Joshua 21:2

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"Cities to dwellin." Joshua 21:2 .

This chapter deals with the distribution of the Levitical cities. They were given to priests, to Kohathites, to Gershonites, and to Merarites. We are told that in the camp of Israel there were two squares surrounding the tabernacle: an inner square of priests and Levites, an outer square of the tribes of Israel, three on each side. Our point, however, is that every tribe had a city. The distribution was so made as to involve each and all in some responsibility or trust. The Kohathites carried the sacred vessels, the Gershonites the curtains and various fabrics of the tent and tabernacle, and the Merarites were entrusted with the bars and boards. Wherever we find distribution in Scripture we find it so meted out that every man has his own particular vocation or trust. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man who took his journey into a far country, and distributed his goods to his servants, giving every one a portion to profit withal. We have nothing to do with the amount of the distribution, but we have a distinct responsibility in relation to its fact. Let every man ask himself, What have I, what am I expected to do, what burden have I to carry, and what is the strength wherewith I am endowed? No one man has all the talents: the greatest cannot do without the least. Greatness is often misunderstood in this matter; the probability is that there is nothing so dreary as the solitude of greatness when it is deprived of popular recognition and sympathy. The mountains may be very great, but they are often very barren. The valley can do better without the mountain than the mountain can do without the valley. Though the talents be few in number they can be applied to great purposes. The reward is not in the dowry but in the industry. It is not humility to deny the possession of talents; it may be simple dishonesty and unfaithfulness