The text uses the Old Testament Cities of Refuge as a powerful metaphor for Jesus Christ, illustrating that He is the ultimate refuge for humanity from the consequences of sin, offering salvation, safety, and abundant blessings.
read the word of God from Joshua CH
20 we are looking together at the
pictures of the Lord Jesus in the Old
Testament and today we will be focusing
on the Cities of
20 the Lord also spoke unto Joshua
saying speak to the children of Israel
saying assign you Cities of Refuge
of which I spoke unto you by the hand of
Moses that the Slayer who kth any person
unintentionally and without
premeditation May flee there and they
shall be your Refuge from the Avenger of
blood and when he who doth flee unto one
of these City shall stand at the
entrance 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 and if the Avenger
of blood pursue after him then they
shall not deliver the Slayer up into his
hand because he smote his neighbor without
without
premeditation and hated him not
beforehand and he shall dwell in that
City 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 where he
fled and they assigned Kadesh in Galilee
in Mount
napi and shikim in Mount Ephraim
and kirath arba which is Hein in the
mountain of
Judah and on the other side of the
Jordan by Jericho Eastward they assigned
beaser in the wilderness upon the plain
out of the tribe of Ruben and ramoth in
Gilead out of the tribe of GAD and Golan
in Bashan out of the tribe of
manasse these were the cities assigned
for all the children of Israel and for
the stranger who s sojourneth among them
that whosoever kth any person without
intent might flee there and not die by
the hand of the Avenger of blood until
he stood before the
congregation the key to this chapter is
Hebrews chap
6 and verse 18
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
before
Refuge some of the city employees in New York
York
City this weekend were planning to hand
out to the
tourists a pamphlet they had prepared
entitled welcome to fear
City it's part of a program they have to eliminate
layoffs I suppose you could call some of
here in the city of Chicago one out of
every 35 deaths is a
murder other cities have a much higher
rate back in the nation of Israel there
were six particular cities that were
just the opposite of fear
City they were the Cities of
Refuge it was the one place that a
person could
run who had accidentally killed somebody
and there were six of them and they were
the safest place for the man to
be many people say that the Old
Testament law is an unfair law they say
this because they haven't read the Old
Testament God makes a distinction
between murder and manslaughter that
distinction is still carried on in our laws
laws
today if a man accidentally kills his
neighbor without meditation without
hatred it's considered
manslaughter now back in these days they
didn't have a police force they didn't
have the kind of jurisdiction that we have
have
today or that we're supposed to have
today and uh the different families and
Clans and tribes saw to it that crimes were
were
punished now here is someone who murdered
murdered his
his
neighbor and therefore he is to be
judged in the Old Testament scriptures
murder was capital punishment meant
capital punishment and the person who
had committed murder was killed lest the
land be polluted by
Blood sad to say we've gotten away from
some of these ideas
today but how does the Avenger of blood
how does the relative of the man who was
slain know whether or not his his
neighbor killed his
relative as a murderer or as
manslaughter now sometimes In the Heat
of the emotion he would chase down the
man and he would kill
him only to find out later on he had
killed an innocent man and for this
reason God established the Cities of
Refuge and these Cities of Refuge were
available so that when a man did kill
someone he could run there they would
have a trial they would discover whether
or not the man was guilty and then they
would deal with him
accordingly now God doesn't take all the
space in the Bible to write about the
Cities of Refuge and by the way four
books in the Old Testament deal in
detail with these cities he doesn't do
this simply because of real estate or
history or civil
law God does this because these cities
are a picture of what people need to do
today people today need a
refuge and there are people listening to
my voice right now who ought to be
fleeing to God's City of Refuge and
Hebrews 6:8 tells us that this City of
Refuge is our Lord Jesus Christ those of
us who have fled for
Refuge to the hope that is set before us
and this is Jesus Christ in other words
the city of Refuge illustrate to us the
experiences that we go through in this
matter of
Salvation now there are four of them
there are four experiences that we'd
like to share with you today that help
us to understand what it means to be a
Christian now if you'll just in your
mind's eye picture a man who has
accidentally killed someone here's a man
back in Israel who's chopping away on
some wood and the axe head comes off and
hits his neighbor and his neighbor dies
and there that man stands and he has to do
do
something what does he do now if you'll
just pick that picture up to
Chicago and apply it to your own life it
could make a great deal of difference
experience number one he realizes his
danger that there he stands and there
lies a dead
man and our friend our imaginary friend
realizes his danger and what's he going
to do he's going to
flee now he's not going to
flee simply because uh a City of Refuge
is available he's going to flee because
he's a man in danger and one of the
relatives comes out and he says he's
dead who did this our neighbor did this
our neighbor has always been our enemy
ah but meanwhile our imaginary friend is
running down the road and he's looking
for the nearest City of Refuge he
realizes his danger that's where it all
begins it's interesting to note that
because God makes a distinction between
murder and manslaughter you and I today
can be
saved God's Mercy is based on God's justice
justice
and the man goes running to the City of
Refuge which is a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ and he comes into the City
of Refuge he says accidentally I killed
my neighbor and here I am they say you
just calm down we're going to
investigate this and see what's really
going on but I didn't premeditate it
wasn't plann I don't hate him he's a good
good
neighbor it was it was a sin of
ignorance I I didn't know what was going to
happen do you remember when Jesus was
dying on the cross he prayed a very unusual
unusual
prayer concerning those who crucified
him he prayed father forgive them they
know not what they
do it's as though Our Savior were saying oh
oh
God my people need a City of Refuge here
are the people of Israel I came unto my
own and my own receive me not and now
they've rejected me and they've
crucified me they've committed the
greatest crime in all of history but
they don't know what they're doing Paul
said the same thing 1 Corinthians
chapter 2 the Apostle Paul said had they
known they would not have crucified the
Lord Of Glory a sin of ignorance in fact
Paul himself was saved this
way Paul said I receive Mercy because I
did all of these things ignorantly in unbelief
unbelief
I'm not saying that God forgives people
because they're ignorant I'm saying God
makes provision for people because
they're ignorant what does that mean to us
us
today well all week long we're jostling
various people and coming in contact
with them and most of them are
lost and they're ignorant of the fact
that a provision has been made for their
I did not accidentally kill the Lord
Jesus Christ I wasn't even there when it
happened but my sin killed
him I think that sometimes we become
sin my sin killed the Lord Jesus Christ
and your sin killed the Lord Jesus
Christ I think it's significant that
when pilate wrote that announ
anouncement that was put over the head
of the Lord Jesus on the cross this is
Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews
it was written in Latin and in Greek and
in Hebrew it's as though all of the
world had to bring all of its sin and
hang it there on the
cross you see I didn't just simply
accidentally kill a sinful man my sin
deliberately crucified the God man and
if in the Old Testament scriptures a man
had to run for his life because the
Avenger of blood was after him when he was
was
innocent how much more do people today
need to run for their lives because we're
guilty Jesus said it so beautifully over
in John chapter 3 when he said and this
is the
condemnation that light is commen into
the world and Men love Darkness rather
than light because their deeds are evil
he that believeth on him is not
condemned but he that believeth not is
condemned already because he hath not
believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God and the very first
experience this man has he realizes his
danger he says death is over my head I'm
facing condemnation I'd better get
moving I say to you my friend you're already
already
condemned where do people get the idea
they have to die to be condemned if you
have not trusted Jesus Christ as your
own Savior and surrendered to his love
you're condemned right now do you today
realize your
danger I wonder if people would be
living as flippantly and carelessly as
they are if they realize their Danger
the second experience follows first he
realizes his danger secondly he runs to God's
God's
Refuge now God had appointed these
Cities of
Refuge it's not for man to plan
salvation God does it and he says to
himself there are six of them and God
has appointed these Cities of Refuge and
if God has appointed them then I can run
in them you see God's provision of the
Cities of Refuge was Holy by his
grace that's the way salvation comes to
us it's Holy by God's grace and if a man
who could be forgiven and acquitted
because he sinned unintentionally had a
place of Refuge where he could run how
much more gracious it is for those of us
who have sinned
deliberately and our sins have crucified
Jesus Christ the Son of God how much
more graciously it is that God makes a
provision for us these cities were
appointed by God now you didn't run up
to one of these cities and say well I
don't like God's
choice remember when
naamon the leper came to the prophet and
the prophet said go down to the Jordan
River and dip in the Jordan River seven
times remember what he said he got
angry he said we have Rivers back in
Damascus far more beautiful than the
Jordan you want me to go down to that
muddy Jordan River I won't do it I can
just see some stupid man who has killed
his neighbor saying well I don't like
the looks of kedesh I don't like goland
I don't like sheim those are not
beautiful cities at all and someone says
my friend you don't have any
choice it's God who appointed the way
and you either come God's way or you
don't come at all
that must have been what Peter meant
when he said neither is there salvation
in any
other for there is none other name under
Heaven given among men whereby we must
be saved the cities were appointed by
God secondly these cities were available to
everybody God didn't bury these cities
off where people couldn't find them
there were three on the west side and
three three on the east side of the
Jordan River two at the North two in the
middle and two at the bottom at the
South and nobody in Israel was much
farther away than a couple of hours from
one of these cities and according to the
rabinal tradition they had to keep the
roads to the city of refu Cities of
Refuge clear and in good repair I wish
we had laws like that today I understand
too that whenever there was a curve in
the road a sign was put up that said
refuge in other words if a man were
looking for a City of Refuge he could
find it it was appointed by God and it
everybody that's one reason Moody Church
has been here low these many years this
is one reason why we send out
missionaries all over this world this is
one reason why we broadcast the gospel
week in and week out it's because God
has appointed a city of refuge and this
city is
available and our job is to open the
roads and encourage people to start
running and put up the signs that say
this is the way Jesus Christ is the City of
of
Refuge I notic something else here that
um these cities were not only available
they were accessible to
all I'm glad for verse 9 in Joshua 20
right smack in the middle of that verse
is one of the greatest New Testament words
words [Applause]
[Applause]
whosoever God didn't say now if you're a
levite you can run if you belong to the
tribe of Judah the kingly tribe you can
run he didn't say that he didn't even
stop with the Jewish people he says if
one of the children of Israel needs a
refuge here it is if a stranger in the
city needs a refuge here it is whosoever
that's the greatest word in the New Testament
someday when we meet the Apostle Peter
up in heaven I want to ask him a
question it's been in the back of my
mind for many years I want to ask him
how he felt in the household of
Cornelius when he couldn't finish his
sermon you see Peter came down to the
household of Cornelius and he's
preaching away he talking about John the
Baptist and how Jesus came and then he
gets to that word that whosoever
believeth in him might receive the
Forgiveness of sins and that crowd that
was sitting there a bunch of Gentiles
said whosoever why up until now it's
been Jews and they believed and the Holy
Spirit came down Peter never did finish his
sermon somebody says to me today you
know Pastor I need a refuge I I know I'm
guilty I'm a
sinner and I've sinned deliberately not
accidentally I've sinned intentionally
not unintentionally I've sinned with
hatred I've sinned with malice I know
I'm a sinner and I know that it was my
sin that put him on the
cross but does he want the likes of
me of course the answer is yes he wants
the likes of
you because the likes of you is just
like the likes of us
whosoever but you have to
flee I've noticed in Joshua 20:3 flee
verse 4 flee verse 9 flee he never says
walk doesn't say leisurely make your
stop at McDonald's and get
no he doesn't say take your time he says
flee now we don't see much fleeing these
days sin has become
so customary and salvation has become so
Ordinary People say well I can just
leisurely make my way to my deathbed and
then when I get on my death bed I I may
trust in the Lord Jesus my friend my
flee experience number one you realize
your danger the Avenger of blood is
after you the soul that sinth it shall
die the wages of sin is is death it is
appointed unto men once to die and after
that the Judgment you realize your
danger and then you run to God's
Refuge now how do you do that simply by
trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as your
savior right where you are now without
even lifting a foot you can lift your
heart to the Lord Jesus Christ and say I
believe that you died for me I know that
you're my savior and right now I give
you my heart you can do that you can
flee to Jesus Christ right
now and I would encourage you to do so
now there's a third
experience we realize our danger the
Bible calls that
conviction we run to God's
Refuge the Bible calls that
Faith third we
rest in s
safety the man comes to the to the gate
of the City of Refuge and I have read
that those Gates were never
closed if so that's a beautiful
illustration of John 6:37 all that the
father giveth me shall come to me and
him that cometh to me I'll in no wise cast
out and he says to the elders this is
what happened I was chopping down the
tree and the ax head came off and struck
my neighbor and killed him and I didn't
hate my neighbor nebor I love my
neighbor I borrowed things from him all the
the
time and I realize what happened and
I've run now they say we're going to
we'll find out he looks down the road
and here comes a man running he says
there's the Avenger of blood protect me
they say you don't to worry you can just
relax now you're in the place of safety
you see my friend when you trust Jesus
Christ as your savior you can rest in safety
let me explain
why number one the word of God told this
man not to be
afraid in
Exodus and numbers and Deuteronomy and
Joshua four Old Testament books God
spells out the details on the City of
Refuge and here comes the Avenger of
blood and he's got a knife in his hand
you killed my brother
one of the elders says it says in the
him sometimes people think we Believers
are arrogant they say that we're proud
and arrogant because we say we know we're
we're
saved oh they say that's the height of
arrogance for a man to say I know I'm
going to heaven my friend it's not the
height of arrogance to say you know
you're going to heaven it's it's the
God how does the man know he's safe
God's word says so how do you know
you're saved God's word says so and God
has done a beautiful thing in the New
Testament that he didn't do in the Old
Testament the same Holy Spirit who wrote
the word of God Witnesses in our hearts
and so when you flee to the Lord Jesus
Christ you know that you are safe
because God's word says so and the Holy
Spirit in your heart says
so for whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved is that
true or isn't it
true for with the heart man believeth
under righteousness with the mouth
confession is made concerning salvation
true believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved is that true or
isn't it
true behold I stand at the door and
knock If any man hear my voice and open
the door I will come into him is that
true or isn't it true my friend if you
have believed in Jesus Christ according
to the word of God then according to the
word of God you are
safe you say for how
long and I give unto them eternal life
that's a good long time and they shall
never perish neither shall any man pluck
them out of my hand the Father which
gave them me is greater than all and no
man's able to pluck them out of my father's
father's
hand we rest in safety because the word
of God says so
secondly we rest in safety because there
was a
trial you see they they tried the fellow
the elders would investigate because
it's possible for a murderer to sneak in
some fell could come running in and give
a fabricated
story they investigate and they discover
that he maliciously deliberately
hatefully murdered his neighbor in that
case he was killed you say now that
breaks the picture oh no it makes the
picture because our City of Refuge Jesus
Christ is so great that even a murderer can
come but they had a trial now here's the beautiful
