While the other tribes received land, the Levites received something far greater: God himself. “The Lord God of Israel is their inheritance.” Think about that for a moment. The other tribes got territory. The Levites got the Lord as their portion.
Who got the better deal? Land can be conquered and lost. Wells and rivers can dry up. Territory can fail. But the tribe whose inheritance was eternal, whose portion was the all-sufficient, unchanging God? They received a blessing no earthly possession could match.
This reveals something profound about what constitutes true blessing. Our culture trains us to measure blessing in tangible, earthly terms: property, comfort, security, success. But the Levites teach us that having God is better than having everything else without him.
In Psalm 73:25-26, Asaph (a Levite himself) writes: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” This is the heart cry of someone who understands true inheritance.
Jesus echoes this in Matthew 6:19-21: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
The question for us today is: What are we treasuring? What do we consider our “inheritance”? Are we chasing temporary earthly blessings or seeking the eternal treasure of knowing God?