Christ Our Refuge

The Protection of Purity

Before we begin our study this morning, we have to know why God put this system into place. Because every rule God ordains He does so with the goal in mind of protecting His holiness and ours.

The Bible says that sin is missing the mark— and Jesus is the standard! God wants a holy people!

Holiness is not the way to Christ: Christ is the way to holiness!

Numbers 35:33: “So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.”

In this passage God defines two types of crimes:

murders of passion & wrath, murders of intent and premeditation

manslaughters which were accidental & not done in anger or enmity

However, either way, blood was shed and the ground the nation and its ground was polluted.

Leviticus 18:25: “And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.”

Deuteronomy 21:23: “His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.”

Hosea 4:2-3: “By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, And blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, And every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, With the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; Yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.”

II Kings 24:4: Of Nebuchadnezzar, the Bible says, “And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the Lord would not pardon.”

We still remember that when Cain rose up and slew Abel, his blood cried from the ground.

So, in this text, God designed a way to purify the land, and His plan was quite simple. If you were guilty of angry and premeditated murder, you should die, but if you were not guilty of malicious murder, there was a place that you could run— and find refuge.

The Process of Protection

If you were a slayer of mankind— the refuge was for you. If you knew that you had not malignantly taken innocent life, but you also knew that the avenger of blood was after you, you had but one option— RUN TO A CITY OF REFUGE.

There are some things that you MUST remember & know about these cities:

these cities were for everyone. Numbers 35:15: “These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither.”

for the children of Israel

for the stranger passing through the land

for the sojourner among the population

“everyone”

you were never very far from one of these cities of refuge

there were three on the east side of the Jordan River

there were three on the west side of the Jordan River

Presumably, you were never more than 40 miles away from a town where you could find protection

these cities of refuge were levitical towns of the Jews

when Moses received instruction on dividing the land and when Joshua carried out Moses’ plan, He gave the tribe of Levi inheritance among the 12 tribes of Israel. By doing so, the priests received an inheritance, but they were not so connected to this labor that could not give themselves wholly to God.

Deuteronomy 18:1-2: “The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and his inheritance. Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the Lord is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.”

So, if you ran to one of these cities, you were running to a town which was owned by Levites.

they were those who were most-informed by the law

they were those who were most-impartial

they were those who would hear and adjudicate your case with the law of Moses in mind

these Levites were under-shepherds to the Great High Priest which ruled in religious life in Israel.

if you were found innocent, you were given refuge as long as the high priest was alive—

ILL. According to the Jewish rabbis, in order to give the fugitive all possible advantage in his flight, it was the business of the Sanhedrin to make the roads that led to the cities of refuge convenient by widening them, and removing every obstruction that might hurt his foot or hinder his speed. The priests ensured that the roads were broad.

At every turning there were posts erected bearing the words Refuge, Refuge, to guide the slayer of man in his asylum; It is also reported that the mothers of the high-priests used to feed and clothe these unfortunate fugitives, that they might not be impatient and pray for the death of their sons, on whose decease they were restored to their liberty and their property! What has been lost to history should not be lost to our spiritual minds this morning. This was a merciful system in the land of Israel which protected those who would unjustly die for the accidental death of others.

Notice in chapter 35 how many times this word refuge is used and notice the preceeding word as the passage develops— the reader goes from a refuge to for refuge or of refuge to his refuge. Now we are getting personal!

The Hebrew word is מִקְלָט and simply means refuge or asylum. I thought I might find something a little cooler than that, but what we are really talking about is pretty straightforward. Those in danger could find asylum in one of six cities interspersed throughout Israel.

But you can go a little deeper about it.

How many of you know what aliyah is? Well, aliyah refers to the homecoming of Jewish people from all over the world back to the land of Israel. When I was in Israel a number of years ago, Netanyahu was meeting with several hundred Jews from France who were planning their aliyah. The aliyah means that Jews who have suffered at the hands of dictators, tyrants, Nazis, communists, fascists, and anti-semites might have a safe place to seek refuge.

So, the root word for our Hebrew word here in Joshua 20 is מִקְלָט or קְלָט (qalat). Well, if you were a Jew there is a government ministry in Israel called the Misrada Clitah…maybe you heard our root in there. The website notes that this is the “…ministry that grants you benefits,” and is called the “Ministry of Absorption.” So, in Israel today, nearly 3,400 years after Joshua penned these words, there is a ministry of the government of the state of Israel that takes one needing refuge and brings them in and gives them asylum. Dear friend, that is what it means to run to a city of refuge!

The Purity, the Protection, & the Process are all Pictures of the Lord Jesus

If you haven’t seen Jesus yet, you just were not looking!

Notice what Hebrews 6:18 says: “That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:”

This is exactly what David was saying:

Psalm 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”

II Samuel 22:3: “The God of my rock; in him will I trust: He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, My saviour; thou savest me from violence.”

Moses, too:

Deuteronomy 33:27: “The eternal God is thy refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms: And he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; And shall say, Destroy them.”

Remember:

Jesus is never far away

Jesus makes His salvation available to everyone

Christ is not just a Levite…not just a priest…He is the great High priest!

Hebrews 4:14: “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.”

and the great thing about our Great High Priest is that if we run to Him, we are safe as long as our High Priest is alive!

Daniel 12:7: “And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.”

Hebrews 7:25: “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

Revelation 4:9, 4:10, 5:14, 10:6, 15:7: “And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.” Our God is the only being of whom it is spoken that he liveth forever and ever!

and may I say, He is the most-informed of the law: John 5:39: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”

He is the most just regarding the law: I John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

He, in this case, pays the penalty for the slayer’s crime!

How secure is Jesus?

Kadesh- “holy”- Revelation 21:22: “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.”

Shechem- “shoulder”

Hebron- “fellowship; to join; to come together”; I Corinthians 1:9: “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Bezer- “to be made inaccessible; unassailable”; Colossians 3:3: “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” And Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

Ramoth- “high things; sublime”; Ephesians 2:6: “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”

Golan- it has been suggested that it means “Enclosure for captives.” Ephesians 4:8: “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.”

Let me close with this:

The idea of an avenger of blood is striking— the word means, “to redeem; to reclaim; to restore.” It means that you have to redeem the blood of a relative killed willfully. You as a Jew were duty-bound to do so.

Several OT stories prove this: Gideon (Judges 8:18-21) redeems the blood of his brothers; the men of Gibeon redeemed the blood of their countrymen (II Samuel 21:1-9)

But the New Testament is the exact opposite. Paul said that vengeance belongs to God.

Romans 12:17-19: “Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”

I Thessalonians 4:6: “That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.”

Terrified yet? You should be! But you don’t have to be!

There are two avengers here.

the government- Romans 13:4: “For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.”

God Himself

Here the word of the Lord:

Isaiah 41:14: “Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, And thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” ‘

Deuteronomy 32:43: “Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: For he will avenge the blood of his servants, And will render vengeance to his adversaries, And will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.”

So, don’t miss this picture. God Himself is pursuing sinners…He trails them…He woos them…He draws them. You say, prove it…John 6:44: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Do you know what God wants from you? He wants YOU to come to Him…the city of refuge and find in Him all that you need!