Joshua 20 verses 2, 3, and 4
will be our text this morning. Speak unto the children of Israel,
saying, I point 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 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,
and give him a place that he may dwell among them. Now these
six cities of refuge typified and portrayed our Lord Jesus
Christ and the grace of God that is in Christ for sinners. These
cities of refuge represent to us the love, mercy, and grace
of God for guilty sinners. The word refuge has with it the
idea of hope. It is used in just that way in
the scriptures. If you want to turn to Hebrew
six for a moment. A refuge is a place or a person
something to whom or to which we flee in time of danger, when
we sense danger coming or trouble about us, and we flee to that
person or to that thing for safety and security. Here in Hebrews
6, verse 18, the apostle writes by inspiration and says that
by two immutable things, God's oath and God's covenant, in which
it was impossible for God to lie, We might have strong consolation,
that's comfort, peace, consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay
hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have, look
at this now, as an anchor of the soul. The hope that we have
in Christ. is that anchor which holds our
souls steady and firm in the midst of trouble and storms,
which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,
which entereth into that within the veil, whither the forerunner
is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest after the
order of Melchizedek. Now, these cities of refuge were
typical of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that's the thing I want you
to see this morning and show you how they were typical of
him. According to the law of God, any man who killed another
man was a man under the sentence of death and must die. That man
who sheds blood, that man's blood must be shed. According to the
justice of God, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life
for a life. Even in the case where a man
accidentally killed another, when a man was just perhaps,
as we read earlier, out in the woods working with his neighbor.
and an axe head fell off, hit him in the head and killed him.
Even then that man was subject to death because of the avenger
of blood. The avenger of blood was obliged
to avenge his brother's blood under the law of God. And so
he would go after the one who had even accidentally killed
his brother or his next of kin and would slay that man unless
he was found in safety in the city of refuge. Now, these cities
of refuge were six. They were appointed three on
one side of the Jordan, three on the other side of the Jordan,
and they were appointed throughout the land of Israel so that the
manslayer might easily flee to one of those cities of refuge
within just a half day's journey. The way to these cities was always
kept clear. It was regularly maintained and
repaired. were kept in such a condition
that they could constantly be easily traveled. Now, this is
something we have to look to a little bit in history, though
it's certainly implied in the scriptures we read earlier. But
the Jewish rabbis inform us that at least once every year, the
magistrates in those cities of refuge were responsible to send
out road crews to repair the roads. They were to go out and
remove any fallen debris, any trees that may have fallen across
the way or any rocks that were in the way. Every high place
would be brought down. Every low place would be lifted
up so that the way to the city of refuge would be leveled out
and easily traveled. Not only that, but there were
signs all over the land of Israel. according to the cities of refuge.
So that when you'd be going down the road, the manslayer fleeing
for his life with the avenger of blood hotly pursuing him,
he would run to a crossroad and see a sign, but he wouldn't even
have to stop and hesitate. Immediately, he'd see a sign
with bold letters, Refuge! And he'd run to the city of refuge
and thus find safety. These cities of refuge were such
that the manslayer, that one who was guilty of manslaughter,
had the right under the law. Now listen, he had the right
under the law to flee to the city of refuge and was guaranteed
safety if he fled to that city. Oh, listen to me before I proceed
further. Every sinner, every guilty soul,
You who today sits the wrath of God upon you and are guilty
before God, every guilty soul has a right under God to plead
to Christ for refuge. And everyone who pleads is guaranteed
safety in him. You say, Pastor, how can you
say a man has such a right? God gave it. And God promised
it. He commands you to come, and
if He commands you to come, you have a right to come. And coming,
you're guaranteed safety and eternal life in Him. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the refuge for sinners. All who come to Him
are saved from the wrath of God. The way to Christ is as plain
as the nose on your face. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Our Lord Jesus Christ, by His
blood and by His righteousness, has removed all the obstacles
which might keep a sinner who seeks Him from finding Him. He
even sends forth His Spirit to reveal the way, to lead us in
the way, and to bring our souls safely into the refuge. Now let
me show you three things this morning. First, we all need a
refuge. A refuge is what we need in time
of trouble. When we sense that we're in danger,
When storms are brewing, we've all taken refuge in the midst
of a storm, under a tree, or in the cleft of a rock, or under
a shelter of some kind. The Lord Jesus Christ is just
that for our souls. He is the great friend to whom
sinners may and can and should turn in time of trouble. He is
our strong castle. He is our mighty fortress. He
is our high tower. He is the ark of safety to shield
us from wrath and impending judgment. Just as Noah led into the ark
and was saved from the flood of God's wrath, so we must flee
unto Jesus Christ and find safety in the time of trouble in him.
Listen to the scriptures. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be moved. In God is my salvation and my
glory. The rock of my strength and my
refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, ye
people. Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. Did you
hear me? God is a refuge for us. Turn
to Isaiah 32. The eternal God is thy refuge. That is, the eternal God in Christ
is thy refuge. And underneath are the everlasting
arms. Here in Psalm 32, Isaiah 32,
rather, the prophet Isaiah gives us a prophecy concerning Christ,
our exalted King, having accomplished redemption for us. Now he's seated
upon the throne of glory, King and Lord of the universe. And
this is what the prophet says concerning him. And a man shall
be for a hiding place. It's marvelous that God should
be for a hiding place. But God is beyond us. God is
beyond our imagination. God is beyond our reach. God
is beyond our comprehension. Oh, but when God assumes human
flesh, now he who is God Almighty in human flesh seated on the
throne of glory is not beyond us. He's not beyond our reach.
He's not beyond our comprehension. He's touched with the feeling
of our infirmities. And this God-man is for a refuge,
a hiding place to our souls. He's a cover from the tempest,
as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock
in a weary land. Let me address you first who
are under the wrath of God. God help you to hear me. You
need refuge. Every son and daughter of Adam
by nature stands before God guilty of sin, condemned by God's law. And you are right now in immediate
danger of God's wrath. There's not something gonna happen
tomorrow. You weren't born in a state of innocent sin. We didn't
come into this world on probation. We were born guilty and we were
born condemned. We come into this world under
the wrath of God and we are all by nature children of wrath.
That's the nature of humanity. And that's your nature because
of sin. because you willfully rebel against
God, despise his gospel, despise his word, despise his grace,
despise his son, because you've taken the son of God and nailed
him to the cursed tree and spit in his face and left him dead
while he died, because you so despise God, you are by nature
under the wrath of God. You may think, well, the pastor's
Just according to this old fashioned stuff, trying to scare us into
the kingdom of God. I would, God, I could scare you
into the arms of Christ, but I know that can't be done. But
I want you to understand that if you're without Christ, you
are right now under the wrath of God. That wrath which burns the fires
of hell is the same wrath that's on you. And God has set his bow
set his arrow in his bow, he's unsheathed his glittering sword,
and there is but a breath between you and eternal damnation. The scripture says God has set
you in slippery places, and your feet are gonna slide
in due season. There's nothing keeping you out
of hell right now but for sheer mercy of God. Oh, God, help me to hear me. You deserve to be damned right
now. You deserve to be damned forever,
right now. Right now, there are no exceptions. There are no exceptions. And yet God Almighty is so merciful,
so magnanimous, so gracious, so great. that he whose justice
we offend constantly has made his own darling son to be a sin
atoning refuge for guilty sinners. I can think of nothing more astounding.
I want you to turn for a moment to Isaiah 28. Some of you here,
perhaps many, but some of you, I'm certain, are self-sufficient. Self-righteous you have you have
given yourself peace and security by fleeing to and building for
yourself a refuge of lies and That refuge of lies which you
have built for yourself is that which you constantly turn to
and you say no This is my peace. This is my security. This is
how I will stand before God. Everything's alright with me
now Richard you don't have to worry about me. I'll be alright.
Look here in Isaiah 28 the Lord God speaks And he tells us how
men speak to him. Verse 15, because you have said,
we have made a covenant with death. You know, when you were
a little boy, you went to Sunday school, and Sunday school teacher
got you to say, I believe in Jesus, and you made a covenant
with death. You knelt at the front of the
church, and you said the sinner's prayer, and preacher said, now
you're saved. You made a covenant with death. I know I was saved. I was there when it happened.
You made a covenant with death. And with hell are we at agreement.
The overflowing scourge shall pass through. God says it shall
not come nigh unto us. So you say it shall not come
nigh to us? For we have made lies our refuge. Not Christ,
our experience, our notion, our prayers, our feelings. We made
lies our refuge. And under falsehood have we hid
ourselves. Now listen to what God says in
verse 17. Judgment also will I lay to the
line, and righteousness to the flood. Let's test your refuge. God says, I'm gonna drop the
plumb bob and we're gonna see how straight your wall is. I'm
gonna lay judgment to the line. We'll find out whether your refuge
of lies will do you any good. The hail shall sweep away the
refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow the hiding place.
Sooner or later, God's gonna destroy your refuge of lies.
I pray it'll be today. Some of you, I hope, know your
guilt before God. That's no common person. Ought
to be made aware of your guilt. Few people ever experience that.
But knowing your guilt is not salvation. Salvation's fleeing
to Christ. You who are believers, my brothers
and sisters in Christ, but we also need a refuge. We need Christ
our refuge constantly. Our Lord Jesus bids us come to
him and find mercy and grace to help in time of need. He urges
us to use him as a refuge. He is our refuge to preserve
us in time of temptation. The apostle says, there hath
no temptation taken you, for such as is common to man, but
God is faithful. who will not suffer you to be
tempted above that you're able, but will with the temptation
also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it. What's
the way to escape? Oh, what temptations come our
way. The temptations of the world,
the lusts and cares of the world and the riches of the world.
But in the context, the temptations are the temptations to forsake
the gospel. The temptations to take the religion
of the world, which gives us acceptance with the world, to
embrace the teachings of the world, which will cause the world
to smile at us and embrace us. It's weary, weary, weary all
the day long, constantly to be the brunt of the world's opposition.
But there's no temptation taken here, but it's common demand.
And God has made a way to escape. What is it? Look to Christ. Look
to Christ. Constantly look to Christ. Your
sons and daughters come along and they said, but Dad, you know,
I've been thinking about this. I respect you and I don't want
to hurt you, but but this is just too straight. This is too
narrow. This is too strict. Don't you look in that daughter's
eyes. She'll take you to hell. Don't you look in that son's
eyes. He'll take you to hell. Look to Christ. Keep your eyes
fixed on Christ. The same for a mother and father. We need a refuge in time of trouble. Oh, when God's children are in
trouble, the Savior says, cast all your care on him, for he
cares for you. These days, preachers everywhere
try to get church folks to come cast their care on them. And
self-righteous, egotistical maniacs think that they can carry the
burdens of the world. And they try to be counselors
and psychologists and social workers and all this nonsense.
And you come to me, I'll take care of your troubles. Come talk
to me. Heavy hearted child of God. Cast
your care on him. He's got shoulders brought
in the front to take care of your troubles. And he's the only
one who can. He's the only one who can. Let
not your heart be troubled, our Savior says. You believe in God,
believe also in me. That's what it is to cast your
care on him, is to believe him. The Lord Jesus Christ is a refuge
to protect us from every danger. The psalmist said, what time
I'm afraid, I will trust in thee. He speaks to the believer and
says, concerning those who look to Christ, he shall not be afraid
of evil tidings. His heart is fixed, trusting
in the Lord. We need a refuge. Now, let me
show you this. The Lord Jesus Christ is exactly
the refuge we need. Exactly the refuge we need. He's
the refuge God appointed. These cities of refuge were not
devised by men. They were not concocted by men,
but rather the Lord God said, when you come to possess the
land, you mark out these cities, and it ain't six of them, and
these shall be your cities of refuge. And the Lord Jesus Christ
is a refuge for our souls that God Almighty has appointed. as
the Lord God anticipated a crime being performed. And before ever
the crime was performed, provided refuge for the criminal. So before
the fall ever took place, back in eternity, God Almighty appointed
his darling son to be the refuge for our souls. The cities of
refuge were given to provide shelter, safety, and life for
people who justly deserve death. So Christ Jesus was given so
that we who justly deserve to die might never die, but have
safety, security, and eternal life in him. If the avenger of
blood caught the manslayer outside the city, then justice demanded
that he die. The law required the avenger
of blood to slay that man who slayed his brother. The soul
that sinneth, it shall die. If God catches you out of Christ,
if justice finds you out of Christ, justice will slay you. God's
obliged to do so. But that man who fled to the
city of refuge, well, found safety and life and protection and was
guaranteed those things by the very law of God. God said, now,
when a man comes into the city of refuge, Let him declare his
cause. Let him stand before the elders
of judgment. And the elders of judgment, hearing his case, shall
receive him into the city, and there he shall dwell. You and
I, in Jesus Christ, are totally free from all possibility of
condemnation. The law of God can do us no harm. The justice of God can exact
not even one tithe of an ounce of satisfaction from us. Indeed,
the law of God and the justice of God being fulfilled and satisfied
by Christ are on our side and demand our everlasting salvation. Christ is the ark who has borne
all the furious fullness of God's wrath for us. And we in him are
never, never, never to experience God's wrath. payment God cannot
twice demand, first at my bleeding, sure at His hand, and then again
at mine. And therefore, we've seen with
the apostle, there is therefore now no condemnation. No condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. These cities of refuge were cities
easily seen from anywhere in the city. They were always built
on a hill. set up on a mountain top so that
the manslayer might immediately look, there's the city, and off
he runs to the city of refuge. Our Lord Jesus Christ is evidently
set forth, crucified among you every time the gospel is preached.
The Lord God says, I've set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. Look to me and be saved. He's
the refuge, the road to the cities of refuge. As I said earlier,
it was always clearly marked. In Deuteronomy 19.3, God said,
thou shalt prepare the way that every slayer may flee thither. Those signs posted pointing,
refuge, refuge, and the way cleared up so that everybody was constantly
made aware of the way to the city. In the gospel of Christ,
turn to Romans chapter 10, let me show you. In the gospel of
Christ, the way of life is so plainly marked so clearly set
before you, so plainly declared, that the Scripture says, the
wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err there. This is
not deep, profound, mysterious stuff. This is plain as nose
on your face. Romans 10, verse 6. The righteousness
which is of faith speaks on this wise. Say not in thine heart,
who shall ascend into heaven? That is, to bring Christ down
from above. Or who shall descend into the deep? That is to bring
up Christ again from the dead. The law of faith doesn't say,
what shall we do? No, that's the law of work, says
that. Self-righteousness says, what shall we do? The law of
faith doesn't say, what shall we do? But rather it speaks on
this night. This wise, the word is nigh thee,
even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith
which we preach. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth under righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made under salvation. These cities
of refuge, all six of them, were easily accessible, plainly marked
out, so that the manslayer who would run for refuge might fly
to that city with greatest of ease. So too it is with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Every obstacle has been cleared
out of the way. Sin had to be removed. Christ did it. Justice
had to be satisfied. Christ did it. The law had to
be fulfilled. Christ did it. Satan had to be
bound. Christ has done it. And now the
way is open. Here it is. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. No type in the scriptures is
a perfect picture of Christ. And here is one place where the
city of refuge, cities of refuge fall down. In the cities of refuge,
men had to run. Sometimes had to run pretty good
distance. But sometimes as much as a half a day's journey. And
they had to run with all speed to the refuge. The Lord Jesus
Christ bid you run to him, but run with your heart. He bid you
come to him, but come with your heart. You're to come to him,
not by doing something, but by believing. Believe in him. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. These cities
of refuge were by the command of God, open to both Jews and
Gentiles. I don't want you to miss this. The cities of refuge were provided
only for those men who were guilty of manslaughter. But Christ is
a refuge. for sinners guilty of every crime. Pastor, can I come to Christ? Will He receive me? Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. Come to the Son of God and find
refuge in Him. These cities of refuge. or cities
in which those criminals who fled would find complete safety,
but their safety was wrapped up all together in two things,
the life and death of God's high priest. The cities were all built,
are established among those cities that were given to the Levites
for an inheritance. How come? God gave the Levites
48 cities. Six of their cities were cities
of refuge. because there's no way of acceptance
with God. There is no refuge for your soul
except in God's high priest whom he has appointed, the Lord Jesus
Christ. There's a double reference here.
When the high priest died, the man who came to the city of refuge,
he'd come in, and there he'd abide until the death of the
high priest. And what we read in Numbers 35, when the high
priest died, that man could go home He was totally free, and
there was no possibility that the avenger of blood had any
right to touch him. When the Lord Jesus Christ died,
God's justice was satisfied, and God declares sinners to be
free who trust in him. God's people freed from all condemnation
forever because Christ died. But there's another significance
here, another picture in the text. So long as the high priest
was living, No harm could befall that sinner, that manslayer,
that guilty criminal who dwelled in the city of refuge. Now listen
to me. The Lord Jesus Christ, our great
high priest who died for us, lives forever. And he intercedes
at the right hand of God Almighty for guilty sinners. And there's
no possibility as long as Christ lives that one sinner for whom
he makes intercession shall ever perish. He's finished his work,
sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, and now
makes intercession for us according to the will of God. Here's something
else. Only those cities appointed by
God were cities of refuge, no other. Wouldn't do a man any
good to flee to any other city and say, let me have refuge here.
He said, but I'm not guilty of anything. I just accidentally
dropped a stone and it fell on a man's head, and he's dead.
I've got to have refuge. And the elder says, this is not
to be refuge. We can't help him. We can't help him. But the manslayer's
pursuing after us. We can't help him. Well, that's
not very kind. That's not very loving. But surely
you ought to tell the boy, come on in. We'll make refuge for
you. No, there's only one refuge. And the best thing we can do
for you is say you've got to get to the city that God's appointed.
Now, listen to me. There's only one refuge for your
soul, and that refuge is Jesus Christ the Lord. It won't do
you any good to look to your feelings, your works, the church,
your goodness in the eyes of men, your emotions. The only refuge for your soul
is Christ the Lord, his blood and his righteousness. There's one other thing here.
The manslayer had to dwell within the city. Wouldn't do any good
to look at him. Gotta come in. And having come
into the city, he stayed there. He stayed there. As long as he
dwelt in the city, life was his. We come to Christ and dwell in
him, for he is our refuge and everything we need. is in him,
everything we want is in him. To forsake him is to forsake
life. To forsake him is to perish. Abide in me. Abide in me, the
Savior said, and you'll bring forth the fruit. If you don't
abide in him, every branch cut off from him withers and dies. God help you to flee to the refuge,
Christ Jesus, and abide in the refuge for Christ's sake. Amen.