Cities of Light

June 29, 2014
Joshua:  Turning Obedience Into Blessing
Joshua 21:  Cities of Light                          NOT EDITED

SIS –  Christians are called to be “light” in a dark world.

Did God have a plan for His nation, Israel?  Does God have a plan for our nation, America?  The latter question, which seems to bear upon us with more immediacy, was asked and answered in a book titled, “The Light and the Glory.”  This book provides theological and historical insight into what was right with our nation, and where we seem to have gone astray as we have aged.  “Light” and “Glory.”  These two elements fit together like and glove for a nation.  God says this of His chosen people Israel (Isaiah 49:6),

I will also make you a light for the nations,

to be My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

Joshua 21 describes how God built into the foundation of Israel the very means by which Israel could fulfill that mission of “lightbearing.”  Last week we looked at how God built a foundation of justice into Israel with the Cities of Refuge.  This week we follow up with the instilling of God’s message of hope and holiness with the Cities of Light.

The principles established in Joshua 21 for the nation of Israel hold true for any nation that will declare themselves, “One Nation Under God,” and seek to live out that devotion with passion for God and submission to His Word, the Bible.

Peter J. Marshall, the son of the beloved Chaplain of the Senate, Peter Marshall, writes, “America, America—until [a few] years ago, the name by itself would evoke a feeling of warmth.  Whether it was pride or gratitude or hope, the response of the majority of people on earth was deeply positive.”  He goes on to lament, “And then, with suddenness that is still bewildering, everything went out of balance.” 

“Everything went out of balance.”  That’s a mild, polite way of putting it!  He wrote these words nearly 37 years ago.  How much more severe has been America’s detour since then.  The decaying of the American dream is evident on streets throughout America—both physically and spiritually.

This same “loss of light” and plummeting decay that we witness nationally can be seen in Christian churches as well.  Churches that thrived 30 plus years ago and pulsated with a dream of reaching their communities with the light of the gospel have become but dim shadows of their former glory.  WE’VE LOST THE LIGHT!

God intends for His people nationally and spiritually to be a light to outsiders—that is, those outside the fold of His divine grace and mercy.  Can we get the “light” back in our nation and churches?  I think so.  God has given us a “Light Bearing Strategy” in His institution of Cities of Light, or Levitical cities in Israel.  With the “light” will come the “glory” of God upon those bearing the light, as Peter Marshall observed.  Let’s read about “Cities of Light.”

READ Joshua 1-8 

The first lesson in regard to “Cities of Light” is

1.  The Light’s INITIATION 1-8

Notice again verse 2:  “The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to live in, with their pasturelands for our livestock.”

As we noted in regard to God’s justice and the Cities of Refuge, the Cities of Light, or Levitical cities, were God’s idea.  This issue of God initiating all matters of grace shows up from the very first verse of the Bible to the very last verse.  Genesis 1:1 reminds us: “In beginning, God.”

The story of grace and the provisions of grace begin and end with God.  In fact, the last chapter of the last book, the Book of Revelation describes God as not only the First, but the Last in matters of grace and redemption:

^22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega,  the First and the Last,  the Beginning and the End.  (Alpha being the first letter of the Greek alphabet and Omega being the last).

God initiated the relationship between Himself and the nation of Israel, they are His “chosen” people.  Jesus reinforces this issue of initiation when He states to the disciples (John 15:16),

You did not choose Me, but I chose you.  I appointed you that you should go out and produce fruit.

So, what are we to make of this idea of “God’s initiation” of the Cities of Light?  Well, if God initiated something it would by definition be “good,” and therefore something that can only be ignored allowed to lapse at great consequence to ourselves.  God initiated Cities of Light because God wanted His people to remain in His Light and to reflect His light.  When we reflect His light, we receive His glory.  When we allow His light to go out—whether individually, in our families, in our churches, or in our nation—then disaster and decay comes upon us as the darkness of evil floods in to fill the void.  Even the smallest amount of light holds darkness at bay but without some light, darkness becomes the default position.

God initiated the Cities of Light as a pattern for His people to follow. Where God initiates a command, He likewise makes provision for that plan to be accomplished. Therefore we see another lesson unfold:

2.  The Light’s Provision (2-3)

Knowing the heart of God and what God has set down as the pattern for our lives, such as Cities of Light, allow us to make a bold claim upon God’s promises.  The Levites did not come before Eleazar the priest and Joshua the commander based upon their own merit or qualifications.  They came with the authority of God’s own promise.

“the Lord commanded!” (v2)

When we know the Word of God we can pray according to the will of God which gives us the authority of God and opens up the entire treasure house of God’s provisions.  This is not “presumptuous or prideful” praying, but praying with the authority that comes from understanding God’s purposes and plans for life.  Our boldness in seeking God’s provision for our lives comes from knowing God’s commands and applying them obediently to our lives.  Obedience always brings blessing because we can pray for and receive God’s provisions as He Himself has promised them to us.  But, be careful of a presumptuous “name-it-and-claim” it kind of praying or faith that seeks to manipulate God rather than a humble boldness that seeks to glorify God through obedience.

Another way of stating this matter is this:  “where God guides, God provides.”  Aligning ourselves with God’s purposes and patterns will always mean that we have “enough” to accomplish everything He asks us to accomplish.  Paul thus rested on this principle and spoke thusly:

I can do all things THROUGH CHRIST (Phil. 4:13).

The Cities of Light, or Levitical cities, established God’s pattern for Israel and paved the way for His provisions to flow in and through their lives, as long as they devoted themselves to being bearers of His light and truth.

There were 48 cities scattered all throughout the land of Israel to assure the mission light of God’s redemptive story would always burn brightly.  A major issue in maintaining the light of truth in Israel was keeping the flame of worship burning through the ministry of the Levitical priests.  The Levitical priests provided the leadership in the spiritual life of Israel.  God made special provision for them among Israelites.  The provision for the Levites, who received no ownership of land in Israel, was to be taken care of by the people of Israel in gratitude TO GOD for their service.  Look at verse 2 and 3 again:

² At Shiloh, in the land of Canaan, they told them, “The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to live in, with their pasturelands for our livestock.”  ³ So the Israelites, by the Lord’s command, gave the Levites these cities with their pasturelands from their inheritance.

Those serving in the worship leadership of Israel had the same material needs as every other Israelite.  If ever a carnal church member had an opinion about anything it would likely be the “monetary support” of the shepherd.  They may dwell in a nice house and drive a nice car and have a nice employer subsidized retirement and think nothing of it—but, for the pastor to have those same things, well . . . for the most part people in the pew “think nothing of it.”

A Christian teacher points to the focus of this passage by saying, “Church folk believe that man does not live by bread alone.  So, we gladly allow the minister and his family to feed on the Scriptures but not on sandwiches and spaghetti or – certainly not – steak!”

Cities of Light establish the foundation for God’s provisions for the people of God.  God cares for the needs of His people through the leadership of His “set aside” servants and intends for the people to care for the needs of His “set aside” servants.  A church would do well to establish a pattern of provision for their shepherds that shows gratitude for the spiritual provisions they receive through the life of their shepherds.  If the light of the leaders grows dim through impoverishment and unnecessary hardship, the light will not burn brightly among the people.

Knowing God’s pattern gave the Levites the boldness and authority to seek from God the provisions God had promised.

3.  The Light’s Purpose (20:9)

The Levites were “living parables” of how all of God’s followers should live on this earth—as pilgrims and sojourners.  The gospel song

This world is not my home I'm just a passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.

Look back to chapter 20, verse 9 for a moment:  ⁹ These are the cities appointed for all the Israelites and foreigners among them,

Literally, this verse speaks of “sojourners (foreigners) sojourning among them.”  Israel was established with a social ethic that expresses the “wideness of God’s mercy.”  God never intended for Israel to keep the Light of God to themselves.  God never intended for Israel to fall in love with the land, but to fall in love with Him and those people of His elect that had not yet been gathered into the fold.

A church begins to die and the “light” begins to dim the moment the focus becomes one of “camping in God’s provisions” instead of “pioneering in God’s purpose.”  The Cities of Light were not like “campfires around which the Israelites could roast hotdogs and sing Kum ba yah.”  No, they were battle torches that would light the way of the Israelites as they pressed deeper and deeper into the darkness.

The Cities of Light scattered generously (48 of them) across the landscape of the promised land to assure there would always be light for Israel—and more importantly, light FROM Israel.   The purpose of light is to give clear vision and prevent people from stumbling into the awful darkness of sin.  Throughout the Bible, especially the N.T. the metaphor of light being good and darkness being evil shows up everywhere.  Light conquering darkness is a common Biblical theme.

Jesus spoke of light (along with salt) as being indicative of the very mission of a true follower (Mt. 5:16):

¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine  before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Light represents goodness and life as opposed to darkness which represents evil and death.  Without Cities of Light, Israel would slip (and did slip) into darkness and evil.  Without Cities of Light, that is God’s churches, scattered throughout our nations metropolitan expanses, our nation will fall into darkness, disrepair, and death—as it has already fallen.

The purpose of Light is to illuminate the path to God Who is the source of all goodness and life. 

4.  The Light’s PENETRATION (9-42)

I want to take just a quick moment to point out the “penetration” of the Cities of Light.  Verses 41 and 42 give tell us the degree to which the Cities of Light penetrated and saturated the communities of God.

⁴¹ Within the Israelite possession there were 48 cities in all with their pasturelands for the Levites.  ⁴² Each of these cities had its own surrounding pasturelands; this was true for all the cities.

There were 48 of these Cities of Light scattered throughout the entire land to make sure that no place was left without the witness of God through the ministry of His priests.  All up and down the length of Israel and across her breadth was the Light of God through the ministry of His leaders.  No place was left without a witness.

This is instructive for the church today, whom Peter calls, “a royal priesthood.”  We must be scattered throughout our communities penetrating the darkness of our world as we reflect the Light of Jesus Christ shining on our lives.

The penetration of God’s Cities of Light was both extensive and effective.  The Cities of Light were situated to where everyone had access to the truth of God and examples from His leaders of how to apply that truth.  This goes along with the purpose of the light.  Light’s purpose is to penetrate darkness.

As we continue to examine these Cities of Light, we notice that chapter 21 ends with a summary (as several chapters in Joshua do) that highlights why God’s people should be full of praise for Almighty God, Yahweh, the God of the Covenant.  It serves as a postscript that elucidates the awesome goodness of God and the indestructibility of His plan.

4. The Lights Postscript 43-45

Often, after we have written a letter we realize we left off something very important so we add a P.S., or postscript, to the end.  Verses 43-45 serve as a P.S. on the end of chapter 21.

⁴³ So the Lord gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. ⁴⁴ The Lord gave them rest on every side according to all He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies were able to stand against them, for the Lord handed over all their enemies to them. ⁴⁵ None of the good promises the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed. Everything was fulfilled.

Tucked away here in this chapter is a nugget that summarizes how wonderfully powerful God’s truth, or light, really is.  Nothing can overcome the Light of the World.  At the smallest flicker of faith, darkness must flee.  God leaves nothing to chance and there is no chance that God’s Light will ever fade from this earth.

Verses 43-45 summarize in exhilarating fashion the glory of God’s plan, especially as we have seen it unfold through Joshua.  We’ve seen and discussed the power of God and His sovereignty before.  God’s plan cannot fail.  When we follow His plan, we cannot fail.  When we scatter “Cities of Light” across the landscape of our land, we will see revival.  Obedience ALWAYS brings blessing—ALWAYS!

Look at how verses 43-45 summarize the plan of God as it worked out in the lives of the Israelites.  Verse 43 speaks of the present situation aptly summarizing chapters 13-21:

⁴³ So the Lord gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled there.

Verse 44 reminds us of the struggles it took to get to where they are which summarize the victories of chapters 1-12:

⁴⁴ The Lord gave them rest on every side according to all He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies were able to stand against them, for the Lord handed over all their enemies to them.

Verse 45 not only summarizes the entire theme of Joshua, but indeed the entire theme of the Bible:

⁴⁵ None of the good promises the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed. Everything was fulfilled.

The Book of Joshua, like all the O.T., is a metaphor for what it means to be a fully devoted follower of God through Jesus Christ.  Presently, we occupy the land that God promised He would give us.  God says that He will provide for our needs, and He is doing it.  Our present occupation of the land and the experience of God’s grace, however—and this is a BIG however—is not without struggle and conflict.  Sine is everywhere and we must “fight the good fight.”  Finally, the most important aspect of faith in Jesus Christ:  “Everything has been and will be fulfilled.  Not one of God’s promises has, or ever will fail.”

The next three chapters of Joshua will teach us how to “retain the blessings that God has given us and continue to live in a state of blessing through obedience.”  But here in this summary verse of chapter 21, verse 45, we have the faith-sustaining promise from God Himself that His plan will succeed in our lives and in our world—regardless of how hard the struggle might be at present.

Bible history is not about the past—it is about the future.  The O.T. is not so much what happened with Israel as it is what God intends for all of His people for all time—to live in the Land of His Promises and Provision.  You can count on God because He has a 100% record of faithfulness.  Following God is like buying a lottery ticket when you already know the winning numbers.  No—it is much more than that!

The Levitical Cities, or the Cities of Light, teach us that God wants His truth to be evident in and through His people.  The lamp of prayer must always be lit and the torch of truth must be carried into the darkness of our world.  We, believers in Jesus Christ, are God’s “Cities of Light.”  The Light of Christ reflecting off of our devotion points others to saving faith in Jesus Christ. 

We must not put this light under the “bushel of religion” hidden away in musty sanctuaries.  The Light of our lives must be scattered throughout our communities as we go about our daily tasks.  We cannot afford to allow our cities to go dark because we practice our faith only one day a week in only one place.  The Levites were scattered among the people as living parables of what God wants us to be and do.

Go . . . be the Light of the World and God will meet your every need.

God's Justice

June 22, 2014
Joshua: Turning Obedience Into Blessing
Joshua 20:  God’s Justice                                  NOT EDITED

SIS – God’s justice demands payment for sin, and
His grace provides it.

October 3, 1995 is perhaps one of the most memorable dates in the history of the American judicial system.  It is certainly one of the most, if not the most televised verdict of any trial in history.  In fact, the trial itself is referred to as, “The Trial of the Century.”  The defendant was the well-known football legend and celebrity, O.J. Simpson.  The crimes for which he was charged included the extremely brutal murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.  I listened to the trial daily while selling cars at a Ford dealer in Modesto, California.  By the time of the verdict, I had entered seminary in Fort Worth, TX.  He jury pronounced Simpson, “Not Guilty.”  Was justice served?  Nearly two decades later the jury of public opinion is still sharply divided.  For those who believe Simpson got off with murder, I suppose there is a bit of justice in the fact that he now sits in a prison cell for in Nevada for other charges.  Justice—this is an extremely important topic.  Increasingly, however, it seems that the “justice system” in America is broken—the guilty seem to go free all too many times.  But, I digress.  My purpose is not to analyze American jurisprudence but to examine the foundation upon which the American justice system stands—that is, God’s justice.

“Justice” is one of those words we use commonly that means a lot more than we generally communicate.  When man speaks of “justice” it normally refers to “the process or result of using laws to fairly judge and punish crimes and criminals.” Unlike the issue of simple “fairness” which implies the right treatment of others in a general sense, justice normally implies someone has done something wrong and that wrong must be rectified or made right.  Justice is more specific than simple fairness.

Where do we get this idea that “wrongs must be made right?”  Or, where do we get any moral virtues at all?  All human virtues derive from the nature of God.  Morality means that a person’s behavior imitates or approximates God’s character.  Justice is a virtue of Almighty God.  God in his essence is “righteous, or just” in that He always acts in the right way because He is the standard of right or wrong.  Therefore, when man sins, man violates the Just nature of God.  Sin affronts God’s holiness and therefore is a grievous wrong that must be made right:  that is, justice must always be served.

For this reason, that God is just, the sinfulness of man however evident or clandestine must be dealt with.  A price must be paid for every sin of every sinner in order to maintain God’s holiness and righteous balance in His universe.  Wrongs must be made right, and that process we call, “justice.”  It is God’s righteous justice that demands sinners be punished.  A price, a propitiation (or expiation) for sin MUST be paid to maintain God’s righteous order.  Rom. 3:25

²⁵ God presented Him as a propitiation  ^y through faith in His blood,  to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God  passed over the sins previously committed.

I’ll say more about this as we go.  Our text today gives a “physical example” of God’s attribute of justice, or righteousness.  If God does not exist, then justice would be simply an illusion.  Through Joshua, God gives us a practical lesson on justice which points ultimately to Jesus Christ who satisfied the justice of God by paying the penalty for sin.  There is far more to this passage in Joshua 20 than how we should treat transgressors.  Cities of Refuge are an O.T. picture of Jesus Christ Who satisfies the justice of God by paying the penalty for the sin of everyone for all time.  The Bible refers to Jesus as “Our Refuge” in many places.  For example, Pslam 18:2:

² The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,

my God, my mountain where I seek refuge,

Let’s read this text together that demonstrates the Just nature of God.  The manner in which God instructs the Israelites how to deal with those who commit “crimes” gives us a picture of how God deals with our sin.  SIS

READING

1.  First, examine the GRACE of God’s Justice (vv 1-2)

Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, ² “Tell the Israelites: Select your cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses.

This is not the first mention of Cities of Refuge.  God gave this instruction in Deuteronomy (and Numbers) years before the Israelites came into the Promised Land.  This would be a new approach to justice that would flow from the very character of Yahweh, the Supreme Judge of Israel (Gen. 18:25). 

Before Cities of Refuge, justice was swift, cruel, and capricious and many innocent people died.  The means by which a transgressor could be spared this swift and final payment for his transgression was God’s novel idea of Cities of Refuge.  It was God’s idea.  Human justice, remember, reflects the virtue of God’s just nature.  Man did not come up with the idea of justice.  Cities of Refuge assured that every person would be treated fairly.  This was a novel idea for the ancient world.  Other societies did not show this kind of respect for the rights of an individual.  God is initiating a new idea—Cities of Refuge that would allow a person to have a full and fair hearing.  From the virtue and character of Almighty God we have the foundational principle of our justice system which is, “innocent until proven guilty.” 

This novel approach to the treatment of persons accused of wrongdoing flows out of  God’s grace.  God’s justice demands payment for sin, and His grace provides it.  God’s holiness demands that wrongs be expiated, or paid for.  Every sin MUST be punished. Praise God, He came up with a way that, “through grace,” justice could be satisfied and we could be set free. 

Just as Cities of Refuge were God’s idea and His initiative, so too is salvation from our sins.  Salvation is “by grace”—the free, undeserved gift of God.  Without God’s initiating grace there would be no justice for those accused of crimes, and even more, there would be no salvation for those guilty of sin.  It is not that man did not have a form of justice before the Cities of Refuge but that it was cruel and capricious and people were not treated fairly.

It is also true that man had a form of salvation before God initiated His plan of grace.  Every culture known to man had some form of worship.  Atheism has never been the default position of mankind.  The problem with religious plans of salvation, like mankind’s plan for legal justice is they just did not work.  There is no refuge outside of God’s initiative, or God’s grace.

Some people have erroneously taught that the O.T. is about the Law and the N.T. is about Grace.  This misses the mark by a mile.  The Bible is a book of grace from beginning to end, O.T. and N.T.  Here we see the sovereign grace of God pictured in miniature as God outlines how justice should be pursued.  The Cities of Refuge were “God’s idea” and design, just like our eternal salvation, or refuge in Christ, is God’s idea and design.

2.  Second, notice they accessibility of God’s Justice. 

⁷ So they designated Kedesh in the hill country of Naphtali in Galilee,  Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.  ⁸ Across the Jordan east of Jericho, they selected Bezer on the wilderness plateau from Reuben’s tribe, Ramoth in Gilead from Gad’s tribe, and Golan in Bashan from Manasseh’s tribe.

Six Cities of Refuge were established:  three on the Western side of the Jordan, and three on the Eastern side.  They were situated one in the North, one in the Central region and one in the South on both sides of the Jordan.  This meant that a City of Refuge was easily accessible in a day’s journey from any territory of the Twelve Tribes.

This was necessary because justice was swift in ancient days, unlike the justice we see played out in American courts of today.  The Cities of Refuge dealt with the crime resulting in the death of a person.  The death could have been unintentional or intentional and the Cities of Refuge were established to make sure that the Avenger of Blood, verse 3, did not get to the person before the person had a chance to plead his or her case.  The Avenger of Blood was usually the nearest male kin to the person who was killed.  The Avenger of Blood, according to Numbers 35 was duty bound to “redeem” the blood of a kinsman by shedding the blood of the one who killed his kinsman.  There was no “trial by jury.”  The ancient assumption in regard to the Avenger of Blood was, “guilty until . . . well, struck dead!”  It was a wild-west type of justice:  swift, effective, but not always accurate.

So, God initiated a process that would assure that human justice would approximate His Righteous Virtue as near as possible.  God slowed down the process by taking the Avenger of Blood out of the equation until a full hearing of the circumstances was made. 

In order for justice to be righteous, every person had to have equal access.  Again, we see where American judicial practice conforms to the Biblical proscription of “equal access.”  The phrase, Equal justice under law is a engraved on the front of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington D.C.  The words themselves do not appear in the Constitution but are based upon the Fourteenth Amendment.  The idea of “justice for all” is also pronounced boldly in the conclusion of our Pledge of Allegience:

. . . one Nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

This is yet one more, of many, instances where we see that American jurisprudence—the principles and practices of law—derive directly from the principles of God’s Word.

God’s design for the Cities of Refuge was to place them within equal access from anywhere in Israel.  Anyone from any tribe had the same opportunity to seek refuge from the Avenger of Blood.  God’s justice is righteous (in fact the words are both from the same root).  The Bible tells us that God treats everyone fairly, or righteously.  Acts 10:34 tells us:

“Now I really understand that God doesn’t show favoritism,  ³⁵ but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him.

In this “accessibility to a City of Refuge” we have an enormously important doctrine highlighted in regard to God’s grace in salvation:  God’s offer of grace is made to anyone and everyone regardless of their sinful deeds or standing in the community.  God’s grace is “unlimited,” to the degree that God offers it to all.

Again, we must reiterate that the Cities of Refuge give us a picture of Jesus Christ, Our Refuge.  Jesus did not die, for a few, for all.  Now, those of you who subscribe to the doctrine of grace that teaches “Limited Atonement,” it is not my purpose here to debate that issue.  The Bible clearly teaches that God makes the offer of saving grace to anyone and everyone who would “act righteously by accepting the offer” as we see in Acts 10:34 a moment ago and many other places.

The picture of God’s saving grace through Christ that we see outlined in this passage of the Cities of Refuge teaches us that God “wishes that none should perish but all come to a saving knowledge of Christ” (2Pet. 3:9).  God does not want any artificial barriers standing between the lost sinner and the saving gospel.  God wants the gospel to be accessible to all people.  Too often, the biggest barrier to a person accessing the gospel is the very institution God established to present the gospel—the Church.  Just think for a moment how hard First Baptist Church makes it to access the gospel.

Take our property.  How inviting is it for a lost person to drive up into our small parking lot and then try to find their way to the small doors leading into our sanctuary?  In fact, do you know of any sign that clearly marks—this way to the sanctuary?  And, if we did have such a sign it would point out another barrier that makes it hard to access the gospel at First Baptist Church—our language. What is a “sanctuary?”  How do you dress to go to a “sanctuary.”  What is the sanctuary actually protecting? If they do get by that language barrier and stumble their way into the “sanctuary,” how do you think they are going to like the pews—squeezing into a pew next to people they have never met before?  I could go on but my point is this:  all that seems familiar, even holy, to us have no meaning whatsoever to the person on the street.  Having a church building actually becomes a “barrier” to people accessing the gospel, not a bridge.

Most people in Thousand Oaks (or any city in America) have no real, meaningful access to God’s City of Refuge.  We must establish “refuge points” in the marketplace of our city where people can have easy access to God’s grace through the gospel presentation of God’s people.  If we are counting on the church property being the “refuge point” we will never see a great revival.  The Cities of Refuge were “multiple points of contact” away from the centers of worship.

I’d love to say more about this but we must move on.

3.  The Values of God’s Justice

⁶ He is to stay in that city until he stands trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest serving at that time.  Then the one who committed manslaughter may return home to his own city from which he fled.”

What is at the heart of God’s justice?  One Bible scholar states the matter like this:  “This chapter breathes the sanctity of human life—both the manslayer’s and the dead man’s life.” (Davis).  Life—that’s what God’s justice is all about—life!  Life is so precious that when it was taken with either maliciously or accidentally, the life had to be accounted for.  This was the whole purpose of the Avenger of Blood—the taking of life was a wrong that MUST be righted.  God’s justice demanded, a “life for a life.”

If the one fleeing to the city was found upon evidence to have acted maliciously he was turned over to the family and capital punishment (normally by stoning) was enacted.  The kinsman’s life was redeemed.  The wrong had been made right.  But, even if the person fleeing had killed someone unintentionally, that is accidentally, he was not free to go.  He had to remain in the City of Refuge for the rest of his life, or “until the high priest died.”  The assumption from the text is that the death of the high priest would be accepted by the dead man’s kin as a “substitute.”  The manslayer was spared, but he was not innocent.

Clearly, this text points us to Jesus Christ, the High Priest.  The Bible says (Heb. 4:14):  Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to the confession.  ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are,  yet without sin.  ¹⁶ Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

Grace does not make us “innocent,” it only makes us “justified.”  You know doubt have heard it said, “Justification means just-as-if-you-hadn’t-sinned!”  Well, that’s wrong!  Justification means, “Just because of Jesus!” Just like the kin of the dead man accepted the death of the high priest of the city as a substitute for the death of the manslayer, God has accepted the death of His Son, Jesus, as a substitute for our own death.  The death of Jesus Christ is God’s ultimate and consummate statement on the “sanctity of human life.”  Justice demanded a “life for a life.”  Ezekiel stated, “the soul that sins must surely die” (18:20).  God’s justice absolutely could not, cannot, overlook the sin in our hearts.  But, life is so precious to God—it arose out the very breath of God, Himself—that God grieves at the eternal death of even one soul!  So, God did something about it—He sent His only Son to die so that our life might be spared.  The Eternal Son of God’s death on the cross, substituted for the penalty of our eternal death in hell.  We simply need to run to Jesus, Our Refuge.  His life substitutes for our life and we will one day return to our home in heaven.

The substitutionary death of Jesus, the High Priest, maintains both the values of God’s love and God’s holiness, without diminishing either.

Now, God’s justice does not remove all the consequences of our actions.  As one writer stated, “the cities of refuge were at same time both a prison and a refuge.”  While we are in this flesh we will not be completely free from the presence of sin.  One day, however, because of the death of Jesus, Our High Priest, we will leave this prison of flesh.

4.  The satisfaction of God’s Justice

Here’s where I wanted to get to all along in this text:  the satisfaction of God’s justice.  God’s justice demands payment for sin, and
His grace provides it.  Look at verse 9:

⁹ These are the cities appointed for all the Israelites and foreigners among them,  so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there and not die at the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the assembly.

I want to focus in on one word in that verse:  “until.”  Note that it was not enough to simply make one’s way to a City of Refuge.  That would give you temporary asylum but not immediate absolution.  The word, “until,” is a preposition that assumes something else is coming. The manslayer was safe for the time being, but judgment was coming.  The manslayer fleeing to the City of Refuge would stand before the assembly of the city and state his case.  If the evidence showed that the manslayer was guilty of intentional homicide, he would be released as we have said to face his sentence—which was death.

“Until” applies to us also.  God’s justice WILL BE SATISFIED!  There is coming a time when everyone will stand before God’s Assembly.  Hebrews 9:27 tells us, and I will paraphrase a bit:

And just as it is appointed for people to die once—

and after this, judgment

“After this” holds the same significance for you and I as “until” did for the manslayer before the assembly in the City of Refuge.  The Apostle John describes this “assembly” (Rev. 20):

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.  ¹² I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.  Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works  by what was written in the books.

There are at least two sets of books:  the Book of Life represents one set, and the Book of Works represents the other set.  The only book that really matters is the Book of Life.  If your name appears in that Book, you will enter into eternal life in God’s House.  If your name is not in the Book of Life, you will be weighed according to your deeds in this world and assigned an appropriate seat in hell for all eternity.  People ask me, will hell be the same for everyone? I don’t know and I’m not going to go to find out!

Know this:  you can do as you please here on earth, “until” you stand at the Assembly before Almighty God.  God’s justice will be satisfied either by grace or wrath.  The choice is yours.

Cities of Refuge served two purposes.  One, they gave Israel the highest degree of justice of any ancient nation, patterned after the just character of Almighty God.  By extension, God’s justice forms the foundation for America’s judicial system.  Second, the Cities of Refuge give us a portrait of Jesus Christ, Our Refuge from sin. 

The Cities of Refuge were situated to give every person easy access, but nobody was compelled to go to one of them.  A person was free to take his or her chances with the Avenger of Blood—a very effective system of retribution. 

Today, if you have never fled to Jesus Christ as a refuge for your soul, do it now before it is too late.

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