March 10, 2017

Insights on Today's Reading

Numbers 35 - As you have read through these early books of the Bible you may have noted that God gave land to all the tribes of Israel where they could settle.  All, but the tribe of Levi.  They were to find their "inheritance" in the Lord Himself and their fulfillment in ministering to Him.  However, God required that 48 cities would be allotted to the Levites where they could live to raise their families.  God also allowed six cities to be known as Cities of Refuge where a person could go if they accidentally killed a fellow Israelite.  There were special rules that had to be followed including the rule that the person who fled to one of these cities was not permitted to go back home until after the death of the High Priest.

Numbers 36 - A practical matter was brought up about daughters receiving their father's land as an inheritance.  They were to only marry within their tribe.  If they would marry out of their tribe then the land they owned would be passed on to their new husband's tribe.  This would take land away from their first husband's tribe's allotment.  Decisions like this required a certain amount of willingness on the daughters to limit their marriages among their own relatives, but it was a practical step and was agreed to by the daughters in question.