Open your Bibles with me first
to the book of Leviticus. Leviticus 24. The Lord gave to
Israel clear instructions for dealing with thieves and criminals
and murderers. wicked people, violated the law
of Israel. In Leviticus 24, the Lord said in verse 17, He
that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. He that killeth a beast, if a
person kills a man's cow or horse or sheep or animal, he'll make
it good, beast for beast. If a man cause a blemish in his
neighbor, if he hurts his neighbor maliciously, as he hath done,
so shall it be done to him. Breach for breach, eye for eye,
tooth for tooth, as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall
it be done to him again. He that killeth a beast, he shall
restore it. He that killeth a man, he shall
be put to death. Now hold that right there a moment.
This scripture is teaching that punishment for crime shall be
according to the nature of the crime. That's what he's saying.
Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. That as a man does, it shall
be done to him. The punishment is to be in accordance
with the nature of the crime. So severe crime is to be severe
punishment. A man kills a beast, he restores
the beast. You don't put him to death. You
restore the beast. And in the next verse, he says
something else that's most interesting. You shall have one manner of
law, same law, as well as for the stranger, as for one of your
own country. The law does not show partiality. It's not supposed to. He said
you have the same law. for your sons and for the stranger
in your country. You have the same law for the
rich or the poor, for the influential, for the unknown, same law. This applies to a man because
he's wealthy, does not get out from under judgment, or because
he's a friend and a person doesn't get more severe treatment because
he's a stranger, you have the same set of rules and laws and
judgment for the stranger as for one of your own country because
I am the Lord your God. That's my rule. That's my commandment. Same judgment. Alright, so if a person murders
someone in anger and malice, he's to be punished by the proper
authority. Proper authority. The judges.
I'll show you over here in Exodus 21. He wasn't just turning the
people loose to judge one another. The judges were to establish
the punishment. They had judges. It says over
here in Exodus 21, verse 22. Exodus 21, 22. If a man strive
and hurt a woman with child, so that the fruit depart from
her, she has a miscarriage, loses a child. Yet no mischief followeth
her personally. He shall be surely punished according
as the woman's husband will lay upon him, bring the charges.
But he shall pay as the judges determine. We don't take the
law into our own hands and get vengeance. The judges determine
the punishment. But sometimes a family member, many times it would be a kinsman
of the victim that would bear the punishment called the avenger
of blood. But my message this morning has
to do with another type of murder and act of violence, and that
is suppose that death is unintentional. Suppose that an accident occurs. Suppose two men are in the field
and one of them is using an axe and there's no witness around. And the head comes off the axe
and strikes his fellow workman and kills him. There's a man dead and here's
the man holding the handle of the axe. And what's going to happen to
him? You know, no witnesses, Now, let's see what the Lord
says about that. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 19. Deuteronomy chapter 19. Now,
let's look at this. This is very interesting. Deuteronomy 19, verse 1. Now, when the Lord thy God hath
cut off the nations, whose land the Lord thy God giveth thee,
and thou succeedest them, dwellest in their cities and their houses."
In other words, he's talking to Joshua and Israel here and
says, when you take over the land and you dwell in the land.
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 unto three parts, that every slayer may flee thither. And this is the case of the slayer.
Now this is the illustration. This is the case of the slayer
which shall flee thither, that he may live. Whoso killeth his
neighbor ignorantly, unintentionally, Whom he hateth not in time past,
he hath no grudge against his neighbor. For example, when a
man goeth into the wood with his neighbor to cut wood, and
his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down a tree, and
the head of the axe slips from the handle and lighteth upon
his neighbor that he die, what's going to happen to him? He shall
flee unto one of those cities and live. In other words, you
designate three cities. in proportion, different parts
of the land where you inhabit. Designate three cities. Carl,
I'm going to show you in a minute, the cities of refuge. And if
such an incident takes place, in other words, if you hear the
man's son or brother comes rushing into the field, and there his
son or brother lies dead, and here's the neighbor that's killed
him. Well, a half an hour or two foot
two, pick up something and kill him, you know. That's when he's
angry. But this man can flee to one
of those cities and nobody can touch him. Now read this. Verse 6, lest the avenger of
blood pursue the slayer while his heart is hot, while he's
angry, while he's flushed with anger, hot, mad, overtakes him
because the way is long and kills him. Whereas he was not worthy
of death. And as much as he didn't hate
the man 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 your land grows bigger, as he hath sworn
to your fathers, and giveth thee all the land which he promised
to give unto your fathers, if thou shalt keep all these commandments
to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the Lord thy
God, to walk ever in his ways, then shalt thou add three more
cities. refuge for thee, besides these
three, six cities of refuge, 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." In other words, you have people
running around killing one another, getting vengeance for accidental
death. Cities of refuge. Turn to the
book of Joshua, the next book. Joshua chapter 20. Joshua also
writes about these, and he calls them cities of refuge. Joshua
20. Look at verse 1. The Lord also
spake unto Joshua, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying,
Joshua 20, verse 2, Appoint out for you cities of refuge. What's
the word refuge mean? The word refuge means asylum. You know, people from Russia
or Cuba or other places seek asylum, protection, they seek
security. They seek a place where they're
safe and secure from arrest. If they can get under the auspices
and protection of someone or some country. Asylum, that's
refuge. That's what that word is in the
Hebrew there. It means the asylum from fear
of arrest. The city is a refuge whereof
I spake unto you by the hand of Moses. Now verse 3, that the
slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may
flee thither and they shall be These cities shall be your refuge
from the avenger of blood. And when he that doth flee into
one of these cities, he shall stand at the entering of the
gate of the city, and declare his cause in the ears of the
elders of that city, and they shall take him in." Isn't that
beautiful? Take him in. Take him into the city and give
him a place. that he may dwell among them
safe and secure. And if the avenger of blood pursue
after him, they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand,
because he smote his neighbor unwittingly and hated him not
the fourth 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. The high priest
dies, the slayer returns and comes to his own city and his
own house under the city from whence he fled. The prophets
and apostles have used this word refuge in reference to our Lord
Jesus Christ. This is a beautiful picture of
Christ as is Every type in the Old Testament. These cities of
refuge and so much attention given to them is a picture of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Let me give you a few verses.
Moses said, the eternal God is thy refuge. Deuteronomy 33, 27. The eternal God is thy refuge
and underneath are His everlasting arms and He shall Thrust out
the enemy before Thee. Keep Thee. God's my refuge. Psalm 62, David said, Trust in
the Lord at all times, ye people. Pour out your hearts before Him,
for God is a refuge. God is a refuge for us. Isaiah wrote this in chapter
25, For Thou, Lord, hast been a strength to the needy, A refuge
from the storm. A shadow from the heat. And the Apostle Paul says in
Hebrews 6, we have fled to him. We have fled. And that's a picture. Here the slayer, the manslayer,
sees the victim on the ground. Heartbroken. So sorry for this
that has taken place. And remembers the city of refuge,
and he runs, he flees to that city. And Paul said, we have
fled to him for refuge, to lay hold on the hope sat before us. And Wesley wrote, other refuge
have I none. Hangs my helpless soul on thee. Leave, oh leave me not alone. still support and comfort me. Hide me. Hide me from the avenger. Hide me from the enemy. Hide me from my adversaries. Hide me, O my Savior. Hide me
till the storm of life is past. Say unto the haven God and receive
my soul at last. I want to show you five things
about these cities of refuge that point to Christ. First of
all, these cities of refuge were appointed by God. The person
who fled to the city of refuge could feel quite safe and quite
secure because Moses didn't appoint these cities and Joshua didn't
appoint these cities. These cities were decreed by
God Himself. And Christ, our city of refuge,
turned first of all to Acts chapter 2. It's the Lord God who made
Him our refuge. It's the Lord God who made Him
our Redeemer and our Messiah and our Christ. Listen to Acts
2 verse 36. Peter preaching at Pentecost.
And he said to Israel, he said in verse 36 of Acts 2, Therefore,
let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made
this same Jesus, whom you crucified, Lord and
Christ." God made him Lord. God made him Christ. When this
slayer troubled and fearful over the
consequences of his act, When he fled to this city of refuge,
he could feel a security and safety because God established
these cities. God said, let these cities of
refuge be established. God did it. Our Lord Jesus Christ
is not a Savior, He is the Savior. He is not a refuge, He is the
refuge. He is the one God established.
Let me show you that in Hebrews 5. Hebrews chapter 5, I would say
to everyone here, this gospel we preach is not our gospel,
it's His gospel. This salvation is not our salvation,
it's His salvation. This way of life is not our way,
it's His way. God's appointment by God's appointment. People may stand in the pulpit
today and say, The way for a man to be safe and saved is to be
baptized. Who said that? Well, I did. Well,
God didn't say that. The place of refuge is join the
church and change your way of living and change your habits. Who said that? Well, I did. Well,
God didn't say that. God said Christ is our refuge. The blood and righteousness of
the Son of God. Look at Hebrews 5 talking about
the high priest. It says in verse 4, Hebrews 5,
No man taketh this honor to himself, but he that is called of God,
as was Aaron. Aaron didn't say, well, I choose
to be the high priest. God chose him. So also Christ
glorified not himself to be made a high priest, a refuge, a savior,
a redeemer, an advocate, but he that said unto him, He that
said, Thou art my son, today have I begotten thee. As also
he said in another place, By my decree, thou art a priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. Come on, manslayer. Flee to the
city. This is God's city. God established
it. This is God's decree. You can
be saved, secure and sure, because God said it. Hebrews chapter 7, just one page
over, verse 22. Hebrews 7, 22, By so much was
Jesus made a surety of a better testament. Who made Him a surety? God did. Who established the
testament? God did. And listen to this in Jeremiah,
Jeremiah 23. I want you to look at this now,
Jeremiah 23.5. I'm saying that the cities of
refuge were by God's appointment, by God's decree, by God's authority. He said to Joshua and to Moses,
make these cities. That's my order. In Jeremiah
23 verse 5, Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I'll raise
up unto David a righteous branch. And a king shall reign and prosper
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. And in
his days Judah shall be saved. And Israel shall dwell safely,
and this is his name, whereby he shall be called the Lord our
Righteousness." I'll raise him up. You see that? So with great plainness and simplicity, this picture,
this city of refuge, asylum, to which the manslayer flees
is official. God made it. It's official. You understand that? This Christ,
who was born of woman, lived on this earth, died on that cross,
was buried and rose again, ascended to glory. You come to Him for
refuge and for redemption. God made Him the high priest.
God made him the righteous branch. God made him the king. God made
him a shelter in a weary land and a hiding place from the storm. All right, secondly, the person
who fled to the city of refuge was guaranteed safety. He was
protected. He was protected. He was secure. And he was guaranteed safety
by God. It was not Moses that guaranteed
his safety. Moses didn't say, now if you
touch him, he'll answer to me. No, if you touch him, he'll answer
to God. Joshua didn't say, now I'm going
to protect this man. No, he's protected by God. Not the council, not the judges,
not even the law. Not Joshua or Moses. But the
security of this man is in the hands of God. Turn to John chapter
10. This is what I'm talking about.
John chapter 10. And all of the enemies and avengers
and adversaries, Satan and demons and men and charges and so forth
can't touch you because He protects you. He established the refuge
and He will protect you. In John 10 verse 27, My sheep
hear My voice, I know them, they follow Me, I give them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me,
He is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out
of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one. God
made Him the refuge. And God Almighty will protect
those in Him. He's in there in God's hands.
Our security and freedom from condemnation is not in our profession
of faith. It's not in our church. It's
not in the council. It's not in the synod. It's in
our Lord. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned
for repose, I will not, I will not desert to its foes. That
soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never,
no never, no never forsake. Protected by His almighty hand. He puts His everlasting... God
is our refuge. And underneath are the everlasting
arms. He protects you. Under the blood
of Jesus, I'm safe in the shepherd's fold. Under the blood of Jesus,
I'm safe while the ages roll. under the blood of Jesus, safe
though the worlds may crumble, safe though the stars grow dim,
under the blood of Jesus, secure in Him. Thirdly, these cities
of refuge were to be located so that a person could flee to
them without difficulty. In other words, God gave Joshua
these instructions about these cities. They were to be located
conveniently. They were to be located so that
a man could flee to them quickly. They were to be located so he
could get there without much difficulty. There would be no
mountains to climb. You don't put a city of refuge
on top of a mountain. There was to be no rivers to
swim. You don't put a city of refuge across a river. There
was to be no long journey to take, the cities of refuge were
to be easy to find, quickly, and they would have signs. That's
right, Joshua instructed the priest to put signs along the
road saying, refuge, refuge, refuge. And then every once in
a while the priest were to go over the road themselves. Now
listen, that right says, go over the road themselves. and move
any stumbling block that might be in the way. Big boulders and
stones and slides and rock slides or whatever, keep it clear. Oh, what a picture of our Lord.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, our refuge. He's not far from any of us.
That's what Paul said in Acts, look over here in Acts chapter
17. A fellow doesn't have to climb a mountain to be saved.
A fellow doesn't have to swim a river. A fellow doesn't have
to go to Jerusalem. He doesn't have to go to some
headquarters. He doesn't even have to come
to this building. Christ is not very far from all
of us. Listen to Acts 17 verse 22. Listen.
Acts 17 verse 27. They should seek the Lord. If
haply they might feel after Him and find Him, though He be not
far from every one of us, for in Him we live and move and have
our being. Yeah! The city of refuge is right there. I don't have to go to the Holy
Land. I worry about people who make
these He trips to the Holy Land to get some spirituality. Or go anywhere. Christ is not very far from any
of us. The guilty have no mountains
to climb, or rivers to swim, or places to go, or meccas to
visit. Look! Perhaps one of the greatest preachers to preach in the 19th century
was Charles Adams Spurgeon. He was born to a believing parent. His grandfather was a preacher,
pastor. And for some reason he lived
with his grandfather the first five or six, seven years of his
life. in his grandfather's home, spent a great deal of time, I
think because they had so many children in his father's home,
that the grandfather helped care for this young man. And the grandfather
preached the grace of God. And Spurgeon listened to him.
And his grandmother would teach him the hymns, the old hymns
that we sing. And he would memorize them. He
had a brilliant mind. He could remember anything. His
grandmother used to give him what we call a penny, a pence,
for every hymn that he memorized. And he was memorizing so many
he was breaking her up. She had to give him a pence for
every five hymns he memorized. But he had it up here. And he would go to church every
Sunday after he left his grandfather's and moved back in with his parents.
And then he went to school and academy and so forth. away to
school early in those days. But he'd go to church every Sunday.
Because he was taught that way and because he wanted to. Because
he believed God. But he just hadn't fled to Christ. He didn't know the Savior in
his heart. He knew Him in his head. He was well trained and
versed in the doctrines of God. Believed in God. He was going
to church one Sunday morning And it was snowing. And his journey
was difficult. And he knew he was going to be
late to the service. And he would not go into service
late. He just wouldn't do it. He used
to say, I wouldn't interrupt people who were worshiping God.
So he saw this little primitive Methodist chapel on his way to
where he usually went to church. And he was on time. He stopped
in there and he sat down way back in the back, a small building,
seating 40, 50 people or less. There were just a few people
there that morning. The pastor couldn't make it to
the service. The weather was so bad. And one
of the elders preached that morning. And the elder preached that morning
from Isaiah 45. Turn over there to it. Isaiah
45. And his text was verse 21 and 22 of Isaiah 45. Spurgeon said, I remember very
little that he said, but I remember his text. I remember he kept
going over this over and over again. Verse 21, Isaiah 45, Tell
ye and bring them near, yea, let them take counsel together.
Who hath declared this from ancient times? Who hath told it from
that time? Have not I the Lord? There's
no God beside me. There's no refuge. There's no
hiding place. I'm a just God and a Savior.
There's none beside me. Look to me! Look! And be you saved. All the ends
of the earth, Father, I'm God. There's none else. Don't climb
a mountain. Don't swim a river. Don't go
to the Holy Land. Don't memorize a catechism. Don't
keep days duties and tithes and try to establish a righteousness,
look. Look, like the people of Israel,
look to the brazen serpent. Christ is not very far from any
of us. In Him we live and move and have
our business. Look. Anybody can look. A blind man can look. A sick
man can look to Christ. And he said, That elder looked
back at me and said, young man, you look awful miserable. Why
don't you look to Christ? And Spurgeon said, it just seemed
like somebody pulled back a curtain and showed to me that the way
of salvation wasn't in my memorizing doctrines and learning all the
deeper truths and trying to conform to certain requirements set forth
by people. It was to look to Christ. Run
to Christ! He killed a man. I'm done. They'll get me. What am I going
to do? City of refuge. Make a beeline. And he ran to
it. And ran in. I'm alright. And the same thing. I'm a sinner.
The guilty have only looked to Christ. And the Word of God is
the signpost. You see, I said those Those roads
to the city of refuge had no signs. Refuge. Refuge. Refuge. And wherever you turn
this Bible, it says, Christ. Christ. You know what it said?
Believe on Christ. Look to Christ. Come to Christ. Christ. That's what this Word
says here. And I'll tell you, the preacher,
every once in a while, ought to run over the road himself
and come back to Christ himself. So he makes sure all the stumbling
blocks of intellectualism, denominationalism, ritualism, legalism, and all
the rest of it is out of the way. Get it out of the way. You
say, well, man's got to do this before he's saved. Man's got
to do nothing before he's saved. Look to Christ. Nothing. Well, you've got to do this.
Look to Christ. That's what this book says. You
get all this refuse and garbage out of the way. And all your
rules and regulations and everything else out of the way. Go over
there once in a while. Come back yourself to Christ.
When you get so intellectual and high and mighty and self-righteous
and high and lifted up that you look down on everybody else,
remember, you're the chief of sinners. Less than the least
of the saints. And you ain't fit to be a child
of God by nature. You're just a killer! that ran
to a refuge. That's what I am, aren't you?
I'm a murderer that ran to the refuge. And the only reason I'm
safe is because of Him. And the fourth thing, but the
manslayer must be in the city to be safe. Now, listen to me. Knowing about the city, knowing
about Christ, He that believeth on the Son
hath life. Agreeing with the city. Well,
I think there ought to be a city of refuge for guilty people.
I do too. But that's not going to help
me. Knowing about it and agreeing with it. And knowing about Christ. Well,
I think it's wonderful that He saved sinners. Are you a sinner? Flee to Christ. Well, knowing
someone in the city is not enough. That manslayer could have a neighbor,
he could have a relative in the city. In fact, his daddy could
be one of the elders in the city. And he's out here, he's a dead
man. Isn't that right? He's a dead man, if he's not
in the city himself. My mother was a fine woman. That
don't make you a fine man. My daddy believed on the Lord
Jesus. He can't believe for you. My daddy was in Christ. My mother
was in Christ. Timothy could say, my grandmother
and mother was in Christ. But he's got to believe. That's
right. And I tell you, intending someday
to get in the city won't do it. I'll get to the city, but I believe
I can wait a little longer. And the manslayer is killed by
the avenger. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requires is
to feel your need of him. Run to Christ. Out of my bondage,
sorrow and night, Jesus, I come into thy freedom, gladness, and
life. Jesus, I come out of my sickness
into Thy health, out of my want into Thy will, out of myself,
my sin into Thyself. And I tell you this, when the
manslayer ran into the city, he had no father to go, he had
no payment to make, and no fare. He's saved. You mean me? I especially mean
you. And me too. Guilty. Guilty. And he ran to the city. And just soon as he ran to the
city, no more fear. No more pavement. No further
to go. Safe. He might have met a manslayer
that had been in there for ten years and he wasn't any more
safe than the fellow that just walked in. That's right. The manslayer,
another one fellow had the same problem, ran to that city, and
he'd been there for 20 years. He wasn't any more secure than
a man just walked through the door. Because the same God protected
him. Thank God. Last of all, turn to Numbers. I've got to
read this to you, Numbers 35. Numbers 35, listen to this. The
manslayer must remain in the city. He must remain in the city. There's a whole lot about this
city as a refuge. In Numbers 35, let's read it,
verse 26. But if the slayer shall at any
time come without the border of the city, of his refuge where
he has fled, and the avenger of blood find him outside the
city of refuge, the avenger of blood can kill him and not be
guilty." Still looking for him. Still looking for him. And I
tell you this, if he finds you out of Christ, he can kill you,
because Christ is That's where you have believers will continue. Let me give you this in closing.
You may, you that have taken notes, there's some ways in which
you want to, when you're studying a type or picture of Christ,
take it just as far as the Scripture takes it. There's some ways in
which these cities are not pictures of Christ. There were six of
them, there's one here, this one sector. It's not just flee
anywhere, because your sinner is Christ. These cities required
a physical move. That person had to flee to the
city. No deed, no movement, no physical exertion is required
to come into Christ. You don't even have to come down
here. You come to Christ sitting right where you are. By looking,
not with these eyes, but with the heart. These cities of refuge
protected a man from physical death. My Lord protects from
eternal death. Never die. These cities of refuge were for
those who accidentally killed somebody. Christ is a refuge for those
who did it on purpose. That's right. Say, well, my sin
wasn't an accident. Most times it's not. Most times
it's not. And see, the cities of refuge
were a refuge for those who accidentally killed somebody and didn't mean
to. My Lord is a refuge for real,
bona fide, genuine, guilty people, sinners who did it on purpose. And the manslayer had stayed
in the city, and it said, you remember I read it to you from
Joshua, when the high priest died, he could go home? The high
priest who was there over that place, when he died, then the
man could go home. My high priest will never die,
because I am home. He is my home. You see, that's
the difference. But I'm going home. What I'm
going to do, I'm going home.