The Book of Numbers – God Cares

When the Israelites would reach the promised land, each tribe would receive an allotment of land that was their inheritance except the Levites.  In Numbers 18:20, God speaks to them about their inheritance and says, “I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.”

Self – Reflection: This serves as a humble reminder for each of us of what truly matters, not hording riches on this earth but to live with an eternal perspective and store up treasures in heaven.

God faithfully provides

The Levites would not be allotted a portion of land per se but God faithfully provides for them. They would need towns in which to live and raise their families and care for their livestock. God instructs the other tribes to give the Levites a total of 48 towns to the east and the west of the Jordan. These towns would come from the land that the tribes would call their own. The larger the tribe, the bigger the land allotment and therefore the larger the contribution of towns towards the Levites.  

Take a moment and reflect on the situation then for the Levites. God had instructed a second census to be taken for the purpose of land allotment, there would have been all this talk about the exact location where they would settle down and the eagerness associated with it all after years of wandering. When the Reubenites and Gadites asked for the portion of land east of the Jordan (Transjordan) to settle down and God agrees as long as they go and fight with their brothers, the Levites would have seen the families of those two tribes begin to settle down and in the midst of all of this there was no mention of the provision for where the Levites would be staying.

Self-Reflection: The Levites would have known that God would look after them but waiting on tangibly knowing how and where exactly, would have been trying. Have you ever been in a situation like that, where you see people around you stepping into the next step of their future and you are still waiting. Is it a promotion you are waiting on, to be able to buy a house, to conceive, to get out of debt, a better health prognosis or something else that is part of your specific story. And as you wait, all the talk around you seems to only magnify that which you are waiting upon and you deeply wish that God would hint towards something certain, but all you get is to wait some more. God cares, just as he provided for the Levites in a very practical way, he is right there with each of us. And if you find yourself waiting for something, hold onto Isaiah 41:13 “For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” God holding our hand expresses his closeness and his personal care for us.

Interspersed

The towns the Levites were given were not all congregated in one area. They would not be living in isolated encampments but would be spread throughout the land. As believers, we too are meant to be interspersed among the people. As much as it is comfortable to be all together with only fellow believers, just as the Levites had a role to play in their community, we too have a role to play. In Christ we are a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) . We are to be priests and ambassadors in the world that does not know Jesus. And just as the Levites would be spread out but not solitary in their role and where they lived, we too along with the community of believers in our area, are live out the call that God has placed on each of us, pointing to him and making his name known.

Motives

Out of the 48 town that were given to the Levites, six of them had a specific purpose.

Numbers 35:11-13 ^“Select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee. They will be places of refuge from the avenger, so that anyone accused of murder may not die before they stand trial before the assembly. These six towns you give will be your cities of refuge.”

God gave guidelines to know the intention of the person who harms and kills someone else. The provision was made to know the motives of the person. Motives mattered to God then, and our motives matter to him even now.

Proverbs 21:2 “A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart.”

God calls each of us to live righteous lives, do we live it perfectly, no. We are after all sinners and as long as we are in this flesh, we will not be perfect in our righteousness but what we do and why we do it matters to God, he is a discerner of our thoughts and intentions (Hebrews 4:12)

1 Corinthians 4:5 “Jesus comes again, “he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.”

Our motives matter because God cares more about who we are becoming than what we are achieving. The right motive is as 1 Thessalonians 2:4 says “But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.”

We all can be tempted to operate from selfish desires, the best way to combat that and know what lies in one’s heart is to turn to God, asking him to reveal what lies within.

Psalm 139: 23-24 “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Prayer: Lord, your word today reminds us of how much you care, even at times when we feel that nothing seems to be happening in our favour, your word reminds us that you never forget about us and are working on our behalf. May we remember Lord, that you care not only about our practical needs but are even more concerned with our hearts and who we are becoming. May we always bring our intentions and thoughts to you so that we are aware of what lies within and surrender them to you and desire to do what is right and pleasing to you. Amen.

God Bless.