The One Year® Chronological Bible, NKJV (Tyndale, 2013), March 11
The Levites as a tribe were not assigned a territory like their brethren. They were, however, allotted towns within each tribe's territory. Forty-eight towns in twelve territories were given to them, along with limited pasture land surrounding the town. Since their primary role was to serve in the Tent of Meeting why does the Lord spread them throughout the land?
The duties of the Levitical priesthood include:
- The teaching of the Law - "That you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them by the hand of Moses" (Lev. 10:11). "They shall teach Jacob Your judgments, and Israel Your law" (Deut. 33:10).
- Offering the sacrifices - Lev. 9
- Maintaining the Tabernacle and the Temple - Num. 18:3
- Officiating in the Holy Place - Ex. 30:7-10
- Inspecting ceremonially unclean objects and persons - Lev. 13,14
- Adjudicating disputes - Deut. 17:8-13
- Collecting tithes - Num. 18:21,26
- Regulating accuracy of weights and measurements used in Israel - Lev. 19:35-36
Scattering the Levites throughout the territories reminded all of Israel of their obligations to God and to one another. Their presence and activity held Israel accountable before God in the areas of Bible literacy and spiritual, physical, and social welfare.
Questions from today's reading (Numbers 34:1-36:13):
What does the giving of boundaries do for Israel?
To whom did God assign the task of dividing the land?
What does the establishing of cities of refuge reveal about God? About human nature?
How had the request made by Zelophehad's daughters affected the community? What does this reveal about the influence of women?