- All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasturelands. 8 And as for the cities that you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites. Numbers 35:7-8 – While dividing up the land between the twelve tribes was going to be taking place and God had outlined how that was going to happen, there was a thirteenth tribe to be considered. The tribe of Levi. Levi had been uniquely chosen by God out of the tribes of Israel to be the tribe that the priests and temple workers came from. Instead of receiving an inheritance of land in the Promised Land like the other tribes, Levi’s inheritance was the Lord and getting to serve Him. While that is a great honor, the people of the tribe of Levi still needed a place to stay, so God made provision for that too. Out of all the cities of the other twelve established tribes, forty-eight cites were to be shared with the Levites so they could have a home. These were to be spread out all over the nation of Israel rather than just one giant hub for all the Levites. Why though were they to be spread out like this? The priests and Levites were the ones designated by God to be the sharers of His word, and God wanted His word to be spread out all amongst the tribes of Israel. In our day the Lord desires the same thing. He wants the carriers of His word spread out all across the world. Not just camped out in one location, not just making a nice little Christian hub somewhere, but spread out amongst His world. Remember that you are the carrier of God’s word to the world. Wherever you have been placed by God, be the light there and encourage other believers who are elsewhere to be the light where they are at. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3385
- Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. Numbers 35:10-11 – God knew ahead of time there would be reasons for disunity that would arise among His people. Due to His desire for peace between His people He set up ways so they could dissolve the tension and find peace, all before the reason of tension even took place. In our story God has given us in scripture ways to resolve the tension we have with others in order to find peace. He’s given us safe places in the church to run to and leaders who can help in the process. He’s given us the prime example of Jesus to show us how peace can be found between the hurt and the one who hurt. The question asked of you is will you seek out this peace or be like the one in our passage that lies in wait to avenge his hurt? While the hurt caused by someone else is real, it very well could be unintentional. Yet the way you respond to that hurt can either bring healing or bring a wedge that will create a divide bigger than you can imagine. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1451
- Numbers 35 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. Numbers 35:25 – This chapter is primarily focusing on something God established among the people of Israel known as cities of refuge. While murder was still a very possible action that could be taken by someone, accidental deaths also still occurred. To give the individual a chance to prove their innocence if someone accidently died by their hands these cities were established where they could flee to. There they could be heard out and have their case examined by the congregation. This was a beautiful concept God set up for it opened the doors to grace, justice, and unity to found even within a horrible situation. When thinking about what these cities of refuge were to the people of Israel, this is what Jesus has become for us. A place we can run to, a place we can find refuge in, and a place we can find a clearing of our guilt. The one difference is we aren’t innocent like the ones fleeing to these cities. They accidently killed someone while we have purposedly walked into our sin over and over and over again. If we stood before the Father, we would be deemed guilty of death…But God. Thankfully that’s not how our story unfolds because of Jesus. Even guilty we can come to Jesus for refuge and find mercy, grace, forgiveness, and salvation. As we step into Holy Week, keep this idea of Jesus as your city of refuge and source of mercy. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2316
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