Turn with me to Joshua 20, please. Let's read the first six verses. And as I mentioned in the beginning,
our subject again tonight is a picture and type of Christ.
And it's a topic that we refer to very often, the cities of
refuge. Verse one. The Lord also spake
unto Joshua, saying, speak to the children of Israel, saying,
appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto
you by the hand of Moses, that the slayer that killeth any person
unawares and unwittingly or unintentionally may flee thither, and they shall
be your refuge from the avenger of blood. 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.
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
unwittingly and hated him not before time. 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 to his own house, and to the
city from which he fled." Just reading those verses, we see
clearly what a picture this is of Christ and our salvation. And these first six verses of
Joshua 20, we find Israel carrying out the command that was first
given to Moses in the 35th chapter of Numbers that we just read.
And they were to appoint six cities called the cities of refuge. God had given Israel very specific
instructions for how to deal with thieves and murderers and
criminals of all types. And the law of God instructed
in Exodus chapter 21, verse 24, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, a hand
for hand, and foot for foot. You see, according to the law
of God, the punishment should be according to the crime committee. I'm convinced, I am convinced
that if this kind of justice was still practiced today, that
there'd be a whole lot less crimes and a whole lot fewer criminals.
But men and women today commit serious crimes, and they get
a slap on the wrist, and they're released, and they're set free
with no real consequences, only to commit such crimes again and
again. And I know that that might not
be politically correct. But to me, political correctness
doesn't seem to be too correct anymore, if it's ever been. We don't talk about politics.
I'd like to. But if a man murdered someone
with premeditation, he had anger and he had malice in his heart,
premeditated murder, the murderer would in return
be put to death by the proper authority. And the proper authority
would often be the near kinsman of the victim. that being the
one who is referred to in our text as the avenger of blood.
And that's what the law and justice of God require. A tooth for a
tooth, an eye for an eye, hand for hand, foot for foot. But
let's suppose that two men, two friends for that matter, neighbors,
scripture calls them, were cutting wood and suddenly the head of
an axe came off, striking the other one, a deadly blow to the
head. That man's death was not intentional. And there was no enmity involved. It was just, as Brother Montgomery
used to call it, an unfortunate occurrence. And I purposely avoid
using the word accident. Because with God, there are no
accidents. All things come to pass by the
will and purpose and permission of God. Everything that comes
to pass is predestinated according to the purpose of Him that worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will. And you know,
we can, men like to argue and debate that. They say, well,
you're telling me that the Lord purposed and predestinated certain
things, horrible things. And I, you know, yes, according
to the Scriptures, He does. I believe the Lord lets men have
their way and accomplishes God's will and purpose. Our Lord was
taken and crucified by the wicked hands of men, but it was according
to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. So we've
got to be careful what we blame on God. But at the same time,
God is behind everything. And he's the first cause of all
things. So the law strictly declared
and allowed and enforced the principle an eye for an eye and
tooth for a tooth. And the man whose axe head killed
the other man was considered a manslayer. Now it would be
then that the near kinsman of the man who was killed had the
right, according to the law of God, to pursue that man who had
killed his relative unintentionally and put him to death. But the
Lord, in mercy and in grace, made a provision for such a one.
And aren't you glad? The Lord appointed six cities,
close in proximity to every city and tribe of Israel, and the
one who had unwillingly and unintentionally killed the other could run to
that place of refuge and find safety. And I'm telling you,
if you were that man who committed manslaughter, that city would
be awful precious to you. You know it would. Immediately,
the enlightened child of God sees a picture and type of the
Lord Jesus in the cities of refuge. Refuge, what a wonderful word
that is. We'll talk more about that in
a moment. But the Lord Jesus Christ is the one provision that
God made to spare certain chosen sinners. And it's the only way
for a guilty sinner to find safety from the avenger of blood. So
in this study, let's first consider the ways that the cities of refuge
picture and typify Christ. First, the cities of refuge,
as we've already seen, were appointed by God. It was by His decree,
it was by His will, it was by His purpose and word that these
cities provided for the safety and security of those who fled
to them. It was by divine appointment,
the divine appointment of God, that the Lord Jesus Christ became
the believer's surety and the believer's substitute and the
believer's savior. And when we consider The definition
of the word refuge, it beautifully describes the Lord Jesus. The
word refuge means shelter. He's our shelter in the time
of storm. Refuge means protection. Christ
is our protection. It means safety, security, sanctuary,
safe haven. a hiding place. Christ is all
those things. He's our refuge. He's truly the
believer's refuge. The word refuge in the original
Hebrew language means hope of safe habitation. My, it's in
Him we live and move and have our being. Denoting a place where
a person might flee and be safe and secure from all danger or
death. Oh, didn't refuge a beautiful
word? No doubt that Jesus Christ is
our refuge. And these shelters of refuge
were appointed and set up in the cities that belonged to the
Levites. You remember who the Levites
were? They were God's priests. And the high priest was the head
of that particular tribe and had dominion over those cities.
And those who made it to that city of refuge might properly
be looked upon as the high priest prisoner. And only the high priest
could allow their discharge. And I think about Christ. Our
great high priest, he's the only one who can put away our sin.
And he does so by the sacrifice of himself and dying in our place,
in our room instead. And our priest died that we might
be made free. as we see as this study continues. That's how the manslayer was
freed. Secondly, the cities of refuge
were to be located so that one could flee to them without any
difficulty. They were to be easily found
and strategically located. And the way and the road to these
cities of refuge was always to be kept clear. regularly repaired
so that they could be easily traveled and easily accessible. And you must, thirdly, be in
the city to be safe. If you got to the city and remained
outside of the city, there was no safety there. You had to be
in the city of refuge. And beloved, we've got to be
in Christ in order to be safe. If the avenger of blood caught
the guilty man outside the city of refuge, he had the right to
kill him. And the avenger of blood was,
of the law, the prosecutor, the judge, and the executioner. And
that was allowed by the law of God. And if God Almighty finds
a sinner outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, he's obligated
by his strict law and justice to kill them. God's law demands
that the soul that sins, it shall die. The wages of sin is death.
We talk about that all the time. Fourthly, you must remain You
have to remain in the city of refuge to be saved. If you left
the city of refuge, it was fair game for the avenger of blood. If the guilty man fled the city
of refuge, so long as he was there, he was under the protection
of God's law. But if he left, No, even so,
every guilty sinner who flees to Christ by faith is under the
protection from God's strict and unforgiving holy law and
justice. And in Christ, God's elect people
are totally free from all possibility of condemnation. What a beautiful
picture the cities of refuge are. The law of God cannot do
us any harm when we're in Christ. The justice of God cannot exact
one ounce of satisfaction from us. You know why? Because the
justice of God has been fully satisfied for us in Christ. who
is our refuge, and it now demands our eternal salvation. But you've got to stay in the
city. You've got to stay there. You've got to stay in that ark.
You've got to stay in the house with Rahab. The justice of God,
my satisfied, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who's
He that condemned it? It's Christ that died. Oh my,
do you see what great and wonderful hope we have? It's Christ that
died, yea, rather that's risen again, who's even at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Christ not
only died for us, Christ not only rose again for us, He's
at God's right hand, pleading our case and pleading our cause.
The cities of refuge were not only easily accessible, but they
were easily seen. They're built on a hill or on
a mountainside so that all might readily see the city of refuge
as they traveled and fleed for their lives there. As the manslayer
ran, he must look up to see. Oh, isn't that a picture of us?
As we run our course in this life, the race that Paul talked
about, we look up, don't we? Look into Christ. He declared,
if I be lifted up from the earth, I'll draw all men unto me. And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. Fifthly, the cities of refuge
were provided only for those who were guilty. Christ is the
only refuge for guilty sinners. The only requirement to be in
Christ is to be guilty. That's something I qualify for.
The only fitness that God requires is for us to feel our need of
him. Those that are well have no need,
but those that are sick. have great need. And in the cities
of refuge, we see the Lord Jesus Christ, but we also see the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now in the reference of these
cities of refuge, we see sin, we see the offended law, we see
the sinner, we see the responsibility of the preacher, and we see Christ
who is the refuge. We see the death of the high
priest, We see the great warning of the gospel, and then we see
the plain and simple message that the gospel proclaimed. So
let's talk about that for just a few minutes. First, we see
that sin is manslaughter. The definition of sin, you can
look this up in Webster's dictionary. The definition of sin is the
breaking of the law. That's how it's defined. Actually,
Webster said it's a transgression against God's divine law. I was
surprised at that. Every now and then, Webster gets
it right. Manslaughter was not premeditated murder. Manslaughter
was an unintentional taking of life. But sin is sin. Sin is sin, though it's committed
unwittingly or unintentionally. Sin is sin, and the wages of
sin is death. Sin is sin, and the soul that
sins, it shall die. And sadly, everything we do,
and everything that we think, and everything that we practice
is corrupted and tainted with sin. Everything. Man in his best
state, the scripture says, is altogether vanity. And everything
we do is corrupted with sin and it's the breaking of God's law.
But God Almighty views the sin of His elect people with an eye
on the remedy. Now you think about that. This is the difference that God
makes. God is a God of justice, and
He does not count any sin to be less worthy of death. Sin is sin. They're not little
sins and big sins. It's all sin. And it's all, it
all offends God with whom we've sinned against. David said, against
thee and thee only have I sinned. All sin is against God. But when
it comes to the child of God, Christ provides Himself a sacrifice
and a substitute, and He pays the chosen sinners' debt of sin
for them. And this whole religious world
has been taught to say, oh, I believe in Jesus, and I believe that
Jesus died to put my sins away. But when you talk to them, you'll
find that most folks don't believe that their sin is all that bad.
They're not all that bad, especially bad enough to deserve death.
Well, no, I'm not perfect, but I'm not all that bad. But there
are no little sins and no big sins, not to God. Sin is sin,
and the one who sins must die. And that's what the holy justice
of God demands. I don't think folks really know
much about that, know much about the law and what it requires. It requires perfection and holiness
and perfect righteousness. Secondly, the avenger of blood
represents the offended law of God. Again, everyone born of
woman is guilty and the law requires those who are guilty to be put
to death. And remember, justice declares and requires an eye
for an eye and tooth for tooth. And the real sin is that the
law has been broken. Therefore, the offender must
be punished and the punishment is death, eternal death, death
everlasting. We hear a lot today about life
everlasting, but not much about death everlasting. My, my, I
know it's not a pleasant subject, but it's a real and a true subject. And you and I and everyone that
sins for all are guilty and come short of the glory of God. And
there's none that good, no, not one. There's none righteous,
not a single one. We will and must suffer the penalty
of the law. Sin cannot go unpunished, and
God still be just. That's why most people don't
fear the law of God. They really don't believe that
they've broken it. They'll confess that they're not perfect, but
doing the best we can. You know, I believe as long as
we do the best we can. Sadly, that's not good enough. It's got to be perfect to be
accepted. We were shapen in iniquity, conceived
in sin. We came forth from the womb speaking
lies. Boy, I tell you what, you know,
we think our children are perfect. We think our grandchildren are
perfect. Not a believer, don't. No, we know what they are. They
come forth from the womb speaking lies. Did you do that? From the minute that we're born
in this world, the inflexible justice of God, Chris, begins
to pursue us. Thirdly, the sinner is the manslayer. But friends, it's here that we
see something of the grace and the mercy of God. Though the
manslayer has killed a man unintentionally, the fact remains that he has
still killed someone, and he's aware of it, he knows that he's
guilty. And men and women often give
mental assent to their lack of perfection, as I said, but only
one who has truly, I mean truly experienced grace knows that
they're worthy of death and eternal condemnation. And that's what
makes God's grace so wonderful and so beautiful to a believer. We know what we deserve. And
God doesn't give us what we deserve. And he gives us what we don't
deserve. And it's all in Christ. How'd
they know it? By the divine revelation of God. He knows through the preaching
of the gospel and he hears the footsteps of the avenger closing
in on him, gaining ground upon him. We've sinned against the
Lord and we can be sure that our sin will find us out, Numbers
32, 23. But the sinner to whom God has
shown mercy And grace also knows that in their guilt they can
flee to Christ, the city of refuge. And that brings me to the fourth
thing. The chosen sinner's refuge is
the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no other way to be saved.
There's no other place for us to go. Isn't that what Peter
said? Where else would we go, Lord?
Thou hast the words to eternal life. There's no place else for
us to go. To Christ and Him alone. Behold the mercy and grace of
God found in Christ. Now God established six cities,
as we read in both accounts, Numbers 35 and Joshua 20. Three on each side of Jordan. three in the land of promise,
and three on the other side. And three for those who had entered
and enjoyed what God had provided for them. And then there were
three cities of refuge on the other side of Jordan for those
who opted out. As you remember, well, this is
better for our cattle. They opted out for the gain of
the world. We've talked about that before. But it's here that
we see the blessing of the gospel. No matter your spiritual state,
no matter how far you may be from the enjoyment of what God
has provided, within your reach is the Lord Jesus Christ. God's
city of refuge. And if you get to Him, Oh, you're
safe. You're safe. You're safe from
the blood of injure of the law. If you get to Christ, you'll
be free from the death that you've earned and deserved. Grace is
unmerited and unearned favor. And God's wrath is what we've
earned and what we deserve. Do you see that you're in trouble?
We're all in trouble. The Lord also will be a refuge
for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble, Psalm 99. God
is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Oh,
are you in trouble? Look to Christ, get into that
city. Rest in Him. The sweet psalmist
says, my refuge is in God. And he sung, God is a refuge
for us. Psalm 62, seven and eight. And
in the city of refuge, no harm can come to you. None. How much more so that applies
to being in Christ? The law of God, the avenger blood
cannot enter. Then fifthly, we see the duty
and responsibility of preachers. How so? How do we see that? Deuteronomy
19 verse three tells us what the preacher's responsibility
and duty is. He said, thou shalt prepare thee
away. and divide the coast of thy land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit into three parts
that every slayer may flee thither." You see, called men of God rightly
divide the word of truth and they point men to Christ. They point men to that city.
You see that city? That's where you gotta get. That's
where you gotta go. God called men, point men to
Christ. The roads to the cities of refuge
were, as I said, regularly attended by men who were always keeping
them clean and repaired and easily accessible. There couldn't be
any obstacles in the way to hinder one who was fleeing to that city.
that would cause them to stumble? That's what a preacher does.
We plainly and simply preach the gospel, pointing men to Christ,
saying there's refuge, there's help, there's deliverance, there's
salvation. This is the duty and responsibility
of the gospel preacher. One of the old Jewish historians
said along the road to the city of refuge, there were markers,
signs placed, and the word refuge written on it in bold letters.
You know, that's all I see in this book. Signs that says refuge,
and that refuge is Jesus Christ. We point sinners to the way of
refuge. The gospel preacher points sinners
to Christ. Through preaching the truth,
we remove any obstacles or stumbling blocks. Through preaching the
truth, our message is for the sinner to lay aside every weight
Our message is to declare that Christ is the only way to clear
away the guilt of sin, which does so easily beset us. We've got to remove those obstacles,
keep them out of the road, and keep the way clear to Christ. This allows the Save Center to
run with patience the race that's set before them. The servant,
the shepherd, the preacher of the gospel is to keep the way
clear between the sinner and the Savior. Oh, I pray that the
Lord enabled me to do that. His message is always the same.
Behold, the Lamb of God. That's it. That's our message.
Look and live. That's our message. Come to Christ. You either are heavy laden with
sin, come to the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll find rest. His yoke
is easy. His burden is light. Sixthly,
we see our redemption in the death of the high priest. When the manslayer reached the
security of the city of refuge, he remained there, it says, until
the high priest died. Verse six tells us that at the
death of the high priest, The guilty manslayer was set free
to return home to his own city and into his own house. The death
of the high priest secures the release and the restoration of
the guilty sinner. The fleeing manslayer, the sinner,
had to leave behind his home, he had to leave behind his family,
his friends, his life, to dwell in the city of refuge. That's
what every believer does. You know, our Lord said, he that
loveth father and mother more than me is not worthy of me.
And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of
me. You remember what Peter told
the Lord one day. Peter told the Lord, he said,
we've left all and followed you. And the Lord said, verily I say
unto you, there's no man that hath left house, or brethren,
or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands
for my sake and the gospels, but he shall receive a hundredfold. Now in this time, houses, and
brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands With
persecutions and in the world to come, eternal life. My, my,
how glorious is the substitution and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ. When the great high priest died,
the sinner was made free. free from the law, free from
the wrath and the judgment of God, free from death, free from
eternal condemnation. And you know, the person and
work of Christ cannot be separated. Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
we oftentimes say we can described the gospel in just those few
words, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Who Jesus Christ is, who is He? He's God. What did He do? He died for the sins of His people. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You can't separate Him from His
work, His person from His work. And then we had the warning of
the gospel. Earlier we read in Numbers chapter
35, verse 26, I won't turn you back there, but this was a warning
that was given. But if a slayer shall at any
time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whether
he was fled, and the revenger of blood find him without the
borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill
the slayer, He shall not be guilty of blood because he should have
remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest.
But after the death of the high priest, the slayer shall return
into the land of the possession. What is the warning of the gospel?
There's no safety outside of Christ. No safety outside of
Him. The only safe place is to be
in Christ, the city of refuge. And then lastly, the message
of the gospel. Well, very simply, today is the
day of salvation. Make haste and come to Christ. If you haven't come to Christ,
come to Him now. The Lord himself, the Lord God, asked that question.
Why will you tarry? Why will you die? Why don't you
come? Don't let the works and the will
of man keep you out. The law of God, our avenger of
blood, will find you out. There's no hiding place from
the wrath of God. except in Christ. Except you
get in the city of refuge. Christ is the way to eternal
life. No man comes to the Father but by Him. Now let me quickly
finish up by giving you the names and the meanings of the six cities
of refuge found here in Joshua 20, verses 7-9. Kadesh is the
first mention. It means holy or sanctuary. Christ is the Holy One. It's
all about Him. It's all about Jesus Christ.
In Him, it's in Him, Christ, that we're sanctified. Hebrews
7.26, for such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. We must get to Kadesh, the Holy
One, the Lord Jesus Christ. Second one, Shechem. It means
the shoulder. Christ carried the enormous load
of our sin in His own body upon the cross, and He put it away
forever. Isaiah said the government of
the world in general, and of His church in particular, is
upon His shoulder. Isaiah 9, 6, For unto us a child
is born, and to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon
His shoulder. Christ is in control of this
shootin' match. and it's all upon His shoulder.
And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And friends,
in the conversion of His people, the Lord finds His lost sheep
and He lays that lost one upon His shoulder. And He carries
that lost sheep home. What a picture. We've got to
get to Shechem. Thirdly, Hebron. It means fellowship. Truly, our fellowship is with
the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. 1 John 1. In Christ, we have access and
fellowship. with the eternal God in uninterrupted
communion with Him in heaven's eternal glory. 1 Corinthians
1.9, God is faithful by whom we are called unto the fellowship
of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. We have got to get to Hebron. Bezer, it means a fortified place,
a place of defense. I will say of the Lord, He's
my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust. Psalm
91, 2. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower, the righteous run into it and is saved. Proverbs 18,
10. Christ is the fortress and the
defense of His people, the stronghold in which the prisoners of hope
are forever secure. Fifthly, Raymond, it means exalted
or high. Christ is our exalted savior.
God has highly exalted him, Paul wrote in Philippians 2.9. Christ
is the one by whom we've been exalted from our lowest state. He lifted us out of the dunghill,
and He set us among princes to inherit the throne of glory,
according to Ephesians 2, verses 4 through 7. And Revelation 5,
9, and 10 says, and Christ is the one we exalt, honor, and
magnify. He's the exalted one. And God
hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ. Sixly, golan, and means revealed
or manifested. Christ is God manifest in the
flesh. And without controversy, great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up in the
glory. And because of that, friends,
we can have great assurance that we too who lived in Him, died
in Him, buried with Him, raised with Him, and magnified with
Him. We are exalted. I want to go
to Golan. Don't you? Amen. He's the one. who's revealed
to us, to whom that we are called and by whom we are saved. But
when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me. That's the only
way that we'll ever see. In Christ, the glory of God is
revealed and God revealed His Son to me and in me. Beloved,
the revelation of the glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ. Christ is our refuge. Do you
want refuge? You can have it in Him. The way
is open. The way is clear. Christ Himself
bids you to flee to Him for refuge. Isn't that what He said? Come
unto Me, all ye that labor and heavy laden, and I'll give you
rest. Oh, there's rest that can be
had in the city of refuge. Flee to Christ. He's your refuge. And you'll live forever. What
a refuge. What a God. What a Savior. And what a Gospel. Amen.