Joshua 21:1 - Meaning and Application

Here is the Levites’ request presented to the whole gathering of the tribes, now meeting at Shiloh (Joshua 21:1, 2). Notice first that they did not receive their share until they asked for it. There is an inheritance prepared for all the saints, that royal priesthood, but they must still ask for it. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you.” Joshua had stirred up the other tribes, who were slow to claim their land, but the Levites likely knew both their duty and their interest better than the rest. So when their turn came, they stepped forward without needing to be urged.

They based their request on a solid ground, not on their own worth or service, but on God’s command. “The Lord commanded through Moses to give us cities,” they said in effect, and that command to the leaders also implied a command to them to ask. This shows that support for ministers is not something left only to people’s good will, as if they may let them go without care if they choose. The God of Israel ordered that the Levites be provided for, and the Lord Jesus, the King of the Christian church, has also established it as a lasting rule that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:14), and live in a decent way.

They also waited until all the other tribes had received their inheritance, and then they asked at once. There was some practical reason for this, because each tribe had to know what was left before it could give anything to the Levites. But it also showed their humility, modesty, and patience, and ministers should be examples of these virtues. They were willing to be served last, and they suffered no harm from that. Let God’s ministers not complain if people sometimes put them after other concerns. Let them be sure of God’s favor and the honor that comes from him, and then they can endure the neglect of people.

The request was granted at once, with no argument. The princes of Israel may have been ashamed that they had not brought this matter forward themselves, or that they had needed to be reminded. The children of Israel are said to have given the cities for the Levites. God had already fixed their number, forty-eight cities in all. It is likely that Joshua and the princes, after considering the size and value of each tribe’s inheritance, decided how many cities each tribe should give. Then the heads of the tribes agreed on which cities they would give, and in that way they are said to have given them as an offering to the Lord, as God had appointed (Numbers 35:8). God tested their generosity here, and it proved worthy of praise. The cities given to the Levites were generally some of the best and most important in each tribe. They also seem to have chosen them carefully so that the Levites would be spread throughout the land, and no part of the country would be too far from one of their cities.

They gave them in obedience to the Lord’s command, and that obedience made the gift holy. They gave the full number God had required, which was wise, because then the Levites would not ask for more and Israel would not give less. They also gave them their surrounding pasturelands, or land around the city walls, just as God had commanded (Numbers 35:4, 5). They did not try to cut them short.

When the forty-eight cities had been chosen, they were divided into four groups and assigned by lot to the four families of Levi. Once the Israelites had surrendered the cities to God, he himself ordered how they should be shared among his servants. Aaron’s family, the priests alone, received thirteen cities from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin (Joshua 21:4). God arranged this wisely. Jerusalem itself was not yet theirs, because it was still held by the Jebusites, and those generous tribes would not insult the Levites, who had other work to do, with a city that still had to be won by battle before it could be used. Yet the cities given to Aaron’s family were the ones closest to Jerusalem, because in time that would become the holy city, where their work would mainly be done.

The Kohathite Levites, among whom were the descendants of Moses, though they are not singled out here, received the cities in the land of Dan, which lay next to Judah, and in Ephraim and the half-tribe of Manasseh, which lay next to Benjamin. In this way, those descended from Aaron’s father were placed nearest to Aaron’s sons. Gershon, the oldest son of Levi, had priority over the other family of Merari, even though the younger Kohathite line was preferred before his, and his children received their cities next (Joshua 21:6). The Merarites, the youngest branch, received their share last, and it was farthest away (Joshua 21:7).

The other sons of Jacob each had one inheritance for their tribe, but Levi, God’s own tribe, had a share for each of its families. This shows God’s special care in directing where his ministers settle and move, and in appointing where those will live who are meant to be lights to the world.