Josh 13:33, But to the tribe of Levi, Moses did not give an inheritance; the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as He had promised to them. 
    	In this morning’s reading, we are presented with a partial roll-call of the tribes and allotment of their inheritance from the Lord. Much of the Promised Land had not yet been conquered. Joshua was growing old and getting near death. Remember that he and Caleb were the oldest of the people since they were the only survivors of that first generation who were permitted into the Land of Promise. 
	These were the two faithful spies who had gone in and told the truth about the land and its inhabitants. They had urged the people to trust the Lord and to cross the Jordan and enter into the Promised Land. Yet the fear and the lies of the other spies had caused the people to turn back not trust the Lord to go before them. Thus the rest of that first generation died away during those 40 years of wandering.
	Accordingly, Joshua was growing near to death at this point. As a result, the Lord was making it very clear how the land was to be divided among the tribes so that there would be no dissension when the time of Joshua’s leadership was over. Embedded in this list is the fact that the tribe of Levi had no physical inheritance within the land. They were not to be tied to the land and having to earn a living from the toil and the sweat of dealing with the earth to provide their sustenance. They were to see the Lord as their inheritance. As well, God was to have the Levite as His portion from the people. 
	This was so important and so special and so unique that it was emphasized twice within our reading. Please refer to verse 14. Josh 13:14, Only to the tribe of Levi he did not give an inheritance; the offerings by fire to the Lord, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as He spoke to him. 
Then we come to this morning’s passage, verse 33, as it brings the chapter to a close. But to the tribe of Levi, Moses did not give an inheritance; the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as He had promised to them.
	This having spoken to him or promised to them refers back to the exchange that the Lord had with Aaron when it was declared that the sons of Levi would not have a portion in the land. Instead, they would have the Lord as their source of sustenance and as their inheritance all the days of their lives. They would not be bound to the land but to the Lord. 
This was detailed back in Num 18:20-24. Please turn to it so we can read it together.
Num 18:20-24, Then the Lord said to Aaron, "You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel. "And to the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting. And the sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, lest they bear sin and die. Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel they shall have no inheritance. For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, 'They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.'" 
    	This was again reinforced so plainly in Deut 10:9. Deut 10:9, Therefore, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance with his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance, just as the Lord your God spoke to him. 
This was the surety of the promise of the Lord to the tribe of Levi. They were called out from among the rest of the people for the specific task of serving the Lord. They were responsible for the preparation and the handling of all the holy elements and articles required for service in the Tent of Meeting. This would eventually be part of the establishment their service within the Temple in Jerusalem. They would also be the ones to serve in the places within each city throughout the Promised Land that would become the synagogues and the schools of instruction. 
	One of the glorious truths of the sanctification of the Levites was that they would be the leaders of the rejoicing in the Lord for all the good things that He did within each community. It would be through the Levites that the celebrations and feasts would be commemorated before the Lord. 
As the communities rejoiced in the good harvests and in the abundance and the growth of the herds and of the flocks, the Levites would be included with joy. They would be honored guests bringing in the spiritual awareness that the Lord was there in that community. They would be the representation of God’s glorious provision for each family as they were gathered together in gratitude and in honor of all the goodness of the Lord. We find this detailed in Deut 12:10-12.
    
Deut 12:10-12, When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security, then it shall come about that the place in which the Lord your God shall choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution of your hand, and all your choice votive offerings which you will vow to the Lord. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance with you. 
The Levites were to be viewed with honor and with thanksgiving. They were not to be considered a drain on the local resources nor as a bothersome stipulation that required that they were invited or else. No, there was to be a genuine recognition that they represented the Lord. They were to be given the royal treatment as unto the Lord God Almighty in the midst of each celebratory opportunity. Honoring their presence was to be seen as honoring Jehovah, Himself.
Then, in Deut 18:1-8, we have detailed how the Levites were to be maintained by the nation as a whole. Please turn to it so we can read it together.
Deut 18:1-8, "The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the Lord's offerings by fire and His portion. And they shall have no inheritance among their countrymen; the Lord is their inheritance, as He promised them. "Now this shall be the priests' due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, either an ox or a sheep, of which they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. You shall give him the first fruits of your grain, your new wine, and your oil, and the first shearing of your sheep. For the Lord your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes, to stand and serve in the name of the Lord forever. "Now if a Levite comes from any of your towns throughout Israel where he resides, and comes whenever he desires to the place which the Lord chooses, then he shall serve in the name of the Lord his God, like all his fellow Levites who stand there before the Lord. They shall eat equal portions, except what they receive from the sale of their fathers' estates. 
One of the key aspects to this joyous promise of God was the fact that the Levites would be free to deal with all those elements of the Lord which were holy and were honorable in their relationship with the Lord God Almighty. They were the ones who would be dealing with the service of the Tent of Meeting and eventually the Temple. They were the ones to whom the people would come in each town and city for instruction and for judgment and for admonition in the ways of the Lord.
It was this group of Israelites with whom the nation could find their spiritual growth and encouragement and remembrance in all the elements of their spiritual walk. The Levites were the Lord’s gift to the nation as the reminder of God’s Grace and Mercy and Provision and Love, as well as His Holiness and Righteousness and Justice. This was an awesome responsibility, burden, and blessing placed upon the members of the tribe of Levi. 
Accordingly, in terms of removing the entanglements of making a living, the Lord gave to the Levites, the means by which the tribe would be sustained. All the offerings of fire were given for these chosen of God. Also all the tithe was their portion as the way for the nation to maintain spiritual instruction through the means of the offerings and the tithes. 
This giving allowed the Levites to concentrate on their studies of the Word and their time within the duties of the Tent and Temple service. They did not have to worry about the clearing and the tilling and the planting and the weeding and the harvesting of the land, etc. They also were not tied to the care and keeping of the flocks and the herds. They were to serve the Lord directly for the sake of the nation. The Lord made His provision for them through the means of the support of all the people. 
By not tying them down to any property, they were open to go wherever the Lord desired to move them. They would most likely stay within the communities of their birth through and until their death. However, they were to be treated equally by the communities wherever they went. There was to be no distinction and no withholding of the goodness and the generosity of the people from any of the Levites. 
	The Prophet Ezekiel, in Ezek 44:23-30, made it very clear what the duties of the Levites were to be within the nation of Israel. This was one of the key truths to what God was putting into place through His selection of this tribe. They were to be the practical application of the Holiness of God evidenced and expressed in the way that the nation would understand and appreciate the manifested presence of the Lord. Accordingly, there were very severe restrictions put, by the Lord, upon the Levites to be that reality of His Holiness within the Chosen people of God.
	Ezek 44:23-30, "Moreover, they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. "And in a dispute they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts, and sanctify My sabbaths. "And they shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves. "And after he is cleansed, seven days shall elapse for him. "And on the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering," declares the Lord God. "And it shall be with regard to an inheritance for them, that I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel — I am their possession. "They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. "And the first of all the first fruits of every kind and every contribution of every kind, from all your contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the first of your dough to cause a blessing to rest on your house. 
	The Levites were the teachers, the instructors of what was good and right before the Lord. As they were the ones who dealt with the Holy Articles of the Tent of Meeting and then of the Temple, they were well versed in the manner of the Holiness and the reverence that God Alone deserved. As they were the ones to study the Word of the Law, they were also able to express and to teach the lessons that were needed within their communities as their social obligation. 
	Also, it was the Levites to whom the people would bring their petitions and their requests for rulings under the Law of the Lord. The people trusted the Levites to be fair and equitable in their interpretation and administration of the standard of the Law and its explanation of justice in its application. 
Accordingly, the people would honor them with those first fruits of grain and of the vine and of the herd and the flock. The Lord was pleased to allot this provision to those for whom there was no land inheritance in the Promised Land. The Lord was their inheritance and they were the Lord’s and were to be treated in the full respect of that called out placement. 
	When we read of the allocation of lands that were distributed throughout the rest of the nation, excluding the Tribe of Levi, there may be some who think that the Lord was unfair and miserly with that determination. The fact is, however, the Levites were given far more than the rest of the tribes. They were offered the fullness of their relationship with God. They were given the opportunity to spend time with Him rather than to have to make a living from the earth. 
They had the full means, given by the Lord, to come into the vast knowledge of the treasury of His wealth of spiritual life with no restrictions or hindrances upon their time. He was truly their inheritance and their portion as they opened their hearts unto Him and sought to know Him and represent His presence within the communities of their habitations. 
	That is what is now true of each of us in Jesus Christ. God has made Himself our inheritance in all the splendor of being brought into the place as the Chosen People for His own possession. We close with that encouragement and statement of reality by the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2:9+10. 
	1 Peter 2:9+10, But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. So be it!
But to the tribe of Levi, Moses did not give an inheritance; the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as He had promised to them. Amen. 
			
This morning’s benediction is Ps 73:25. Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth. Amen.