With the Levites having been scattered to teach, they were to be provided for by the people of Israel. The Levites were given the right to live in these forty-eight cities with the area surrounding the town serving as pastureland. These cities would remain the property of the other tribes, though the Levites could own their houses and live in the city. They also had the right to graze their flocks on the land immediately outside the city, even if the land did not officially belong to them. When it came to pastureland, however, the Levites were really only given enough space to graze a few animals. There was no chance of them getting large herds or anything like that, but just enough space to keep animals for a few days before they were slaughtered.

In a subsistence culture where everyone is dependent on the produce of the land, this system forced the Levites to rely on their fellow countrymen for provision. As we read in Joshua 13:14, the offerings made by fire to the Lord was their inheritance. They were to live off the tithes and generosity of God’s people. And this was done very deliberately so that the Levites did not have to spend their time in the fields. It was not their task to be tentmakers or cattle herders; they were to teach God’s people and minister at the tabernacle. Bible study and Bible teaching was to be their focus. 

When it comes to the new covenant, we find exactly the same pattern holds true. God calls and sends ministers to study and teach his Word to his people, and he expects those men to be provided for by his church. The labourer is worthy of his wages, says Paul (1 Timothy 5:17–18).