Thursday: An iron rice bowl

From Numbers 35-36:

1. An iron rice bowl - Even the towns among the Israelites had a portion that was allotted to the Levites. They had to work very hard, but God sure did make sure that they were taken care of. Kind of like being a government employee. (Except that the Levites had to work really hard. And I am sure God takes better care of his employees than the government does of theirs.)

2. The six towns of refuge is a setup I have always been very interested in. I think it is a novel idea to solve the problems that arise from having people falsely accused of crimes, or people who have inadvertently caused someone else's death, etc.

3. I did not realize this, but in the Israelite law there was not to be any negotiation on the death penalty for murder. See Numbers 35:31-32.

4. I wonder what the meaning is of Numbers 35:33. Does that mean the land would not be productive, or does it mean in a spiritual sense only? Could there have been a physical correlation?

5. All Israelite daughters who inherited land were to marry within their clans in order to avoid problems with land inheritance. I did not realize this.