In this message we will consider the cities given to the Levites and the cities of refuge.
The Levites were not priests directly but were the serving ones of the priesthood. This means that they served the priesthood. In the priesthood, or in the ministry of the priests, there were many business affairs that required the service of the Levites. The Levites, therefore, were a tribe separated to these business affairs. As such a separated tribe, the Levites were not given a portion of the good land. However, God ordained that cities with their suburbs should be given to them.
Forty-eight cities from the inheritance of the possession of the sons of Israel were to be given to the Levites for them to dwell in (vv. 7, 2a). Forty-eight is a meaningful number. According to its spiritual significance, this number can be composed in two ways. The first way is six multiplied by eight. The number six denotes man, who was created by God on the sixth day. God spent six days in creating the old creation, and man was the completion of God's creation. The number eight signifies resurrection. The eighth day, the day after the Sabbath, was the beginning of a new week. The man who was created on the sixth day became fallen. However, man has been saved in resurrection and into resurrection.
The forty-eight cities given to the Levites signify the natural man, who became fallen, being brought into resurrection through the Levitical service. The Levitical service was a service to the priesthood, and the goal of the priesthood was to bring fallen man back to God in resurrection. The number of cities given to the Levites thus signifies the purpose of the Levitical service.
The number forty-eight is also composed of four multiplied by twelve. Like the number six, the number four also signifies man as God's creature. Twelve is the number of perfection and completion in God's eternal administration. Hence, the number forty-eight as composed of four multiplied by twelve indicates that man, created by God, will be perfected and completed in the eternal administration of God.