Josue 21 - Providential Proportion

Josue 21 concerns the Levites and where they are to be established in Israel.  It brought me back to the Books of Exodus and Leviticus, which were rife with parallels between the Levitical priesthood and that of the New Covenant established by Jesus Christ.  Those books left no doubt in my mind that the Levitical priesthood was a symbolic precursor to the modern day Christian priesthood.  And reading Josue 21 reminded me of all of those parallels which were so fascinating to discover.  The Levites, being set apart from their brethren, are given select cities and suburbs scattered among the tribes all over the Promised Land, rather than a specific bordered region.  This makes sense on many levels.  Being the privileged group in charge of administering the proper sacrifices and overseeing all the rites and rituals of the Jewish religion, the Levites must be accessible to all the Israelites.  Proportionally it makes sense as well, since the majority of the people (busy working the land, providing food, forming families and populating the land) attend the sacrifice or are in need of a priest to perform any number of rites, rather than the other way around.  So it is today.  The Christian priesthood is evenly distributed among the peoples of the world to provide the administration of the Sacraments, while the majority of Christians (busy with jobs and raising families) attend the rites or look to the priesthood to attend to their specific religious needs.  One priest can fulfill the needs of a Christian community of 1,000.  God's Providence knows all this and divides His people accordingly, then and now.  Seeing the Jewish Kingdom forming here in these chapters of Josue is quite illuminating.  The division of the land, the cities, where each tribe will dwell, and now to see the priesthood distributed throughout the land so the people may worship properly and give thanks for their blessings -- all of these things are falling each into its right place, and it's fascinating to behold.  The necessity of the priesthood is highlighted in Josue 21, and reminds me of its utter necessity today.