Joshua 21, at first, looks very similar to chapters we’ve already read. It’s the turn of the Levites to learn where they will live, and we know from previous chapters that they aren’t going to receive a large province of land as an inheritance (13.14, 33). They will receive, by lot, places to live that are in and amongst the rest of the nation (v.4, for example). The chapter then details which Levites will live where (vv.4-42) and then ends with another statement of how the Lord did all He had promised to do (vv.43-45).
Rather than have a priestly province somewhere, detached from the rest of the nation, God’s plan was that the priests would be everywhere. Rather than have one particular place filled with ministers, the Lord’s plan was that everybody, everywhere, would have access to the priestly tribe of Levi. This, in principle, is still very true for believers now.
Rather than have one huge, mega Christian nation somewhere, detached from the rest of the world, God wants believers to be involved in all levels of society, in all nations, on all continents. The opportunities for ministry, serving others in the name and style of Jesus, are far more abundant when believers are everywhere as opposed to just somewhere. The country you live in, the job you have, the people you interact with, none of this is by accident. Instead of living in a closed-off commune somewhere, Christians are to commune with those around them to demonstrate a life lived for the Lord.
Today then, consider where you are living and why. If you feel that you’d be better off somewhere else surrounded by more people ‘like you’, stop and pray and ask God why He has you where He has you now.
James Travis 