Feast: Refuge! Refuge! (Part One)
#FT16-02
Martin G. Collins
Given 18-Oct-16; 74 minutes
description: The six cities of refuge in Exodus 21:12-13 share an outline with God's annual Holy days, beginning with Christ as a refuge for us in the Passover and our making a refuge for others during the Feast of Tabernacles. The institution of cities of refuge, havens for those who have committed unintentional manslaughter, highlights the great importance God placed on the sanctity of life, especially in beings created in God's image. In the ancient world, where blood revenge was widely practiced, a large number of people died violently. The cities of refuge prefigure Christ's final refuge from death, protecting us from Satan's murderous intentions. The elders of the city, Levitical priests, trained to counsel individuals in the ways of God, would examine the weapons used in the killing and would investigate the history of prior relationships between the killer and the victim in order to determine whether the verdict of manslaughter or murder be handed down. If the seeker of refuge were exonerated, he was confined to the city of refuge until the death of the High Priest, at which time he could return home. When Christ, our High Priest, died for our sins, we were set free and allowed to reconcile with our Heavenly Father. Besides providing refuge for the twelve tribes of Israel, these cities became a refuge for non-Israelites who had killed another person unintentionally. The cities of refuge did not provide protection for premeditated murderers, unlike the bogus 'sanctuary cities' created by liberal progressives, which protect law-breakers and felons instead of protecting the innocent. The code of law in God's sanctuary cities is universal, not one set of standards for one ethnic group and one for another. Christ is our place of safety; we have refuge in Him at all times. The names of these cities all represent aspect
transcript:
Most people have some pride in the city in which they grew up, which is a way of saying that from the point of view of the native, every city like every person, is special. Sometimes our pride in our hometowns is expressed in slogans.
We in the Charlotte, North Carolina area, call it the Queen City after the Queen of Mecklenburg. I do not live in Charlotte, I live in South Carolina, but Charlotte is half an hour away. We still call it our city. Columbia, South Carolina is the capital of southern hospitality. So if you want a good meal, go to the Finklea's in Columbia, South Carolina. They will be glad to feed you. Atlanta, Georgia is the Big Peach. New York is the Big Apple. Chicago is the Windy City. Springfield, Missouri is the Queen City of the Ozarks. Pasadena, California, the City of Roses, and Portland, Oregon, is Bridgetown, and so on. Everybody has their nickname for their town.
Ancient Israel had its special cities too but they were special for very different reasons. To be sure, there was pride in many of the dozens of cities in which the Israelites lived. Caleb had a special fascination for Hebron, and Joshua was certainly proud of his hill town of Timnath Serah. Everyone would have been proud of the town he had captured as part of the overall Israelitish conquest of Palestine.
Now there is a note of pride in naming one's town or territory in the careful listing of the towns allotted to each of the Israelite tribes. They are noted for the record of course, like title deeds to property. But there must also have been a measure of pride as people looked over the list and saw their own towns listed there for all history to see. The record was a way of saying that each town was important.
Still, there were cities that were particularly special. They fell into two classes. First, there were cities of refuge, three on the eastern side of the Jordan and three on the western side. Second, there were the 48 cities of the Levites or the priests, and these were scattered throughout the land of the other 12 tribes. Ephraim and Manasseh, who had descended from Joseph, were each a tribe and thus made 12 tribes, in addition to the Levites. The cities of refuge are described in Joshua 20 and the towns of the Levites are described in chapter 21 of Joshua.
If you will turn with me please to Exodus 21, verse 12. Today let us look at the cities of refuge. I think you will find the parallel between the six original cities of refuge listed in Joshua 20:7-8 and God's feast days very interesting. For example, the Feast of Tabernacles symbolizes our calling out of the wilderness and into a church relationship of safety. Christ is the refuge for the church, and similarly, as we come to the Feast for spiritual refuge, our responsibility is to make the Feast experience a refuge for others as well. We have that responsibility that we do not very often, if ever. Think about that. We are to help make this a refuge for those who have come from far and long.
The six cities describe our responsibility toward others. But before we get into the parallels, let me give you some background on those cities. One of the first ordinances after the announcement of the Ten Commandments provided for the future establishment of the cities of refuge. Now here in Exodus 21, we are going to read verses 12 and 13.
Exodus 21:12-13 "He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee."
These cities provided havens for unintentional manslayers and they are discussed in detail in Numbers 35 and also Deuteronomy 19. Now the fact that these cities are discussed in four books of the Old Testament, that is Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua, marks them as being of great importance, and it is apparent that God wants to impress on Israel the sanctity of life, and He also wants us to get the message as well. Every single life on earth, especially human beings, but also the animals themselves, all are precious. Life is precious. To put an end to a person's life, even if done unintentionally, is a serious thing, and the cities of refuge underscore this emphatically.
Now in the ancient world, blood revenge was widely practiced. And the moment a person was killed, his nearest relative took responsibility for vengeance, and this ancient rite of vendetta was often handed down from one generation to another, so that increasingly large numbers of innocent people died violently. And the need in ancient Israel for the refuge that these special cities provided is evident because of that fact.
Turn over to Hebrews 2, verse 15 please. The selection of the cities of refuge fulfills the instructions God gave through Moses. It makes provision for refuge from death, prefiguring the coming of Christ as the final refuge and solution to death.
Hebrews 2:14-15 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through [Christ's] death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Now Satan's power is not absolute, but is under the control of God who ultimately rules over life and death. Nevertheless, Satan was a murderer from the beginning, and he does have power to harm people to some some limited extent, as he did when God allowed him to harm Job. Hebrews 2:14-15 at least means Satan has power to work in the realm of death and to incite people to sin that leads to death.
However, the emphasis of the verse is not on Satan's power but on Christ's triumph over Satan and over death.
Joshua 20, if you will turn with me there, please. The designation of six cities of refuge and 48 Levitical cities demonstrates the Eternal's concern that the land not only be duly allocated as an inheritance for the tribes, but that it is it be a land where justice prevails and true worship is cultivated. The section ends with a proclamation that the Lord has fulfilled all the good promises He made to the house of Israel.
Joshua 20:1-3 The Lord also spoke to Joshua, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'Appoint for yourself cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.'
A clear distinction is made in the Old Testament between premeditated murder and accidental manslaughter. Now in the case of murder, the nearest kinsman became the avenger of blood, killing the guilty party. But if a person killed another accidentally, he was provided a place of asylum in one of the six cities of refuge. However, he had to hurry to the nearest shelter without delay. Could you imagine that just accidentally killing somebody, maybe you are driving a car and you kill somebody. And you had to rush to a city of refuge before the avenger of that person came to kill you. They were running as fast as they could, hightailing it out of there, as the phrase goes. They were still guilty of the death of that person. However, we see God's mercy in this.
According to the Israelites' tradition, the roads leading to these cities were kept in excellent condition, and the crossroads were well marked with signposts reading "Refuge, Refuge." Runners were also stationed along the way to guide the fugitive.
Joshua 20:4-5 And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. Then if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did not hate him beforehand.
Having arrived at the gate of the refuge city, the manslayer was to present his case. I am sure he was breathless as he presented that case to the elders of that city who formed an ancient court of law. An example of the elders using the gate of the city as the location of their court of law is found in Deuteronomy 21, verses 18 and 19.
Deuteronomy 21:18-19 "If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastised a chastened him, will not heed them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city."
So it was well established that that is where the elders of the city gathered for a proclamation or for a rule of law. Breaking the fifth commandment in this case attracted the death penalty. And notice that the parents take the initiative in this penalty in order to purge the evil from the home and from society. Parents today also have a responsibility for their children (as we heard earlier in the offertory yesterday), that were to teach them to work and also were to discipline them in the right way of life and etiquette and so on.
Now this son would not be eligible to use a city of refuge. But I give you this scripture to make the connection between the elders and the gate of the city to show you that they were known to be there for that purpose.
Joshua 20:6 And he [that is, the man guilty of manslaughter] shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.
So in the case of a manslayer, a provisional decision would then be made to grant him sanctuary till a trial could be held in the presence of the assembly. If acquitted of premeditated murder, he was returned to the city of refuge, where he lived till the high priest died, after which the manslayer was free to return to his home and that would be quite often many, many, many years later. And the high priest resided in Jerusalem so there is a connection with the cities of refuge with Jerusalem (which I will get to actually the next time I speak, my next sermon).
Now there were specific rules of evidence which I think you will find interesting, which were required in the trial of the accused. The assembly was charged with determining if one who sought asylum in the city of refuge was guilty of premeditated murder or unintentional homicide, or was innocent of any crime at all.
Turn over to Numbers 35, verse 24, please. Numbers 35 is one of those chapters that has an extensive write up on the cities of refuge.
Numbers 35:24 Then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments.
There are two types of evidences which were permissible in this trial. The first type was the type of object used to inflict the wound. If he had a gun in his hand and he shot somebody, he was going to have a hard time showing that it was unintentional. However, there is another qualifier. But before we get on to that next qualifier, the type of object used to inflict the wound, let us continue reading, this time in verses 16 through 18 of Numbers 35.
Numbers 35:16-18 'But if he strikes him with an iron implement, so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. And if he strikes him with a stone in the hand, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; and the murderer shall be put to death. Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon, by which one could die, and does he dies, he is a murderer, and the murderer shall be put to death.'
Three times this is stated, "the murderer shall be put to death." So Christ is emphasizing this through Moses who wrote this down, that this is something that we should not forget. Any time He says something three times, it is to impress upon us, and we are never to forget it.
The second type of evidence is the attitude of the intent of the accused. We will read verses 20 and 21 to see that.
Numbers 35:20-21 'If he pushes him out of hatred or, while lying in wait, hurls something at him so that he dies, or in enmity he strikes him with his hands so that he dies, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.'
In the first case, the object had to be something that would cause death. For instance, an iron object, a large stone, or wooden object, large enough to injure a person would be a prima facie evidence of the intent to do bodily harm. On that basis, the accused could be convicted of murder and put to death. But it needed those two pieces of evidence to do that.
Now the second type of admissible evidence was prior ill will toward the deceased, and this looked for proof that the accused murderer acted with malicious intent and confirmation that he intended to ambush the victim. In no case was the accused to be found guilty upon the testimony of only one witness. It takes two witnesses to establish something.
And I might interject here that in the case of gossip, in the church we have always had problems with gossip, similar to what the world has. But if we repeat something on the basis of one witness that is damaging to somebody else, it is not admissible, and we cannot even rely on that as being the truth. So we need to take that into consideration when we pass on gossip about somebody else, that if you have not heard it from two people, you do not even know if it is true. Just a side point there that I thought was important to interject.
Numbers 35:30 'Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty.'
Once the accused was found guilty of inadvertently killing someone, the accused was not allowed to leave the city of refuge until after the death of the high priest, as I mentioned.
Numbers 35:25 [we see that stated here] 'So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and he shall remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.'
And as I mentioned earlier, that was in Jerusalem.
Now involuntary manslaughter was therefore something to be carefully avoided. Many have puzzled over the meaning of the high priest's death in relation to the change in status of the manslayer. Let us go back to Joshua 20, verse 7. Now the best explanation may be that the change in the priestly administration served as a statute of limitations, ending the fugitives exile in the city of refuge. Now let us look at the list of the cities of refuge.
Joshua 20:7-9 So they appointed Kedesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in the mountains of Judah. And on the other side of Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. [So it was not in all the cities of Israel, it was just in those six.] These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwelt among them, that whoever killed a person accidentally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation.
Now the six designated cities were located on both sides of the Jordan, and to summarize, on the west side were Kedesh and Galilee of Naphtali, Shechem in Ephraim, Hebron in Judah, and the cities on the east side were Bezer in the south of Reuben, Ramoth in the region of Gilead in the tribe of Gad, and Golan in the northern territory of Bashan in Manassas tribe. Now that will be important to us later in the sermon.
But why is there no record in the Old Testament of a single instance in which this merciful provision of deliverance was utilized? The reason may be because the Old Testament scriptural authors were selective by God's inspiration about what they recorded, and once the provision was made and recorded, it was apparently not important to document specific cases of its use. It is stated as a law in Scripture, and God obviously felt that that was enough. We did not need the details of incidences where that happened.
But it is a spiritual principle for us today as well it was for ancient Israel. Also spiritual Israel's benefit of sanctuary is God, and they are the faithful people in which God's Spirit resides. Spiritual lessons from the cities of refuge can be understood without examples of how it was used by specific individuals.
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
We sing that in our hymns occasionally and even in the first hymn that we sang today. It said that "our refuge high is Jacob's God." It is one of the last last lines of, I think, the first verse of the song. So God started out this service with just putting a little thought in our mind about refuge. And in the New Testament, spiritual Israel's, that is, God's church's benefit of sanctuary is in Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:1-2 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from [the penalty] of the law of sin and death.
Now in Hebrews 6:18 the writer may have had the Old Testament cities of refuge in mind when he wrote that we may have great encouragement because we have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us. It says there, we have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us. The cities of refuge, then, seemed to typify Christ, to whom sinners, pursued by the avenging penalty of the law which decrees judgment and death, may flee for refuge. Paul's frequent expression "in Christ" speaks of the safety and security possessed by every believer in Jesus Christ.
Turn over to Genesis 9, verse 5, please. I am going to take a look at the value of man for a short while here. Let me give you three principles to help our understanding of what the cities of refuge emphasize.
The first principle is, instead of treating life lightly as the practical outworking of much of our law seems to do today, the appointment of the cities of refuge emphasized the value of man made in God's image. In other words, the institution of these cities was motivated by the same concern that required death for a murderer. Back in the early pages of Genesis, after the great Flood, God told Noah,
Genesis 9:5-6 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man. "Whoever shed sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man."
That there gives us the very reason. Because man is made in the very image of God, he is of great value, or we are of great value. Every human life is precious to God, each and every one.
Turn over to Exodus 21, please. Capital punishment was established because man is made in God's image and is therefore too valuable to be inconsequentially destroyed. In Exodus, the principle is,
Exodus 21:12 "He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death" [as we read earlier].
God exists, and He has righteous character, therefore, we live in a true moral universe. Murder breaks the law of that universe. But by precisely the same principle, no one should be put to death if the death caused by him was accidental. And therefore, Exodus goes on to say,
Exodus 21:13 However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.
This is plain and straightforward here. God provides for us an accidental or careless cause for death. We read this earlier, but I wanted to emphasize it here again because, on the other hand, if the murder was premeditated, the official government put the murderer to death.
Exodus 21:14 But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.
Whether he was sane or not had no bearing on the verdict. It was understood by all and should be by us, but is not, because for some reason we all seem to be insane and not even be able to define sanity. But it was understood by all then that if a man intentionally murdered another human being, he was insane. That was just automatically understood, and it should be today, so it should not be a way out for anyone. There was no argument to be had; determining this made no difference, nor did it lessen the loss to the victim's family. In no way would an insanity plea pay the murderer's debt to society and the victim's family. There was a debt to be paid, and God established that all the way back at the beginning with Genesis. Capital punishment provides a degree of justice and if carried out immediately establishes a deterrent against future crimes of this sort. But if he does not do it intentionally, but God lets it happen, he is to flee to a God-designated place.
Now let us look at the second principle of what the cities of refuge emphasize. Because the cities of refuge were open to foreigners living in Israel as well as to Israelites, as Joshua 20, verse 9 indicates, what we have here is a genuine universal code of justice, a code for everyone, Gentile and Jew (Israelite).
Joshua 20:9 These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwelt among them, that whoever killed a person accidentally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation.
Many societies have a measure of justice for their own citizens while denying the protection of those laws to outsiders. The world is chaotic. Different laws for different lands. There is no established justice.
This was not the case in Israel. In Israel, the foreigner enjoyed the same rights as the Israelites, thus Israel testified to the oneness of the human race and the answerability of each person, regardless of who they are, to the one true God. Since these cities typified the great provision which God was making for the salvation of both Jews and Gentiles, the stranger as well as the Israelite had the same right to the benefits of these cities of refuge. Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles?
The judges and elders of the people in trying civil and criminal causes always sat, and the persons who came for judgment who were tried, always stood. Therefore, we find the expression so frequent in Scripture, standing before the Lord the judges, the elders, etc. In this case, the suspected person stood before the congregation.
It is worth noticing that the cities of refuge were given to the Levites. The sacrificial system alone afforded refuge, and while the suspected person was excluded from his family, he had the advantage of being with those whose responsibility it was to instruct the ignorant and comfort the dejected. Is that not the way God works? He is merciful. He not only sent these people off to another city, away from their home, but He also provided the education they needed to help them to understand how serious their crime was, because that is where the priests were in those sanctuary cities, which has also been perverted in this society. What are sanctuary cities today? Places where people go so they can avoid the law of the land.
Despite his limited situation, he had the means easily available to him if he carefully pursued it to become wiser and better, secure the grace of his God, and receive the blessings of this better society in the city of refuge. And this is an example, as I just mentioned, of how wise, equal, and benevolent are all the instructions of God.
Let us look at the third principle of what the cities of refuge emphasize. Since each of these points is based on the religious awareness of the Israelite people that all persons are made by the one God and are made in His image, this law, as well as the other laws of Israel, testified to the fact that the only proper foundation of any universal law is God's character.
The cities of refuge were Levitical cities. That is, they had something to do with God. And the person taking refuge had to stay in the city until the death of the high priest so he would be reminded that the civil laws were related to God. They did not just exist in a sociological vacuum. Unlike modern man, the people of the Old Testament did not view civil law as basically sociological, where they remove religion totally from it. To them it was not founded primarily on a social contract. Civil law was related to society, but not only to society. It was ultimately related to the existence and character of God. And this is what we are going to find in the Millennium, God's Kingdom, that all law will be and is related and comes from God.
Civil law was related to society, but not only to society. It was ultimately related to the existence and character of God. This is important. Law which comes from God can provide something fixed. Today's sociological law is relativistic. Because take any law that they have created in the last few months or years and you immediately see the problem. Gay marriage, transgender usage of bathrooms, and so on. See, it is all relative to how we feel, how society feels about things. And they cast out God's law in the meantime—or have already cast it out—to make it possible in their minds to do that.
It should be evident from these points that the existence of the cities of refuge in Israel has much to say to the legal systems of our modern Western worldly cultures. They also say much as an illustration of the value of the work of Christ for sinners. The illustration is not perfect, of course. For one thing, the cities of refuge were for people who were innocent of a real crime. But we are not innocent. On the contrary, we are woefully guilty in God's sight until we repent and accept and receive your forgiveness from God.
Again, though they were carefully spaced throughout the land, the cities of refuge would nevertheless often be far from the poor fugitive, and it would be only at the end of a desperate race that he might find safety.
Now let us continue to look at some spiritual parallels. Christ is always at hand. Still, in spite of these obvious differences, Christ is indeed a refuge for us. Like the refuge cities of Israel and many characteristics of these cities have spiritual parallels, and let me give you four parallel characteristics.
First, it was the duty of the Israelites to clearly indicate the way to the cities of refuge. Deuteronomy 19:3 says that the roads were to be built to these cities. And non-biblical historical sources tell us that the aid to these fugitives was even more extensive than is recorded in the Bible. People went overboard to help these people reach these cities of refuge. Bridges were built over ravines so the fugitive could take the shortest route possible. Roads were carefully repaired each spring. At every crossroad, special signs read, as I mentioned earlier, "Refuge, Refuge," not once but twice to make sure the sign was not missed. No one wanted a fugitive to take the wrong road. Furthermore, the signs were made large so that even a man who was running could read them without stopping.
This is a good parallel to our responsibility to make the way of Christ easily accessible to the lost sinner. Apart from Christ, the sinner is a dead man. Who will help him find the way to that city of refuge? We must build bridges, repair roads, and erect signs leading to Christ so that when God calls a person, he or she can find their way to Christ, our Refuge. We are doing that in preaching the gospel to the world, on the Internet, and publications and things like that. And thankfully we are not the only ones, that there are many organizations doing this.
In addition, we must clearly point this refuge out. We must be clear that this is the only way to safety, that is, to Christ.
Second, the doors of the cities of refuge were always unlocked. This was uncommon in those days because of the dangers. That was an important and unusual feature for an ancient town. In those days, towns locked their gates at night to protect those within from robbers, vandals, and any who would do harm to the residents. In times of war, the gates would always be locked. But this was not so of the cities of refuge. The gates of these cities were always to be open just as the church of God's doors are always open to receive anyone who desires to know God's truth.
And I say that figuratively more so than than physically because we are finding that it is necessary in this society to lock the doors, you know, speaking of it physically, of the building itself. But figuratively and spiritually and mindfully, we have to have an attitude that anyone that God calls is welcome.
John 6:37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out."
The last chapter of the Bible reads:
Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirst come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
The third principle or characteristic is that the cities of refuge were not only for Israel but for all peoples of all races, which I mentioned earlier. Similarly, the salvation available in Jesus Christ is for all, eventually, ultimately. It does not matter who you are—you may be young or old, you may be an Israelite or Gentile, you may be black or white, rich or poor, male or female, educated or uneducated, advantaged or disadvantaged. It does not matter because the way of salvation is available to all whom God calls at this time and eventually will be available to all.
Turn with me, if you will please, to II Samuel 2, verse 3.
II Samuel 22:3-7 The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; my Savior, You save me from violence. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies. When the waves of death surround me, the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol [the grave] surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress, I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry entered His ears.
I just wanted to point out there that God has a lot of things that He is good at, and one of the things He is good at is strengthening us and making Himself a refuge and our Savior.
Psalm 9:9-10 The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.
Jesus Christ is our refuge, our place of safety in times of trouble from violence in our enemies. He strengthens us, shields our minds spiritually if we trust Him. What could be more encouraging than that, especially with things deteriorating in the world as rapidly as they are? We do not just have a refuge to go to once in a while or one that we have to run to, we have one with us at all times. That is a miracle!
Fourth, in the characteristics related to Jesus Christ, if a manslayer in ancient times did not flee to one of the cities of refuge, there was no hope for him. There was no other provision in the law of Israel by which he could be saved. If he did not flee there, the avenger of blood would overtake him, and he would be slain.
Turn with me to John 11, verse 25, please. You and I are also pursued by an untiring, inescapable avenger, and that is death. We may live long, but even if we were to outlast Methuselah's age in the 900s, physically we will eventually be struck down by this dreadful enemy. We may die this year, this month, or even the very hour that we read these words. So we must not delay. How are we to escape this enemy? There is only one way, and that is Jesus Christ, and we must flee to Him.
John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die [physically], he shall live [spiritually when resurrected]. And whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"
That is a question for us, not just the woman that He is talking to. Do you really believe this?
Turn with me to Hebrews 6, please. As I mentioned earlier, the author of Hebrews in Hebrews 6:18 was probably thinking of the cities of refuge when he wrote of those who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to them. What hope are we to lay hold of? I think you already know the answer to that. Hebrews 6, verses 13 through 20 speak of God's infallible purpose in Christ. And it also takes it from Genesis 12:1-3.
Hebrews 6:13-20 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you." And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise [that is, Abraham patiently endured, which we all have to do, and we are doing as we grow weary in well doing]. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise [you and I] the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us [that is, you and I, and we have already fled for that refuge and hopefully we are directly connected with it]. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner [that is, Jesus Christ] has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Is it not interesting that the manslayer was to stay in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest? And what has happened with the death of our High Priest, Jesus Christ? Sins were forgiven, were they not? Christ, our refuge, is our hope. He is both sure and steadfast, which anchors us by hope in Him as our High Priest eternally.
God made more than one promise to Abraham. In Genesis 12:7 it tells us of the one made when God called him, that is, Abraham, out of Ur and sent him into the unknown and to the Promised Land. Genesis 17:5-6 is the promise of many descendants who would be blessed in him. Genesis 18:18 is a repetition of that promise. But the promise which God swore with an oath to keep comes in Genesis 22:16-18. And the meaning of Hebrews 6:13 is God made many a promise to Abraham, and in the end He actually made one which He confirmed by an oath. That promise was, as it were, doubly binding. It was God's Word which in itself made sure, but in addition it was confirmed by an oath.
Now that promise was that all Abraham's descendants would be blessed. Therefore, it was to the Christian church, the heirs of promise, for it was the true Israel and the true seed of Abraham. That blessing came true in Jesus Christ. Abraham certainly had to exercise patience before he received the promise, and it was not until 25 years after he left Ur that his son Isaac was born. He was old, Sarah was barren, and the wandering was long, but Abraham never wavered from his hope and trust in the promise of God. And in the ancient world, the anchor was the symbol of hope.
Now the writer of the Hebrews insists that the Christian possesses the greatest hope in the world, and that hope, he says, is one which enters into the inner court beyond the veil. In the Temple, the most sacred of all places was the Holy of Holies. The veil was what covered it. Within the Holy of Holies there abided the very presence of God. Into that place only one man in all the world could go, and that was the high priest. And even he might enter the Holy Place on only one day of the year, the Day of Atonement. Even then it was [unclear] down, and he must not linger in it, for it was a dangerous and a terrifying thing to enter into the presence of the living God.
What the writer to the Hebrews says is this: Under the Old Covenant, no one might enter into the presence of God but the high priest, and he only one day of the year. But now Jesus Christ has opened the way for every man at every time. And in verse 20 the writer of the Hebrews (which is probably Paul, but we are not sure), used an illuminating word about Jesus. He says that He entered the presence of God as our Forerunner. And the word, prodromos, which is, "our forerunner" has three stages of meaning.
First, it means one who rushes on ahead. Second, it means a pioneer. And third, it means a scout who goes ahead to see if it is safe for the body of the troops to follow. Jesus went into the presence of God to make it safe for all men to follow. Very simply put in another way, before Jesus came, God was the distant stranger whom only a very few might approach, and that at peril of their lives. But because of what Jesus was and did, God had become the friend of everybody who answers His call in faith. Once, people thought of Him as barring the door. Now we think of the door to His presence as thrown wide open to all that He calls.
Let us shift gears here. What is the meaning of the city names and their relationship to God's feast days? Again, the cities of refuge were distributed through the land at proper distances from each other so that they might be convenient to every part of the land. If I remember correctly, I think they were set about 10 to 12 miles apart. Still a nice hike if you are going to run that unless you are a marathon runner. And the reason they were situated on hills was so that they might be easily seen at a distance. Also, the roads leading to them were broad, even, and always kept in good repair. As we have seen in Hebrews 6:17-18, the author of Hebrews implies that these cities are a type of our Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, the names of the cities of refuge have been considered as descriptive of some characteristic or office of Christ. They describe different functions of Christ as our refuge.
Before I get into those names, please turn with me to Psalm 91. Now the names of the original Levitical cities of refuge with their etymological derivations, that is, the meanings of the words themselves, describe different functions of Christ as our refuge, and you will see some of that here in Psalm 91. It also describes aspects of our relationship with our Savior. Jesus Christ, in fact, is our city of refuge. The caption in my Bible here is "Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God."
Psalm 91:1-8 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust." [Seems like calling Him "my refuge" is almost always connected with trust, faith, and loyalty, relying on Him.] Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked.
So what we are seeing there is, we are being told that no matter what the situation is, no matter where we are, our refuge is in Jesus Christ and He is always there for us, and nothing can happen to us unless He allows it. Nothing at all. He may allow something, He may allow martyrdom, He may allow us to suffer in some way or another as He does. But He is always there and we cannot be touched. There is a hedge around us unless we poke holes in that hedge by sinning.
Now verse 9. This verse is incorrectly translated. It says in the New King James, "Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place." That sounds confusing. Also, it sounds like God made Jesus Christ. But actually a better translation is, "For you, O Lord, are my refuge. You have made the Most High your dwelling place."
Psalm 91:10-16 No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and serpent you shall trample underfoot. "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call me upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation."
Wow!
Now let us look at the refuge cities and how they relate to the feast and holy days. This is going to be more of a listing than it is going to be anything that is just a continuous thought. So what I am going to do is I am going to show you different meanings for the different names of the cities, and some of it is a listing and some of it is more in a short paragraph form.
The six original cities of refuge are listed in Joshua 20:7-8 in a particular order which parallel God's feast days. Analogies such as we see here are never meant to be perfect in every aspect. Therefore, they are representative of general principles and concepts and may overlap in some cases. I wanted to give you that as a qualifier before I begin.
The first city is Kedesh, and it is from the Hebrew word qaadash. And I may or may not give you that on each one, but I just wanted to give you an idea that it is from a Hebrew word. It means "to separate" or "set apart" because it implies the consecration of a person or thing to the worship or service of God alone. The result is that it makes or causes someone to be holy. The full consecration of a person to God requires justification first, which makes sanctification possible.
Turn over to Romans 8, verse 23, please. Therefore, Kedesh represents the sanctuary. It represents Passover, the first festival, and memorializes Jesus Christ's sacrifice for man which made possible the forgiveness of our sins. Christ is our sanctuary. He is our refuge, and so He sets the firstfruits apart for sacred use.
Romans 8:23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves grown within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
Romans 8:29-30 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn of many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
So God is holy and will not tolerate sin in any form because He will not allow sinful people into His Kingdom. Humans must be justified. By this, God forgives the person's sins, brings him into a right relationship with Himself, and imputes Christ's righteousness to him. And only after being forgiven can people take the additional steps of true spiritual character development and overcoming and to qualify to enter the Kingdom of God. Our annual keeping of the Passover reminds us of this initial step in fulfilling the plan of God. This first spiritual feast prepares us for the sanctification process and leads us into the second feast of the Lord.
That second city, and also parallel to the second feast, is Shechem. It means to "be ready," "forward," "diligent." Shechem represents the shoulder because of its readiness to bear burdens, prop up, and sustain. From this ideal meaning of strength, of bearing a burden, which has always been a symbol of the strength of an ox, it also has the metaphorical meaning of sustainer.
Psalm 20:1-2 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob defend you; may He send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion.
Now turn over to Hebrews 12, verse 12, please. Regarding renewing and our spiritual vitality, notice how it is described in physical imagery with spiritual meaning.
Hebrews 12:12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down. . .
What causes this? What causes the hands not to have any strength? No strength in the shoulders. When you do not have any strength in your shoulders, you cannot lift up your hands.
Hebrews 12:12-13 . . . and feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, . . .
What is the most common place, it seems, we dislocate? Our shoulder, is it not? You know, somebody says I dislocated something, you think of the shoulder almost inevitably.
Hebrews 12:13-14 . . . but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
So Shechem represents the strength for shouldering the burden of responsibility. It represents the Days of Unleavened Bread, and this feast instructs Christ's disciples in holy conduct. And it is not easy to rid sin out of our lives, is it? We need strength. We need the strength of an ox spiritually to be able to do that, and that strength comes from our refuge, Jesus Christ.
Throughout our Christian life, Christ strengthens us with the bread of life, giving strength to fulfill the responsibility of doing His work, that is, glorifying God and serving others. It represents the strength to work according to His will in removing sin from our lives, to be a true witness of His way of life.
The third city is Hebron. It means to "associate," "join," "conjoin," unite as friends," and therefore it represents fellowship, friendly association. It implies church, Family of God, unity.
Turn with me, if you will please to John 15, verse 14. Hebron signifies friendship. It represents Pentecost. It pictures God's Holy Spirit given to His church. Christ makes the firstfruits His special friends.
John 15:14-15 "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you."
Christ brings us into fellowship with the Father and Himself, and our relationship through His Spirit is so intimate that He calls us His friends. So many encouraging things in Scripture, and even this is a miracle that He would do that, that would He would prepare us in a way that He would be able to call former sinners His friends.
I John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
In order for this to happen, there must be unity, and we are learning how to be unified by our working together in the church. And so I wonder how in the world can an independent Christian, which is almost a contradiction in words, develop that unity with brethren as training for being unified with God the Father and Jesus Christ? I feel for them. I worry for them.
Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling [or association] of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the Day approaching.
This brings to mind Psalm 133, verse 1.
Psalm 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
The next city, the fourth city, is Bezer. It means "to restrain," "enclose," "shut up," or "encompass with a wall." Therefore, the goods or treasures are secure, and it suggests a fortified place, a fortress. It implies security and refuge.
Turn with me if you will please to Matthew 24, verse 6. Bezer means fortress, the walled fortress where God's treasure, His people, and His truth is safe. It represents the Feast of Trumpets. It warns mankind of impending war and proclaims the return of Jesus Christ. It is a place of safety for God's people, but a walled fortress to those outside. A fortress implies war.
Matthew 24:6-13 "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. [We should not be troubled because Christ is our refuge.] For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. [Through thick and thin, I add, Christ remains our refuge no matter what the description of our future may be.] And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved."
Remember what Abraham did to receive that oath from God? He patiently endured. What are we to do? He who endures to the end shall be saved. No time for giving up.
This city, Bezer, is a symbol of the promised spiritual protection from spiritual war during the crisis at the close before Christ returns, and at Christ's return.
Psalm 18:2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Wow, does that verse emphasize strength, and that strength is ours. What I mean by that is we have access to all of that. There is no greater fortress or place of safety than our Savior Jesus Christ, in whom we trust with our lives.
The fifth city is Ramoth. It means "to be raised," "made high," or "exalted." Therefore, it suggests high places, eminences, glory. It implies glorification, exaltation of the victors. Initially, this happens on the Feast of Trumpets. However, through reconciliation of God's entire Family, God brings the whole world into unity with Himself. The firstfruits, who are at one with God, are exalted and rewarded. Sin can never be removed while Satan is around. But by resisting and overcoming Satan, Christ has qualified to rule as King of kings over the earth, which makes Him qualified to depose Satan and put him away on the Day of Atonement.
Turn with me to I Peter 5, verse 5, please as we begin to wrap this up. On the Day of Atonement we fast, afflicting our souls to show that only when we see ourselves in proper comparison to the great exalted God will we have the right attitude to be truly at one with Him. And when Satan is bound and people live humbly before God, then God's Word and Spirit will work wonders among the people of the world. God will be exalted, His government will be exalted, and His saints will be exalted.
I Peter 5:5-6 Likewise, you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.
Psalm 147:6 says, "The Lord lifts up the humble." He makes sure that we know that is what He does for us and that He will exalt us in due time.
The sixth and final city of refuge is Golan, meaning to "remove," "transmigrate," or "pass away." Therefore, it represents a transmigration or passage and temporary residence. Or from the root gal, which it comes from, suggesting to rejoice, and that is joy, rejoicing, elation. Golan implies pilgrims and rejoicing.
Turn with me for a final scripture to Micah 4, please. Golan represents joy and dancing, the Feast of Tabernacles which pictures Christ's 1,000 year reign of unprecedented peace and prosperity and rejoicing and much dancing, I am sure. Isaiah 32:18 says, "My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings and in quiet resting places." That sounds like a place of refuge, does it not? It pictures the joy of the Kingdom of God and the World Tomorrow, the result of the way of peace.
Micah 4:1-5 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all people walk each in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.
Both Golan and the Feast of Tabernacles denote prosperity and rejoicing.
We have been considering the parallel between the six original cities of refuge listed in Joshua 20:7-8 and God's feast days. The Feast of Tabernacles that we are in now, of course, symbolizes our calling out of the wilderness, or the world, into a church relationship of peace and safety. Christ is the refuge for the church.
Similarly, as we come to the Feast of Tabernacles for spiritual refuge, our responsibility is to make the Feast experience a refuge for others, always thinking of others. So we ask ourselves, what can I do to make the Feast better for others? How can I help encourage joy in people's lives? What service can I provide to make this Feast a better refuge from the world?
Next time I speak, I am going to show you how Jerusalem relates to the cities of refuge and again, Jesus Christ. And also we will get into looking at the meaning and the encouragement that we find in the Levitical cities that are attached to it as well.
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