Joshua 21-23 Levi and Leaders

Thoughts

Joshua 21

The heads of the Levite families came to Eleazar the priest, Joshua, and the leaders, and reminded them of the Lord’s command to give them towns to live in and pasturelands for their livestock.

Here’s Joshua 21’s Levitical towns in a clean table format:

Levitical Clan	From Tribe	Town(s)	Notes
Kohathites – Aaron’s descendants (Priests)	Judah & Simeon	Hebron*, Libnah, Jattir, Eshtemoa, Holon, Debir, Ain, Juttah, Beth Shemesh	*City of refuge; fields/villages of Hebron given to Caleb
	Benjamin	Gibeon, Geba, Anathoth, Almon
Kohathites – Other Kohathite families	Ephraim	Shechem*, Gezer, Kibzaim, Beth Horon	*City of refuge
	Dan	Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Aijalon, Gath Rimmon
	Half-Manasseh (west)	Taanach, Gath Rimmon
Gershonites	Half-Manasseh (east – Bashan)	Golan in Bashan*, Beeshterah	*City of refuge
	Issachar	Kishion, Daberath, Jarmuth, En Gannim
	Asher	Mishal, Abdon, Helkath, Rehob
	Naphtali	Kedesh in Galilee*, Hammoth Dor, Kartan	*City of refuge
Merarites	Zebulun	Jokneam, Kartah, Dimnah, Nahalal
	Reuben	Bezer*, Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath	*City of refuge
	Gad	Ramoth in Gilead*, Mahanaim, Heshbon, Jazer	*City of refuge

In total, 48 towns with surrounding pasturelands were assigned to the Levites.

Verse 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.”

Joshua 22

Joshua calls the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh and acknowledges their obedience 

He tells them to

• Love the LORD your God.
• Walk in His ways.
• Keep His commands.
• Hold fast to Him.
• Serve Him with all heart and soul.

Joshua blesses them sends them with much wealth (livestock, silver, gold, bronze, iron, clothing).

But, they go and had an altar of “imposing size” built near the Jordan on the west side (not their side).

Israel gets mad and decides to go to war. They sent Phinehas (son of Eleazar the priest) and one leader from each tribe to warn them

They reminded them of past sin at Peor (Numbers 25 when a man engaged sexually with a Moabite woman and God sent a plague) and Achan (Joshua 7 when Achan took spoils from Jericho leading to the fall at Ai).

They offer for the eastern tribes to come back to the western land.

The eastern tribes deny any intention of rebellion and wanted the altar to be a witness Ed (עֵד) of their worship of the same God. They did not intend to make sacrifices.

Phinehas and the leaders rejoice as they now see no rebellion.

Called Ed (“Witness”), as a testimony that the LORD is God

Joshua 23

Many years have now passed and Joshua was old in age and ready to give a farewell address.

He reminds Israel all that God has done for them. He will continue to be with Israel as long as they are faithful.

Follow everything that is written in the Book of the Law and do not mix with other nations.

Verse 10 “ One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as he promised you”

If they turn back and cling to the nations or their gods:

• The LORD will no longer drive out those nations.
• They will become snares, traps, whips, and thorns to Israel until they perish from the land.

God keeps His promises but also is Just and will cast punishment.

Questions

Why did Levites have to remind the leaders of their land shouldn’t they remember?

What did the altar look like?

Application

One key takeaway from chapter 22 is how easily division can happen among God’s people. I see a mirror to Christianity today with so much division, often fueled by political and cultural differences, which the enemy is eager to exploit. It’s easy to see another believer do something and immediately make assumptions. But like the western tribes, we should seek understanding and communicate with our brothers and sisters in Christ before jumping to conclusions. If the western tribes had simply assumed the worst, they would have started a devastating war. Instead, they sent leaders to investigate, and peace was restored.