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Intro:
Today, the title of my message is, [Our Place of Refuge].
Refuge is defined, shelter or protection from danger or hardship
Bekah and I love to travel.
If we watch a movie or TV show that is set in a place we’ve never been or have not visited in a while, I will say, “Do you want to go right now?”
There is something exciting for us both to go to a new place.
But that has not always been the case for me.
As a child and really into my early twenties, I would get very anxious if we were out at night in a new place.
There is probably a legitimate reason for my apprehension.
I remember going on a family vacation to San Antonio when I graduated High School.
Everything was great, until it started to get dark.
My dad shared my feelings and instructed us to GET BACK TO THE HOTEL NOW!
We have a picture in front of the Alamo, there is pure joy on my face and deep frustration in my siblings.
When I started to evangelize, I went to many new places, and it seemed I often wanted a place of refuge.
I remember my first trip to California to preach.
I was so excited, I mentioned to a lady at a church where I preached, next week I am going to California.
She remarked, oh, I am from there.
I asked for some tips on traveling there.
Her answer— don’t go, they will kill you.
And sure enough, when the pastor picked me up, at an intersection there was a man swinging a knife.
The restaurants had cops in them.
I was on edge the whole trip.
I wanted to get to a place where I had refuge from the potential danger.
In our text, we read about a place where people could go.
These cities provided shelter and protection, they were called Cities of Refuge.
Joshua is such a wonderful book of the Bible.
It is both captivating and enlightening to see what happens to God’s people when they choose to remain faithful.
To give a quick overview of this prolific book, we have to remember where God’s people were at chapter one.
They had been in the wilderness of forty years in attempt to go to the Promised Land.
However, because of the lack of faith in God’s people, an entire generation had to pass before God’s people were permitted to enter the Promised Land.
Now, we are reading of a generation of people who were ready to walk in God’s promise and provision.
They were going to
live in homes they didn’t have to build
eat from gardens they didn’t have to plant
inhabit a land they didn’t have to purchase
While this was an exciting prospect, it was not without their share of battles.
They had to enter the Promised Land with a determination to fight for what God had promised them.
After a time of war, they finally rested from war and two of the most exciting stories from Joshua 13-19 are where Caleb and Joshua receive their inheritance.
They were the two voices in Numbers 13 that spoke against the rebellious Israelites who feared the Canaanites.
It was Joshua and Caleb who had confidence in the Lord’s plan, therefore, when all of their generation died before reaching the Promised Land, Joshua and Caleb entered into the blessings of the Lord.
At this point Joshua is close to 90.
He saw the faithfulness of the Lord and he finally dwelt in the land promised to him!
(Isn’t it wonderful that when we are faithful to the Lord, He will be faithful to us?)
(Who wants to be a part of the generation of the body of Christ who is willing and ready to walk in God’s plan for our lives?)
From here we get to chapter 20 which could be a chapter easily passed over, but I want us to notice the detail and the importance of these cities of refuge.
Refuge is defined as shelter or protection from danger or trouble.
The purpose of the cities of refuge were defined in Numbers 35:9-34.
Moses took extensive time to tell the next generation of Israelites where to place the cities of refuge.
It is interesting who owned the cities.
All the sons of Israel received a large territory, except for the Levites; they were given 48 cities.
The Levites were descendants of Aaron’s brother; they were the priests.
They were responsible for the spiritual welfare of the Israelites.
Each city of refuge was placed in Levite property.
So we see these cities of refuge were more than asylums or as they are called today sanctuary cities.
{Across our countries and around the world, there are sanctuary cities; cities that will harbor and protect guilty criminals.}
However, these cities of refuge were for those who had NOT YET been proven guilty.
Let’s look at these cities of refuge and see how they tell of a day when God will be our refuge.
I have three points: [The Cities Were Safe], [The Cities Were Secure] and [The Cities Were Situated].
1.
The Cities Were Safe
(What was the purpose of a city of refuge?)
We remember Refuge is defined as shelter or protection from danger or trouble.
Therefore, these cities were established to protect those who were in trouble, not just any trouble, but those who had committed a specific crime.
The crime they were protected from was manslaughter.
Manslaughter is the unintentional murder of someone.
In those days, if this were to happen, it was the responsibility of the relative of the person who had been killed to avenge their relative’s death.
(Why would they need a safe place for someone who committed manslaughter?)
If their crime was not premeditated, the individual could find a safe place in this city of refuge.
Numbers 35:22-25 was very specific about this.
Therefore, if they were to avenge their loved one’s death and the person who committed the crime did it unintentionally then the innocent blood of two people would be spilled blood on the land.
In their primitive society, there was no distinction between intentional and unintentional murder, they simply wanted vengeance for their relative.
We can see that God helped them to understand and see the distinctions between to two.
Furthermore, the land of the Levites belonged to the Lord because of their vocation.
[So in essence God was protecting those who had committed a crime unintentionally.]
If they could get to a city of refuge, they had time for someone to review their case and determine their guilt.
The cities of refuge were safe …
2. The Cities Were Secure
Not only were they safe for the accused, they were also secure, meaning, the one who followed them to avenge the death of their loved one could not get them.
When they arrived to the gates of one of the six cities of refuge, they were safe.
They had to explain what happened and then they would take them and provide them a place to stay until the case had been examined and investigated.
Even though they were secure, it is interesting that their doors were always open.
Anyone could come day or night to a city of refuge and find safety and security.
They were easily accessible and they were widely advertised.
(Why were they always opened, easily and acceptable and widely advertised,) because they were instituted by God long before they were needed.
God instructed both generations of Israelites to have the cities.
To those [traveling in the wilderness and in Numbers 35] and to the [Joshua Generation in Deuteronomy 19].
That is something I love about the Lord.
He did not wait until after someone was accused of manslaughter to solve a problem.
He is always proactive.
Nothing catches Him by surprise!
In His love for His people, He wanted to make sure they were safe and their lives were protected.
Therefore, He instructed His people to make places were protection would be provided for the wrongly accused and the innocent.
Once someone entered one of these six cities, not only were they safe, they were also secure knowing they would be granted a fair trial and review of their situation.
The cities of refuge were a [safe place], [a secure place] and…
3. The Cities Were Situated
God instructed Joshua where to specifically place each of these cities.
First we notice they were either on a mountain or on a plain, meaning they were situated in such a way that people could easily seen.
It is not as though they were in a spot were people would have to search and walk for miles find.
They were on the mountains high enough that if the accused was running for their life, could look up and see the city of safety and security situated ahead of them.
Or they were on a plain, where it could be identified for miles.
Some historic sources say that the Israelites went to great lengths to make these cities accessible.
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