The sermon titled 'Ministry Centers Everywhere' delves into Joshua 21, which discusses the allocation of 48 cities to the Levites among the tribes of Israel. The speaker emphasizes that these cities were intended as ministry centers, where the Levites would teach the Word of God and facilitate worship as prescribed by Him. The allocation was done by lot, signifying divine guidance, and fulfilled a promise made through Moses in Numbers 35. The cities included six cities of refuge, highlighting a pattern of divine provision and justice. The speaker draws parallels between the purposes of these ancient Levitical cities and the role of local churches today, emphasizing the importance of teaching and worship. The sermon underscores the continuity of God's priorities throughout history and their relevance to contemporary faith communities.

For the sermon text, I will read Joshua 21. Then the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites came near to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers' houses 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. Now the Lot came out for the families of the Kohathites, and the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had 13 cities by Lot from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of Simeon, and from the tribe of Benjamin.

The rest of the children of Kohath had 10 cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half tribe of Manasseh. And the children of Gershon had 13 cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Neftali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan. The children of Morari, according to their families, had 12 cities from the tribe of Reuben, from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun. And the children of Israel gave these cities with their common lands by lot to the Levites, as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses. So they gave from the tribe of the children of Judah and from the tribe of the children of Simeon these cities which are designated by name, which were for the children of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites who were of the children of Levi, for the lot was theirs first.

And they gave them Kerjath-arba. Arba was the father of Anak, which is Hebron in the mountains of Judah, with the common land surrounding it. But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb, the son of Jephthuna, as his possession. Thus to the children of Aaron, the priest, they gave Hebron with its common land, a city of refuge for the slayer, Libna with its common land, Jatir with it's common land, Eshtemoah with it's common land, Holon with it's common land, Debir with it's common land, Ann with it's common land, Jadda with it's common land and Beth Shemesh with it's common land. Nine cities from those two tribes.

And from the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its common land, Geba with its common land, Anathoth with its common land, and Ammon with its common land, four cities. All the cities of the children of Aaron the priest were 13 cities with their common lands. And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, the rest of the children of Kohath, even they had the cities of their lot from the tribe of Ephraim. For they gave them Shechem with its common land in the mountains of Ephraim, a city of refuge for the slayer, Giza with its common land, Kibzim with its common land and Bethharan with its common land, four cities. And from the tribe of Dan, El-Takah with its common land, Gimbawmoon with its common land, Agilan with its common land and Gath- vulnerable with its common land, four cities.

And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Tanakh with its common land and Gath-Raman with its common land, two cities. All the ten cities with their common lands were for the rest of the families of the children of Kohath. Also to the children of Gershon of the families of the Levites from the other half tribe of Manasseh, they gave Golan and Beshon with its common land, a city of refuge for the slayer, and B. Eshtarra with its common land, two cities, and from the tribe of Issachar, Kishon with its common land, Deborahoth with its common land, Jaromoth with its common land, and In-Ganim with its common land, four cities. And from the tribe of Asher, Michelle, with its common land, Abdon with its common land, Helcoth with its common land, and Rahab with its common land, four cities.

And from the tribe of Neftali, Kedesh and Galilee with its common land, a city of refuge for the slayer, Hamath Dor with its common land, Kartan with its common land, three cities. All the cities of the Gershonites, according to their families, were 13 cities with their common lands. And to the families of the children of Morari, the rest of the Levites, from the tribe of Zebulun, Jok'nim with its common land, Kartal with its common land, Dimna with its common land, and Nahalal with its common land, four cities. And from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth and Gilead with its common land, a city of refuge for the slayer, Mahaneim with its common land, Heshbon with its common land, and Jazer with its common land, four cities in all. So all the cities for the children of Morari, according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites were by their lot 12 cities.

All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were 48 cities with their common lands. Every one of these cities had its common land surrounding it, thus were all the cities. So the Lord gave to Israel all the land which he had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all around according to all that he had sworn to their fathers and not a man of all their enemies stood against them. The Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand.

Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel, all came to pass." So you got that right. Did that secretly make you glad that when we did six chapters on a Sunday morning that we didn't read all six chapters with all the city names? You don't have to answer that question because Americans have the right to not incriminate themselves. If you don't glaze over at some point when you're hearing all these names pronounced, the pronunciations are unfamiliar, the places are unfamiliar, then you're not like me. I sort of have a hard time not glazing over, but what is being taught here is something that was really important in the time of Israel, and it's really important today.

And so we'll try to get at what God is really doing in this chapter, because it's something that matters to us. The title of the sermon today is, Ministry Centers Everywhere. And I guess I'm skipping to the punch line here. God is appointing, He's planting little ministry centers for the Word of God, the understanding of it, the teaching of it, and understanding how God has prescribed worship and then carrying out the people worshiping him in the way that he said he wants to be worshiped. He's embedding that in every tribe in Israel.

Last week we studied Joshua chapter 20. It's about the the cities of refuge and if you had killed someone but you didn't mean to, it would give you a place to flee for consideration and protection if you could really be proved that you were not a murderer. This week we discovered that those six were a subset of the total number of cities for the Levites. Those six were cities that would be populated by members of the tribe of Levi, but then there would be many other cities, 42 other cities added to them. So here's the math for those of you who love the math.

Six cities of refuge plus 42 other cities where Levites could also live equals the 48 total cities that God had allotted to the Levites. And again, they're embedded in every one of the 12 tribes. Next week, we'll take a week to glory in the memory passage and just look at verses 43-45 in God's faithfulness. And then the week after that we'll look at all of chapter 22 in which the two and a half tribes that were given their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan, Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh will be set at liberty to go dwell in their possession because the major wars to take the promised land west of the Jordan River are over. So their armed men can go back and they can settle their inheritance.

Let's ask for God to help us. God, I pray that you would help us to sweep away the difficulties that we always encounter when we encounter a chapter full of things hard to pronounce and places that we're totally unfamiliar with, and get at the heart of what you're doing in the midst of this. Help us to understand and to treasure your ways, to love your ways, and to walk in them. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen. The structure today will be three major headings.

The first is Cities for the Levites, what they were and where they were. I'll really be trying to summarize the whole chapter, especially verses 1-8. Verses 1-8 is really a summary of what the chapter is about. So we'll look at some of the patterns that emerge from there. The second major heading will be cities for the Levites.

Why It mattered? Why should you care? All these places you can't pronounce and you don't know where they are, who cares? Well, we should all care and there are good reasons why we should care. And then the third major heading, the final major heading will be cities for the Levites.

Why it matters? So it mattered in time past and it matters in time present. And it really has something to teach us today. Thank God for that. So first major heading, cities for the Levites.

What they were, what these cities were, and where they were. The chapter begins with the family heads of the tribe of Levi. So like all the tribes, they were made up of different families, composing the big family of the tribe and the different families had heads and these family heads of the tribe of Levi came to the working group who oversaw the distribution of the land. Why do I say that? Well, it's to piggyback on what I've been saying.

From verses 14 through 19, God Himself had put together a working group to distribute the land among the tribes. It was Eliezer the priest, who was really the high priest. This is the son of Aaron. Aaron was the head of this family that would become the priests for Israel. And Aaron was the high priest as the first and the head of the family.

And then when he died, his oldest living son was Eliezer. He became the high priest in his place. So Eliezer, the leader of worship in Israel, was a member of this working group to distribute the land. And then Joshua, the civil leader, he was essentially the head of the civil government of Israel. And then each tribe had a representative that was a part of this working group.

So your tribe was going to get an allotment of land, your tribal inheritance, but you would be represented in the process of the allotment. And you would have a representative there to oversee and participate in the whole thing. You can just imagine how wise it was of God to have everyone represented by their tribal head who could participate in that process. So it was the high priest, Eliezer, and the head of the civil government, Joshua, and every tribe had a representative. They were a working group.

They allotted all the land to the other tribes that we've been studying. So we saw that at the beginning of chapter 14, at the end of chapter 19. And now we're seeing it again as This final tribe, the tribe of Levi, comes and asks for their allotment. What do they ask for? They just claim what God had promised them through Moses.

So they're not asking for anything that God hadn't already promised them. He promised them through Moses, and we're going to look for that. And they come to just ask for what God had promised to them. Now, let's talk about the family tree. The family tree, as far as we're concerned today, starts with Jacob.

We could go upstream of him to Abraham, but we won't. Jacob was renamed Israel by God, and so the whole nation bears his name. He's at the base of the family tree, as we'll be studying it today, because Jacob, the nation, is named after him what God had renamed him Israel. He had twelve sons and They are the heads of the tribes. All the tribes are named after them.

One of those twelve sons is Levi. One tribe bears his name. Levi had three sons. The oldest Gershon, the middle Kohath, and the third Morari. And we find the whole chapter is divided up that way.

So as you look through 21, it'll be the sons of Kohath. He wasn't the oldest son, but one of his family members was Aaron, and Aaron would be the head of the priest, so we start with Kohath and all of that family, and then we go to Gershon and then to Morari, and those families in the cities will be divided up that way. So it's Jacob, 12 sons, all of the sons are the head of a tribe. Levi is one of those. Levi has three sons and that's how our chapter is divided up.

So this is what we see in the chapter. The descendants of Aaron are the priests. They have very particular responsibilities that only they can do. There's trouble. It is against God and what He's commanded if other people do the things that have been given specifically and exclusively to the priests.

They are given their cities first by lot, and they're given 13 cities. So the descendants of Aaron are the priests, they're given 13 cities. One of those cities is a city of refuge. The rest of the Coathites, so Aaron and his family are part of the Kohathites, but they're separated out because they're priests. The rest of the Kohathites get ten other cities, and one of those ten is a city of refuge.

We have the first family of Levi, the Koathites, and that family, between Aaron and the rest, get two cities of refuge. Then we have the descendants of Gershon, another son of Levi. They get 13 cities, and they get two cities of refuge. Then we have the descendants of Mirari, they get 12 cities and two of those cities are the cities of refuge. So you're instantly seeing a pattern.

Those of you who like to look for patterns, you have these three families, the Kohathites, two cities of refuge, the Gershonites, two cities of refuge, the Mara, the Mara'arites, two cities of refuge. We see a few things in the chapter. First, this is all said to be by lot. And it's said to be that way a lot. In verses 4-8 it said five times, buy a lot, buy a lot, buy a lot, buy a lot, buy a lot.

That just clues you in as you're a student of scripture. The things that are repeated are important. What does buy a lot mean? It means that it is specifically given into the hands of God. By the way, God through Moses told them to do it exactly this way, to divide and appoint the land by lot.

This isn't leaving it to chance, this is leaving it to God. Proverbs 16, 33, God controls the outcome of the lot. And we're actually going to see this in a couple of striking, wonderful ways in this chapter. So five times in verses four through eight it's said to be by lot. This is leaving it in the hands of God to give the Levites these cities as it would please God in His perfect wisdom.

Second, as we work through the details in verses 9-42, in other words, this tribe gave these cities and it went to this family, this tribe gave these cities and it went to this family, you get all that detail in verses 9-42, we see that every tribe contributes cities. Every single tribe is giving cities. In fact, it is four per on average. Four per tribe, twelve tribes, 48 cities, that's exactly what we see. It's not perfectly that.

Naphtali only contributes three cities and not four. But this is offset by Judah and Simeon which contribute nine and not eight. So you have those two discrepancies. One giving three and one giving an extra to make up for that three. But all the other tribes it's four per tribe.

So it's pretty evenly distributed. Pretty evenly distributed. Now, the heads of the families of the Levites come and say, God promised us these cities through Moses. Where is that? It's in Numbers 35.

So let's let that be our first stop, as in Numbers 35. Please turn there. Numbers 35. We're in Joshua. Go back a chapter.

That's Deuteronomy. Go back a chapter. That's Numbers. Numbers 35 verses 1-8. Follow along as I read Numbers 35, 1-8.

And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, saying, so let me just make a comment there, this is not distant in time from the people crossing over into the promised land. The people are already on the east side of the Jordan River and have already conquered Sihon and Og. Moses is about to die in this timeline and then Joshua will lead Israel across the Jordan. Verse 2, this is what God said to Moses, command the children of Israel that they give the Levites cities to dwell in from the inheritance of their possession. You shall also give the Levites common land around the cities.

They shall have the cities to dwell in, and all their common land shall be for their cattle, for their herds, and for all their animals. The common land of the cities which you will give the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around." So that's a 1, 500 feet all the way around the walls of the city. Verse 5, And you shall measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits. The city shall be in the middle. This shall belong to them as common land for the cities.

Now among the cities which you will give to the Levites, you shall appoint six cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. And to these you shall add forty-two cities. So all the cities you will give to the Levites shall be forty-eight. These you shall give with their common land. And the cities which you will give shall be from the possession of the children of Israel.

From the larger tribe you shall give many, from the smaller tribe you shall give few. Each shall give some of its cities to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance that each receives." So you can see that in Numbers 35, it was always the intention of God to embed Levites within each of the tribes to have a subset of the cities that they get to be cities of refuge where you could flee for protection if you had killed someone unintentionally. And that God was putting them all throughout the nation. Also here's one thing I want to point out about the specific allotments. The priests, so we're back in Joshua 21, The priests get their first allotment of cities.

It's 13 cities. And they're from three tribes, Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. Now why is that significant? Judah and Simeon are inhabiting the same area. If you go back to map in the lap week, and you look at that map, when you look at the tribe of Judah, Simeon is actually given an area within the tribal allotment of Judah.

So they're essentially dwelling within the same geographical boundaries. So Judah and Simeon are there together, and Jerusalem is on the border of Judah and Benjamin. So where are the priests given cities? In Judah and Simeon, that's one geographical area, and Jerusalem is a border city between Judah and Benjamin. It's where you would put the priests if you knew that 400 years later you would have the temple built in Jerusalem.

Only now, in Joshua 21, they don't know that the temple is going to be built in Jerusalem. God hasn't said, this is where my name will dwell. It will be during the time of David, more than 400 years later. Right now, according to what we've been studying and according to this chapter, everything important is happening in Shiloh, which is part of Ephraim, which is north of Benjamin and Judah. So I just want to remark at what the Lot did.

Shiloh was north in the tribal inheritance of Ephraim. It won't be until 400 years later when the temple will be built and the priests will need to be located near them. But God did it 400 years in advance. The lot isn't chance. Leaving it to the lot is leaving it to God, not to chance.

And This is just a wonderful example of that. You'll not find anywhere in the Old Testament prior to this time where God has said that His name would dwell in Jerusalem. There are also two other Old Testament references that I think help us understand. The first is Genesis 49. So please turn to Genesis 49.

Genesis 49. Genesis 49. Genesis 49 are the prophetic words that Jacob spoke over his sons. So Jacob is at the end of his life and he prophesies about the future of his sons and their descendants. Look at Genesis 49 verse 1.

Jacob called his sons and said, gather together that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days. So these are prophetic words about the future. Now look at what he says in verses 5 through 7. Simeon and Levi are brothers. Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place.

Let my soul not enter their council. Let not my honor be united to their assembly. For in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they hamstrung an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." Wow, How would you like that to be a prophecy about you and your descendants?

It reads like a curse. What is this about? Why is he singling out and saying this prophetically about Simeon and Levi? This is about what happened when Jacob fled from Esau. He spent all those decades with Laban, who became his father-in-law.

And then he came back. And when he came back, they originally settled in Shechem. And one of the men of Shechem took advantage of one of Jacob's daughters, and it was the sister, this is Dinah, It was the sister of Simeon and Levi, and they were enraged that their sister had been mistreated. And so they essentially tricked the men of Shechem into being circumcised on the promise that they would merge together with the people. And while they were in recovery from surgery after being circumcised Levi and Simeon in retribution for the mistreatment of their sister killed all the men in Shechem.

And Jacob was sure that the result of this was going to be the surrounding people hearing about this, and attacking them and annihilating them. Now, God had different plans than that, but Jacob was confident that this was going to be the end of their family. It was the anger of these two brothers here that is being called out. Jacob says as a consequence of this, these are going to be divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel. Now isn't that interesting as we study Joshua chapter 21?

That Simeon is within the boundaries of Judah and that Levi is actually literally scattered throughout the nation. I'm calling it embedded. I think when you actually get to Joshua 21, embedded is a better term of what God is actually doing at that time. But they were cursed. I mean the word cursed is there.

They are cursed to be scattered in Israel. But that isn't the end of the story with Levi. As you know, God actually has other plans for them other than just treating them as their sins deserve. If you go to, which we won't do, but if you go to Exodus 32, it's the golden calf chapter and the people engage in this terrible idolatry right on the heels of being given the Ten Commandments, which specifically said, don't do this thing, right away they do this thing. And When Moses comes down, he says this in Exodus 32 verse 26, Whoever is on the Lord's side, come to me.

Who comes to him? It's the tribe of Levi. The tribe of Levi comes to him and God uses them in judgment to punish the people for engaging in this idolatry. We see them not cursed by being scattered throughout Israel, but God is working redemptively in and through this tribe to make them a blessing within the people, and giving them cities, embedding them in each of the tribes. As a Side note, this is really interesting to me.

This curse that we saw in Genesis 49, Jacob's prophetic words over Levi, is because of what happened in Shechem. And God now gives Shechem to the Levites and makes it a city of refuge. In verse 21. So just think about how redemptively God works in the lives of sinners and in the descendants of sinners. They acted sinfully in murdering all of these men for the sins of one man among them.

But God brought back the descendants of Levi to this place, gave them that city, and made it a city of refuge. Remarkable. The second place I think that helps us understand is Deuteronomy 33. So now turn to Deuteronomy 33. Deuteronomy 33 is Moses' blessing on the tribes.

So we saw Jacob's prophetic words over his sons and their descendants. Now we're at the end of Moses' life in Deuteronomy chapter 33, and he speaks in a similar way to bless each of the tribes. Look at Deuteronomy 33 verses 8 through 11. And of Levi he said, Let your thumbum and your urum be with your holy one whom you tested at Massa, and with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah. Who says of his father and mother, I have not seen them, nor did he acknowledge his brothers, or know his own children.

For they have observed your word and kept your covenant." Now there's a bunch of things in there that need explanation, and I'm not going to explain any of them because it has nothing to do with Joshua chapter 21. I just want to acknowledge I understand that was incomprehensible and I'm not explaining it today. I said all that to start reading what Moses said about Levi and to get to 10 and 11. So now let's look at 10 and 11. They, the tribe of Levi, they shall teach Jacob your judgments and Israel your law.

They shall put incense before you and a whole burnt sacrifice on your altar. Bless his substance Lord and accept the work of his hands. Strike the loins of those who rise against him and of those who hate him that they rise Not again. Now I want to focus on verse 10. Because in verse 10, Moses gives us the two main functions that God has appointed for the tribe of Levi.

What are their two main functions? Verse 10. They shall teach Jacob your judgments and Israel your law, as they will be teachers of the word of God. They shall put incense before you and a whole burnt sacrifice on your altar. There was a religious system of the Old Covenant, a sacrificial system and a system of feasts and gatherings and they would serve in that system, help people to worship in the way that God had prescribed.

So we see here the two functions of the tribe of Israel, teaching the Word of God, knowing and teaching the Word of God, and working within the system of worship that God had appointed. And now God is embedding that within each of the twelve tribes and their inheritance. So what were these cities? They were dwelling places for the Levites along with the joining land for their livestock. Not in one single geographical location like all of the other tribes had one single geographical location with a border.

You could say they were all whole tribe within the border. And they were actually to take dominion within that area and provide for themselves within that area. The Levites were going to be completely different. They were going to be embedded within each tribe, not a single location, but scattered throughout the tribes. And their purpose was to teach the Word of God in these different tribes, and to lead and serve in the worship system that God had established.

Where were they? They were strategically placed among all the tribes so that those functions of teaching the Word of God and serving in the worship of God would be present throughout all of Israel. Second major headings. The cities of the Levites. Why it mattered.

Forty-eight cities, You don't know how to pronounce them, you don't know where they are. Why does this matter? Because teaching as a core for the Levites, teaching as a priority for this tribe in Israel, is not isolated to this one spot in the Old Testament. It's actually spoken of quite a lot in the Old Testament. Let me give you some examples.

Just listen because I'm going to keep moving fast. Listen to 2 Chronicles 17 verses 7 through 10. In 2 Chronicles 17 verses 7 through 10, Jehoshaphat is the king of Judah. He is actually a good king. We read this.

Also in the third year of his reign, Jehoshaphat's reign, he sent his leaders, Ben-Hael, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah, and with them he sent Levites, Shemiah, Nethaniah, Zebediah, Asahel, Shamirimoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobadah, and the Levites. Sorry, I should have practiced that one more. The Levites. So a list of names that are hard to pronounce. Dash, the Levites.

And with them, Elishema and Jehoram, the priests. So they taught in Judah and had the book of the law of the Lord with them, and they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people. And the fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. So you see what's being said here. Jehoshaphat, this godly king, sends out leaders and Levites and priests, who are also Levites, throughout all the cities to teach the Word of God.

They have the Word of God with them and they go city to city and they're teaching the Word of God with them. And God is pleased and causes the fear of God to fall on the nations around them so that they don't make war against Jehoshaphat. Also, 2 Chronicles 35 verse 3. In 2 Chronicles 35 verse 3, Josiah, another godly king, is King of Judah. And we read this in 2 Chronicles 35 verse 3.

Then he, Josiah, said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to the Lord, put the holy ark in the house which Solomon built the son of David, king of Israel. It shall no longer be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel." So we actually see them doing both of their functions here. They had been carrying the Ark of God. No one but the Levites were supposed to carry the Ark of God.

Josiah instructs them to put the Ark of God in its permanent home, the temple, and they were teaching all Israel. Then Josiah said to the Levites who taught all Israel. So, At the time of Jehoshaphat, that's what's happening. At the time of Josiah, that's what's happening. Or listen to Nehemiah chapter 8.

In Nehemiah chapter 8, the people tell Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses. And He reads it from a platform. Do you remember the scene from when we were in Nehemiah? Ezra comes and they erect a platform on him and he stands on a platform so that he's elevated. He reads the Word of God from morning until midday.

This is what we read in Nehemiah 8 verse 7. The Levites helped the people understand the law. And then from verse 8, they gave the sense and helped them to understand the reading. So Ezra is up on the platform reading and the Levites are among the people helping them understand what the law means and giving them a sense of what is being read so they can understand it. Or Malachi 2, this one's a bit longer if you want to turn to Malachi 2 you can.

Malachi 2 verses 4 through 8 we read this. Malachi 2 verses 4 through 8. Then You shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, that my covenant with Levi may continue, says the Lord of hosts. My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, and I gave them to him that he might fear me. So he feared me and was reverent before my name." Listen to this, verse 6.

The law of truth was in his mouth, and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and equity, and turned many away from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth. For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you have departed from the way and have caused many to stumble at the law, you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts." All of this is built on an acknowledgement that the Levites are there to teach the word of God and the priests being a subset of the Levites are a part of that.

People should be seeking the law of God from the mouth of the priests and from the Levites. So why do I take you to all these places? 2 Chronicles 17, 2 Chronicles 35, Nehemiah 8, Malachi 2. I wanted to pile it up to give you a sense that this was followed throughout the history of Israel. When we go back to what we saw first in Deuteronomy chapter 33, and Moses saying the Levites had these two functions, teaching the law of God and working within the worship of God within that system.

I almost always think of the Levites as only that second thing. They help the priests. Period. End of sentence. When Moses lays out their functions, he actually begins by saying they teach the law of God among the people of God and also they work within the religious system of worship that God has set up.

So think of these cities, these 48 cities that we encounter in Joshua chapter 21, as designed by God to be outposts for a deep understanding of the scriptures so that this deep understanding of the scriptures could be and would be taught throughout Israel. No tribe would be without an outpost of deep understanding so that the scriptures could be taught within their tribe. And so that worship God as He prescribed it would be a priority and continue generation after generation. That's what God is doing in Joshua chapter 21. God set aside a tribe for those two purposes.

The Word of God being taught to the people of God and the worship of God being served among the people of God. God set aside a tribe for these purposes. And the Levites were to receive their provision from performing these functions. They weren't going to have a single unified geography where they worked to provide for themselves within this single unified geography but the other tribes were to tithe of their provisions so that the Levites could be devoted to their functions. In other words, so that teaching the Word of God wouldn't be a hobby, it would be their occupation.

So that the worship of God and serving that system that God had established wouldn't be a hobby done in their spare time when they weren't working to provide for themselves but so that they could be devoted to it. Consider Nehemiah 13. I think this is our last stop. Where is Nehemiah 13? Nehemiah 13.

Go there if you'd like. If you remember, Nehemiah was a cupbearer to the king of Babylon. He was troubled. The king asks him what's wrong. He tells them the city of my forefathers is lying in ruins.

How could I not be sad? And he asks for liberty to take back a wave of captives back to Judah to rebuild Jerusalem. And The king lets him, but the agreement is after a period of years, he will come back. This is what happens in the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah comes back to Jerusalem.

He leads a wave of captives from Babylon back to their homeland. And they rebuild Jerusalem and then he goes back to Babylon like he agreed with the king to do. And then after a time he comes back to Jerusalem. And here's what he finds in Jerusalem in Nehemiah 13 verses 10-13. I, Nehemiah, also realized that the portions for the Levites had not been given to them, For each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to his field.

So I contended with the rulers and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together and set them in their place. Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse. And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouse, Shalomaiah the son of Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Padaiah, and next to him was Hanan the son of Zachar the son of Mataniah. For they were considered faithful and their task was to distribute to their brethren." So you understand what's happening there.

Nehemiah left to go back to Babylon to fulfill his commitment to the king and when he left they stopped giving the provisions to the Levites. What did the Levites do? Starved? No, they went back to work and provide for themselves. So when Nehemiah comes back he says, you've forsaken the house of God.

You've taken the ones that God devoted to teach the Word of God to His people and to serve in the system of worship to His people and you've made it so They can't devote their time to that. They have to provide for themselves. Because you won't give them provisions. So they go back to their fields. And Nehemiah puts a stop to that and brings them back into service teaching the Word of God and working within the worship of God.

Okay, so that's why it mattered. Israel needed that. Did All of the tribes need the Word of God? Of course they did. All of the tribes need service within the worship of God?

Of course they did. So now the final major heading, Cities for the Levites, Why It Matters Today. It matters because, and only because the functions have always mattered among the people of God and always will matter among the people of God. People have changed, the structure might change, but the functions were necessary then and now. It is the functions that must continue to have priority.

So in Old Testament Israel, God provided for these functions by setting aside a tribe, and giving them cities interspersed among the other tribes, embedding them in cities within the tribes. But in the New Covenant, the whole purpose is to expand the knowledge of God and the knowledge of His Word and His worship to the ends of the earth. So it's not going to be organized like that anymore. Now it isn't a tribe within cities, but God has provided for prioritizing these functions by teaching local bodies of believers to set aside men to be devoted to fulfilling to fulfilling them. The point isn't that elders are the new Levites.

In fact, a more direct comparison might be local churches are the new cities of Levites in the communities, the larger communities where God has embedded us. I could maybe even make a stronger case that we're the new Levites in the larger sphere that God has put us in, to know the Word of God and proclaim the Word of God, starting with the Gospel but not ending with the Gospel. What do I mean by that? Well, the people around us need the gospel, but they also need to hear that you shouldn't kill babies in the womb. We're here for that.

We're embedded in our nation for that. So the point isn't fundamentally that elders are the new Levites. The point is that God wants to prioritize the functions of knowing His Word at a deep level so that it would be taught to the people of God. To setting aside someone to go deep and then bring us with you. Spend hours of your week learning at a deeper level and then come stand before us and bring us with you of the things that you learned.

And I'll give from my resources so that you can be devoted to that. That's exactly what's happening in the Old Testament. That's exactly what happens in local churches today. And the point isn't to give honor to a certain class of people. The point is that the Word of God would be exalted among His people.

That worship would be prioritized among his people in every age and under any and every covenant. So when we read in Acts 2.42 on the day of Pentecost, and they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine. They were daily, the Apostles were teaching daily and the people were coming and being taught daily. This is what's happening. And when we read in Acts chapter 6, when the apostles appoint deacons in this local church, a big local church in Jerusalem, a 3000 member megachurch in Jerusalem, We read in Acts 6 verse 4, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer in the ministry of the Word.

That's exactly what we're seeing. And when we read in Acts chapter 20 verse 20, when Paul calls the Ephesian elders to himself, and he says, how I kept back nothing that was helpful but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house and then a few verses later in Acts 20 verse 27 Paul says, for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole council of God. And then Paul calls the Ephesian elders to do among the Ephesian church as he has done. He's calling them to a public and house to house ministry of the whole council of God. And when we read in 1 Timothy 5, 17, let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine, some translations say in preaching and teaching, and then it goes on to say don't muzzle the ox when he's treading out the grain in other words provide for him set him aside so that he can spend his time and energy on this and bring the whole church into the things that he learns that's what's happening and we read in second Timothy 4 verse 2 when Paul writes to Timothy, preach the word.

Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and teaching. That's what's happening. And when we read in 1 Peter 5 verses 1 and 2, The elders who are among you I exhort. I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed, shepherd the flock of God which is among you." This is Peter saying that elders are among the people and people are among the elders.

They are embedded in order that the knowledge of God would spread among the people of God, would be honored among the people of God. It isn't to honor a certain class of people, it is to prioritize certain functions among all the people of God. That's what Joshua 21 is about. That's why it's still relevant today because the functions are still a priority for the people of God. So if I die tomorrow, please identify and set aside another qualified man.

And keep going. The people come and go! The people come and go. The functions that the Word of God would be known and taught and honored, and that the worship of God would receive devotion. The functions are what matter and you find them under, in every age, under every covenant.

The Word of God and the worship of God prioritized. That's what Joshua 21 is about. God, I pray it would be so among us that over time if the Lord's tarries and if you give us the grace to continue, the people will come and go. But I pray that the Word of God would be honored. It would be studied and taught and loved and prioritized that the worship of God would receive focus and attention.

Thank you for showing us these things from the Old Testament and showing us the connections to the New Testament Church. Thank you for your perfect wisdom in all these things in Jesus name, Amen.