There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass. — Joshua 21:45

There was a time in my life when I needed the blessing of the Lord in a very tangible way. Although I was working long hours, the money was going to pay for rent, and there was not a lot left over for essentials such as food. My teenage daughter questioned when we were going to go grocery shopping, since we had little left in the cupboards. I told her that I did not have the money to buy food and did not know when I would, but that the Lord would help us somehow. I poured my heart out to the Lord, saying that I needed His help. I also reminded Him that my children needed to see that trusting the Lord for every detail of our lives really worked!

In just a few days, my daughter called me at work, wondering who had told the man from church that we needed food. When I told her no one had, she said that one of the brothers had just left ten sacks of food at our house. I told her that the Lord was behind it, and He had answered our prayers. We cried together when I got home from work that day, thanking the Lord over and over again for His provision. You can be sure, that is one day that gets brought up every time we start reminiscing about the blessings of the Lord and the prayers that He has answered!

The Children of Israel had that privilege as well. Surely, there were nights spent around campfires telling stories of how God had kept His promises to them. I can imagine one of the elders talking about hearing his father tell the account of how the people left Egypt. No doubt another chimed in, telling of the miracle of the manna and quail. I am sure they told of the crossing of the Red Sea, and how their families made it across by the hand of the Lord.

We can experience the continued blessing of the Lord too. All we have to do is follow His directions exactly and trust Him to do what He has promised.

BACKGROUND

Chapter 21 describes the apportionment of the Levitical cities. The males of the tribe of Levi were set apart to help the Children of Israel serve God by teaching them the Law and aiding in their worship. Because of this divine call, they were not allotted a single parcel of land as their inheritance, as the other tribes were. Instead, God declared that He would be their inheritance (see Joshua 13:14; 13:33). Since the Levites needed places to dwell, they were given cities and their surrounding pasturelands that were scattered throughout Israel. This made religious instruction close at hand for all the inhabitants of the land.

The cities were appointed according to their three Levitical clans or family divisions: the families of Kohath (verses 13-26), the families of Gershon (verses 27-33), and the families of Merari (verses 34-42). The Levites descended from Aaron were from the family of Kohath and were included in the allotment of cities given to the Kothathites. 

The final verses of today’s text contain a short summary of God’s faithfulness in fulfilling His promises to the Israelites “according to all that he sware unto their fathers” (verse 44). The concept of rest in the phrase “the LORD gave them rest round about” is alluded to in the New Testament in Hebrews chapter 4.

AMPLIFIED OUTLINE

(Hannah’s Bible Outlines - Used by permission per WORDsearch)

II.   The land divided
     E.   The apportionment to the Levites (21:1-42)
           1.   The summary (21:1-8)
           2.   The specifics (21:9-40)
                 a.   The assignment to Kohath (21:9-26)
                 b.   The assignment to Gershon (21:27-33)
                 c.   The assignment to Merari (21:34-40)
           3.   The conclusion (21:41-42)
     F.   The summary (21:43-45)

A CLOSER LOOK

1. Who was a fugitive supposed to talk to when he came to a city of refuge?
   
   
2. Why was it important to establish cities of refuge for the Children of Israel? 
   
   
3. What can you do to make your church a place where people can find refuge in the Lord?

CONCLUSION

The Lord delights in blessing His children, and if we follow His instructions, His promises are sure. What a wonderful heritage we have! There is value in rehearsing how God has fulfilled His promises for you.