We're in the book of Numbers. Book of Numbers. If you'd like to, please turn to chapter 35. Interesting chapter. They've been developing some things about the nation of Israel. In chapter 34, we saw how the Lord had marked out the boundaries of the land of Canaan from the easternmost boundary at the south part over to the west to the Mediterranean Sea. And then from there, that's the south boundary, and then from there we use the maps and we came up the Mediterranean Sea, which formed the west coast of Israel. And then at some point, whether it's Mount Hermon or Mount Lebanon, I'm not sure, but from that point where they saw this great mountain in the distance, they would mark a line in toward the east, and that would form the northern boundary. They'd come over so far, I'm kind of guessing about the foothills of one of these mountains, and then they would take a southerly direction and mark the west coast, which basically is formed at the very top, at least this much, of the Jordan River Valley to the east side on down past the first small lake. I can't remember the name of that one right now, but especially you'll think and know of the Sea of Kinnereth or Galilee or Gennesaret. or Tiberias, those names there. On the east side there would come all the way down to the north part, top of the Dead Sea. And of course that one corner that's reserved, that is Moab's property. Now that forms now all the land on the west side of the Jordan River. We already know about the land on the east side of the Jordan River. As long as Reuben and Gad and Manasseh keep their word and help their brethren take possession of that land of Canaan, they may have this. And it even kind of comes up in this chapter that's before us, chapter 35, as long as they do this, They'll have it. I think that comes up in Joshua. We're going to read that in just a moment, Joshua or Deuteronomy. This chapter is also brought up in two other places. That's Deuteronomy 19 and Joshua chapter 20 and 21, right in there. So we have some things where we put more information together. Now, we have here what are going to be Levitical cities, cities that are going to be given to the tribe of Levi. They don't have any land. And so Israel is being called upon to give over some of the cities that they take from the previous inhabitants of the land. Those cities will be given, 48 of them in total will be given to the Levites. So we'll consider that. Beginning at verse 1, 48 cities with what are called suburbs, the outer parts. And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho. So they're on the east side of Jericho just before they've come over, crossed over, and they'll come to Jericho. by Jordan near Jericho saying, command the children of Israel that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities. So give them cities. to dwell in. Simple statement, easy enough to understand. And you shall give also unto the Levites suburbs for the cities round about them. So there's going to be a reaching out beyond the wall of the city, some mark of the city, there's going to be a mark further out and that's called the suburbs. And we read that, and the cities shall they, the Levites, have to dwell in. And it doesn't mean necessarily that anybody else doesn't live there, but this is theirs. They don't have property. They have these cities. And the suburbs of them shall be for their cattle and their goods and for all their beasts or living things. Cities are defined as the place where the Levites should dwell and the suburbs where they're going to keep their livestock, perhaps a builder barns and stuff like that, the suburbs. So in verse four, the suburbs of the cities, which he shall give to the Levites shall reach from the wall of the city and outward. 1,000 cubits roundabout. So about, that's a pretty good fair distance of 1,500 feet if we have an 18 inch cubit. I just always work for these foot and a half. So 1,500 feet out from the battery of the city, there is called that suburb. And that was the area given to the Levites as well for their living, their livestock. And you shall measure from outside the city on the east side 2,000 cubits, and on the south side 2,000 cubits, and on the west side 2,000 cubits, and on the north side 2,000 cubits. And the city shall be in the midst. This shall be to them the suburbs of the cities." I actually forgot until just now, but I wanted to check to see just exactly what that means. We know that they measure out 1,000 cubits from the wall. I don't know if it's limiting their suburb to measure 1,000 by 2,000 cubits. It sounds kind of like what that is, but I don't know for sure. Anyway, it sounds like a nice parcel of land. And among the cities which he shall give to the Levites, there shall be six cities for refuge which ye shall appoint for the manslayer that he may flee thither go there and to them ye shall add forty and two cities so of the 48 cities Maybe I should read verse seven. So all the cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be 48 cities. Them shall ye give with their suburbs. So of the 48 cities, what he wants to make sure that they understand, six of those are going to be special cities. They're called cities of refuge for the manslayer. And we find out what this manslayer is. If I can just go ahead and make a point here, he is a man who has been involved in the accidental death of another. He's called a manslayer. In this case, he's innocent. And so he comes here for shelter. So all the cities you'll give to the Levites should be a total of 48. Them shall you give with their suburbs. And the cities which ye shall give shall be the possession of the children of Israel." And I believe that means that, you know, you're going to give the Levites these cities that are in the land of Canaan, and on the other side as well, as long as they kept the covenant. They wouldn't give them a city that doesn't belong to the land of Israel. The cities that they're allowed to have are only in the nation of Israel. The cities which he shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel. From them that have many, he shall give many. But from them that have few, he shall give few." In other words, if, say Judah and Reuben and some, not Reuben, but Judah, Simeon, and, Oh, another one. Say their parcel of land that they received had a bunch of cities, but Ephraim and Naphtali had fewer. These that had the more would give more cities to the Levites of the 48. That's allotted to them. And those with less would give less cities, but they are all to give something, all to give something. but it's determined how many cities each of these tribes ends up possessing when they come into the land. And that's spelled out here just a moment in another chapter. Verse nine, and the Lord spake to Moses saying, speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, when you become over Jordan into the land of Canaan, then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you." There are six, and so now he's going to define them. That the slayer may flee thither, which kills any person, notice this, unawares, unwittingly, through ignorance. It wasn't what? It wasn't a purposeful act. It wasn't an act of murder. All right? So it's not a purposeful act that this one had died. And they shall be unto you, these six cities, for refuge from the avenger, the revenger, one who will want to redeem the price of blood from the head of the one who shed it. They shall be to you cities for refuge from the avenger that the manslayer die not. We want to explain that. Until they stand before the congregation in judgment. Of these cities which ye shall give, six cities shall you have for refuge. Ye shall give three cities on this side, Jordan. What side are they on? the east side. And three cities shall they give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge. These six cities shall be for refuge, both for the children of Israel and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that everyone that killeth any person unawares may flee thither. He will have a place of refuge. Now, for example, these do not have a refuge to flee to. The cities of refuge do not apply in these cases. And if he smite him with an instrument of iron so that he die, he is a murderer. You want to pick up on the word smite. It is an act of his will to have done that. He's a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. Again, and if he smite him with throwing a stone, Wherewith he may die, and he die, he, that one that did it, is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. Or, if he smite him with a hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer. So it's clear, the murderer shall surely be put to death. Now notice this. The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer. When he meeteth him, he shall slay him. And in this case, the revenger is a Hebrew word, ga'al, and it's translated also as redeemer. So he wants to collect from the one who was the cause of the death of this person. It is also translated as a near kinsman. So you have the idea of the hot anger that one might have for this one to have been involved in any way in the death of his loved one, you see, is the idea. This revenger of blood, he has a hot zeal. for that. The Lord in this actually understands that. And what he's doing is he providing a way so that the land is not corrupted by acts of shedding blood unnecessarily. The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer. And it's going to say this again in just a moment. When he meets him, he'll slay him. It's a matter of fact. But again, purposeful deaths continued. If he, referring to the manslayer, the one that was involved in the death of the other, if he thrust him of hatred or hurled at him by lying in, laying in wait. Now you think about this. In a moment of rage, someone struck out some way and it caused a death. that he die, or in enmity, because he hated this one, smite him with his hand, that he die. He that smote him shall surely be put to death. He's a murderer. So you have it defined rather clearly. His act was purposeful. And again, we have the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer. It's understood that that will take place when he meets him. Now just slight examples of accidental deaths here, but we get to read about it in a moment in Deuteronomy and Joshua. But if he, again, referring to the manslayer, if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, he didn't have any animosity, he didn't hate the man, if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, It's an accident. Or have cast upon him anything without laying it wait. I thought of our brethren in the carpentry business, and being up high, and they're working on trusses and roof and material, and how it is, how it could be accidental. Just drop a hammer. You see, and it's an accident. It wasn't on purpose. There was no enmity. And as bad as we might feel, that the point is that he could have suffered a swift retribution for the act, and the Lord is kind of protecting him from that, understanding the anger and such, the passion, the want to take vengeance in the moment. But if he thrust them through suddenly without enmity, he didn't have any evil intent, or cast upon him anything without laying in wait, or with any stone wherewith he may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm, then the congregation should judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments. And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood. And the congregation shall restore him not to go back to his possession. He can't do that. Blood was shed. To have protection, he must stay in the city of refuge. And he explains, the congregation deems him innocent. They'll restore him to the city of his refuge where he came, where he fled, and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with holy oil. He is there until then. He cannot leave until the death of the high priest, which means he may never get to leave. in the rest of his own life. But if the slayer shall at any time come without, outside, if he'd go outside the border of the city of his refuge, whether he was fled, and the revenger of blood find him outside the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer, that slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, because he, the manslayer, should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer shall return into the land of his possession. The revenger of blood is not allowed to touch his life anymore. He can't touch him as long as he stays inside the city refuge. And once the high priest has died, he can go, the manslayer can go to his own possession and cannot be touched. You can see how the Lord protects them that did not purposely caused the death of his neighbor, his brother, the sojourner, the stranger, be it a Gentile. So verse 29, so these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Now I want you to turn, we want to consider these two places. Turn first to Deuteronomy chapter 19. Deuteronomy 19 fills in a little bit more information. It was good here, but there's actually a little more that brings this, makes it more clear to us. We want to read verses one through 13. Some of it kind of repetitious. When the Lord thy God hath cut off the nations whose land the Lord thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses, and so remember, they take these cities, they're gonna get 48 of them, six of which will be cities of refuge. That's how these cities came about. Thou shalt separate three cities, three. We said six, right? Well, okay, let's see what they're talking about. Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it. Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coast of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts. Three parts, where each of these cities will be on the west side of the Jordan River, so that they'll be located so that anybody that causes accidental death can have quick refuge. He can go there quickly, into south, in the middle, and in the north. And it's gonna be the same on the other side. Same way, in the south, north, and middle will these cities be, that every slayer may flee there. Verse four, and this is the case of the slayer, referring to the man slayer causes the accidental death, which shall flee thither that he may live, that he may live. Whoso killeth his neighbor ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past, as when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbor to hew wood. And his hand fetches a stroke. He's going to get a big windup with his axe. And as he draws back, we've had some of that here, as a matter of fact. No one got hurt, thankfully, but I've had the head of the axe come off. And when the man goeth into the wood, his neighbor to hew wood, his hand fetches a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree. And the head slips from the hell and lighteth upon his neighbor that he die. He shall flee, he must do it immediately, unto one of those cities and live. In this case, one of those three cities. Lest the avenger of blood pursue the slayer while his heart is hot. You see it? "...and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him, whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past. Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate thee three cities for thee, and if the Lord thy God enlargest thy coast..." That's with reference. To what? The borders of Israel don't change. So he's referring to if Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh keep their word, then there's going to be three more cities. On which side? On the eastern side. That's what he's talking about here, the Jordan River. If the Lord thy God enlarged thy coast as He sworn unto thy fathers, and Give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers. If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command you this day, to love the Lord thy God and walk ever in his ways, then shalt thou add three cities more for thee beside these three, that innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee. But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally, till he die, so that he die, that he die, and flees into one of these cities, then what? He doesn't have a refuge. then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence," in other words, bring him out, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood that he may die. There's no refuge for one that purposely sins in this way. Thine eye shall not pity him, doesn't matter who he is, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee." You know, the nation's prospering, in part, depends on how they deal justice in the land. Now, turn to Joshua chapter 20 and read verses one through nine. Chapter 21 actually gives you all the cities, 48 of them, gives them all by name, and actually tells you where these cities of refuge are located. It's very interesting. I'd like to know that. Chapter 21 shares that with you, but here's a little bit more information that helps us with our understanding here. In Joshua chapter 20, verses 1 through 9, Some repetition, some better information, the Lord also spake unto Joshua, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge. Whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses, that the slayer, manslayer, that kills any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither, and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand, what do you do? When he that doth flee to 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. I'm here, this is what happened, and they'll take him in, they'll take care of him until judgment can be made. It's interesting, he has to declare his cause when he comes there. In the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city under them and give him a place. I'm assuming that until he's cleared, until it's been proved whether he's innocent or not, that he's probably gonna be under some sort of a house arrest. I would think that would be appropriate. They 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. And he shall dwell in that city until he stand before the congregation for judgment. going to have a trial of sort. 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 unto his own house and into the city from whence he fled. and they appointed Kedesh in Galilee, so it's not Kedesh Meribah down in the south, it's up in the north, in Mount Naphtali, and Shechem would be about midway of the west property on the west side of the Jordan River, Shechem in the Mount Ephraim, and the Kirjeth Arba, which is Hebron, this was below Jerusalem, city Jerusalem, in the mountain of Judah. And on the other side, On the other side, Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness up on the plain out of the tribe of Reuben. I believe that was in the south. And Ramoth Gilead was up almost to Galilee, Sea of Galilee, just a little south of it. and Ramoth and Gilead out of the tribe of Gad and Golan, there it is in the north, and Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger, the sojourners among them, that whosoever kills any person at unawares might flee thither and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation. So he has to be proved guilty of purposely slaying someone or his life is spared. So in verse 30, as we finish this, verse 30 in Numbers chapter 35, whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses. plural, but one witness, you notice death by the mouth of witnesses, but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. Scriptures, Deuteronomy 17, six, at the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses shall he that is worthy of death be put to death, but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. where we were in Deuteronomy 19, verse 15. One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth, at the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established. Now, verse 31. Moreover, ye shall take no satisfaction You're not going, you should not allow yourself to be appeased, satisfied, atoned. It's kefar, Hebrew, is the word. You shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. That's pretty easy to understand. No matter who it is, there'd be no satisfaction if one has purposely taken the life of another. He must be put to death. That's been so from the very beginning. Genesis nine, verse five and six. And surely your blood of your lives will I, the Lord, require. At the hand of every beast will I require. If a beast took the life of someone, the beast dies. At the hand of man, if a man does, he does. At the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God made he man. Jesus said, thou shalt do no murder. He was given us out of the law in Exodus 20, 13, the understanding of the words, thou shalt not kill. and he means to commit murder. The law says, thou shalt give life for life, period. It's that simple. That hasn't changed in New Testament days, by the way. It remains the same. Capital punishment for capital crimes are biblical, but we don't want to do that. No one the world over hardly does that or will not do it anymore. So what do you have? The earth. is polluted with blood. There's no fixing it. It can't be fixed. You can't undo it. We've gone so far. It can't be undone. It should have been done. There's no satisfaction. You can't assign them a certain dollar amount. Doesn't matter if you're the richest man in the world. No satisfaction if you've done this. You can't sign, assign people to public service for so many years, it doesn't work. You can't assign restitution. It doesn't matter if there's great indications of remorse. It doesn't matter. There should be no satisfaction. to spare the one who has committed this purposeful act to take the life of another? The only answer is very simple, to remove the life of that offender from the earth. In verse 32, you 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. There's no way. The man that has gone there, he's been proved innocent. He can't buy his way out. Nothing will allow him to go back there to the land of his possession until the death of the high priest. That's it. It's that easy to understand. I could imagine that some would probably say, how about if we give a price and let him go home, probably to set him up, lay in wait to kill him, all of that. Even that, it's just not allowed. Verse 33, so in this way, ye shall not pollute. That means to corrupt. You should not pollute the land wherein ye are. For blood, it corrupts, defiles the land. Same Hebrew words there. And the land cannot be cleansed, kephar, atoned of the blood that is shed therein. There's no way to fix it. There's only one answer, but by the blood of him that shed it. The words here in verse 34, defile not. Now that's another Hebrew word. Make not unclean the land which ye shall inhabit by not obeying the word of the Lord wherein I dwell. For I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel. Turn to Leviticus. chapter 18, and we'll begin reading at verse 24. Here, Leviticus 18, 24, of themselves." Just the land? How about themselves? Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things. Why I'm reading this, because you see what happens as this begins to take place in the land and among the people of God. Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things, for in all these things the nations, the Gentiles, are defiled, which I cast out before you that were here, I cast them out because of this. And the land is defiled, therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomited out her inhabitants." That's why they're being cast out. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourns among you. For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the lands defiled, that the lands spew not you out also when you defile it, as it spewed out the nations that were before you. For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, doesn't matter who, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among the people. Therefore, shall you keep mine ordinance that you commit none, not any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you defile not yourselves therein. I am the Lord your God. So, 48 cities were to be given to the Levites. Who are the Levites? We're talking about Aaron, Kohath, Gershon, and Merai, those four. They are the Levites, the sons of Levi. And of those 48 cities, six were to be places of refuge, six of those cities, to prevent the defiling of the land with the shedding of the blood of them that had accidentally killed another, whether it be an Israelite, a stranger, or a sojourner in the land. No satisfaction was acceptable for murder or for the early release of the manslayer that had sought refuge in one of those six cities. For Israel to fail to keep the word of the Lord would be to bring what? Corruption upon the land. And then the Lord would what? Would, and we see it throughout their history, would begin to move against them. and move them out, cast them out, spew them out from their land and into the nations. In Deuteronomy chapter four, I want to read verse five and a couple of verses and drop down to a couple of others just to get the highlights here. Behold, I, I who, Moses, have taught you statutes and judgments Even as the Lord my God commanded me that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess, you are to act a certain way. You're not to act in a certain way. Keep therefore and do them, for this is your wisdom. those things that they were instructed. This is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations. We shall hear all these statutes and say, surely This great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation, Moses goes on to say, is there so great who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all things that we should call upon him for? In what nation is there so great that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life. You know, when people wander away, they're hardly ever recovered. But teach them thy sons. Not only remember them, but teach them thy sons and thy sons' sons. Verse 16, lest Ye corrupt yourselves. Verse 26, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day. that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land where unto ye go over Jordan to possess it. You shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and you shall be left few a number among the heathen, whether the Lord shall lead you. because they were disobedient. And that's exactly, again and again and again, this took place with them, because they failed to keep the word of the Lord. And so it's been with them to this day. Israel's been cast out of their land. But when it shall turn to the Lord, and it will, he shall come to them and they'll see him. and know that he is the Christ of God. They will have this land. They will. Now, what about some application of this to us, the people of God? The city of refuge is a city for the priests of God. It's a type for the people of God abiding in him. This is the place for his saints, the holy ones of God. This is the place for those whose lives are devoted to the service of Christ. Christ is for them a safe haven that put their trust in him. It's not a place for them that live presumptuously. The murderer, the fornicator, the adulterer, the drunkard, the covetous, the liar, the thief. It's not for them. This place is for the abider. You notice he stayed there. Yes, once we were as they, but not no more, right? Those who purposely live in that way have no place in this city of refuge. Them that pretend to take their refuge in this beautiful city the Lord is sure to cast them out, where the avenger of blood will find them and take away all their stuff and even their lives from the earth. It matters not if they know the Lord, because they were disobedient. What's the scripture say? Of the people of God, the Lord shall judge his people. But the city, this place of refuge, is for them upon whom it is clear that no one shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect. In this place, not only do they know that Christ paid their sin debt, but that they dwell in the quiet place, the safe place, and haven, because Christ is their refuge. And that's it. And you know exactly what I'm talking about, that abide in Christ. Praise the Lord. Thank you for your attention.