Look at a tribal map of Israel. Nowhere does it say, “Levi.” How could they possibly have the best part?
Joshua 13 lays out the territory still to be cleared of the Canaanite demon-worshipers, then describes the land holdings of the two-and-a-half tribes east of the Jordan. But before we survey the land disbursed to the tribes west of the Jordan, this chapter recounts two additional facts. First, the sad case of Balaam, a man who said, “Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!” (Num 23:10) but, because he “loved the wages of unrighteousness” (2 Pet 2:15), he died with the enemy, as recorded here. “The children of Israel also killed with the sword Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer” (Jos 13:22). Then there is the matter of Levi, mentioned twice. First, we read, “Only to the tribe of Levi he had given no [territorial] inheritance; the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance” (v 14). It was the honor of the priestly family to feed on “the sacrifices of the Lord”! Does this link somehow with Christian privileges today? Listen! “We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat” (Heb 13:10). I hope you’re enjoying the banquet served daily at “the Lord’s table” (1 Cor 10:21). Contrary to common usage, this is not the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Table is the Lord’s provision where He invites His people to enjoy daily thoughts of His gifts to us in Christ, so we might bring some of that bounty to the Supper, offering it back to Him in thanksgiving. But, if possible, here is an even higher privilege! The chapter concludes: “To the tribe of Levi Moses had given no inheritance; the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance” (Jos 13:33). Even greater than the provisions is the Person! As G.W. Robinson put it, “But while God and I shall be, I am His and He is mine.”