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Preacher: Pastor David Ball
Scripture: Joshua 20
In Joshua 20, God people go about the work of establishing cities of refuge. These cities were commanded by God through Moses as places were people could run for safety and protection when they had done something wrong. The refuge cities were a picture of something greater that God had planned for us. God wants to be our refuge and warns us about the false places and people that we turn to in our lives for safety and protection.
Transcript
So as we open up Joshua 20 before we get into the the word itself I have a question uh where do you run to when you’re afraid my b there you go where where do you run to when you’re in danger and where do you run to when you’ve done something wrong my
bed or when you’ve been unjustly accused of of of being something you’re not or doing something that you didn’t where do you run you know as a as a kid did you have a secret hiding place you know that place that where you could go where you could run maybe a closet maybe it was uh under a bed or if you were super lucky as a kid then you had a house that had you know the secret door where you could uh hide out nobody else knew about it and where you were or a secret passage away I had a cousins that had a house like that in Riverside uh This Old House that had all these like hidden passageways I’m guessing it was from the old like uh you know prohibition days or something something uh where things could be run in and hidden and stuff but I used to Envy them so much as they had these cool hidden passageways and hidden places where if they were scared they could go hide and they could be protected you know it’s a place where you can be find protection a place where you can find security a place where you can find some peace some Harmony and and maybe the justice that you’ve been so desperately needing uh there’s one word that describes such a place and that word is a refuge it’s a refuge a refuge is is a sanctuary a shelter it’s it’s a retreat it’s a it’s a safe haven an asylum a place that offers protection from danger a place that offers shelter from uh from storms a place that offers St safety when we’re we’re facing harm in our lives you know say ERS know all about refuges if you’re a uh if you’re a sailor shelters uh where you can pull into a bay or an inlet or on Harbor somewhere to to take shelter from the wind and the waves that are crashing I was talking with our with the staff about this passage a few weeks ago uh and and I was asking you know where are the places that that you run to uh for safety and for protection what are those refuges refuges in your life that you that you naturally go to and I and I just I knew that uh I knew that Chris had been a pilot and he probably spent some time on an aircraft carrier and so I said Chris where you know when you were on aircraft carriers where did you uh you know where did y’all find uh that kind of Safe Haven where did you find a refuge from from the storm and he said well you know what he goes aircraft carriers are so big that you rarely ever feel any effects of the wind or or the waves but he said every every once in a while every once in a while you’d be walking down the main Corridor and then things would move a little bit and he said then you knew that something bad was was going on outside with the with the weather uh so sometimes even these massive aircraft carriers aren’t enough they aren’t even those aren’t enough of of a refuge but where do you run for refuge in your life when you’re afraid when there’s danger looming all around you when you when you need Justice and deliverance in your life where do you naturally run to we all run to something and we all run to someone maybe it’s a spouse maybe it’s it’s a friend maybe it’s a parent who kind of have served as that that role in your life that you just naturally run to for Refuge they’ve been your rock they’ve been your shelter or or maybe it’s a place maybe you go to the movies or get lost in your phone playing a game or or just scrolling through social social media right or going on a vacation you know maybe it’s just a sense of
distraction maybe that’s become a refuge for you I know for me if I’m honest that idea of distraction uh or entertainment is definitely the place I run to and when I’m stressed when things are getting too much I just want to forget everything and get lost in something else and be distracted by it but there’s all kinds of people and places that that we run to for Refuge but there’s only one place where we can actually find it the Psalms are full of of of this imagery of of The Refuge in Psalm 2 verse 12 it says blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord Psalm 5:11 all who take refuge in the Lord rejoice in Psalm 28:8 the Lord is the strength of his people he is the saving refuge for his anointed in Psalm 34:22 the Lord redeems the life of his servants none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned and P Psalm 37:40 the Lord helps and delivers he delivers from the wicked and saves because they take refuge in him I could go on and on and on just from The Book of
Psalms the scriptures make it clear that only the Lord is the kind of Refuge where we can actually find the strength and the protection and the Salvation the Deliverance the freedom from condemnation approval deliver an joy and the blessing that our hearts are absolutely longing
for and in Isaiah 57:13 the Lord gives us a warning about all the false Idols of Refuge that we create for ourselves he says when you cry out let you let your collection of Idols deliver you the wind will carry them all off a mere breath will take them away all the places and the people we run to in our lives for Refuge they can’t give us the Refuge that we’re longing for that our hearts are craving they can’t protect us they can’t shelter us they cannot deliver us but God also in that same passage of Isaiah 57:13 God also issues an incredibly gracious invitation ation to all of us he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my Holy Mountain what a beautiful promise that when we do seek Him for Refuge when we take refuge in him that the promise of the land that the inheritance of Eternity of the Holy Mountain is ours in him that’s the promise of god of what he has to offer us under the shelter of his wings under his Refuge this evening and every day the Lord is inviting us to run to him for refuge and promises that when we do that we will possess the land and that his inheritance will be ours so the question is why do we run to other people and other things and places for our refuge when all this has been promised to us why do we run to all these other people and places and things the answer is it’s either we don’t believe or trust that God really can do it or we fear that the demand on our lives is going to be too high of a price to pay to actually seek his protection we struggle to to grasp what CS Lewis said that God doesn’t want something from us he simply wants
us so what does Joshua 20 have anything to do with this uh with the fact that God wants us and his inviting us and longing for us to run to him for Refuge well as I’ve said all of the Old Testament throughout this throughout this series on Joshua if you’re just stepping in now we’ve been walking through Joshua for quite a while now uh in fact more than 20 weeks um and uh all of what I’ve said over and over again is all of the Old Testament uh is about Jesus it’s about him and even in this rather strange and somewhat uh obscure and seemingly uh unrelatable at all issue of the Cities of Refuge even this is pointing us to the only place where we can truly find the ref Refuge that our hearts are longing for Joshua 20 is pointing us
there so let’s take a look at Joshua 20 for a few minutes together you can you can pull it out uh from your bulletin or open up your bibles if you like to Joshua 20 uh and where we’ve come so far is we the lots have been handed out uh The Inheritance have been handed out to all the tribes of Israel that issue has been settled now that the land has been uh has been mostly conquered uh there remains some things to do though there remain some things to do that God had commanded them to do way back in in the law uh in Exodus 21: 12-13 uh this is what God Said who whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death but if he did not lie and wait for him but God let him fall into his hand then I will appoint for you a place to which you may flee a place to where you may flee see the issue uh at hand that that God reveals in Exodus uh 21 is this issue of uh these instances of unintentional killings and God was concerned about those who accidentally or unintentionally killed someone that they would have a place to be able to flee and then in numbers 35:6 uh it gives further instruction about these Cities of Refuge it says the cities that you give to the Levites shall be six Cities of Refuge where you shall permit the manslayer to flee so these places are places where the unintentional killer could run and they’re called Refuge City cities Refuge cities numbers 35 goes on to give us even more explanation of this to describe them the sh the cities shall be for you a refuge from the Avenger that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment you know this is really what what Joshua 20 is just re uh reiterating what God has already said in these passages from numbers and from Exodus uh see this law this law is it’s pretty interesting it’s a little bit crazy um and you know but but but it’s pretty pretty amazing um but you got to pay attention to how this whole thing plays out first of all unintentional killing it must have been pretty common I guess uh to unintentionally kill someone this must have happened enough in order that God felt the need to make provision for it I mean can you imagine like unintentional killings just happening everywhere I don’t know I maybe in an agricultural Society it’s a little more common you know you’re swinging the sickle uh or you’re you’re you’re you’re throwing the hoe or the axe and oops you know I got somebody on the on the follow through uh you know this must have been big
enough that God needed to make a provision for it but when it did happen uh these victim the victim’s family or Clan became known as The Avengers of blood they are the Avenger of blood that’s mentioned here in Joshua 20 meaning that they sought Justice they were Seeking Justice making uh mainly the kind of Justice an eye for an eye right uh there needed to be retribution paid for my loved one or my clan member uh who was killed uh and and primarily through the death of the one who killed him that was what was sought that’s what the Avenger of blood is primarily looking for and the law of God uh though makes a distinction between the intentional killer and the unintentional killer and maybe I’m not I forgot to be a lawyer but maybe it’s akin to something like murder versus uh uh in it what is it uh involuntary manslaughter you know maybe it’s something akin to the the distinction between those two the intentional killer uh God’s law makes it very clear that the intentional killer is liable to the death penalty uh either by Society or by the Avenger of blood himself uh that that that they were liable for it the unintentional killer not was not liable to the death penalty but the Avenger of blood must seek compensation for the loss incurred by the death of someone from his family it’s a lot I had to I had to research a lot this week by the way believe it it or not this wasn’t like on the front of my mind when I was reading uh reading this about Refuge cities The Refuge cities that are set up in Joshua 10 20 therefore they provide a place where the unintentional killer could run and they could find protection and preent and thus prevent the shedding of innocent blood which was a grave concern because it would pollute the land of God so this was very important these Refuge cities existed uh but here’s how it practically worked right I know you’re riveted right now uh and how it practically worked is even more interesting uh so after The Accidental killing you know the oops uh happens uh then the uh the persued unintentional killer would run to the City of Refuge uh that’s what you did you drop the axe you run uh you run to the city the city of refuge and you stand at the entrance gate you stand at the entrance gate of of The Refuge City and upon uh and at that time the Elders of the city are called out uh and they they come out and they hear you as you state your case for what happened this unintentional killing that you at least claim right uh upon hearing the case the elders are then required by God’s law uh to admit the killer into the city uh and it was the city’s duty to guarantee the Killer’s safety until the time of trial which would happen in his home Village or I would guess in the place where the incident happened uh you’d go before your own the own the clan that was uh that was affected but even if acquitted in trial of of uh of intentionally killing the threat of the Avenger of blood it still remained that’s hard right therefore the killer must live in the City of Refuge even after being found innocent of intentionally killing and the City of Refuge must guarantee that this acquitted uh intentional Killers protection and safety were upheld if the person wandered away from the City of Refuge at any time then he may be killed by the Avenger of blood this is all in the law of God detailed it’s pretty wild isn’t it uh but if you’re not already glued to your seat with anticipation of what might happen next uh it gets even uh more interesting cuz according to Exodus 35:25 the acquitted intentional
killer but he’s a killer nonetheless can remain in the City of Refuge protected safe but he has to stay in the city until until the death of the levitical high priest until the death of the levitical high priest the death by the way I think that’s numbers 35 by the way not not not Exodus the death of the high priest symbolically therefore uh it uh terminated the guilt that was incur incurred by the Killer’s act the Avenger of of blood would accept the high priest’s death as a substitute for the death of the killer full atonement having been fulfilled and made no further action or debt required of that unintentional
killer so what a merciful act for God to make a provision to protect and save and give Justice to the unintentional
killer but as you I hope we asking yourself what does this have to do with us how does this impact my life uh in any way well my friends quite frankly it has everything to do with us everything in the old Covenant God in his Mercy provided these Cities of Refuge in his Mercy to protect to deliver to ensure Justice for that unintentional killer but in the New Covenant of Grace through our Savior Jesus Christ God has offered us an even better place of Refuge he’s offered himself as our perfect Refuge the place where we can run when we’re afraid the sanctuary that we can seek shelter in when we’re in danger the courtroom where we can receive Justice the justice that we so desperately need but God’s not just a ref refuge for the unintentional Killers he’s a refuge in the New Covenant for the guilty alike you see Jesus in Matthew 5 when he gave us the the right interpretation of the law said this you have heard that it was said to those of old you shall not murder and whoever murders will be liable to judgment but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable the Judgment whoever insults his brother will be liable to counsel and whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire Jesus Took the external interpretation of the law and he internalized it it’s not just about what you do and what you don’t do it’s about what’s coming out of here in Matthew 15: 19 Jesus said for out of the heart comes evil Vil thoughts murder adultery sexual immorality theft false witness slander and these are what makes a person unclean in other words what Jesus was saying is that we’re all guilty we’re all guilty we all are murderers we all are adulterers we all are sexually immoral we all are thieves we all are Slanders of others and we all bear false witness and I know you might be saying I haven’t done any of those things well yeah well if you can at least say you didn’t do them you did do them in here all of us have all of us if not outright then certainly in our own Hearts we desperately need a place of
Refuge all of us need a place of Refuge a place where we can find protection a place where we can find Deliverance a place where we can find find
Justice Joshua 20 is a picture of a greater promise of God that was to come Hebrews 2 ver1 17 therefore Jesus had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people that word prop prop propitiation sorry that’s a hard word to say uh propitiation it means to satisfy the wrath of God on sin the high priest death in the old covenant made atonement for the guilt of the unintentional killer in that Refuge City Jesus Christ Our great and perfect high priest through his willing death on the cross has made the full atonement for all of our sins God has accepted Jesus as our substitute so that when we receive him by faith trusting in his finished work on the cross for us we’re forgiven and we’re set [Music] free not by what we’ve done but by what Jesus has already done for us this is what it means to find refuge in in God this is what God is inviting us to run to him and to find our refuge in him to find in him protection Deliverance Justice not in our works but in Jesus’s work on our behalf in Jesus we have a refuge that is sure a refuge that is strong an acre that cannot be broken a hope that is forever secure as Hebrews 6 tells us
that we who have fled to Jesus for our refuge have the strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope that is set before us we have this as a sure steadfast anchor of the Soul a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf having become a high priest Forever After the order of MDC friends Jesus is inviting us to run to him to run to him and find our refuge in him alone not because he can do it but because he already has through his son Jesus
Christ run to him as your Refuge because he doesn’t want something from you he simply wants you whereas cus Lewis also said it’s not so much of our time and so much of our attention that God demands it’s not even all of our time and all of our attention it is
ourselves God wants to be your Refuge run to him and in him find the protection and the deliverance and the justice that your heart so desperately desires amen am [Music]
