Through the book of Joshua
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Joshua 20
Joshua 20
Introduction:
We have gone through the book of Joshua and last time we met we saw the beginning of the land being divided for an inheritance. The land had been divided to the 12 tribes except the Levites because they had already gotten their inheritance. We saw in chapter 14 Caleb wanted a mountain and he lived a life of great faith in God. Chapters 15-20 Is a lot about the inheritance of the land and the divisional markers. A few verses I want to note and look at is we read by these chapters.
63 As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.
God had given His people the power to possess the promised land. They could get rid of their enemies if they wanted to do so! Instead here we find that the children of Judah couldn't get the victory. They learned to live with their enemies.
That is not really what God wants us doing. He has made us victorious. We can have victory but we will need the heart, the discipline, and the decision to pay the price to accomplish what He has for us.
So often we live below our means because we fail to fully follow God. This chapter tells of Caleb and his victories but then leaves us with the failures of Judah.
The Israelites were to eradicate their enemies.
10 And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day, and serve under tribute.
It is almost like we will allow sin in our lives if we see that we can get some benefit from it. They were to drive them out. They didn't do so. Instead they taxed them.
God wanted them to be totally separate. They preferred keeping their enemies and making money off of them.
How often do we decide that we know what is best and think that maybe what the Word of God says is too drastic?
Could it be that it is time to do what God says and know that He knows best? If we leave the Canaanites among us then we will sooner or later learn their ways and worship their gods.
Time to obey instead of deciding for ourselves!
13 Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out.
God told the Israelites to destroy and utterly drive out the pagan nations that had inhabited the land. The point was that those nations worshipped false gods. God’s people might be convinced to worship idols if they were surrounded by sinful worship. These nations represent sin for us.
They were to get rid of the sin. They were to separate from the sin. Instead, they decided to hold on to the false nations and tax them. They wouldn’t totally destroy them; they would profit from them. The problem is that these nations then so contaminated and polluted the land of Israel that they will suffer the consequences of their sins for generations.
Do not make a partnership with sin. Do not live tolerantly with sin. Realize that sin is your mortal enemy and will destroy you. Get rid of it. Turn from sin and serve the Lord. Obey Him. Worship Him. Do not look at or listen to another.
14 And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as the Lord hath blessed me hitherto?
I am a great people. I deserve more than you have given me. God has been good to me in the past and so I think that I deserve more right now also. It is obvious that I am a great people, "seeing!"
Joshua says that "if" you are so good and so blessed then go do something about it. You can take the mountains. You can make something of what I have given you.
Many times we think we deserve more than what we get. We have been blessed in the past so we think that we deserve more blessings. The real problem with this thought is that we want it given to us. We are not willing to go out and work for it.
We have the right to complain but not the responsibility to commit. We want lots more because what God is giving us is not enough.
How arrogant can we be. How can we think that we deserve it? I know that I have this problem. I want God to bless me like He has in the past. I want more than He is giving me.
The lesson for the day is to accept what God is giving me and to work with it. I need not ask God for more until I have used to the fullest what He has given me. I need to be honest with myself and realize that I do not deserve even what I have.
17 And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only:
18 But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.
So many of God's people complain that He hasn't given them enough of whatever. The truth is that He has given us all we need and more. It is ours to go and take it and make it happen. We don't have what we need because we do not work with what we have.
God gave them enough land but they only wanted the land that wouldn't take so much effort. I want God to do great things with me but I do not want to pay the price to see Him do that. This seems to be the story of the majority of us!
We can see God do great things. It is time to quit making excuses and get to work. It is time to just go do what we know we have to do even if we don't like doing it!
3 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?
God gives us things. He promises us great stuff. But the promise doesn't mean that we have it. We are to get up and go get it.
God had promised them the land. It was theirs for the taking. But they had to get up and go posses the land.
The question asked is how long are you not going to take what I have given you? How long are you slack to go and possess.
Is that a problem in your life? We act like God doesn't want to give us stuff when it is ours for the taking. Instead of taking it we make excuses. We hang back, we wait.
We could have it. It is ours. We have the promise but that is not excuse for sitting here lazily jasking God to just dump it in our lap.
49 When they had made an end of dividing the land for inheritance by their coasts, the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun among them:
Joshua has been used of God to lead Israel to all of its inheritance. They have now all received their inheritance. Now they give to Joshua.
Isn’t that what it means to be a servant. Take care of everyone else and wait till last for yours. That needs to be all of our attitudes way more than it is.
We are not in the ministry to get but to give. We are not takers but givers. We are not looking out for ourselves but for everyone else. That might change our perspective on ministry!
Joshua 20 City of Refuge
1 The Lord also spake unto Joshua, saying,
2 Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses:
3 That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
4 And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.
5 And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime.
6 And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.
7 And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.
8 And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh.
9 These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.
As the Children of
Israel settled the land which God has promised to
them, several cities were assigned for specific
purposes. There were 48 cities selected where the
Levites were to live. The Levites were the ones who
were charged with the responsibility of taking care of
the sacred things of the Lord, the house of worship
and those kinds of things. So, 48 cities were given to
the Levites. In those 48 cities of the Levites there
were six cities that were set apart and called
specifically cities of refuge.
Back in the book of Exodus, God spoke through
Moses and told them that they were do this. In the
Promised Land they were to have six cities set apart
and specifically designated as cities of refuge. If
a person accidently killed someone. Didn't intend to
do it, there was no malice, no premeditation in the
matter, he was able to flee to these cities and he
could find a place of refuge. When you study the
Bible you will find that the Bible teaches the
sacredness of human life. The reason we believe in
the sacredness of human life is because God teaches
that life is sacred. In Genesis 9:6 it says, "Whoso
sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.
For in the image of God made he man." That's why we
believe that abortion is wrong. That's why we believe
that suicide is wrong. That's why we believe mercy
killing is wrong. The Bible sets forth for us the
sacredness of human life.
The Bible also sets aside or lays before us the
justice of God. As you study this whole subject of
the taking of human life you will find that God, in
the Bible, makes a distinction between premeditated
murder and involuntary manslaughter. The justice of
God distinguishes between these two. There is a
difference in God's justice between the person who
kills with premeditation and intention and the person
who kills someone accidentally and without forethought
and unintentionally. This is what this chapter really
has to do with. What you did in a septation when a
man accidentally kills someone else. Didn't intend to
do it, didn't plan to do it and yet it happened.
God's way of dealing with involuntary manslaughter is
dealt with specifically in Joshua 20.
The cities of refuge have to be very important
subjects because they are given to us and dealt with
in four separate books of the Bible. So, when the
Word of God deals with a subject in four different
books of the Bible you know that it is an important
subject. So the cities of refuge must have a lesson
that we can apply and that we can use in our own life
as believers.
You know that all of the Bible is about Jesus.
The whole Bible points to the Lord Jesus Christ. The
Bible is a HIM book - a Jesus book. It says about
Jesus in Luke 24 that he expounded unto them in all
the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. In
other words all of the Bible points toward one central
personality -- the Lord Jesus Christ. So, all of the
types and all of the shadows and all of the lessons
ultimately reach their fruition and their fulfillment
in the person of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.
The cities of refuge have a lesson to us about
the Lord Jesus. We are going to see one of the most
beautiful truths about our Savior in these cities of
refuge that you can find anywhere in the Word of God.
The Bible says that these cities of refuge are a
beautiful picture of the refuge we have in the Lord
Jesus. The salvation we have in Jesus. And the
security which is ours by faith in the Lord Jesus.
The Apostle Paul used a phrase many, many times
in the New Testament - "In Christ." When we are saved
the Bible says we are "in Christ." That little phrase
is a picture of our refuge in Jesus. When we come to
the Savior we are "in Christ." We are safe in Jesus
Christ. We are sheltered from danger in Jesus Christ.
We are secure from all things that would harm us in
the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's another verse of Scripture in the book of
Hebrews 6:17 - "Wherein God willing more abundantly to
show unto the heirs of promise the immutability
(unchanging) nature of his counsel confirmed it by an
oath. That by two immutable (unchangeable) 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 that is before us." That verse
teaches that we have fled to the Lord Jesus for
refuge. We have come to the Lord and Jesus Christ is
our refuge. So, I want us to look for a little while
at this chapter, these cities of refuge and see what
we have in Jesus Christ as our Savior and our refuge.
The chapter calls our attention first of all -
I. FLEEING to the Cities.
The picture here is of a man who unintentionally
slays someone else. He says in verse 3 that the
slayer who kills any person unawares (accidentally)
and unwittingly (unintentionally) may flee thither.
In other words if a man accidentally kills somebody
the first thing he was to do was to drop everything,
not delay a moment, but immediately begin to run in
the direction of these cities of refuge. These cities
of refuge were strategically located all over the
Promised Land. So that there would be cities of
refuge close to everyone wherever they might be.
There would be cities of refuge not so very far from
anyone who unintentionally killed another person. He
dropped anything he was doing at that time and made
his way to the cities of refuge.
The Jewish writers have given us several
interesting things about these cities. One thing we
know these cities had specific roads that were built
that carried the people in that directions. These
roads had to be maintained. Once a year the Levites
would go and repair those roads. They built bridges
over all the streams that might occur on the roads.
They made sure that these roads were wide. They
removed all of the obstacles. They got everything out
of the way so that they would be a clear unimpeded
route for a man to flee to the cities of refuge.
Along the way, on those roads that led to the
cities of refuge they had big signs. The signs said,
"miklat." This is our word, refuge. In big signs
with big letters there would be the word, refuge,
refuge, and it would point the direction toward the
cities of refuge. There would also be runners along
the way in case anybody got lost or weren't sure about
which direction to go, these runners could point the
way and help them run part of the way in that
direction.
Another thing, those cities of refuge over in the
western side of the land of Israel were all on
mountains. It was easy to see them. You couldn't
miss them. The gates of the cities of refuge were
always opened. They were never closed day or night.
So, it didn't matter if a man had an accident and
killed someone in the daytime or in the nighttime he
could run and whatever time he got to the cities of
refuge the gate would always be open and he could
always enter in.
The spiritual lessons I think are pretty obvious.
The Bible tells us that a way has been prepared for us
to be safe from the dangers of sin. The Bible teaches
that God has made a way for us to be safe from the
dangers of judgment and hell. Jesus said, "I am the
way, the truth and the life." On another occasion the
Lord Jesus said, "I am the door, by me if any man
enter in, he shall be saved." We have a road that's
been prepared. We have a path that's been made. The
Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior, the refuge is available
and is open for all who will flee to Him for safety.
Another thing these roads were prepared and there
were signposts along the roads. That tells us that you
and I have a little something to do with this business
of getting people to Jesus. We have responsibility to
make sure the roads are in well repair and to make
sure that the signs are bright and clear and easy to
read so that anybody who is around us can find the way
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
We've been having a WIN school this week and I've
been hearing good reports about it. I've been hearing
wonderful things about what God is doing and how God
is stirring our hearts anew and afresh to this matter
of winning people to the Lord Jesus. We have a city
here in Jacksonville that desperately needs Jesus. We
have a city that needs to get to the cities of refuge.
We have to keep the roads in good repair. We have to
be sure that the signs are loud and clear. We have to
be saying this is the way. There should be no
uncertain signals.
That's why it's so important for this pulpit to
preach the Gospel. That's why it's so important that
in our Sunday school and in every area of our lives,
wherever the Word is taught or a lesson is taught,
that it be a crystal clear message of the way to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Nobody should ever come to
anything in our church here that they wouldn't hear
how to be saved. You should never have a social,
never have a gathering of any kind that some lost
person could come to it and if he wanted to he could
get saved. It's our job to make Jesus available in
this city.
There are two ways to magnify something. The
Apostle Paul said that "Christ might be magnified in
my life." You can take a microscope and take that
which is little and make it large. Or you can take a
telescope and take that which is far away and bring it
near. We know Jesus is not little and we know that
Jesus is not far away, but to this world He's little
and far away. But out job is to be the magnifying
glasses to take Jesus who is little to this world and
make Him big. To take Jesus who is far away and bring
Him near. We have a part in getting people to the
cities of refuge.
Another thing the gate is always open. The Good
News is that anybody who wants to be saved can be
saved anytime and anywhere they want to be. They can
be saved in this service and I'm praying many will.
They can be saved in their homes. They can be saved
on the job. They can be saved in the store where they
work. Any where lost people are is anywhere people
can be saved who want to be saved. We have this
slayer who is fleeing for his life, running to the
city.
II. The AVENGER of Blood.
In verse 3 it talks about the avenger of blood.
In the Middle-East, blood revenge is deeply rooted in
the psyche of the people, even to this very day. In
those days if a member of a person's family had been
murdered, the next of kin was assigned to be the
avenger of blood. If a man got killed then his
brother, if he had one, would be the avenger of blood.
The job of that avenger of blood was to pursue the
slayer until he found him. They would pursue him for
40 years. They would pass it on down from generation
to generation. They still do that in the Holy Land
today. In fact some times you will read about
explosions and blood baths over there and what's going
is the principle of the blood revenge - the avenger of
blood.
The spiritual lesson for us is that the avenger
of blood for us is the law of sin and death. Sin is
on your trail - that's why you are running. Death is
on your trail. Death is catching up with you. Every
step you take, death is taking two. It's just a
matter of time. If Jesus doesn't tarry His coming,
death is going to catch up with every one of us.
So, here is the picture. There is the slayer who
has killed a man accidentally. Didn't mean to do it.
Here's the avenger of blood, a close relative. He is
in hot pursuit. The illustration that the Bible uses
is a man who is out there with an ax in the field.
This man is working away with his ax and the head of
the ax comes off and accidentally hits a man and kills
him right there on the spot. The man who did it
accidentally looks to the corner of the field and just
at that moment coming in the corner is the next of kin
of the man he has accidentally killed. The man sees
his relative killed and his eyes filled with fire and
anger. The man knows he has to take off right now.
He can't wait a moment. So, here's a man who is guilty
of involuntary manslaughter and he is running for his
life and here's that avenger of blood in hot pursuit.
If you are lost you better run. You are in danger.
If you are lost you better head for the cities of
refuge. You need to get in while you can. There's an
avenger of blood on your trail. Fleeing to the cities
of refuge.
In verse 6 we see dwelling in the cities of
refuge. "He shall dwell in that city." He's still on
the run. All these cities were located so it would be
too far to go. Yet, when you study you will find it
several miles. This man has been running all day and
the avenger of blood is gaining on him. He's out of
breath. His strength is almost gone. That avenger of
blood is gaining ground on him. His legs become like
lead, he's not sure he can take another step. Just
about ready to fall. Then right up in the distance he
sees that city of refuge on that hill. He gets that
final spurt of energy and runs up that hill and gets
to the gate of the city of refuge and in total
exhaustion he falls inside of the gate. Once he's
inside of that gate he's safe. That avenger of blood
comes right up to the gate and stops. The man who has
committed manslaughter looks at that avenger of blood
and says, "sorry, sir, but you can't come in here, you
can't touch me. I'm dwelling in a city of refuge."
That's how you come to the Lord Jesus. When you
come to the Lord Jesus Christ and receive Him as your
Savior, then the Bible says that sin and death no
longer have any dominion over you. Jesus died on the
cross for all of your sins, you don't have to be
victimized by sin anymore. Because Jesus died and
rose again from the dead and you have received Jesus
Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, death has no
more dominion over you. You may die physically, but
when you die physically you are going to be very, very
much alive spiritually. You are in the refuge. You
have found a refuge in Jesus.
We are dwelling in the cities of refuge. How
long can you dwell there? How long can you stay in
that city of refuge? Verse 6 tells you how long you
can stay. "he shall dwell in that city until he stand
before the congregation for judgment." They could
stay in that city until judgment day. In those days
the elders at the gate were a kind of court of law.
They were kind of a tribunal. So the elders of the
city would call court into session and this man would
be brought to appear before them and they would have a
judgment - a trial. If this man had committed murder
intentionally, in cold blood, then they just let him
go right of the city. He was taken out and the
avenger of blood would kill him right on the spot. If
you are guilty before God of murder, you are not going
to ever get away with it.
Somebody said, "Reckon O.J. Simpson is going to
get a fair trial?" Yes, he'll get a fair trial.
"Judge Ido might be a crook. The jurors might all be
crooked." I don't know whether O.J. Simpson is guilty
or not, but he'll get a fair trial. The real trial is
not before a court of law down here. The real trial
for all of us is before the court of law in glory.
The God of all the earth knows everything that goes on
everywhere and he knows whether or not you are guilty
and whether or not you are innocent.
So, they could dwell in that city until judgment
came. If they had committed involuntary manslaughter
they were safe. There's a difference between their
trial and your trial and my trial. The difference is
we know we are guilty. We don't sin unintentionally.
The Bible says we are born with a sinful nature. We
come into this world knowing how to sin. You know
that temper that child of yours has - that child came
into the world with that temper. You don't have to
send that child to school to learn how to blow his top
and lose his temper. They come into the world knowing
how to do that. You know those little white lies
those precious little darling of yours tells. You
don't have to send them to church to learn how to tell
those lies. They came into this world know how to do
that. The Bible says "all have sinned." That means
we all have a sin nature. We are sinners by birth.
But we are also sinners by choice. We have sinned and
we know we have sinned and we sin because we chose to
sin. If we got what we deserved we would get kicked
out of the city and judgment would fall on us.
There is also a similarity here between us and
this. The Lord Jesus said something on the cross of
Calvary that puts us on a different ground. When
Jesus was on the cross he said "father, forgive them
for they know not what they do." Jesus indicated that
there was something going on there at the cross that
the people who were involved in it didn't really know
what was taking place. There's something going on in
this universe that we didn't fully understand either.
You may be guilty of many, many sins but the worst sin
you are guilty of is the sin of murder. You say,
"I've never done that." Yes you have. "I may have
told a few lies, but I have never killed anybody."
Yes, you are guilty of the sin of murder.
According to the Bible when Jesus Christ died on
the cross of Calvary he was dying there for your sins
and my sins. It is our sins that nailed Jesus to the
cross. That's why the Apostle Peter in Acts 3 says,
"I know that through ignorance you did it." That's
why Paul says in I Corinthians 2:8 "had they known
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." The
reason we need a Savior and we need a refuge is we are
guilty of the worse sin ever committed on the earth --
the sin of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know about it now and the minute you walked into
this building, you can't plead ignorance anymore. The
very fact that you have heard this message tonight
means that you cannot plead ignorance anymore. You
are guilty of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible says that if we sin willfully there
remaineth no more sacrifice for sin. That's what
Hebrews 10 teaches. That means that once you know
that your sins nailed Jesus Christ to the tree, it
ought to change your outlook toward sin. Change your
view of sin altogether, but it means also that you are
no longer innocent in the matter of the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ and if you know it now and you
reject His offer of salvation, there is no more hope
for you. If you don't receive what Jesus did when he
died on the cross for your sins you can't be saved.
So, they could dwell in that city until judgement
comes. "I can't stay there then, I'm guilty and I
know I'm guilty and I put Jesus on the cross." But I
have good news for you. The Bible says in Romans 8:1
"there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus." The Lord Jesus Christ not only
is our city of refuge but the Lord Jesus Christ took
our judgment on the cross of Calvary and when Jesus
died, He not only died for our sins, but Jesus took
our judgment. Jesus Christ was judged in our place and
that's why as a born again child of God you will never
stand in the Great White Throne judgment. Your sins
have already been dealt with. Your case has been
settled out of court. You can live in the city of
refuge forever because your judgment is not going to
ever come. How long can you live there? Till
judgment comes.
There's a second stipulation in verse 6 - You can
dwell there no only till judgment comes but until the
death of the high priest. In those days they could
live there till the death of the high priest. One
writer says that when a person is taken into this city
of refuge, the first thing they did was to assign them
a place to live and then they taught them a trade, a
work. That's what happens when we come to our refuge
the Lord Jesus. We come to the Lord Jesus Christ and
He gives us a place to live. "I am in Christ." I'm
dwelling in Jesus. I'm seated with Jesus in the
heavenlies. Then He gives you something to do. Isn't
that wonderful!
When the Apostle Paul was saved he asked Jesus
two questions. He said, "who art thou, Lord and Lord
what will you have me to do?" That's the two greatest
questions of life. Who Jesus is and what does Jesus
want you to do? You'll spend the rest of your
Christian life dwelling in Jesus Christ. Finding out
who Jesus is and finding out what He wants you to do.
What a way to live.
It says until the high priest dies. Do we have a
high priest? Yes. Our High Priest is Jesus. Jesus,
our High Priest is already dead. He died 2,000 years
ago. But the good news is that three days later our
high priest who died rose again from the dead the
Bible says He ever lives, lives forever more. He's
never going to die again. That means then that you
can live in the city of refuge forever and ever and
ever because our High Priest ain't never going to die.
That's not good grammar, but that's good theology,
good doctrine.
That's the security we have in Jesus. We are
secure in Jesus until judgment comes. Our case has
been settled out of court. We are secure in Jesus
until Jesus dies and he will never die and that means
we are secure forever and forever and forever.
It's wonderful hat we have a refuge like that.
Deut. 33:27 says, "The eternal God is thy refuge and
underneath are the everlasting arms." Psalm 46:1
says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present
help in trouble." I'm dwelling in the city of refuge.
III. NAMING the Cities of Refuge.
In verse 7 and 8 it names those six cities. Let
me just give them to you quickly and give you the
meanings of those names of those cities. Cities names
sometimes have meanings. Philadelphia - that name
means the City of Brotherly Love. Same thing was true
in the Bible. These cities of refuge had very
significant meanings.
They appointed Kedesh. Kedesh means
righteousness. Our refuge, the Lord Jesus Christ, is
our righteousness. We are made righteous in Him. The
second city is Shechem which means shoulder. Our city
of refuge is a shoulder because we are on the shoulder
of our good shepherd the Lord Jesus. The third city
is Hebron (underline Hebron, you will want to remember
Hebron). The meaning of Hebron is fellowship. In
verse 8, Bezer is the fourth one. That means
stronghold. Proverbs 18:10 says "the name of the Lord
is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and is
safe." The fifth one is Ramoth which means heights,
seated in the heavenlies in Christ. Dwelling in Beulah
Land with Jesus Christ. The sixth city is Golan which
means joy. O, the joy of our refuge and our
fellowship with Jesus.
All of these six cities were so located that they
were very near. They were close by to anybody who
needed them. But the salvation we have available in
Jesus Christ is closer than those cities were. Your
salvation is just as close as your breath. Let me
read you some verses over in the book of Romans. In
Romans 10:8 - "But what says it, the word is nigh
thee, even in thou mouth and in thy heart. That is
the word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall
believe in thine heart that god hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved." That is saying that
Jesus Christ is just a prayer away. It means that
salvation is just right at the tip of your tongue. It
means that Jesus Christ is just as near as you calling
on Him right now to be your Lord and Savior. How near
salvation is. Salvation can be so very near and yet
so very far.
Turn to II Samuel 3. I want you to read about
the death of a man, one of King Saul's men. Look at
verse 33, after Abner died, "and the king lamented
over Abner and said, “Died Abner as a fool dies.’" A
man died and he asks “Has he died like a fool?†What
kind of man was Abner? Verse 38 - "And the king said
unto his servants, “Know ye not that there is a prince
and great man of all in this day in Israel." This was
no ordinary man. This man was a prince. This man was
a great man. Why did David suggest that Abner had
died like a fool?
In the second and third chapters you get the
background and the story which led to the death of
Abner and why David said he died like a fool. There
was a young man chasing Abner. His name was Asahel.
Verse 30 tells about it. He was a young guy and he
was chasing Abner. Abner didn't want anything to do
with him. This young guy Asahel was chasing him. To
put it north Georgia English, Abner said to him, "Quit
messing with me, I don't want to have anything to do
with you. I'm not interested in doing battle with
you. Move on, leave me be." He wouldn't do it. He
just kept pursuing it. In a little while Abner just
took his sword and held it behind him and Asahel just
ran right into the sword. Asahel had an older brother
named Joab. Joab was the captain of the armies of
David. So Joab became the avenger of blood. Abner
hadn't planned to kill this brother at all. Now Joab
is the avenger of blood.
Watch what happens in verse 27 - "And when Abner
was returned to Hebron." Have you heard that city
before? It’s one of the cities of refuge. "Joab took
him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly and
smote him there under the fifth rib that he died for
the blood of Asahel, his brother." Here was Abner, a
prince, a great man, wise man, mighty man. Yet, David
said he died like a fool. Why? Abner was at the very
gate of a city of refuge. All Abner had to do was just
step on in the gate and he would be safe. But he
stayed right there at the gate. He was so near and
yet he was so far and he was a dead man.
Listen to me very, very closely. Some of you are
sitting here and in many ways you are a great person.
You are a mighty person. You are a wise person.
Maybe you are wise in the world of accounting. Maybe
you are a mighty person in the world of medicine.
Maybe you are wise in the world of law. Maybe you are
mighty in the world of banking. Maybe you are really
somebody in the world of athletics. In many ways you
are a great person and you are a mighty person, but if
you don't change what you are doing, you are going to
die like Abner, like a fool. You are right here at
the very gate, just one step and you can be in and you
can be saved.
But no, you are too busy. Too busy counting your
money. You are too busy tending to your business.
Too busy tending to your sports. Too interested in
your pleasures. You are doing all of these things and
you are squandering your time around the gate. If you
are not careful you are going to die at the gate and
be lost forever. You are going to die like a fool.
Why don't you step on in the gate tonight? Why don't
you come on to Jesus tonight? The Bible says, "Him
that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." If
you will come to Jesus Christ He will take you and, He
won't cast you out and when you come to Jesus Christ
you are in the cities of refuge and you are safe
forever. Don't die like a fool, like Abner at the
gate, when you can step on in.