Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no holding in Israel; I am their holding.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, August 31, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
God’s priests were held apart from the rest of Israeli society. They did not hold land, but were supported by the rest of the community. It strikes me that this would allow them to hold a kind of perpetual sabbath. Not that they never worked, but their work was holy and did not involve the kind of toil—farming, craftsmanship, etc.—the rest of Israel engaged in to support themselves. They were freed to enter fully into spiritual communion with God on behalf of the community. It must have taken a great deal of trust to wholly rely on others to meet their basic needs, but it would have been worth it, not just for the sake of the priests themselves, but for the sake of all those they served.
How do I support my spiritual leaders? How am I supported by others?
