“Joshua 20 displays the heart of a kind and merciful God who desires to provide safe places for disenfranchised people. He has designed the church to provide such a safe place. By that I mean, they should be places where people – the weary and worn, the bruised and broken, the unlovely and unloved – can find refuge. A refuge is a place of protection, a place that keeps out threats, a place where enemies cannot intrude, a place where people feel secure. That security frees them to relax worry-free, to drop their guard, to be at ease, even to feel at home. It also frees them to open up and reach out for relationships with others who have likewise found refuge.”1
As we move on to Joshua chapter 21, we consider the ‘priestly’ tribe of Levi and their inheritance. Recall that the Levites received no territorial inheritance like their brothers. Also remember that the Levitical office was a function of the nation – heretofore, in the period of the patriarchs and during the captivity in Egypt, each father was the priests to his family. The first hint of a transition was the occasion of the final plague in Egypt. The firstborn of Israel was mercifully spared and consecrated to the Lord. After the Law was written in stone at Mt. Sinai, we see the replacement of the firstborn as consecrated to the Lord by the institution of the Levitical priesthood.2
So we see the tribe of Levi set aside to serve the holy of holies within the whole consecrated nation. We also should note that the tribe of Levi consists of a number of families, each with specific duties. For example, the Levitical family of Kohath was responsible for, among a number of other things, the “utensils of the sanctuary.3” Later we read that the Levitical family of Gershon was responsible for “the service of song in the house of the LORD.”4 In King David’s time, in anticipation of a permanent temple building, the Levitical families were re-assigned duties since servicing the tent of tabernacle would soon end. New duties included Musicians, Gatekeepers5, Treasury guards, accountants, and some who would make decisions related to the maintenance of the Temple6. My point is that they had many different functions. They did not all look like what we might imagine a priest might look like – since they had many other duties we can safely conclude that they did not have time to devote themselves entirely to the study of scripture. Sadly, there are several examples of failure to heed the Word of God among the Levitical priesthood so their lack of devotion to scripture became apparent7. Nevertheless, we see a diversity of abilities and functions in those ‘devoted’ to the Lord.
Application: If New Testament believers are a nation of priests (Revelation 1:6), then we see a correlation between the office of the Levites and the Church. Among many New Testament examples, the Apostle Paul makes a reference to this fact in 1 Corinthians 12 and his description of believers as a body with many different parts. There are many who are ‘called’ and among the called, there are many different parts to play in the Church according to ability and function. The pastor/elders are called to devote themselves to the Word – but the other members also have important parts to play according to the many functions of the body of Christ. Some to serve in specific areas, some to lead music, some to encourage, some to show mercy, etc. And there are some things we all must do: all must walk in the Spirit; all must bear one another’s burdens; all must speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15); all must not be anxious but with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make our request know to God (Philippians 4:6), etc.
But we should not lose sight of the fact that we all have parts to play in the grand enterprise of Christ’s Church – the Apostle again urges us that each must serve according to the grace given to us according to the measure of Christ’s gifts (Ephesians 4:7). The church consists not of identical duplicates but individuals with distinctly different parts. Each part working together in unity under the headship of Christ through His word to us.
Footnotes
1 Hubbard, Robert. The NIV Application Commentary – Joshua. Zondervan Grand Rapids, MI 2009
2 “… the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, the first issue of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine.””
3 Numbers 3:27-31
4 1 Chronicles 6:31-33
5 According to 1 Chronicles 26:9, some were called, “valiant men” so I expect one of the duties of ‘gatekeeper’ involved defense and law-enforcement.
6 1 Chronicles 26:27 – “to repair the house of the LORD”
7 Numbers 16:1-48 relates the episode where some of the descendants of Levi rebelled against the Word of the Lord. Even after this act of rebellion we see the mercy of Jehovah. The sons of Korah were not destroyed and later we see them as full participants in the service of the Temple as Gatekeepers (1 Chronicles 26:19).
