Special Cities

A Place to find Refuge

Josh.20:1-3 “Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, “Tell the Israelites: Select your cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally or accidentally may flee there. These will be your refuge from the avenger of blood.”

Cities are set up throughout Israel for a person who unintentionally kills another person, a city of protection. The show in a very practical sense both God’s grace and His justice.

Not an escape from justice because the person still had to stand trial.

Guilt not in question…only intent.

Set the scene:

Who is the “avenger of blood?”

What would the city of refuge provide?

A Release upon Death

Value of human life is revealed, both the life of the slain person and the life of the one who unintentionally took the life. Underlying these true sanctuary cities is the assumption that human life is valuable.

Manslayer could not return to his normal life. Rather, he lives a life of practical exile.

Cities of refuge are simultaneously a sanctuary and prison.

Blood requires blood. PREACH THE GOSPEL — substitutionary death of our Great High Priest.

A Guard against Paganism

Cities are scattered, but mostly gathered along the borderlands.

These areas are not monastic sites. Instead, priests with specific duties lived there.

As Calvin puts it, they were “guardians” set up to lead the people in “pure worship of God.” They were to “preserve the purity” of YHWH worship throughout Israel.

Estimated that no Israelite was more than 10 miles from a Levitical city. Every person in need of instruction from God’s Word had ready access to it.

Further, their lives served as a sort of living parable for the people of God.

They had no land of their own, so they were functionally sojourners.

Their “sojourning” life is a reminder that we are all aliens here — this world is not our home.

Consider the need for “priestly” instruction today.

Before you hit me with “priesthood of the believer...”

First/foremost underscores a person’s ability to come before God without an earthly mediator. Christ is our mediator.

Second, it is not permission to take Scripture however you want.

It is good for churches to be lead into godliness through their pastors and leaders.

In order to guard against paganism today, we need not only the call of the gospel but also the depth of the gospel.

A word of warning: let us not get caught up in counting sheep while we forget to feed the sheep!

A Promise for Firm Footing

There is a summary statement given to remind us of God’s faithfulness.

“Sledgehammer” theology: Joshua pounds home God’s faithfulness to His promise. Don’t succumb to the temptation to say, “Oh, this point again.” Joshua intends to hammer this truth into our conscience.

In all that God says, not one single word falls unaccounted for.

The theology of God’s faithfulness to His promise should lead us to firm footing and proper praise.

This is healthy theology — theology that leads to doxology.

It is to be greatly preferred over soapbox theology.

Because of the certainty of God’s promise, we can take hope in the final foreshadow of this passage: rest.