In the book of Joshua, chapter 20, verse 1. The Lord also spake unto Joshua, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out of you cities of refuge. Where have I spake unto you by the hand of Moses, that the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither? They shall be a refuge from the avenger of blood. And when he that hath, excuse me, when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city. They shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place that he may dwell among them. And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, Then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand because he smote his neighbor unwittingly and hated him not before time. He shall dwell in that city until he stand before the congregation for judgment and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days. Then shall the slayer return and come unto his own city and to his own house and to the city from whence he fled. They appointed Kadesh and Galilee and Mount Naphtali, and Shechem and Mount Ephraim, and Kirjoth Arba, which is Hebron in the mountain of Judah. On the other side, Jordan, by Jericho eastward, and they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth and Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan and Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. Whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation. I want to speak to you this morning on this subject. Christ, our refuge. May we pray together. Father, we come to thy word, believing that it is the inspired, inerrant, infallible, preserved revelation written down for us to know your person and your work and your will for our lives. As we come to the word of God, I pray that you would speak to us Specifically, individually, powerfully. May each of us know the thing at the end of this service that we are supposed to do with the Word of God today. Help me and make me a preacher. Make us listeners. Help us to receive the Word of God into fertile soil in our heart. We thank you and praise you for who you are and we thank you and praise you for what you mean to us and ask you to bless us now. We ask in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you for standing and you can be seated together. Here in Joshua chapter 20, we have one of the more remarkable Old Testament stories or a structure, so to speak, that would protect those that had unwittingly or unpremeditatedly or without anger or wrath taken or been responsible for taking someone's life. As we began looking at the inheritance that God gave to all the tribes of Israel, we come near the end of the book of Joshua, and out of each area, the land of Israel, there was set up a city of refuge, a place of escape, a place of asylum, where one could go to escape a person called the avenger of blood, Now, in the Old Testament, it was lawful, it was right for a family member to avenge the blood of one who was taken in cold blood, eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. There was a judicial system in place in the land of Israel. But what we see is not just a judicial structure that protected people whose lives should not be taken after manslaughter or an event that was tragic in their lives, but we see a greater picture. picture of Christ and what Jesus Christ means to us and what we can find in him. If you're taking down notes, I want you to notice first of all the protection of purity. And I want you to hold your place here in Joshua, but I want you to go back to the book of Numbers in chapter 35. We have a bit of a longer revelation of this story by the hand of Moses in Numbers chapter 35. Moses gives the same details that Joshua gives. He gives more details that we need to study and search out this morning. So I want us to see first of all why God establishes this structure and it may help us understand the character of God. We have to come to know why God would put this system into place because every rule that God has is purposeful. God doesn't make arbitrary rules. God is not the party of no. God is not a heavenly killjoy. God is not some curmudgeonous old man that just doesn't want you to enjoy your life. God gives rules because he wants you to enjoy your life. He places structure around the things that are pure and holy and innocent. He places boundaries around those things that could produce great harm for us. And John says in 1 John that His commandments are not grievous. God's commands are not overbearing. So why does God have this rule, this standard in the Bible? Well, we know that God designs this because He's trying to protect something. And in this case, He's trying to protect His holiness. I want us to read here in Numbers 35. Look, if you will, in verse 32. And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that has fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land until the death of the priest. Verse 33. So ye shall not pollute the land. wherein ye are. For blood, it defileth the land. Notice carefully. Blood, it defileth the land. And the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit wherein I dwell, for I, the Lord, dwell among the children of Israel. So God is trying to put a fence around the holiness of His land. Now, the Bible says that sin is a missing of the mark or the standard of God's holiness. And by the way, the Bible goes further to say that all have sinned. And all have come short of the glory of God. And let me just stop for a moment and say to you, that's your brother, your sister, your friend is not the standard. Jesus and His impeccable righteousness is the standard. And we have all violated, not the standard we create for one another, we've all violated that perfect righteous standard that is found in the person of Jesus Christ. And God wants us to be holy people. Holy people. And I remind you that holiness is not the way to God. Christ is the way to holiness. The way to become holy is to come to Jesus Christ. Come to Christ and allow him to separate us in our lives. So in this passage, God defines two types of crimes. If you'll take the time to read this section, you'll learn that there were murders of passion, murders of wrath, murders of intent, of premeditation, we'd call that in our country, first-degree murder. The idea that you, with anger and wrath and malice and jealousy, had intention, and that intention might be found in a split second of time, but my action will produce the death of this person. God distinguishes that type of murder the first way. But then he talks about manslaughter, which were accidental, or murders that were not done out of anger or sponsored of our enmity. But either way, God says, blood was shed and the ground was polluted. The nation was polluted by the sin, the agony of this crime. Let me illustrate. Leviticus 18, verse 25. And the land is defiled, God said. Therefore I do visit the iniquity thereon, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. Let's go back to Cain and Abel. You remember the two brothers, murder found in the second generation of humankind. And when Cain rises up and kills his brother, and let me just say, it is not that Cain was mad at Abel, it is that Cain was not right with God. And because he did not give the sacrifice God required, and because Abel did give the sacrifice God required, Abel was accepted and Cain was rejected. And because he couldn't take his anger out on God, he took it out on his brother. And we ought to be very careful when we think about our wrath, because the Bible says, The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness which is of God. And many times we take out on others The anger that we have because we ourselves are not right with God. And he kills him. He buries him. And God comes to investigate the crime scene. And he says, Where is your brother? I don't know where my brother is. Am I my brother's keeper? And God says, The voice of thy brother's blood crieth from the ground. What is God saying? This blood polluted the ground. We're on Cain and Abel. Deuteronomy 21 verse 23. His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day. For he that is hanged is accursed of God, that thy land be not defiled. And then this figure's brought up again in Hosea chapter 4. By swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break out. And blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish. And then God says about Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kings 24 verse 4 of Nebuchadnezzar, the Bible says, And also for the innocent blood that he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon. And I want to preach for just a moment and tell you this nation flows with the defiling blood of innocent life. We live in a violent culture today. We live in a culture that has vindicated and promoted and accepted and become calloused to violence. And God said that blood defiles the land. So in this context, God is designing this process that if a man is guilty of first-degree murder, His avenger is to take his life, and if a person has taken life unwittingly, he is allowed to requit of this crime in a city of refuge that the land might be purified by the blood that has been shed. I'm just simply saying God still really, really cares about holiness. And the reason He cares about holiness is because God is holy and separate. And the only way you and I can ever spend any time in this life in fellowship or in eternity in eternal fellowship with God Almighty is to recognize that we are sinners that have broken the law of God and sinned against the holiness of God. And it is only as we come to Jesus Christ and say, I want your record on my account. I want your righteous record on my unrighteous account. I want your precious blood to wash my record clean. And this way we can have forgiveness of sin and spend eternity with Christ in heaven. God still cares about holiness. So we see the process, the process, this reason for purity. But right now, number two, I want us to notice quickly the process of protection, the process of protection. There are some truths about this city of refuge. These cities of refuge, I think, are most significant. So if you were a slayer of mankind, the refuge was for you. If you knew that you had not malignantly taken innocent life, but you also knew that the avenger of blood was pursuing you, you would have but one option and one option only. You would run to a city of refuge. Now, there are some things that we must remember and know about these cities. First of all, notice carefully, these cities were for everyone. Look at verse 15. These six cities shall be a refuge. Numbers 35 verse 15. They shall be a refuge both for the children of Israel. Notice carefully. And for the stranger and for the sojourner among them. That what's the word, class? That everyone that killeth any person unawares may flee thither. First of all, notice, these cities were for everyone. They were for the children of Israel. They were for the stranger passing through the land of Israel. They were for the stranger among the children of Israel. They were for everybody who had found themselves in this situation. Notice, secondly, you were not ever very far from one of these cities of refuge. If you were to take a map and put three cities on the east side of the Jordan River, and put three cities on the west side of the Jordan River, two in the north, two in the center part of the country, and two in the south, if a person was guilty of manslaughter, you were never more than 40 miles away from a city of refuge. They were not ever very far away. And then I want you to notice number three, these cities of refuge were Levitical towns of the Jews. In other words, they were towns that were controlled by the Levites. These are those men that served in the tabernacle worship. These are the ones that help point you to God. Now here in Numbers 35, when Moses received instruction on dividing the land. Now remember, we have a big piece of land about the size of New Jersey, and we have 12 tribes in the time of Joshua that want their particular allotment of land. God says to the tribes of Levi, you're not going to get a particular parcel of ground. you're going to get a piece of property or cities within the 12 tribal allotments. Now, that doesn't seem fair, right? Doesn't seem fair that the Levites would not get a particular place they could meet and live, but rather God would give them 48 Levitical towns. Six of those towns would be cities of refuge. Well, I just have a word for you. The Levites got something better than the other tribes got. You want to see what it is? Notice in Deuteronomy 18 verse 1. the priests, the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the offerings of the Lord, made by fire, and His inheritance," notice carefully, therefore, shall they have no inheritance among their brethren, the Lord, The Lord is their inheritance, as He said unto them. I don't know about you, but that excites me. God said to the tribe of Levi, I'm not giving you a particular place of ground to live. I'm going to be your inheritance, and you are going to spend your whole life The thing that will consume your entire life is serving me and pointing others to me. Now, I don't know about you, but that's a pretty good trade right there. That a person would be allowed to live their whole life in service to Almighty God. And in 48 places they could live, and 6 of those towns would become cities of refuge. So think for a moment, if you were someone who had taken blood, and not wittingly, not premeditatedly, not out of anger or wrath, and you're running to a city of refuge and around every turn and behind every tree and in every shadow and every shop you're wondering until you get to the borders of the city of refuge that that avenger of blood is going to catch up to you and you finally reach the border of one of these towns and you come in and of all people you get to appeal to a priest. And that's pretty good because the priest are those who are most informed about the law. they're most informed about the law. And secondly, they are those who are the most impartial regarding the law. Thirdly, these priests were those who would hear and adjudicate your case with the law of Moses in mind. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't want to live in a country that's not led and monitored and judged and ordered by a particular code of conduct. It's really helpful for us to be a constitutional republic that the Constitution still matters as something in our land today. The Constitution, the way of freedom of assembly and freedom of press and the right to bear arms and many other rights that are granted to us, not by the government, but granted to us by God and recognized as being rightfully ours by the government. It's wonderful to live in a law of lands. So you are this person fleeing the avenger of blood. You want to speak to somebody that knows exactly what the law says, that's most impartial to the law, that knows the law of Moses inside and out and can fairly rule on your case. But there's one more step further we have to go. If you come to one of these cities, And they hear your case, and they say, this is exactly what's happened. You didn't mean to take someone's life, but a tragedy took place. We're going to allow you to live in this city, hear it carefully, and you can live here. You can stay here as long as the high priest is alive. So as long as the high priest is living, you can stay here in this city of refuge. Now, this is not Bible, this is a Jewish tradition, but I did laugh a bit when I read it. According to the Jewish rabbis, in order to give the fugitives all possible advantage in their flight, it was the business of the ruling religious order of Israel to make the roads that led to the cities of refuge convenient by widening them. and removing obstructions that might hinder your foot or hinder your speed in fleeing to this place. The priest ensured that the roads were broad. And they said that at every turn there were posts erected along the sides of the road that had two words, refuge, refuge ahead, to guide the slayer of men in his asylum. It's also reported that the mothers This is when I left. It's reported that the mothers of the high priest used to feed and clothe these unfortunate fugitives so that the fugitives might not be impatient and pray for the deaths of their sons. on whose deceased they were restored to their liberty and to their property. So again, this is a merciful system in the land of Israel which protected those who would unjustly die for the accidental death of others. Now, you find this word, refuge. Refuge. Everybody say refuge. The word we see in our news today is asylum. Asylum. Our country is headed for hundreds of thousands of people who are coming to America to seek asylum. And by the way, the asylum laws in our country say that asylum is to be granted to people in the first country they seek refuge. I'm just going to move on, but you need to think about that. The first country they're not coming to on their way from who knows where is America. Without laws, we don't have a country. We don't have a country. And it's pretty interesting that the Constitution is dying a slow death in the same time period when the Bible is dying a slow death by just one prick at a time, constantly nagging at the authority of God's Word. A refuge. Now, I looked up that word. I like words. How many of you like words? I like words. I use lots of words. Sometimes if I don't have a word, I make up a word. How about you? And I looked up this word, what refuge means. And the fact is, I didn't find anything fascinating about it. It simply means a refuge or an asylum. But I googled this and I got a little deeper and I discovered that the same root word for refuge is found in a modern usage in the nation of Israel today. If you were a Jew living in Nazi Germany in the 1930s or 40s, if you were a Jew that was living in Eastern Europe in the 40s or 50s or even today, anti-Semitic deeds and language and threats are happening all around the world today to the people of Israel. And let's suppose that life became so uncomfortable for you in Europe or Russia or other places, you would file a petition with the government of Israel to be able to relocate yourself and your family to the modern state of Israel. And that process is called aliyah. Aliyah. When I was in Israel a number of years ago, there was a hubbub. I don't know if that's Yankee or Southern or hip or... How many of you know what a hubbub is? Raise your hand. Okay, there was a hubbub at the hotel beside where we were staying. Hundreds of people, police and military, and of course, if you're in Israel, it's just a common sight to see a young soldier with an M16 on every street corner, and there's actually a great deal of safety felt by that. And so I said to the tour guide, what's the hubbub about at this hotel? And he said, oh, he said, the prime minister is there. I said, Bibi Netanyahu? He said, yeah, he's in that building right there. I said, I'd like to go. He said, we're going to have to get through about 16 soldiers within 16 to get to him. I said, I'll pass. I will pass. But he said, he's here because there are hundreds of Jews from France who are planning their Aliyah. to the nation of Israel. And I said that word for refuge, that root word is found in this way in the modern state of Israel. It's called the ministry of absorption. Can I say it this way? It's called the ministry of asylum, the ministry of refuge. That even in the state of Israel today, if you find yourself in danger anywhere in the world, You can file to the ministry of absorption to give you refuge, to give you asylum from the dangers of being a Jew somewhere in the world, and they will help find housing for you and jobs for you, and there's federal grants that help sponsor you to the land. That's exactly what's going on in the Bible here. So we see the process. The process is, if you've committed murder in an unwitting way, you run to the city, You make your appeal at the gates. The Levites hear and adjudicate your case. It doesn't matter if you're a Jew or a Gentile. It doesn't matter if you're Philistine or a Hittite. It's for everybody. And if your case is heard and it's proven that you were innocent of first degree murder, you're allowed to live in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. If you're still with me, can I hear an amen? So number three, I want you to think about the purity, the protection and the process are all pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of this, all of this Old Testament history. is but a beautiful 2022 picture for us of our wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In the book of Hebrews in chapter 6 and verse 18, the writer of Hebrews says this, that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, notice carefully, who have fled for, what's the word, church? Thank you, five of you. Let's try it again. We might have strong consolation who have fled for... Refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. Jesus Christ is our city of refuge. David knew this, Psalm 46 verse 1. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Samuel 22 verse 3, the God of my rock, in Him will I trust. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my high tower and my refuge. Deuteronomy 33, Moses knew this too. The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms. So let's go back to the things we have to remember about the city of refuge. I said, first of all, the city was available to everyone. I've got news for you this morning. Jesus Christ gives an offer of salvation to the whole entire world. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It doesn't matter if you're African or American or Australian or Albanian. It matters not who you are or where you're from. If you're a citizen or a stranger or a sojourner, Jesus Christ and His precious blood, He shed for the sins of the whole world that all men might be saved. Secondly, I said the city of refuge was never very far away from anybody. The Bible says, Call upon the Lord while He is near. I want you to know Jesus Christ is never very far away. How close is He, Pastor? 1 John 1, 9. If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I'll tell you what the devil says. You're a thousand miles away from being right with God. You're six months away from being right with God. If you just get sobered up and cleaned up and straightened up and educated up and coached up, you can come to God, and Jesus says, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Come unto me. Let Jesus solve your problems. Don't try to fix your problems, and then come to Jesus, because He's not very far away if you'll call upon Him by faith. and he saves out of gutters, he saves out of high rises, he saves out of New York, and he saves out of New Amsterdam. He's everywhere at all times with all power. Just cry out to Jesus, our city of refuge. Number three, he not only offers this salvation to everyone, and he's not only very far away, but what did I tell you? You come to a city of refuge and you talk to a Levite, and he lets you in the city, and he says, you can stay here as long as the high priest is alive. Well, I've got some really, really Really, really, really, really good news for you. Would you like to hear it? Look in your Bible. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 14. Hebrews 4 verse 14. Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, lives a sinless life after the order of Melchizedek, and God calls Jesus our what? Our great high priest. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 14. seeing then that we have a great High Priest that is passed into the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. You see, the great thing about our great High Priest is that if we run to Him, we are as safe as long as our High Priest lives. I looked up that phrase, liveth forever and ever. liveth forever and ever. Can we say it together? Liveth forever and ever. And I came up, but one person, the Bible says, liveth forever and forever. Daniel chapter 12 verse 7, And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swear by him that liveth forever and ever. Hebrews 7 25, Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing that He ever liveth to make intercession for us. And again, five times in the book of the Revelation, and one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God who liveth forever and ever. I'm just saying this morning that our God is the only being of whom it is spoken that He liveth forever and ever. What's that mean? That means He is most informed of the law. John 5.39, search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. Number two, He's the most just and equitable regarding the law. 1 John 1.9, if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins. And I got one better for you than that. It is our Jesus, our great high priest in this case, He pays the penalty for the slayer's crime. It is Jesus that suffered our penalty on the cross because He's a faithful and merciful high priest. Because the great high priest of heaven took on earthly flesh and died in our place as sinners. How secure is Jesus? I'm glad you asked. We read in Joshua chapter 20, the six names of the cities of refuge. Can I just give you what the names mean? He said, I want you to sanction Kadesh. That name means holy. He said, I want you to sanction the city of Shechem. That name means shoulder. Oh, can I just preach for a moment? Don't ever once in a while or all the while you just need somebody's shoulder to lean on. He said, I want you to sanction Hebron, a city of refuge. That word means to fellowship or to join or to come together. God is faithful by whom you were called under the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. He said, I want you to sanction Bezer to be the fourth city of refuge. This means to be made inaccessible or unassailable. What does that mean? That means that when you come into the city of refuge, He puts you in a place inaccessible to the slayer of blood to ever come seeking your life. It means there's an enemy. Revelation 12, He's called the accuser of the brethren. It means that when I ran to Jesus and I said, Oh Lord, I'm a sinner and I need refuge. He took me unto Himself and He hid me in His hand and His hand is in the Father's hand. and we are secure in Jesus Christ. In other words, Romans 8, verse 1, there is now therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. He said, Call the fifth Ramoth, it means high things or sublime. Ephesians 2, verse 6, he hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ. Lastly, he said, Call one of the cities, Golan. It's been suggested that this means enclosure for captives. Ephesians 4, 8, Wherefore he saith when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. I want to close with this idea. The idea of an avenger of blood is pretty striking, especially to us in modern life. The word means to redeem. to reclaim, to restore. If you were in the unfortunate position of having a loved one killed in innocent blood, it would be the responsibility of your family to restore, to reclaim, to redeem their blood upon the death of another. Several Old Testament stories prove this. Gideon, for example, in Judges chapter 8, redeemed the blood of his brothers. The men of Gibeon in 2 Samuel 21 redeemed the blood of their countrymen. But watch, please watch. The New Testament bears a different reality, a different truth. Paul says, this is important, vengeance belongs to God. Romans 12, verse 17. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. Paul again says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 6, that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter because that the Lord is the avenger of all such. Terrified yet? You should be. Jonathan Edwards says, We are but sinners in the hands of an angry God, like a string of silk sewn by a spider over the flames of hell. God said, Vengeance is mine. I will repay. The New Testament tells us that there are two avengers. Now I got you thinking about movies, don't I? First of all, he says the government is an avenger. Romans 13 verse 4. The Bible gives the purpose of government. Would you like to hear it? For he, the government, is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is the minister of God, a revenger, to execute judgment. a wrath upon all him that doeth evil. The government is an avenger in a judicial penal situation, but ultimately God himself is the avenger. I've often said there are no unsolved crimes in heaven. What did God say to his people? Watch carefully. And it's as if there were so many abuses. I was trying to read about the succession of the city of refuges and the perpetuity of that system, and it seemed to be that the system became so abused, so inequitable, it ceased to be relevant in Jewish life. Near the end of the Old Testament, God said this through his prophet Isaiah, Fear not thou worm, Jacob, ye men of Israel. I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. God even said through Moses in Deuteronomy 32, Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants and will render vengeance to his adversaries. So don't miss the picture. Watch carefully. God himself is pursuing sinners. God himself is pursuing sinners. He trails them. He woos them. He draws them. John 6, 44, Jesus says this, No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him. So do you know what God wants from you? You're guilty. All of us are guilty. Romans chapter 3, Romans chapter 1, the Jewish world, the Gentile world is guilty. Chapter 2, the Jewish world is guilty. Romans chapter 3, everybody everywhere is guilty before God. So what does God want? He wants you to come to him. He is the city of refuge and he wants you to run to him. Hebrews says this, and I'll close, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Neither is there salvation in any other. There's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Only Christ can save. Only Christ can deliver. Only Christ can give you eternal asylum. He'll pursue you to the gates of heaven, but he'll never force you inside. He'll take you as Judas for three years on a whirlwind trip of the miraculous, but he'll not force you to repent. The Bible says he's not willing that any would perish but that all should come to repentance. But he gives you a choice today. Bow before him or suffer the consequences of sins against him. Let's run to Jesus this morning.