THE CITIES OF THE LEVITES The Levites were denied a portion in the land of inheritance, to have the Lord Himself as their portion and their only inheritance; and as we previously said, they acquire God as their wisdom, their righteousness, and their redemption, etc… Yet, though they are denied the land, yet God gave them 48 cities, to live among all the tribes, to testify to Him by the law of God; as though they are lamps that emit His divine light on all the tribes, to enlighten all the congregation by God dwelling among them. 1- The Levites demand the cities with their common-lands 1 - 3 2- The Levite cities divided among the tribes by lot 4- 24 3- God’s promises fulfilled 43- 45 1- The Levites demand the cities with their commonlands: “Now the heads of the fathers of the Levites came near to Eliazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel. And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying: ‘The Lord commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their common-lands for our livestock. So the children of Israel gave to the Levites from their inheritance, at the commandment of the Lord, these cities and their common-lands.” (Joshua 21: 1 - 3) The priests and the Levites, represented by the heads of their fathers, came to demand their rights to dwell in the midst of the whole congregation; and not isolated from them. Being a living member in the congregation, and their minister who works on their account in the Lord, a priest should not create a barrier between himself and them, otherwise his vitality would be lost, his mission would stop, and his people would stumble. If he is a priest of God, yet he is a priest for God’s people, in the Lord, the greater High Priest. And as the greater High Priest prayed amongst us, as one of us, in order to embrace and lift us up to His heavens; so it is fitting for every priest in the Lord, to live not isolated 225 from the holy congregation, so that all would enjoy together the everlasting inheritance. From another aspect, living in their midst, he should not get with them a portion of the land, lest he would be distracted from his spiritual mission. The scholar Origen says: [Not getting a portion of the land, while living among the children of Israel who got theirs, the Priests and the Levites would get from their congregation the material things that they do not have; and the congregation, in return would get from them the heavenly things, they need ... Unless the Priests and the Levites receive their material needs from their congregation, they would not be able to keep away from world commitments, to dedicate themselves to the word and the law of God; in which case you yourself are in danger.The light of knowledge in them would dim, just as when a lamp is short in oil; a case to which the words of the Lord apply: that “If the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch” (Matthew 15: 14); and also: “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness ? “ (Matthew 6: 23).] 1. 2- The Levite cities divided among the tribes by lot: The same way the division of the land and cities among the tribes by lot -- reveals certain spiritual concepts, and shadows of the heavenly life; according to the scholar Origen, what took place in the land of promise, carry true shadows of spiritual locations, and exalted glories, unutterable by man, that the believers would gain in eternity -- so also the division of the Levite cities among the tribes by lot, was not haphazard nor meaningless; but we notice the following: The lot came out for the Priests of the rest of the children of ‘Kohath’, of ‘Gershon’, of ‘Merari’, according to their level, in harmony with that of their tribes. Occupying an exalted spiritual position, the cities of the priests related to the families of the ‘Kohathites’, and the children of ‘Aaron’ the priest, came to be a portion of Judah, the tribe that represents the new spiritual leadership; on account of the incarnation of the Word of God from it; and whose location was all the time to the east of the camp2. Those related to the rest of the children of ‘Kohath’, enjoyed their cities among the portion of Ephraim, that represents the 1 In Jos. 17: 3. . 2 سفر العدد: ص 23 226 (increasing spiritual fruits). Those related to the children of ‘Gershon’, had their cities by lot among the families of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and half the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan. Those related to the children of ‘Merari’, who represent the bitter aspect of the cross1, had their cities among the tribe of Reuben, who lost his firstborn status to the tribe of Judah.... and so on.
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