Joshua 21

CHAPTER 21THEME: Cities for LevitesThe Levites were not given any land as were the other tribes. Instead they were given cities in the other tribes. They were scattered out so that they could minister to the people. Levi was the priestly tribe.

Joshua 21:1

Apparently they had a suburban problem in that day also. The Levites were to be given forty cities in which to dwellall the way from Dan in the north to Beer-sheba in the south. The division of the land is completed now.

Joshua 21:43

The children of Israel now possessed the land of Canaan, but that was only a small segment of the land God had promised them. If they are to get any more land, they will have to go and possess it. The rule still stands that every place their feet stand upon will be theirs. That which the Israelites possess now, however, is free from the enemy and they can enter into rest. The rest for us today is the rest of redemption. It is the rest that we desperately need. We live in an age of tension. There are many pressures, and if there is one thing that the average Christian needs, it is to enter into the rest God has provided. As we shall see as we move into the Book of Judges, Israel failed to completely rid her possession of her enemies. Why? Because of her unbelief. Even Joshua could not give them the rest they needed since they failed to believe God and appropriate His power. The writer of the Hebrews warns us about repeating Israel’s failure: “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” (Heb_4:9-11). How do you and I enter into that rest? By faith, that is the only way. At the time of Christ, when Israel rejected Him as King and He rejected their cities, He gave a personal invitation which stands yet today, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mat_11:28). That rest is the rest of redemption. Now here in Joshua 21 the people have entered into the restat least temporarilywhich God had provided for them. My, how wonderful it must have been after the long, weary journey through the wilderness and the warfare to take their possessions, to settle down on their own parcel of ground. What a thrill it must have been to cultivate it and eat the fruits of it.