Numbers 35:2-3, 7-8 NIV “Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. And give them pasturelands around the towns. Then they will have towns to live in and pasturelands for the cattle they own and all their other animals….In all you must give the Levites forty-eight towns, together with their pasturelands. The towns you give the Levites from the land the Israelites possess are to be given in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: Take many towns from a tribe that has many, but few from one that has few.” https://bible.com/bible/111/num.35.8.NIV
After God had divided His Promised Land among the tribes of Israel, He then scattered the priests of God among those tribes by commanding their inheritance among the cities. The Levitical tribe was not granted a portion of land like the other tribes, forming the twelve tribes of Israel. The Levites were given cities within those tribes to live among the people of each tribe to remind them and teach them of God’s ways. The cities are where the majority of the people are, and that is where God wanted the most influence. The Levites were to keep all of Israel in obedience to everything God commanded. The Church has fled the cities, preferring the suburbs and leaving to corruption, chaos, poverty, and demise of the cities of our nation. The Church is the salt and light of the world. It is to influence all the nations of the world toward obedience to everything Jesus commands. This work is harder now for the Church to reengage the cities, obeying Jesus to ‘go’ into them to influence them toward Christ. The Church must learn to serve the city so that it can create influence among the inhabitants of the city, particularly among the leadership. Everywhere in the world, the city should be the focus of the Church’s mission, the Great Commission, until all cities everywhere recognize Jesus as Savior and Lord. This work will be hard and dangerous, but this world is not our home. We look forward to a new Jerusalem whose King is Jesus upon a new earth where no more death, sickness, or evil of any kind exists. Until then, the Church must act like the Levites of old and occupy the cities, working for their salvation until Jesus returns.
