As road builders and road workers for the gospel, we are to keep the road open too.
We can close up the roads. We can stumble. We can become just carnal, so carnal.
Who wants to hear the gospel from us? Especially if you're in a workplace, say an office environment where you're just there year in, year out. And the people are, you know, just the challenges that people bring. Being sinners.
And if you're not careful, you can ruin your witness. We go right to verse one. Yahweh also spoke to Joshua, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses. In verse one, where it says that the Lord also spoke to Joshua, over 100 times we read, mainly in the first five books of the Bible, that the Lord spoke to Moses.
Over 100 times. I find that outstanding. Verse two, where he says, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge.
As I spoke to you through Moses, because God did speak to Moses, that great man of God, so much. Now, the initial conquest is behind them. They have subdued the land.
There's really no large-scale military threat that they're concerned with at this point. Satan enjoys that, because Satan knows the people are still present, and they have an evil influence. And he's going to use that influence over time. But what matters is, what does the individual do in the midst of it?
Is that individual going to be strong, or is that individual going to float downstream with all the dead fish, and succumb to the influences of the idols and pagan gods and all the other things that are forbidden? Six cities will be special cities of the 48 that are given to the Levites. We'll open this just up a little bit.
Hopefully it's not going to be confusing if this is foreign to you. But the cities of refuge, places to run for your life after you've made a terrible mistake. That's what the city of refuge is. If you're out, you're driving, doing donuts with your car out in the field, and you accidentally run your neighbor over and kill him, it was an accident, maybe a little reckless. His family has the right to come and kill you. So you better run for your life.
And so we need to talk about this a little bit. They were these three cities, three on the east side of Jordan, the trans-Jordan side, and then three on the west side. So everyone had a chance to make it. It would have been a good idea to stay in shape in those days in case there was an accident. You could outrun the avenger of blood to find the asylum that God had made available. Now if you intentionally killed someone, it would do you no benefit.
You would get there tired and then be executed tired, and that would be it. In those days, blood feuds were a little bit more easy to come by. And these cities that, in this concept, originate in Numbers chapter 35. So God had already given it to Moses, and the Jews just kind of sat on it in the record.
You know, it was filed into the scriptures for them. But now they're in the land, and they've subdued it, and they have to set these cities up. One very diligent historian slash commentator looking over the writings of the ancient Jews has said that the roads were maintained that led to these cities of refuge. They were free of significant hills and fallen trees or rubble or anything that would impede the person that was fleeing to these cities. If there was a river or a stream, they would make sure there were bridges enough to cross over. And also that at the turnings posted were signs, city of refuge, five miles, road markers, so that you would be able to find your way in a time of panic or if you were just not familiar with the land. And they were spread, as I mentioned, throughout the land.
They were accessible. Of course it speaks to us of Christ. Of course in all of these cities of refuge that were so meaningful to the Jews, we Christians look back with our New Testament theology, and we say the way of salvation is going to Christ. He is our refuge from any killer, anything that would cause us great harm. We run to him, and death drove people to the cities of refuge. Death drives people to Jesus Christ. Maybe not the physical death of someone, but eternal death, damnation, condemnation, rejection by God Almighty. That's why we come to him. Why else would we? What if there were no consequence to rejecting Christ? Who would come? There are consequences.
God knows that. And so he baked it into creation so that the fool has said in his heart there is no God and pays that penalty, but the wise soul, possibly foolish in other areas of their life, but not foolish when it comes to God chooses salvation. There was no neutral ground for the fleeing individual. They couldn't get to a halfway point and pull over at sort of, you know, like one of the scenic pullovers on the road or historic, you know, marker. You had to make it all the way, and you had to make it inside the city. There you would be tried to see if you, if the act was committed intentionally or not.
If it was intentional, of course, then you were sentenced and executed. And if not, then you would be able to remain in that city. And we'll come to that. I don't want to get too much ahead of myself because then I get all tangled up and start repeating things.
And I know that might be one of your favorite things in the world. So as I said, no neutral ground. You are either in the city or not, and so it is with Christ, as it is with these cities accessible. Acts chapter 16. This is, of course, the story of the Philippian jailer when Paul and Silas were caned and jailed, and they're in the jail singing it up.
I would have been thinking of other things, like what I would like to do to the guy that was swinging that cane or the one that sentenced me to it. But not Paul and Silas. They were focused on their environment, like we read in the Song of Solomon, like a lily among thorns is my beloved.
You blossom where you are. The role of the Christian is to blossom where we are planted. That is the same idea behind the Jews working the lot or the allotment that was given to them by God. And so the jailer, of course, hears them praising the Lord in song. He never likely had inmates like this before.
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Because the message had been broadcast. He knew something of the message. Before they got to that jail, that message was probably already circulating into even the lives of the common folks, such as this jailer. So they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household. Run to that place of refuge. I'd like to say, I heard a friend of mine say years ago that when the altar call was given, he was running for it.
Couldn't wait to get it. I've heard one of you, and I know who you are, I won't single you out, but you told me that he said he couldn't wait for the sermon to end. I heard that before. So he could go and make his confession known. Fleeing to that city of refuge in Christ. That was the work of the Holy Spirit for us.
In those days, it was the work of common sense. If you say, the kinsman who is responsible for coming to me, I can take him. Well, he's bringing his family. He's not coming for you alone.
He's bringing the village people with him. Verse three, that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there, and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. So again, God makes a distinction in degrees of guilt.
There is the guilt of premeditated murder, for example, or just outright murder, and then there is the tragedy of accidentally hitting someone with your car, getting someone killed on the job site. We are going to have to open this up a little bit more because it creates questions, but one of the things we get from this is that men are not to punish men until the inquiry has been satisfied. You see where he says, they shall, well, the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there, and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
And as we get further down, we're going to find that they have to determine whether this was accident or not, and that is a signal, of course, to us that these things have to be satisfied through due diligence. Also, the priests are going to be very much present through this process. That's why these are Levitical cities. These are not only the priests, but the servants of the Lord who have been given to the people of Israel. And the message in that, of course, is deliverance is not without the servants of the Lord. His appointed servants, you could say the anointed, those chosen by God to serve the assembly, to serve the congregation. It's a perpetual principle. It is here to this day in ancient Israel, the nearest male relative, it was his duty to murder the killer and execute vengeance on them for this, which causes us to say, well, I thought vengeance was mine, says the Lord.
But before I get to that, I'll come back to it in a minute. It is interesting that this word for the avenger of blood, the word avenger, is the same Hebrew word we come across in the Book of Ruth for kinsmen. So it is the responsibility of that kinsman to execute a family justice for taking a man. You know, if you killed a man, a husband in those days, it was a critical blow to a family if they had small children.
Without the man worker in the field, things would really become difficult for that family. So this was a very big deal. Numbers 35 verse 31, Moreover, you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. So if you were guilty that you couldn't get out of it, you would be sentenced. God, of course, overruled that very commandment at times. One time is with David in King David's case. He murdered Uriah, and the prophet Daniel told David that God had forgiven him. The subsequent events demonstrated that indeed God did speak to Nathan the prophet, and the people knew that he was a prophet and would not dare challenge him. The consequence would have been too severe. But of course, Nathan said the child will die, but you will be forgiven.
And you're going to have some other problems too. So these things, of course, they took place validating Nathan as he didn't need the validation, but the people knew this was God. My point is God did make exceptions.
The Avengers of Death would not be able to come and kill their king because their king had killed Uriah. Life gets sticky on certain levels. I mean, things just get very complicated. Not everything is as black and white as we would like it to be. And so often, God's people don't know that or behave as though that's not important and they can make things worse. We have this special weapon in the church. It's called grace.
It's called undeserved kindness. It's not without wisdom. It is not without justice. It is a very serious thing.
It's very costly because it cost the blood of the Lamb, God the Son. So this kinsman, the protector of family rights, that is what it means. That's the problem that Boaz and Ruth were up against. When Boaz said, well, there is a near kinsman than I, there is a family protector that is first in order before me, first in line, first position.
They had to go through him and it worked out, of course. These demands on justice, these limitations, of course, are wise. Justice in Numbers 35 where the rule of the city of refuge is, the first 25 verses, there is justice there. But then when you get to verses 26 and 28, the revenge is permitted if the person doesn't make it to the city. God gave license to just murder indiscriminately. Deuteronomy 32 verse 25 needs to be read right at this point. Vengeance is mine and recompense. Their foot shall slip in due time for the day of their calamity is at hand and the things to come hasten upon them.
God says I'm controlling this. But this provision in the civil law, one thing it did was act as a deterrent for carelessness. You'd think twice before you were reckless around other people and could harm someone because the avenger would come and get you. Sort of a vigilante justice. That was part of the law. He'd be justified.
God also recognized that at that time in history amongst the Jews, the forces of family honor was very powerful and instead of forbidding it, he contained it and he used it. We ask, are there any cases in the scripture where the avenger met up with the person who killed the family member? And yes, there is.
Abner and Joab. And I'll come to that in a little bit also. I've already caught up on some that I, if you're fact checking me, I've already fulfilled some of the promises. So verse 4, 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 the city, they shall take him into the city as one of them and give him a place that he may dwell among them. So there is the due diligence. He comes to the city. They determine, okay, he's innocent. This was not intentional.
He can come in the city and stay. The historians tell us that they would, if they did not have a trade, they would be given, taught a trade so that they could provide for themselves. But again, if they were guilty, they were executed or turned over to the avenger who would strike the first blow. Verse 20, 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. Deuteronomy 19 tells us that the Jews had to maintain these roads. They had to have roads just for this reason.
Deuteronomy 19, 3, you shall prepare roads for yourself and divide into three parts the territory of your land which Yahweh your God is giving to you to inherit that any man slayer may flee there. So you had to, again, keep those roads open and the rabbis commented on this over the years and that the basis for my earliest statements about keeping these roads accessible to the cities of refuge. Of course, as road builders and road workers for the gospel, we are to keep the road open too.
We can close up the roads, we can stumble, we can become just carnal, so carnal, who wants to hear the gospel from us? Especially if you're in a workplace, say an office environment where you're just there year in year out and the people are, you know, just the challenges that people bring being sinners. And if you're not careful, you can ruin your witness.
Well, you've put debris on the road that leads to refuge. Don't sell your witness short. Do not think that if you've worked in a particular place for years and no one has come to you to ask about Jesus Christ, it does not mean that they won't. It does not mean that you're failing. There could be a lot of reasons why.
Just be ready for when the time comes. And true, with some, some Christians enjoy quite a substantial amount of turnover and activity, see a lot of action when it comes to saving souls. I did as in the workplace, I would, I'd like to think that because I studied so much the Bible, even before becoming a pastor, I read it so much that I had the ammunition, I could engage. There was really no argument that I could not give a defense against coming from unbelievers. So God used me then, and I know therefore that he would use anybody if they're ready.
Well, why should it be a different way? Why should God use you to share the gospel if you are not able to articulate it? So this city of refuge deal is very good stuff for us to come across here in Joshua chapter 20. Christ is our care, and we are to care for lost souls, that it not be said by the lost soul, I am no one to care for me. Psalm 124, at a down point, the psalmist writes, look on my right hand and see, for there is no one who acknowledges me.
Refuge has failed me. No one cares for my soul. You take those words and you put them in the mouth of an unbeliever and it's a tragedy.
What is the antidote for that? Believers, spirit-filled. When I first became a Christian and I read those words of Paul, walk in the spirit that you give not into the temptations of the flesh. I thought it was going to just be an easy fit.
It was not, and it still is not. However, to give up and to abandon that and not pursue that walk in the spirit leaves you with nothing for that lost soul in need of care. Don't be too beat up by your shortcomings.
I mean, not at all. We can never be made comfortable in sin, but at the same time, Satan can use that against us to the point where he boils us down to nothing because we've let him. So when he accuses us of being sinners and no good and rotten, we say, we know that. That's why Christ died for us, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin, and it is recurrent.
Just like the blood that flows through your body is a process that's constant, so is the salvation of the Lord. You know, the legalists just kill this part of our faith. We have freedoms that we should exercise if we're going to be effective in Christ, not give you as a cloak for evil, just that focus on the bigger pictures. God's people never put the Canaanites completely out the land, and God never threw the people out because of that. They were cast out of the land because of their idolatrous practices. They did other crimes, and they neglected the Sabbath. God did not chuck them out of the land for that. He brought it back up, and he penalized them with their time and captivity for it, but the reason why was that they went towards other gods and the perversities that always go with false ideas about God.
What an encouragement for us. What did he say to the woman, Jesus, go and sin no more? But what about those men? Because he called them out.
He could have slayed them right there. He just, when he said, the one without sin, throw the first stone, he knew all their sins, and he doesn't, even those men, those hard, mean men, he did not humiliate them. What does that say to us? What would happen if David never sinned?
He was a warrior, he was a poet, he was this great man of God, he'd be an overwhelming figure. Well, the cities of refuge, we find it mentioned in Hebrews, and as a reminder, the letter to the Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians to tell them to stop acting as though they were Hebrews and not Christians. And in this letter, he of course ties in all that he points to Jesus Christ. He says, thus God determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise, the unchangeableness of his counsel, confirmed it with an oath. God says, I'm going to show you, I don't budge, I'm making an oath, my word is it, I'm not going to back off my word, and he continues, that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation. You see what I was talking about a minute ago? Strong consolation that the blood of Jesus Christ, Satan has no agent to destroy the work of Jesus Christ.
The individual can reject it, but what fool would do that? Heaven's going to be loaded with people who receive the grace of Jesus Christ. Thanks for tuning in to Cross Reference Radio for this study in the book of Joshua. Cross Reference is the teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia. If you're interested in more information about this ministry, please visit our website, crossreferenceradio.com.
You'll find additional teachings from Pastor Rick available there. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. By doing so, you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross Reference Radio. Just search for Cross Reference Radio in iTunes, Google Play Music, or your favorite podcast app. You can also follow the links at crossreferenceradio.com. We're glad we were able to spend time with you today. Tune in next time to continue learning from the book of Joshua right here on Cross Reference Radio.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-01-29 19:01:52 / 2024-01-29 19:10:55 / 9