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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