Thursday, September 28th | Cities of Refuge

Welcome back, everyone. Today is Thursday, September the 28th. I'm Ryan Hill.

I'm Jon Galantis. And you're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. If you have any questions for Dr. Shah or suggestions for new topics, send us a text 252-5825028, or you can email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com.

That's right. You guys can help us keep the conversation going by supporting the show. You can share it online. Leave us a good review on iTunes or Spotify, anywhere you get your podcasting content from.

We're going to leave a link in the description so you can do just that. The verse of the day today comes from John 5, verse 30. I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous because I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father who sent me. This is something you see a lot in the gospel of John, is this very unique relationship between Jesus and the Father.

I love the humility of Christ here. I can of myself do nothing. You don't think of Jesus being powerless like that. I'm not saying that he is powerless. I'm saying he's so devoted to the Father.

They're so inseparable that the idea of him going off, going rogue, doing his own thing like we like to do, like going out and making a mess because we're trying things on our own, it's so inconceivable to him. He says, by myself, I can do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous because I don't seek my own will. That's the heart of my problem is that I seek my own will. Right.

Well, that's where we run into problems is because we chart our own course. But this is a perfect example of submission in that relationship between Christ and God the Father. Submission is not being powerless. It's not being weak. It's power brought under control. And Jesus here paints the picture of how we ought to live in submission to God. We, on our own, we should have that posture.

I can't do anything on my own, but I can only do it by the will of him who I'm trying to serve, who I'm trying to follow, because he gives me the ability to do so. That's right. I don't know about you, but I've been drinking so much water. Lots of water. Look at this.

Look at this. This is what I got to drink. That's good for you. It's like 56 ounces. And look, you're right on track, too.

56 fluid ounces every day. What time is it? You're right on track. Yeah. It's all right. Beautiful. Good job.

I got one for you. Okay. You have to drink a million dollars. I don't know how you would even do this.

A million dollars, but you have to drink four gallons of water every day. Oh, yeah. What? Yeah. For sure. Four gallons of water? I take it. How? Yeah.

Your gut would bust. How many ounces is four gallons of water? Can we do that math? Well, I don't know how many gallons. How many ounces are in a gallon? How many ounces?

Because I'm going to tell you, I drink a lot of water. How many ounces are in a gallon? 128. That's two of these. That's eight of these. You have to drink eight of these a day. Easy.

Ryan. Easy. You can't drink eight of these a day. Easy. This is a lot of water. Easy. Hold on. Let me put it in your shot. Easy peasy. This is a lot of water, dude. You can drink eight of these. Yeah.

No problem. David, a million dollars, but you have to drink four gallons of water every day. Look at this. Look how big this is. You got to drink eight of these. What happens if I don't?

I said it yesterday. If you don't do it, you're waterboarded with all the water. You're waterboarded with four gallons of water. Yikes. I try. That's how you have to go to bed. I would try.

That's how you have to go to bed. I would try. Have you ever been waterboarded? Nope. It's not fun. I mean, I've not. Have you ever been waterboarded? No, but I mean, it's a legitimate torture technique. My stay in Guantanamo was really fun.

What kind of vacations are you taking? Y'all would take this? For sure. Four gallons of water. That's going to hurt you.

That's going to hurt you. That's too much water. I'm not drinking it all at once over the course of the entire day.

Still. Yeah, I could do that. That's rough. I struggle to get through half of a gallon a day.

I could do that. Yeah. Okay. But I'm not drinking anything else. Like, I'm drinking water. That's it. Maybe some coffee. Right.

But I'm drinking water. That's it. I think it would be fine for a couple of days, but this is for life, dude. Sure. Okay. I don't know what else to say. I'd do it.

I'd do it. Hydrate, man. Hydrate or hydrate. Oh, no. It's more than that because 64 is half of 128. This is only 56. That's only 56. I mean, that's what it says. Fifty-six ounces.

Oh, well, I guess with the handle cut out in the back. Yeah. I was like, there's no way. Yeah, this is only 56. So, even more than this, eight times over. Yeah. Okay. I could do it. I wouldn't take the money.

A hundred percent. I wouldn't take the money. I like water, and I like being healthy, but I... You don't like money? I do like money, but I don't like having to drink four gallons of water a day. You might. You don't know until you've tried it.

Bro. Your body might be like, wow, this is what we wanted. I was dehydrated. I would gain a lot of water weight. Eventually you'd regulate it. Would I gain a lot of water weight with that, Dave? When you gain a water weight, wouldn't you get a little big?

I think eventually your body would regulate it out. No, I mean, you'd gain some water weight, but water weight is not the same as visceral fat. So, I mean, you'd be fine if you have some water weight. Wouldn't I be fine only if I stopped drinking four gallons of water a day? If I'm constantly drinking four gallons of water a day, how am I going to lose the water weight? You don't have to lose the water weight. Huh?

You don't. What do you mean? What is your question about water weight?

If I'm drinking four gallons of water a day, I'm going to get big because I'm putting on so much water weight. No. That's such a... What? Are you dumb? No. Are you?

No. The last weight you want to lose is water weight. Because when you're trying to lose weight and you lose a big influx of six pounds, that's just water weight.

That doesn't mean you're healthy now. Say I drink four gallons of water a day. I just put on four gallons of water weight. Now before I can even lose it, I drink four gallons the next day.

What do you think? You're going to hop on the treadmill to lose your water weight? Eight gallons of water weight in two days.

Bud, it's water. Do you urinate? Yeah. Do you defecate? Yeah.

You lose water weight every time you do those things. Is he for real? Yes.

Is he for real? Do you sweat? How else can I pronounce that? Yes. Do you perspire?

Huh? Do you perspire? Constantly. Then you're losing water weight. You're fine.

Where do you think that comes from? You probably need to drink four gallons of water. Okay.

So you're all drinking four gallons of water a day. Okay. I guess I'll do it. I'll do it. I'll do it for a million dollars, I guess. I'll do it. Let us know if you guys would. How's your hydration situation right now? Let us know what you're thinking.

2-5-2-5-8-2-5-0-2-8. Or you can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. We'll get Dr. Shah and we'll be right back. Hey there, listeners. I'm Jon Galantis.

And I'm Ellie Galantis. And we just want to take a quick second and talk to you about Dr. Shah's and Nicole's book, Thirty Days to a New Beginning. Daily devotions to help you move forward.

You know, this is actually the second book in the Thirty Days series. And the whole point of this devotional is to help us get unstuck from the ruts of life. You know, when it comes to running the race of life, it matters how you start. But a bad start doesn't ultimately determine how you finish the race. You can have a good finish even with a bad start. And that's where this book comes in. No matter who you are or where you are in life, you're going to get stuck.

Instead of going out and buying some gadget or some planner, like I know I've done several times. I know that's right. It encourages you to find your fresh start in God's Word. Life doesn't have a reset button, but our God is a God who does new things.

His mercies are new every day, which means every day is a new chance for you to start over. You can grab Thirty Days to a New Beginning on Amazon.com. We're going to leave a link in the description box below. And if you already have the book, let us know what you think about it.

That's right. Send us a text 252-582-5028. Share what God has done in your life through this devotional. Hey, maybe we'll even read your story on the air. Ellie, you ready to get back to the show?

Let's do it. Welcome back to Clear View Today with Dr. Abbadon Shaw, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com. Or if you have any questions, suggestions, if you want to weigh in on future topics, send us a text 252-582-5028.

That's right. Today may be your first time ever joining us here on the Clear View Today Show. We want to welcome you and let you know exactly who's going to be talking to you today. Dr. Abbadon Shaw is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism. He's a professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's show. You can find all of his work on his website. That's AbbadonShaw.com.

That's right. Dr. Shaw, we were talking about this earlier. What does your water consumption look like?

Because I feel like people, that's become a very nice, that's become a very trendy thing to track. We're hydro homies. That's the subreddit. Hydro homies. Hydro homies. What?

I've never heard that term. There's dedicated online forums just to help people drink water. Hydro homies. Honestly, most of what I see on social media is people posting different water recipes, like the good kind of ice. And here's the flavor packet that you can add. These three flavor packets together and it's going to make your water taste like root beer. I don't know.

Just a bunch of crazy stuff. It's like we have to convince ourselves as a society to drink water. Drinking water is actually very good for you and very important for you, especially if you have diabetes and things like that.

You know, you've got to get your pancreas clean and one of the big ways or good ways to do that is drinking lots and lots of water. When I get up in the morning, I'll start with coffee, but then I'll drink, how much is this right here? This is about 16 ounces. 16, I think? 16 ounces.

Yeah. 16, 17 ounces of water. So it would be about this much, maybe a little bit more. I would say maybe 20 ounces.

So I drink that and then I will drink one at lunch and then I'll drink one sometime in the afternoon and then one at night. So if you add that up, so let's just say 16 times four. 64 ounces.

Yeah. 64 ounces. How much is that?

That's pretty good. That's bigger than Maya. Yeah. That's one of those big... How big is that thing?

The one I have, the new one that I got is 56, but yours is 64. Okay. Okay. Nice. So 64 ounces is basically what I ended up drinking.

That's pretty good. He probably thinks he can drink four gallons a day. Do you need to drink four gallons? No, I don't think I need to, but I think I probably could.

He's different million dollars. I think I probably could. I think I probably could.

I think if you drink four gallons in a day, I don't think you could do it every day. Yeah. It's not sustainable. I don't know.

I don't know. I feel like you could work up to it. But if you can make sure that those electrolytes are being replenished, if that's happening, then that's good. Just drinking water.

I mean, that's not always good. Just tons and tons of water. It's not what you're supposed to do, but it's to replenish the electrolytes that makes a big difference. So I think. Am I right?

I think so. I've heard that. It's not just water. You got to make sure your electrolytes are being replenished. But you can't do like, people go to like, okay, well, I need to drink Gatorade. We can't do just Gatorade either because, I mean, Gatorade's full of sugar. But what is awesome is that God knew exactly what we needed. We need water and he provided plenty of it. I mean, this world is made up of water. It's like 97 percent water, right? And even our bodies are made out of water.

So he gave us everything we need. We just we'd rather do something else than what God has given to us. Isn't that true across the board, though? It is. We would rather do something else than what God has given us.

You said that. I was like, wow, that's us to a T. That's the human condition. That's humanity.

It's like you have given me everything I need. I don't want it. I'd rather have this or that or the other. We're actually talking about that today in our show today. We're talking about, you know, from the Old Testament, there was this concept of a city of refuge.

And we're going to dive into that in a little bit. But this concept of we need one another, we need connection, we need to be a part of one another's lives, and we need that safe place amongst other believers where we can grow and have our faith nurtured. So instead, I'll choose isolation and I'll just choose to try to tackle life on my own. Because that's what God has given us. God's given us what we need, but we've done the opposite.

I don't want that. Way to go us. God is such so good. I mean, I just want people to hear that today. God is so good. In every way, in every aspect, God is wonderful.

And words fail us to describe how good he is. Not only is he sovereign, but he's all merciful. He's all gracious. He's all wise. He's all knowing.

He's everything. And so before God's people entered into the promised land, he told Moses to set aside six cities to which those who were accused of killing someone unintentionally could flee. And there they could await trial. Because if not the avenger, you know, let's say if you kill somebody's dad, then the sons are now sort of obligated to avenge their father's blood.

It's like blood vengeance. Right. Right. And in some parts of the world, it still goes on. Like in the Middle East, they say that about the Bedouins. I don't know if it's really true or not, but that he will hunt you down.

If you do anything like that to him or his family, he will hunt you down and kill you. So I don't know how much that is really true today in 2023, but that used to be the case. But that same culture, they would have the avenger of blood and he would follow after this person who did the killing and take his life. And so the accused had this option.

And four times it is mentioned, four different passages talk about it. In reality, I would say even more than that altogether, maybe five or six passages, because Exodus talks about it, Numbers talks about it, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and 1 Chronicles talk about these cities where people could flee and be safe. And it was not just safe for any crime, and maybe we'll talk about that in a moment, but they would be safe until there's a proper trial.

You'd be safe from the avenger. Right. So these were the six cities of refuge. So these are cities that God set aside as a display of his justice in a world where people were largely taking justice into their own hands. Because you specifically said it's for people who are accused of accidentally killing someone. But even if it was an accident, those families would be like, you know what, that doesn't matter because our blood justice has to be done. Exodus 21, verse 12 and 14 says, whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee.

But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar that he may die. So this was not just any death. These were unintentional. Not premeditated. Some provisions there. Not like a safe place for murderers to go. Right.

It was unintentional murder or accidents, things like that. Right. And so the altar would be like the tabernacle where he could go and be safe. So cities of refuge were mentioned during Israel's 40 year of wandering in the wilderness. And God set aside these six cities out of the 48 Levitical cities as places of asylum or places of refuge. There were six in total? Six, six.

Okay. Numbers talks about this in Numbers 35, verse six and eight, the cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge where you shall permit the manslayer to flee. And in addition to them, you shall give 42 cities. So this is coming out of the Levite or Levitical cities. All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be 48 with their pasture lands. And as for the cities that you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes, you shall take many. And from the smaller tribes, you shall take few each in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits shall give of its cities to the Levites. So these are coming out of those Levitical cities.

Oh, wow. I love that provision is woven in there, that it's from the Levitical city. So that would have been kind of scattered throughout the region so that they're easily accessible no matter if you're living far to the north or far to the south or over to the west, they would have been accessible no matter where you went.

And it says, take fewer from the smaller inheritance and more from the larger inheritance, that sense of fairness. Of the Levite cities. I was just about to ask, is there a significance to the fact that they're all Levite cities? Well, in a sense, that's where the altar is.

Okay, with the Levite. That's where the priest is. So it will make sense later on.

Now, there's several application there. One is that the high priest, of course, is there and he can give the judgment. And remember, it talks about the year that the high priest dies, then the accuser or accused can go back home. So these are all Levitical cities, one for judgment, one so that only those people who know the law can actually hear the case. You're not going to just go out to any city, oh, that's a famous city for business, or that's a famous city for artists. Well, that's great. But they cannot help this guy who is pleading his case.

You need to go before people who know the law of God. So there were three cities that were sort of on this side of, on the other side of Jordan, Transjordan. Okay, so when we talk about the Jordan River, there is Cisjordan and Transjordan. Transjordan means on the east side of Jordan, modern day Jordan. Cisjordan is this side of Jordan, which is Israel. So three cities were already designated under Moses' time when Moses was still living. Why not the other three? Because he hadn't entered into the promised land.

So yeah, he hadn't crossed over yet. So the three Transjordanian cities of refuge were Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan. Golan like Golan Heights, Golan?

In the same vicinity. And so Bezer was located in the tribal area of Reuben, and its present day location is about eight miles northeast of Medaba, which is, you know, in Jordan. Ramoth was a city in Gad's area, and the city is not, we don't know for sure where this city is, but it was there. Golan was in the tribal area of Manasseh, remember, we went way up north, and it's identified with Saham el-Julan on the east side of the river El-Elan.

Again, this is not in the Israeli territory. So these were the cities, and three on this side. So if someone is accused of unintentional murder, they could go to this city of refuge and they could live there while they awaited the trial, and if the high priest who was in charge of that trial were to die, he could go back to his city safely. And the accused, I'm sorry, the victim's family has no right to kill that person.

What if he leaves before, if he leaves before he has to die? So the purpose of the city is not just that, that's a synopsis. What you just said is a synopsis.

So let's expand that a little bit. So number one is the protection of the person who was accused. So somebody accidentally kills somebody, he has to flee, they're allowed to flee to the altar and take hold of the horns of the altar, and that's a means of seeking asylum. Isn't that awesome that God made that provision? That yeah, you did it, you need to die, but no, give him a chance. Let him have justice.

The same fair trial that everyone should have. We just talked about that in our Bill of Rights, earlier this week. And it's crazy that God set that up. We think that's such a uniquely American thing that human beings came up with when we've been getting that from God ever since the very beginning. And if you needed evidence, there's your evidence that our country was founded on biblical values.

It's right there. Right. And so God dispersed those cities in such a way that anybody could get to them within running distance, a day's journey kind of thing.

So this was the case. But then there's also the punishment of the accused. These cities was the protection for protection for them. So it's not protection for any crime, right? That's what we think.

Anything you do. Okay, you can go run there and be safe. I mean, you can imagine very quickly that city would be overrun by a bunch of criminals. That would be the criminal empire of the world.

Right. So the accused could be put to death by the avenger of blood without becoming guilty of bloodshed. So if the accused was caught outside the city of the refuge prior to the death of the high priest, then of course, his life is going to forfeit that. So the accused could not buy his or her way out of confinement, okay? Even if the family or the victim were appeased, the individual had to stay in the city until the death of the high priest. He's saying he can't pay off the family. Can't pay it off.

Or the family says, hey, it's all cool. We know you didn't mean it. No, you're still not going to leave. Still God's holy law.

Yeah, you have to stay. So those who sought asylum in the city of refuge had some guilt attached to them, even if they were not guilty of premeditated murder. So that's another thing. And then the assembly was given the charge to determine what to do about this person who is seeking asylum, okay? Who unintentionally killed somebody. Are they innocent? Are they guilty? So two types of evidence was sort of allowed in this court of law. One was the type of object that was used to cause this death, and second, the intent behind it.

Yeah. And I think that's something that we're seeing a lot is that God understands the intent. And a lot of times we think that if you sin, the intent doesn't matter because you still sinned. And I guess that's true to an extent, but God also sees the heart, and He sees beyond circumstances. And a lot of times we put our own sense of justice in a place that even rivals God's, if that makes sense. We put our own morality and justice above what God says is and is not okay.

These are not passages to get talked about often because I feel like most media and people who are opposed to Christianity are going to paint God in a very black and white light. God is just always going to bring the hammer, and He's always just vengeful, and He's not forgiving, He's not merciful at all. Or God is all love, and He's not just, He's not powerful, He's just loving, and everybody's welcome.

God just proves that God is both just because He's upholding justice, and He is merciful because He's allowing all these provisions to show mercy on the person who's guilty. And there's also the gospel there, and the gospel is this. The high priest, when he dies, that person could now go back home. What does that mean? Have you ever wondered that?

I mean, what does that mean? This man dies and then everybody goes home. There is a view, and I lean towards that view, and the view is this, that the death of the high priest made atonement for the sin of the unintentional killing. So when the high priest dies, you are set free.

Now don't you see the gospel in it? Who is our high priest? Jesus. Who not only brought the sacrifice, but He is the sacrifice. He died so that we could go free. He made the bridge between God and us.

Absolutely. Also, like how you put it earlier, you framed it as whether or not they're meant to, they are condemned, and so they run to that refuge. Their only goal is to get to that place as quickly as they possibly can, and I wonder why as sinners, Christ is our refuge, why don't we pursue Him with that same urgency and that same intent?

If I were to die right now, I know where I'm going to go. I need to get to Jesus as quickly as I can. Here's the gospel. The gospel is that you are an enemy of God. You have sinned against Him, and if you have a problem with that, please, we can talk about that later on. We don't have enough time to discuss that, but you are God's enemy. You say, well, I didn't do any sin. Adam and Eve sinned.

Why do I have to be blamed? It doesn't matter what you think. That is the fact. That's it. You are the enemy of God, and so God's wrath is after you, and His wrath will be accomplished either on you or on the substitute.

Jesus became the substitute so that we wouldn't have to face God's wrath. So what do you have to do? It's like kids play with mom and dad, right? And dad is like, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, chasing after the child. And what does the child do? Run behind mom.

Oh yeah, 100%. What do you call that game? I call it going under the mountain. Yeah, because you were like sitting with your knees propped up and Gavin was going underneath and you dropped your legs like you caught in the mountain or something like that. Yep, going under the mountain.

Yeah. So he runs behind Ellie. So also God's wrath is coming against you and you need to run behind Jesus.

That's what you're saying. Why do people saunter and slowly make their way to Jesus? And I have some questions about, you know, the ark. Forget about the ark.

Forget about evolution. God's wrath may take you tonight. You don't have time to get all your questions answered.

You can get time to be pondered where Cain's wife come from or all this stuff. We have answers by the way, just to let you know that. Every question you ask, you're not the first one. We have answers. Yeah.

It's just that you don't have time. That's right. So get to Jesus now. Run like that man who killed somebody's family member.

How would he run? He's like, well, you know, I've often wondered. Yeah. Yeah. And I thought about why don't we fly? He's stopping to ponder and smell the flowers, stop and get you a drink or something.

Stop and get you four gallons of water. Yeah. So run to Jesus.

That's right. But secondly, there's another application, which is as Christians, as churches, we should be the city of refuge for people, a place of compassion, a place where people can come. You know, we started a Sunday as Tuesday morning prayer time.

Sunday morning, we also have a men's get together one Sunday a month. But that is a time of refuge for people to come. And a place of refuge is not for you to just let your hair hang down, just do whatever you want to, or say whatever you want to, or you feel like everybody's going to defend me. Not necessarily. City of refuge is for you to just come and be at peace.

Yeah, that's right. Don't expect too much from your church, but let that be the place where you can come and just know that this is a place where I will be drawn to Christ. People sometimes think city of refuge is a place where my church family or my small group or my Sunday school class, man, they are, well, they did, they did not do for me what I was hoping.

What did you expect? The bottom line is they should be a place where they lead you to Christ. They pray for you.

They love you. Other than that, the refuge is Christ and Christ alone. Amen. Hopefully something in this episode has sparked that desire in you to create that city of refuge culture in your church.

Pray about it and many things can begin with prayer. That's right. And let this radio show be one of those refuges for you where you can come and you can listen every single day and you can learn things like this. I learned, even though I'm on the show, I'm learning every single day and the more we talk it through as Christians together, the clearer it becomes.

And it's really an encouragement for me as well. That's right. And Dr. Shaw said it earlier.

He said it best. We do have answers to all of those questions that you have. If there are things that are hanging you up or things that you want answered, man, we would love to dialogue with you about that. Send us a text and let us know, 252-582-5028.

You can text or call that number anytime or you can send us an email to contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com. Gotta stay tuned to the show though, so you don't miss those answers. That's right. That's right.

Make sure you visit that website as well. You can become one of our giving partners, a part of the Clearview Today Show family as we see to increase the impact of the gospel of Jesus. And on tomorrow's episode, I'm really excited. We're talking about something very special in tomorrow's episode.

A very famous pastor's one of their last sermons they ever preached. Yes. Very impactful. That's right. Tune in tomorrow to find out more. We love you guys. We'll see you next time on Clearview Today.