4The first lot came out for the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. 5The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
6The descendants of Gershon received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
7And the descendants of Merari received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.
8So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these cities, together with their pasturelands, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.
9From the tribes of Judah and Simeon, they designated these cities by name 10to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them:
11They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.) 12But they had given the fields and villages around the city to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.
13So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave these cities, together with their pasturelands: Hebron, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah, 14Jattir, Eshtemoa, 15Holon, Debir, 16Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine cities from these two tribes, together with their pasturelands.
17And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon, Geba, 18Anathoth, and Almon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.
19In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
20The remaining Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted these cities:
From the tribe of Ephraim 21they were given Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Gezer, 22Kibzaim, and Beth-horon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.
23From the tribe of Dan they were given Elteke, Gibbethon, 24Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.
25And from the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Taanach and Gath-rimmon—two cities, together with their pasturelands.
26In all, ten cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the rest of the Kohathite clans.
27This is what the Levite clans of the Gershonites were given:
From the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Golan in Bashan, a city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah—two cities, together with their pasturelands.
28From the tribe of Issachar they were given Kishion, Daberath, 29Jarmuth, and En-gannim—four cities, together with their pasturelands.
30From the tribe of Asher they were given Mishal, Abdon, 31Helkath, and Rehob—four cities, together with their pasturelands.
32And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan—three cities, together with their pasturelands.
33In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the Gershonite clans.
34This is what the Merarite clan (the rest of the Levites) were given:
From the tribe of Zebulun they were given Jokneam, Kartah, 35Dimnah, and Nahalal—four cities, together with their pasturelands.
36From the tribe of Reuben they were given Bezer, Jahaz, 37Kedemoth, and Mephaath—four cities, together with their pasturelands.
38And from the tribe of Gad they were given Ramoth in Gilead, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim, 39Heshbon, and Jazer—four cities in all, together with their pasturelands.
40In all, twelve cities were allotted to the clans of Merari, the remaining Levite clans.
41For the Levites, then, there were forty-eight cities in all, together with their pasturelands, within the territory of the Israelites. 42Each of these cities had its own surrounding pasturelands; this was true for all the cities.
A lot of cities and a lot to take in! What sticks out to me is this: “together with their pasturelands”. Today our cities have no surrounding pasturelands that support the citizens. ie no self sufficiency.
But the Israelites had sufficiency in the Lord!
But as Christians we have sufficiency in Christ!
2 Corinthians 12: 9But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.
Does His power rest on you?
Blessings
