Turn with me if you would to
Exodus chapter 21. Exodus 21. We are gonna look at the cities
of refuge tonight. There were six of them. Six cities. God appointed him. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't it
so precious of him to do that? God told Moses that it would
happen, and God told Joshua to make it happen. All right? He told Moses beforehand, this
is what I'm going to do. And then when Joshua came along
with his people, he said, this is what I want you to do. And
Joshua made it happen. That is the gospel of the story. All right. That's the gospel
of the story. God told the law that it would
happen. And God told Christ to make it
happen. That's the gospel of the book, isn't it? The law pointed
to what Christ would accomplish and finish. Now, this right here,
Exodus 21, this was God's stipulation and His commandment concerning
these cities, okay? This is His rules concerning
these six cities. Look at Exodus 21, verse 12. He that smiteth a man, so that
he die, shall be surely put to death, period. All right? He that smiteth a
man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. That's it. There's no but. That's it. There's an and. Verse 13 says,
And if a man lie not in wait, if he did not ambush, You know,
waiting on the other guy to come around the corner. If he was
not ambushing the guy with an intent to kill him. If a man
lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand. What we would
call an accident. There are no accidents with God.
Okay, if a man accidentally dies, God delivered that man into whatever
hand he was delivered into. But we would refer to that as
being an accident. Verse 13, if a man lie not in
wait, but God deliver him into his hand, then I will appoint
thee a place whither he shall flee. But if a man come presumptuously
upon his neighbor, to slay him with guile, meaning something
was in the heart beforehand. Thou shalt take him from mine
altar, that he may die. Alright, so that was the stipulation
to enter in. That was God's command. If a
person did it on purpose, he could not enter in. Turn with me if you would to
Deuteronomy 19. Deuteronomy 19 verse 1 says,
When the Lord thy God hath cut off the nations whose land the
Lord thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest
in their cities, and in their houses." God said, I'm going
to give you this land of Canaan. And this is what we've been studying
in Joshua. They're taking it. And he's telling
Moses right here that when this happens, and you dwell in their
land and you dwell in their houses, verse 2, thou shalt separate
three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the
Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it. Thou shalt prepare thee a
way 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. And this is the case of the slayer
which shall flee thither that he may live. Whoso killeth his
neighbor ignorantly, whom he hated not in times past, he was
not angry with him. And he gives an illustration
right here in verse 5. As when a man goeth into the
wood with his neighbor, his friend, to hew wood. And his hand fetcheth
a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth
from the hill." When he goes to swing his axe and the head
slips off the handle. And lighteth upon his neighbor
that he die. He shall flee unto one of those
cities and live. Lest the avenger of the blood
pursue the slayer while his heart is hot and overtake him, because
the way is long, and slay him, whereas he was not worthy of
death." That was his friend. He wasn't mad at him. He was
not worthy of death. "...inasmuch as he hated him
not in time past. Wherefore I command thee, saying,
Thou shalt separate three cities for thee, and if the Lord thy
God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers,
and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy
fathers, if thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them
which I commanded thee this day, to love the Lord thy God, and
to walk ever in his ways, then shalt thou add three cities more
for thee besides these three." Six total, three on one side
of Jordan, three on the other side of Jordan. Verse 10, that
innocent blood. You see that? Innocent blood
be not shed in thy land. This was an accident. He didn't
hate him. That innocent blood be not shed
in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance
and so blood be upon thee. If you kill an innocent man,
sin starts in the heart. Alright? Sin starts in the heart.
And he's saying, if you kill an innocent man, blood's on you. So we clearly understand who
these cities were for. If a man killed unaware, and
he never meant for it to happen, but it happened anyway. The law
said that an avenger of blood, the next of kin, could come kill
that man. An eye for an eye, this is what
the law said, an eye for an eye, and buddy, we would have a good
system if we still held to this. An eye for an eye, tooth for
a tooth, life for life, right? So God said, in the event that
a man finds himself in a position that he never meant to be in,
I'm going to appoint him a place of safety, that he can run to
that place for a refuge. All right, now go to our text,
which is Joshua 20. Joshua 20, verse 1. 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. And chapter 21 tells us that
they did it. Verse 13, you can see, thus they
gave to the children of Aaron the priest Hebron with her suburbs
to be a city of refuge for the slayer. And it goes down through
there and it lists all six of them and it names them and they
did it. They did what God commanded them to do. So chapter 20 verse
1, the Lord 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, unknowingly,
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." Now what would
you imagine he's saying to them? I did not mean to do this. We
went into the woods together. He's my friend. I love him. I
was swinging an axe. And the handle slipped off and
hit him in the head and he died. I didn't mean for this to happen. Okay, come on in. Verse 5, And
if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not
deliver the slayer up to his hand. You can't turn the man
over. Because he smote his neighbor unwittingly and hated him not
before time. He did not. hate his brother, have anger.
He did not sin willfully. Verse six says, and he shall
dwell in that city until he stand before the congregation for judgment. If he wants to live, he needs
to stay in that city until he's put on trial and found to be
innocent. And it says, verse 6, 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. Now, we can see
the spiritual significance of these cities in their names. Alright, these have spiritual
significance and we already understand what these cities represent.
Verse 7 says they appointed Kedesh in Galilee and Mount Naphtali.
Kedesh means holy. This is the places they were
running to. Holy. This place of refuge is holy.
Verse 7 says, and Shechem in Mount Ephraim. Shechem means
between the shoulders. What is between the shoulders? Our head. Our holy head. The place where God said all
the government is going to be laid. Right there on His shoulders. Verse 7 says, Enkir jath arba,
which is Hebron in the mountain of Judah. Hebron means fellowship. The Apostle John wrote, Truly
our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. That's our true fellowship. Verse 8 says, And on the other
side, Jordan, by Jericho eastward they assigned Bezer in the wilderness,
upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben." Bezer means defense,
fortification. Verse 8 says, "...and Ramoth
in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad." Ramoth means highly exalted,
and we know who that is, don't we? Verse 8 says, Golan, Inbation,
out of the tribe of Manasseh. Golan means captive. This place
of refuge is a place where captivity is led captive. You run there
and you run into a place where captivity can be led captive. Verse 9 says, 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. Now what are these cities telling
us? God is our refuge. God is the refuge. Father, Son, and Spirit. Look
with me at Psalm 9. Psalm 9 verse 9 says, The Lord
also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times
of trouble. Look at Psalm 46. Psalm 46 verse
1 says, God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. Right here in Psalm 46 verse
7 says, The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is
our refuge. Psalm 48 verse 1 says, Great
is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God,
in the mountain of His holiness, beautiful for situation. The
joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north,
the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for
a refuge. Last one, go to Psalm 62. Psalm 62 verse 8 says, Trust
in Him at all times, ye people. Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. God truly is a refuge. He is a haven of rest for any
soul, for any soul who has not willingly sinned. For any soul
who it can honestly be said sin did not originate in his heart, if after being put on trial it's
determined that he has clean hands and a pure heart, innocent, if he is innocent,
then that innocent soul is welcome to walk straight on into that
city. He's welcome to come right on in. If he's innocent, he can
walk right on in. And that is just wonderful for
that soul. I'm so happy for that soul. But
I have a problem. I'm not that soul. There's a little twist here.
There's a little twist in the story. It doesn't go the way
we thought it would go. You see, God is holy and God
is just and he will not clear the guilty. If any man in his
heart hates another man and kills him, you just come on in here
and they can't touch you. God said that's not how it works.
That's not how it works. The only way you're coming in
here to be safe is if you are innocent. That place is a wonderful refuge.
That is a safe haven. That's a holy place. That place
is high and lifted up. That's where all the government
is. And the soul who's allowed to
enter into that place is not me. Not me. I am not that soul. Go with me,
if you would, back to Deuteronomy 19. Deuteronomy 19 verse 4 it says,
And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither that
he may live, whoso killeth his neighbor ignorantly, whom he
hated not in times past. Joshua 20 verse 5 says, If the
avenger of blood comes for that man, you cannot turn him over
to the avenger. You can't do it. He never committed
evil in his heart. That man is innocent. Now look
at verse 11. Deuteronomy 19 verse 11. But
if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and
rise up against him, and smite him mortally, that he die, and
fleeth into one of these cities, Then the elders of his city shall
send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of
the avenger of blood, that he may die. Verse 13 says, Thine eye shall
not pity him. But thou shalt put away the guilt
of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee. That right there is me. That
right there is you. It would be so wonderful if I
could just tell you, all you got to do is run to that city
and everything's going to be okay. And I am going to tell
you to run to that city, but there's a stipulation first.
That is the problem. That's the problem. That is me. That is you. And that's God's
law concerning us. That's what God said happens
to every sinner in our condition. If a man is found to be guilty,
he must be taken from this holy, highly exalted place of fellowship
and government. And he must be brought outside
of the city without the camp. And he must die. Now, for every soul who is not
innocent, every soul who willingly sinned, every soul who with an
evil heart rose up against him, and cried, crucify him. I want him dead. Why? What hath he done? Wouldn't
you prefer I just let him go? Don't you dare. Give me Barabbas. crucify Him for every soul who
is guilty of innocent blood, and that's us. God has declared
there is only one place of refuge for that soul, and that is in
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We have a high priest who touched
our infirmities. The one who knew no sin. Innocent. God made him to be
our sin. And then Isaiah 53 tells us,
He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. Out from the fellowship
of God. He must come out of this highly
exalted place. He must come out of this holy
place and he must be delivered to the avenger of blood. And
the avenger of blood poured out his vengeance on him and he died. God dealt with his people in
Christ. This city of refuge is a story
for us. But it has to be dealt with righteously
and justly. We had to be brought out and
killed. And we were brought out and killed
in Him. He became my guilt. And God dealt
with Christ based on what the sin of His people deserved. That's
what we deserve. He clearly said this is what
we deserve. Verse 13 it says, Deuteronomy
19 verse 13, Thine eye shall not pity him. God did not pity His own Son. Isn't that something? He had
no pity on Him. He didn't just sweep it under
the rug. He had no pity on Him. Why didn't He pity Christ? Verse
13 says, To put away the guilt of the innocent blood that was
shed. That's why. In Christ, the guilt is gone. In Christ, it is absolutely gone. Well, what does that mean for
us then? Verse 13 says it may go well with thee. It's going
to go well with you. If the guilt is gone, what does
that mean for us? It means we're innocent. Made
to be innocent. All guilt has been removed, and
now you're welcome to walk straight on into the city. you can enter right into the
gates. Every guilty sinner who runs to Christ for refuge is going to be innocent. They're going to stand before
the judgment. I love how Jeremiah said, in those days and in that
time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for
and there shall be none. They're going to be put on judgment
and there's not going to be any. Every single soul in Christ is
going to be found innocent. Innocent. All because our Lord
made Himself to be guilty. And as an innocent man, this
is what our text told us. Go back over there to Joshua
20. Joshua 20 verse 6. As an innocent man, he shall
dwell in that city. That soul is going to live in
Christ. As in, he was guilty, and God dealt with him accordingly,
and now he's innocent. And he's going to live in Christ.
He's going to now stay in Christ. Verse 6 says, Until he stand
before the congregation for judgment, And until the death of the high
priest, Christ his high priest. And then shall the slayer return
and come unto his own city and unto his own house, unto the
city from whence he fled. Once the judgment has been made,
this man is innocent. He's innocent. Who is he that
condemneth? It's Christ that died. Once that
judgment has been made, the judge is going to say, you're free
to go. You're free to go. You're absolutely free. If the
Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. I was thinking of a scripture.
I was looking for it before the message and I couldn't find it.
But talking about in glory, the Lord said they're going to come
and go. The gates are going to be wide
open. Does that mean they leave Christ? No way. It just means
they're free. The Lord has made them free. And that's what every sinner
is going to hear. You're free to go. These cities right here, they literally
were needed all the time. The Lord, that's why he made
six of them. He evenly spaced them out so
that when a man desperately needed it, he could get to them quick. Run quick, and here's the thing,
you and I need Christ. And God has made it so that a
guilty soul can get to Him quick. If you need Him right now, you
can get to Him right now. This is what the Apostle Paul
said in Acts 17. He said, He is not far from every
one of us. If you need a substitute to be
drug out of the city and killed for you, he's not far from every
one of us. He said, you just look with the
heart. That's all you have to do. You just look with the heart. Can't you see those guys running
to those cities? Can't you see them just running?
If you felt like there was an avenger of blood on your heels,
wouldn't you be running to the cities? That's what we do. We run with the heart. We flee
with the heart. And you go plead your guilty
case. That innocent man said, I'm innocent. But if you need a substitute,
you run to Christ and you cry, I'm guilty. I laid in wait. I did it on purpose. And you
plead your guilty case before him and he'll receive you into
himself. And if God ever puts a sinner
in Christ, that sinner's safe. He's safe. He's free and he's
safe. That's wonderful. Free and safe. Liberated. That's wonderful. Let's all stand together. Turn
with me, if you would, to 258.