"The Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. 3 The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. 4 The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits[a] all around. 5 And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.
6 “The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. 7 All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasturelands. 8 And as for the cities that you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites."
Numbers 35:1-8
On the other hand and this is the other lesson this is a word for all of us who are, as Christian witnesses, called to be separate unto God. We may well be set down in lonely places, as to family, neighbourhood, or work; and it is no warrant to leave our place simply because there is no congenial Christian fellowship there: rather the opposite. The Apostle says, 'Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called' (1 Corinthians 7:20), for this is God's purpose and strategy, to spread the witness as widely and comprehensively as possible. How else is the law of the Lord to be made known, if not by us, just where we are? This enshrines a basic principle of the spiritual life. Redemption for the world meant loneliness and deprivation for Christ, and it will hardly mean less for those who follow in His steps. If this be the price for spreading the message of grace throughout the land, should we not be prepared to pay it? Is this a word for someone who is feeling his isolation and loneliness in the service of the gospel at home or abroad? Take heart and take courage: your labour including the loneliness and isolation is not in vain in the Lord. It will tell for God, in the blessing of others: as poor you will make many rich. (2 Corinthians 6:9, 10).