“So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there.”
~ Joshua 21:43
Hi James and Ellen,
Have you ever drawn lots for something? Drawing lots is to put a series of numbers or different names on slips of paper then putting the slips of paper in some kind of container and then drawing the slips of paper one by one out of the container. After their ma died in January 1972, your grandmaa drew numbers with her bro and sis in order to facilitate the dividing up of all of their ma’s possessions. To draw lots was to totally put in their Father God’s court as to who would go first to choose something from the different things that your grandmaa’s ma had, who would then go second to choose something and then who would go third to choose something. Your grandmaa, her bro and her sis would then reverse the order the second round of choosing something from the different things that their ma had left them to have when she died. Your grandpaa thinks that drawing lots to help make decisions is a good thing to do. Your grandpaa believes that the lot – which would be a number or name, is the lot that God has chosen to be drawn at that moment. Your grandpaa used lots when he made up two week schedules for what each rural resident training center student would do at the training center that was located in Concepción, Ñuflo de Chávez in Bolivia. Your grandpaa would put together two week schedules by drawing lots with names on them as to which one of the rural resident training center students would lead a morning’s thirty minute chapel time – which would include singing for about ten minutes and praying for about ten minutes. Your grandpaa would draw the name of a second rural resident training center student to give a ten minute devotional during that morning’s chapel time. When your grandpaa planned a twenty-four and a thirty-six hour prayer and fasting time at the rural resident training center, your grandpaa drew lots with names on them to determine which two of the rural resident training center students, wives of the rural resident training center students, your grandmaa or your grandpaa would pray together during each one hour time slot. Before your grandpaa wrote the very first James and Ellen, your grandpaa typed every single chapter of every single book of the Bible on sheets of paper. Your grandmaa then cut up these sheets of paper into individual slips of paper – with each slip of paper having a different name of a book in the Bible and the number of the chapter of the book on it. Your grandmaa then folded and put all these individual slips into an empty short Pringles can. Right after your grandpaa sends a James and Ellen to your dad, your grandpaa has your grandmaa draw out another slip of paper with the name of a Bible book and one of the Bible book’s chapters on it. This slip of paper tells your grandpaa what God wants your grandpaa to write about a James and Ellen next from the Bible.
Lots were drawn for where God wanted the Levi tribal clan’s guys and gals to settle in the area of land that God told His specially chosen guys and gals that they would always have to live in as their very own land. Because Aaron was from the Levi tribal clan and because he was the first guy who God put in place as the spiritual leader of His specially chosen guys and gals, your grandpaa thinks that because of this, God designated the Levi tribal clan with the task of guaranteeing that He would always be worshipped by His specially chosen guys and gals. After the area of land that God told His specially chosen guys and gals that they would always have to live as their very own land had been more or less overrun by God’s specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group’s guys and gals, the Levi tribal clan family heads met in Shiloh with Joshua – who Moses had mentored to replace him as the leader over God specially chosen guys and gals, with Eleazar – who was the acting priest, and with the family heads of the other tribal clans. Moses had promised the Levi tribal clan guys that their three family tribal clans within the Levi tribal clan would be given plots of land along with some cities scattered throughout the captured area of land where they could settle down as family clans. Levi had three sons. The names of Levi’s three boys were Gershon, Kohath and Merari. The three tribal family clans that made up the Levi tribal clan originated from these three guys. Joshua recorded in his Joshua Book – in Joshua 21, the assigning of where the Gershon, Kohath and Merari tribal family clans would live.
The decision of where the Gershon, Kohath and Merari family tribal clans would live was done by drawing lots. Kohath’s family tribal clan name was the first lot drawn. Kohath had four family tribal clans. The Kohath family tribal clan had 8,600 guys. The Kohath family tribal clan had the responsibility of always being the Levi family tribal clan to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. The Kohath family tribal clan was assigned the responsibility for caring for the ark, table, lampstand, altars and vessels that were in the tabernacle’s sanctuary. The Kohath family tribal clan was dispersed between the areas of land that had been settled by the Judah, Simeon, Dan, Benjamin, Ephraim and the half tribe of Manasseh tribal clans. The Kohath family tribal clan ended up where the tabernacle would end up and where the leadership of God’s specially chosen guys and gals would be centralized. The Gershonite family tribal clan was dispersed between the areas of land that were settled by the Issachar, Asher and Naphtali tribal clans. The Merari family tribal clan was dispersed between the areas of land that were settled by the Reuben, Gad and Zebulun tribal clans. The Levi tribal clan ended up with forty-eight cities and with pastureland near the cities. Verse 43 says, “So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there.” How do you go about getting you Father God to help you with something?
Joshua 21 (516)