Refuge (This way)

Gidday team, my name is Joe and I have the privilege of preaching to you this morning and next week. So in thinking about what to preach, I considered what book of God’s word has shaped me over the course of last year, and I’ve been profoundly impacted by the book of Deuteronomy. for when we look to understand the grace and mercy found in Jesus, we ought to consider the laws of Moses and how they should still shape our lives today.

The Ten Commandments often get a bit of a pass over, in my experience, we don’t often sit down to dwell on how good the commandments are and the ethics of what they mean for us as New Testament believers.

Recently I was teaching the ten commandments to our homeschooling community kids and the 6th command, you shall not murder! Was a standout favorite. Largely because the boys enjoyed using lego to explain the many ways that one lego character could kill another. The fascinating part for me was not in the numerous scenarios in which someone might kill another, but rather in the resulting justice. The kids were quick to declare an eye for an eye. Justice must be had, the kids knew it and they demanded it. The bad guy must get punished. Equally interesting was how much they wanted the accidental killer to be free. They said, “Well clearly it's not their fault, they didn't mean to kill that person so they must be free to live, but they should say sorry though.”

Kids are great they see the world simply and justice is very matter-of-fact.

The moral of the lesson for the kids was that in order to not kill someone, you had to forgive first. They agreed that you couldn’t get angry at someone and then plan to kill them if you had already forgiven them first. I hope those kids will remember the simplicity of that, and today as we unpack our passage we will learn that the moral of this passage is much the same. We will see how Deuteronomy reveals God’s character and prepares us for the good news of Jesus Christ's work on the cross.

This sermon will unpack the passage in three parts

God provides (refuge & justice)

Two types of people

Then asking two questions: What’s my hope? and What’s my purpose?

This should all lead us to understand that God provides our refuge in Jesus so we must flee to him repentantly.

First, Let’s learn about a God who loves his people. A god who loves Justice and provides a brilliant and beautiful way for his people to receive it.

Deuteronomy reveals who God is to his people. Moses is giving an important sermon to the nation of Israel before they enter the promised land on how to live in the land according to God’s commands.

God provides refuge

God so far has promised his people rest in the land, and after 40 years of wandering the desert, Israel will soon inhabit that land. While they prepare to set up their lives and begin to dwell in the land, God instructs a strangely specific command for an aspect of life that no other culture ever considered before.

Cities of refuge. Three cities are to be measured and set aside as cities of refuge. A place for the man-slayer to flee to upon the killing of another. God in verses 1-3 is revealing to his people that he cares deeply for the justice of the innocent by providing refuge for the man-slayer.

What a great concept. It’s excellent to read about God’s concern for justice because inherently we all care deeply for justice, as I mentioned with the kids and their Lego characters they saw justice as the most important part of murder.

We especially love justice when an injustice has been bestowed upon us personally, So here God is revealing a good plan for justice to happen. No other culture at the time of Israel entering the promised land had any provision to ensure a pathway for the justice of an innocent person in the case of the death of a neighbor. Other cultures at the time were similar to Israel in that if a man kills another man then the killer must be put to death period, with no ifs or buts.

A blood avenger as they were known, is a common aspect of life for the world at the time, however, what was radical was that Israel was to have a place of refuge for any man-slayer in order that justice be had. Not only that the cities exist, but the paths are to be set up with signposts. ‘Measuring the distance,’ according to Jewish scholars, was referring to signposts that would have read “refuge this way.”

The point here is that Israel is to be different because the God of Israel is different. He is unlike any other god, unlike any man, the God of Israel is a God of refuge and justice.

Interestingly The repeated phrase in Deuteronomy is “follow my commands and life will go well for you.” And here it is, God, instructing the infrastructure of a nation to include refuge for an aspect of life that becomes difficult if you don’t have it.

Often we come to these law passages and think, oh my goodness, another law, how oppressive it must have been. How demanding is this God that he would require so much of his people? You see law can often put us into an uncomfortable head space as we think about all the restrictions placed on us.

However, when we read this passage we must walk away from it, in awe at the God who loves his people so much that he would care this much to provide for a very specific scenario of life. He cares to prepare pathways for justice. That he would provide refuge for the accidental moments in life, particularly ones that lead to the death of another. We should think about the joy of living life well when we follow God’s rules for life because he not only saved his people out of Egypt, but he lays out a blueprint for living well in the land that he provided. This is a good and loving God, whose law is good as it provides wellbeing, in this passage, wellbeing in light of refuge and justice.

This leads us to understand how these cities were to be used. There are 5 passages in the Old Testament that describe their use, and today's passage gives us two types of people.

Two types of people (4-6, 11-13)

The first kind of person is the unintentional man-slayer (v4). It gives us a scenario that may occur in which one may find themselves unintentionally killing their neighbor by accidentally slinging their ax and hitting them on the head. Because this person did not hate their neighbor in the past, they are undeserving of death by the blood avenger. This person is described in verses 4- 6.

The second person described is found in verses 11-13 is the intentional man-slayer, the murderer. The one who waits and attacks. They are the ones deserving of death by the blood avenger for intentionally killing their neighbor.

Two types of people, the accidental murderer and the intentional murderer. Simple, I love it when God puts a binary choice, it’s like we get to be just one or the other. But before we start to choose which character we are in this story and how it applies to us we need to appreciate the depth of what is being said. Thankfully God almost always says everything twice if not more. So we need to pay attention to what Jesus says about the law. Thank you_________ for reading Matthew 5:21-26 earlier.

You see, we are new testament readers. We are a modern-day society. We have rules and regulations for how we are to deal with murder and manslaughter as we call it in court. You leave church this morning and accidentally kill someone reversing your car, our justice system will step in and you will go through that process.

However, after listening to Jesus we must certainly be confronted that this passage in Deuteronomy is far deeper than a mere judicial exercise of justice. Not taking away the importance and particularly how radical that was for Israel to have.

Rather Jesus informs us that simply being angry with someone is subject to judgment as is murder. Wow, let that sink in.

When we hate someone, when we are angry with someone, even if we are cold towards someone, we are murdering them in our hearts. Now, this as we know can be either intentional or unintentional. In my experience, I’ve unintentionally murdered many people. I grew up in Auckland and wrestled with many less-than-ideal drivers in traffic, I’ve definitely been a less-than-ideal driver myself. But also, when someone cuts in front of you when you’ve lined up for your parachute concert tickets, or the smart kid in class always gets the answer right. It’s easy to get upset and find yourself angry at people with little cause or reason.

But we also intentionally get angry with people too. This usually happens over time, and it is often with people that have some direct impact on our lives. For example, it's pretty easy to intentionally get angry at someone who promotes the abortion industry, the illegal drug industry, or even someone who might say let’s start a vaccine passport system. Especially when one person doing all three of those things. But often it's those we love the most that we get truly angry with. I’ve never felt anger like I have as a father, my kids have brought out an anger in me I never knew I had. I’m almost 5 years into fatherhood and I’ve got a lot to learn about my issue with anger. But for all of us, I’m sure we could think of a family member or work colleague or friend who has caused some severe hurt and you felt that burning anger against them.

We have to face it, anger is a problem for us and our culture.

Jesus tells us that all anger is wrong. Jesus is the only person to truly succeed at righteous anger, for us it is no good thing.

So what do I do about it then?

What is the passage in Deuteronomy telling us?

What is my hope?

Well, I’ve got some great news for you. This is a passage of hope and it provides a path of justice for your heart.

The answer lies in who Jesus is, not only in what he said, but who he is in this old testament passage. You see Deuteronomy, like every other Old Testament book, is a book that points to Jesus. It reveals the God of Isreal and by doing so, brings out the depth of Jesus Christ in who he is.

In short: Jesus is our refuge and pays the penalty for our sins giving justice for the man-slayer.

You see we learn that God loves justice. The uncomfortable truth is, we are all guilty of murder in the context of what Jesus has said because at some point we have been angry, or at least cold with someone else. I don’t think anyone can claim innocence over that. So we need to see our guilt, we need to accept that we have sinned in this way. Because we need to see that we deserve the punishment for that sin. It’s not ok that we are angry at someone else, even if it does not hurt them as far as we can see. Justice would demand that we pay the penalty for our sins, otherwise, we would be in danger of living in a world where we promote injustice.

If we love justice, then we must accept it when it’s applied to us. That’s the hard part.

The good news is that God has provided The Way for us to be forgiven of our sin and for justice to occur. Simply to be forgiven would not be enough for justice, justice requires payment for that sin. That’s the amazing part, God has paid that for us. He has paid the price of our sin, through the death of Jesus on the cross. His death took the punishment for all sin because he was completely innocent of sin. His obedience and justified life was perfect and therefore infinitely powerful. He could take on all sin and defeat it because he knew no sin.

God reveals to us in the New Testament that we are to find our refuge in Jesus. We are to flee to him with our sins, in this case, our anger, both intentional and accidental and we are to repent of our ways. Turn our hearts away from the desires of our flesh and cling to Jesus. To be transformed by Jesus clean from our debt of sin. That is the only way to receive both refuge from our sin and for justice to be had, for the avenger to be satisfied as is the custom of God’s people.

This is what God means by obeying his commands. To be obedient to his commands you will flee to Jesus and repent of your anger, repent of your murder, repent of your sin.

In doing so you will be forgiven. Jesus’ resurrection is the assurance of his power and the defeat of sin. He can and will forgive us because he is both the justice and refuge we need in order to be forgiven.

But hold on Joe, how did you get there from Deuteronomy?

Our passage today has much to teach us about the ethics of living in the land. As we live in a time when Jesus is revealed to us as God’s promised savior, our refuge and strength. As Israel was to find their rest in the land, we are to find our rest in Jesus. We are to live in Jesus as Israel was to live in the land. That is we are to live in obedience to him. By walking in his ways always.

How great is our God that we have the provision of refuge when we accidentally find ourselves in anger against a brother or sister? If you are a Christian today, and you find yourself this afternoon angry at someone else, for no particular reason, maybe they ate the last cookie. Then Deuteronomy tells us to flee to the city of refuge. That is to flee to Jesus. Flee and be repentant of your anger. Hand it over to Jesus to deal with and live in his presence at peace with the object of your anger. This is a continual provision of God that we are to seek his refuge from our unintentional sins. So flee to him. That is to identify as the first of our two types of people.

However, if we find ourselves more likened to the second person described in this passage. The one who intentionally waits for their victim and attacks in anger. There is news for us.

God does not provide refuge for those who seek to sin. For those who plan to continue in their sin while living in the land, there is only judgment to face. This is especially important as we think about the work of Jesus on the cross. There is no refuge in Jesus Christ for intentional sinners, who go on still in their sin. I’ll repeat that, Those who flee to Christ repentant of their sins shall be safe in him, but not those who expect to be sheltered by him in their sins, they have a just judgment to face.

God makes it clear in Deuteronomy that these cities were a place of justice, a place of refuge for those to work through the consequence of their actions free from worry about injustice.

And why does God do this? Why does he make these provisions for his people in the land?

Let us look at verses 8-10

The purpose of refuge

It is for the ongoing protection of his people. That they would live well in the land.

There was clearly an issue of innocent blood being shed for the accidental murderer, innocent blood was not okay with God as he shows that he cares for justice to occur. This ongoing protection was to expand as Israel expanded, they were to build more cities, more roads with signs, and provide more refuge. Sadly, Israel did not live in God’s ways, they did not prepare any more cities as instructed, and they did not expand the refuge program.

Imagine the strain on the system, imagine the innocent blood being spilled as refuge was too far away. Israel let itself down. But before I get too heavy on Israel, I should apply this passage to us as a church first and consider the refuge we have in Christ, and whether the church is providing that refuge for God’s people today.

You see, there is a corporate nature to God’s word for Israel here. God is speaking to both the individual and the nation as a group. There are always two avenues of application throughout this book to consider.

As New Testament Christians we are to continue this charge of growing the kingdom in and through Jesus. That is the final command we get from him.

This is where we ought to understand from this passage that we have not only been saved from our sin of murder but also saved that we would provide refuge for the murderers among us. This is an important message to the church today. Together as we gather, whether in small groups or as a large body. We are to be a place of refuge for one another as we deal with our sin of murder, guiding each of us to live repentantly in Jesus' name. We cannot sit idle while our brothers and sisters dwell on their anger or cold-heartedness toward one another. We must purge the sin of anger from our midst. And remember this is for our good. The result is well-being.

Imagine, these cities, in all reality, were places that had the constant presence of murderers. They were places where accidental manslayers were found, but also where intentional manslayers would hide. A place where you would walk in the presence of those who are capable of killing another. Yet these were places of great importance to God. Cities that displayed the God who loves justice.

These cities were for the people of God. These were cities not prescribed to the outsiders, but for the body of Israel to regulate itself with justice. We still need this provision today. We as a body of people are not better than Israel before us. Jesus changes what we understand these cities to look like, but he does not change the principle that is described here.

That is, we must take our anger as murder seriously. We should not get comfortable living with any anger or coldness against another that we are not actively seeking to be clean of. We must not be the ones described as waiting to attack while living in Jesus. The consequence of that is to face the just judgment of our sin. Rather we are to flee to Jesus repentant of our sins, and be repentant when we get caught up in anger. Displaying that repentance to others as a witness of what Jesus has done for us.

And importantly, we as a church community must establish the infrastructure of refuge within our church, starting with each of us here today. Each of us is more than capable of cultivating a culture of refuge for those around us. We are all in need of refuge from our sins, our accidental sins, and our thought-out sins. Do you feel comfortable approaching others in this room to confess your sin? Do you find that people confess their sins to you? The point is that we share in the responsibility of Israel before us to receive one another with our sins, guiding each other towards Christ. Who gives us the antidote for our anger.

That antidote, the remedy for anger is forgiveness. That is what Jesus has done for us and it is what we are to do for others. Forgive.

Therefore for the evangelists among us, I encourage us to deal with our anger by first apologizing to non-believers we get angry at. Explain to them the refuge we have received in Christ. Explain the justice required for that anger, and the cost of it, and explain what Jesus did on the cross for all sin to be paid. Pray and repent in Christ’s name, laying down the reason for anger at the foot of the cross. And finally, ask the nonbeliever for their forgiveness.

There is so much depth to the City of refuge, there is much more to say. However, I hope that today’s passage and sermon have helped us all to see how God expands our understanding of his 6th command, do not murder, that within that command we find our need to flee to the refuge we have in Jesus. That we would strive to cultivate a culture within our church that provides refuge for the sin of murder among our people. That we would seek to forgive as Jesus has forgiven each of us.

So run to Jesus, I’m holding the sign post that reads, refuge, this way!

Let’s pray.