Authentic Community and Synthetic Community

Synopsis     Joshua 21:10-22     5/20/2018

Aaron, the first high priest, came from the tribe of Levi called the Kohathites. The lots were cast at Shiloh, before the Lord to determine which clan of Levites would receive cities from the various tribes.

As a sub-clan of the Levites, the priests were given cities within Israel. Specifically, the lot cast for the priests gave cities from the southern tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. This included Hebron, which was a city of refuge.

For the rest of the Kohathites, the lot fell on the tribes of Ephraim, Dan and Manasseh. These included Schechem, which was also a city of refuge.

Tension Between Judah and Ephraim Again

Once again, the tension between the two tribes vying for primacy was evident. Ephraim was associated with the Kohathites but Judah was associated with the priests themselves.  With the casting of the lots, it was determined that priests would live in Judah and the southern tribes, while the next closest ministers of the tabernacle would come from Ephraim and the northern tribes.

The nation and the faith tradition could proceed without the Kohathites but could not proceed without the priests. So having the generations of priests come from the towns of a particular tribe was an honor and also a political asset. Judah had received this asset. So much so that Caleb was even willing to give up the city that he had personally defeated in order to host the priestly line.

Though it’s not expressed here, the fact that generations of priests were so closely associated with Judah contributed to a solidifying of the power structures of the newly found nation.

Authentic Community and Synthetic Community

People make promises. People make contracts. So it’s no surprise that people make the political and social contracts that regulate the behavior of communities. But the challenge of every social contract is that it is based on consensus and consent. A group of people more or less agree to be governed in a certain manner and that’s it. There is no basis in scientific reason. Social contracts are essentially no more that the arbitrary preference of a group of people.

The Authentic Community is essentially different. It is based on the revealed claims of God about how human beings should live. They are claims about reality – the real and non-optional nature of human beings. And also they focus on what is really good in the course of community behavior.

Though philosophical opposites, these two ways of living are easily confused and curiously interrelated. So much so that the one can almost not exist without the other. “Almost” that is – until all Christ followers begin to enter into the real and full possibility of life.

“who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever [and ever]. Amen” Rev 1:6