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Muskegon SDA Church

Jason Sliger

The City of Refuge

Father in heaven, as the world goes to pieces, may we find that our relationship with you is only growing stronger and deeper and more meaningful.

May we not get caught up in the sensation of what's going on, but may we keep our eyes fixed upon you As our leader to lead us through all of this I pray father that you would send your Holy Spirit this morning to speak to our hearts.

On the big island of Hawaii, you can visit today the ancient ruins of a large enclosure whose stone walls were measured at 17 feet thick at the base.

Went up about 10 feet high and enclosed several hundred acres of land right there on the coast, just south of the city of Kona.

The city was anciently dedicated during the time of Hawaiian occupation for those people who broke Kapau law.

These were sacred Hawaiian laws that if they were broken, there was an immediate sentence of execution that was pronounced upon the individual.

There are a long list of these sacred laws that you can read online if you choose to.

But if the individual who broke the sacred Hawaiian laws Was able to flee to the city this place of refuge They would there be able to find safety from the executioner The high priest who resided inside of this enclosure would perform a ceremony of purification and forgiveness for the individual who broke the laws.

And shortly thereafter, he would be able to reintegrate into society only if he went and found forgiveness at the Hawaiian city of refuge.

You know, I find it interesting, you know, if you go back into ancient Chinese culture, into Hawaiian culture, many of the ancient cultures, you actually find fragments of biblical teachings.

The story of the Hawaiian cities of refuge is anchored in an Old Testament teaching in the book of Joshua.

It's actually even before Joshua, but this morning we're gonna look at Joshua, if you go with me there, Joshua chapter 20, where God instituted cities of refuge among his people to find safety in time of need.

And just like the Hawaiian cities of refuge, an individual went there, he would actually find an ability to restart, to in a sense have a new life.

So those who went to the ancient cities of refuge during the time of Moses and Joshua, would be able to start their lives over again?

Finding safety Within the walls of these cities joshua chapter 20 Beginning in verse 1 we'll look at the whole chapter quickly here together this morning.

Verse 1, the Bible says this, the Lord also spake unto Joshua saying, speak unto the children of Israel, saying, appoint out for you cities of refuge Whereof I spoke unto you by the hand of Moses." During the time of Joshua, there were 6 cities of refuge that were distributed evenly throughout the people of Israel.

There were 3 on 1 side of the banks of the Jordan River.

There were 3 on the other side of the Jordan River.

And they were strategically placed throughout God's people for it to be close, very close proximity to every single 1 of them.

At least 1 city would be in close proximity.

The Bible goes on and it says this in verse 3, that the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither and shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood." There was a very primitive system of justice that existed during the time of ancient Israel, and it went something like this.

If 1 person took the life of another individual The 1 who was killed his closest relative would be given the responsibility To avenge the blood of his family member He would go and he would find the slayer and he would take his life.

That was the primitive system of justice at the time.

He did not look favorably upon it, but for some reason he did not choose to remove it, but he worked with it.

And so he established these cities of refuge for individuals who accidentally took the life of somebody else.

In fact, In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses gives us an example of this, where 2 men would go off into the woods to cut down trees, and 1 man, as he was swinging his axe to cut the tree down, the axe head flew off the axe handle and hit somebody else in the head and killed them.

It was not a premeditated murder, but under the system of justice at the time, the closest relative could take the life of the man who accidentally killed his family member.

And so in that situation, the only place of safety that that individual could find was to run to the place nearest to him that was designated as a city of refuge Now The Bible goes on and it tells us this in verse 4 through 6.

And when he that doth flee unto 1 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 the city until he stand before the congregation for judgment and until the death of the high priest That shall be in those days Then shall the slayer return and come unto his own city and unto his own house unto the city from whence he fled Now the Bible goes on and it lists the 6 different cities of refuge in verses 7 and 8.

You can read that on your own if you choose to.

But then there's an interesting little piece of information here in verse 9 the Bible says these are the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for who 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 for judgment." I think if you are spiritually in tune, as you read Joshua chapter 20, you will see very quickly that there are many spiritual applications that can be made to this chapter.

There are a lot of parallels that parallel the stories of the city of refuge with our own personal spiritual journey as we go to Jesus, our city of refuge.

The Bible tells us in the book of Psalms, Psalms chapter 46, that we read this morning, that God is our what?

Refuge and our strength, the very present help in time of trouble.

The Bible also tells us in Psalms chapter 91 in verse 2, I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in Him will I trust.

Do we have a city of refuge, spiritually speaking, yes or no?

Now Who are we finding safety from who is it that is trying to take our life?

Who is the Avenger of blood if you will the Bible tells us that the devil is as a roaring lion Seeking whom he may what?

Devour Revelation 1212 the Bible says woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea, "'for the devil has come down unto you having great wrath, "'because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

So Jesus is a city of refuge for us in our spiritual lives.

He is in the business of destroying people.

And he is in the business of trying to do everything he can to remove the opportunity of eternal life from anybody who might have an inkling to give their heart to the Lord.

There are many spiritual applications and parallels that we can find as we look at the stories of the city of refuge, we see that Jesus is our refuge, that the devil is the 1 is pursuing, and he is pursuing people in this world to try to pull them away from God before they find safety and refuge in a relationship with him.

Listen to this, Patriarchs and Prophets, page 516.

The cities of refuge appointed for God's ancient people were a symbol of the refuge provided in Christ.

As you look at the story of the cities of refuge, you find there illustrated for you the refuge that God provides for us in Christ.

The same merciful Savior, she goes on, who appointed those temporal cities of refuge has by the shedding of his own blood provided for the transgressors of his law a sure retreat into which they may flee for safety from the second death.

No power can take out of his hand the souls that go to him for pardon.

As we run to Jesus, as we find safety and refuge in a relationship with him, for there is only safety and refuge in a relationship with Christ, As we go to him and we find that safety, there is no power upon this earth that can take us away from that safety that we find in Jesus.

In fact, the only 1 that can remove that hedge of safety is yourself.

You are the only 1 that can remove yourself out of that place of protection.

By God's grace, we will not choose to do that.

This morning, I wanna share with you 6 things in our study together that we can learn from the story of the cities of refuge.

And for the first 1 I'm gonna invite you to go with me to the book of Acts.

Keep your finger in Joshua because we're gonna come back to that.

We find as you're turning there that the only hope that this slayer had, this man who unwittingly, accidentally, took the life of somebody else, the only hope that he had at that moment was to go to the city of refuge.

The only hope of safety was the only hope of protection.

It was the only hope of preserving his life was to go to the city of refuge.

Is it any different for us today, yes or no?

What is the hope that we have in maintaining our eternal life and receiving the gift of eternal life?

The only hope that we have is to flee to Jesus, our city of refuge.

Bible tells us in Romans chapter 3 and verse 23 that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

You should die at the hand of the slayer, the avenger of blood, Satan.

But the good news is that we can flee from him and we can run to Jesus, and he will forgive us for those sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The only hope that this man had, the fugitive, was to run to the city of refuge.

Acts chapter 4 and verse 12, the Bible says this, "'Neither is there salvation in any other, "'for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be, " what?

We cannot save ourselves and There is no institution, there is no man-made denomination or church or group of people that can bring salvation to any other person.

The only way is to flee to Jesus, our city of refuge.

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The City of Refuge

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