January 20- Joshua 21:1-45
January 20- Joshua 21:1-45
21 Then the
heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and
to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes
of the people of Israel. 2 And they said to
them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, “The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in,
along with their pasturelands for our livestock.” 3 So
by command of the Lord the people of Israel gave
to the Levites the following cities and pasturelands out of their inheritance.
4 The lot
came out for the clans of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants
of Aaron the priest received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and
Benjamin, thirteen cities.
5 And the
rest of the Kohathites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of
Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.
6 The Gershonites
received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of
Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in
Bashan, thirteen cities.
7 The Merarites
according to their clans received from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad,
and the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.
8 These
cities and their pasturelands the people of Israel gave by lot to the
Levites, as the Lord had
commanded through Moses.
9 Out of
the tribe of the people of Judah and the tribe of the people of Simeon they
gave the following cities mentioned by name, 10 which
went to the descendants of Aaron, one of the clans of the Kohathites who
belonged to the people of Levi; since the lot fell to them first. 11 They gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba
being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah,
along with the pasturelands around it. 12 But
the fields of the city and its villages had been given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh
as his possession.
13 And to
the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge
for the manslayer, with its pasturelands, Libnah with its pasturelands, 14 Jattir
with its pasturelands, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, 15 Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with
its pasturelands, 16 Ain
with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, Beth-shemesh with its
pasturelands—nine cities out of these two tribes; 17 then
out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its
pasturelands, 18 Anathoth
with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands—four cities. 19 The cities of the descendants of Aaron,
the priests, were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands.
20 As to
the rest of the Kohathites belonging to the Kohathite clans of the Levites, the
cities allotted to them were out of the tribe of Ephraim. 21 To
them were given Shechem, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its
pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands, 22 Kibzaim with its pasturelands, Beth-horon
with its pasturelands—four cities; 23 and
out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its
pasturelands, 24 Aijalon
with its pasturelands, Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—four cities; 25 and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh,
Taanach with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—two
cities. 26 The cities of
the clans of the rest of the Kohathites were ten in all with their
pasturelands.
27 And to
the Gershonites, one of the clans of the Levites, were given out of the
half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands, the city of
refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands—two cities; 28 and
out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its pasturelands, Daberath with its
pasturelands, 29 Jarmuth
with its pasturelands, En-gannim with its pasturelands—four cities; 30 and out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with
its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands, 31 Helkath
with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four cities; 32 and out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh
in Galilee with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer,
Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands—three
cities. 33 The cities of
the several clans of the Gershonites were in all thirteen cities with their
pasturelands.
34 And to
the rest of the Levites, the Merarite clans, were given out of the tribe of
Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands, 35 Dimnah
with its pasturelands, Nahalal with its pasturelands—four cities; 36 and out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer
with its pasturelands, Jahaz with its pasturelands, 37 Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and
Mephaath with its pasturelands—four cities; 38 and
out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, the city
of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim with its pasturelands, 39 Heshbon with its pasturelands, Jazer with
its pasturelands—four cities in all. 40 As
for the cities of the several Merarite clans, that is, the remainder of the
clans of the Levites, those allotted to them were in all twelve cities.
41 The
cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel
were in all forty-eight cities with their pasturelands. 42 These
cities each had its pasturelands around it. So it was with all these cities.
43 Thus
the Lord gave to Israel all
the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of
it, and they settled there. 44 And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their
fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them,
for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. 45 Not one word of all the good promises that
the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
And all of God’s provisions were completed. He honored all of the
good promises He had made with the house of Israel. This passage reminds me
that all God has promised me He will honor. I will have safe passage to Heaven.
I will abide with him for eternity. He is my God and will continue to grow me
and protect me. May your relationship with God continue to strengthen as you
feed on His word daily. Thank God today for all He has done and continues to do
for you, His child.
Heavenly Father, there are times I just don’t
have the right words to communicate what is in my heart. I am so glad You understand me and my
thoughts without words being expressed.
To read these verses and see Your completion of the provisions for Your
chosen people and Your promise to Abraham as well as Moses and many others, reminds
me of the many promises You made in Your word and how most have been
completed. You are a God that keeps
promises. There are still a few promises
in Your word about the last days and I have complete faith that those too will
be completed just as You have promised. With
these promises on my mind it made me think about how we as people treat
promises. We don’t take our word serious
anymore. We promise things all the time,
but how often do we make those promises without any intention of keeping them? I know there are many times we intend to keep
our word and something changes in our lives that keep us from completing what
we intend, but You have a plan that nothing can stop. The only words I can come up with today is “Thank
You Father!!!! Thank You for loving me
so much that Your word is bound to that love.
Thank You for never giving up on me.
Thank You for loving me even when I am so unlovable. Thank You for making the plan of sending Your
Son so I had a chance to know You!”
In Jesus’ name.
Amen!
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