knew what was happening, Hebron got designated as one of the cities of refuge. While that designation wasn’t too bad, now Joshua was allotting the town of Hebron to the priests, although Caleb and his descendants still owned the fields and villages around the city. At that point, Caleb really couldn’t protest, even though he might have wanted to.
APPLICATION: The two verses that are most important for those of us reading this passage are these: “The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hands. Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”
Who doesn’t want God’s promises to be completely fulfilled? Who doesn’t want rest on every side? We might be tempted to wonder if those statements weren’t merely an extension of the conquest stories. But perhaps at this point, God really had given the Israelites victory and rest. Certainly, if anyone failed, it was not God but rather the Israelites.
Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission, was fond of saying that “God’s work, done God’s way, will never lack God’s supply.” Certainly, Joshua had done his very best to try to conquer Canaan and to make fair allotments of the land to the tribes and to the Levites. At this point, Joshua was drawing to the end of his career and was probably relieved to have this final land distribution over and done with. Despite the fact that Joshua could have claimed a large chunk of land for himself, the only town he claimed was Timnath Serah in the land belonging to the Tribe of Ephraim. As far as we know, Joshua was the author of the book bearing his name, so these verses would have stood as part of his final comments to the Israelites.
Was Joshua a perfect leader? No. There are no perfect leaders; there are only imperfect people trying to do the best job they can under trying circumstances. But Joshua was a man who loved God and who continued to seek God’s guidance all his life. Next to the towering figure of Moses, Joshua measures up well.
It’s a fascinating thing that it takes one kind of individual to pioneer a work and another kind to help it continue. Moses was perfect for leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Joshua was equally suited for leading the Israelites into Canaan. Two different men, two different sets of talents, but one holy calling: leading God’s people.
No matter what work we pursue, if we are fulfilling God’s will for our lives, we are always fulfilling a holy calling. May God help us to realize how precious that calling really is!
PRAYER; Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives and to value the calling that You have given us as a holy one. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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