Forty-eight Cities of the Levites
21 Then the heads of [a]households of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of [b]households of the tribes of the sons of Israel. 2 They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “The Lord commanded [c]through Moses to give us cities to live in, with their pasture lands for our cattle.” 3 So the sons of Israel gave the Levites from their inheritance these cities with their pasture lands, according to the [d]command of the Lord. 4 Then the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And the sons of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, [e]received thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah and from the tribe of the Simeonites and from the tribe of Benjamin.
5 The rest of the sons of Kohath [f]received ten cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim and from the tribe of Dan and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.
6 The sons of Gershon [g]received thirteen cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar and from the tribe of Asher and from the tribe of Naphtali and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
7 The sons of Merari according to their families [h]received twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben and from the tribe of Gad and from the tribe of Zebulun.
8 Now the sons of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their pasture lands, as the Lord had commanded [i]through Moses.
9 They gave these cities which are here mentioned by name from the tribe of the sons of Judah and from the tribe of the sons of Simeon; 10 and they were for the sons of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites, of the sons of Levi, for the lot was theirs first. 11 Thus they gave them Kiriath-arba, Arba being the father of Anak (that is, Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, with its surrounding pasture lands. 12 But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.
13 So to the sons of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands, and Libnah with its pasture lands, 14 and Jattir with its pasture lands and Eshtemoa with its pasture lands, 15 and [j]Holon with its pasture lands and Debir with its pasture lands, 16 and [k]Ain with its pasture lands and Juttah with its pasture lands and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from these two tribes. 17 From the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands, 18 Anathoth with its pasture lands and [l]Almon with its pasture lands; four cities. 19 All the cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.
An overarching theme in all of God’s plan for us is giving. As we are to be a reflection of Him (being created in His image), it should be no surprise that He tells us to give, and do so generously. Not because He needs anything, for sure, but because God knows what is best for us. So if He tells us to give, it is for our good. And why wouldn’t you do something that is going to help you?
So it is in this passage, God had a plan to provide for the Levites, those who would serve “in the ministry” as it was in those days. The tribes could have said, not us, take from someone else, but they trusted God, who had already provided so much for them.
Even of this bountiful land, that they had fought hard to conquer, they had to recognize that it was a gift from God first, and it was only fitting that they give a portion of it away. It was a principle built into the law that they lived in, giving of their blessings so that they could be a blessing to others.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to be a giver. And whatever you do, don’t give grudgingly, for that won’t do you any good. Fix your eyes on the blessings (especially if you find yourself stuck on negativity), and find how you can be a blessing to others.