Joshua 20-21 Bible Study (The Cities of Refuge/Cities Allotted to Levi) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Good evening. If you've been with us the past few weeks, you know exactly where we are in our bibles tonight. If you don't, meet us in the book of Joshua chapter 20. And we are coming near the end of this amazing book. Just four more chapters, and then we are entering into a completely different book.

But until then, we are going to take our time with what God has to say. Joshua chapter 20. If you were here last week, you know that we have come to the end of a section or we thought concerning this book, and it deals with what we've been dealing with over the past few weeks, the division of the land concerning Israel and the allotment of the different tribes concerning the promise that God had for each of them. Now when we come to chapter 19, we see that Joshua gets his inheritance at the end of it, and then it tells us plainly at the end, the last verse of of Joshua 19. So they finish dividing the land.

And you would think that this is where the book ends. It's over here. Let's move on. But no. There is still more that God has in mind for Israel and for us.

And so we come here to verse one of Joshua chapter 20, and what do we realize? That there's another crucial component that needs to be established with this newly established society. And what is it? It's something known as the cities of refuge. The cities of refuge.

If you've been with us for the past not few weeks but few years, you know that this has been a repeated theme in the Old Testament. It's shown up in Deuteronomy. It's shown up in Numbers. And here it is again in Joshua chapter 20, these cities of refuge. Let's just read verse one just to get an idea.

And the Lord said to Joshua, say to the people of Israel, appoint the cities of refuge of which I spoke to you through Moses. So what's the idea here? Nothing can move on. Nothing can move forward. This isn't complete yet until these cities are determined.

And if we can summarize what these cities of refuge are all about, all we have to do is scroll down to verse nine and then we get the idea. These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and for the stranger sojourning among them that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood till he stood before the congregation. That's the main purpose of these cities, that someone who committed manslaughter, who unintentionally killed another, would be able to run to this city and be sheltered by God's law and God's promise. Now, again, this has been repeated on more than one occasion. In greater detail, we see it in Deuteronomy 19, numbers 35.

This is clearly important for Israel and for us in the new covenant. And we we read this and we almost think this is so primitive. This is almost strange. This seems almost barbaric, like you kill somebody and all you have to do is kinda run to a specific city and just hide there. But as we read and take our time, we will realize that this system is much more sophisticated.

And so when we read, we realize not just a piece of history. Again, when we read this concerning the cities of refuge, what you and I are gonna grasp is something of what? God's character. God's nature. We know that this is one great way of interpreting the Old Testament of the whole Bible really, especially in the Old Testament.

Whenever we come to a text like this, here's our tool in our bible study every week. What does this say about who? God. If you're struggling to find something, if if you feel like you're stuck somewhere with a text even like this, here's one question that will bring some kind of breakthrough. What does this say about the God of the Bible?

That is certainly true and necessary when we come to something like this, the cities of refuge. And I would say that it does not just teach us something about who God is, we will see something of his practicality and we will also see something of prophetic truths. So when we come to this, let's deal with the practicality. Let's deal with how this teaches us something about God and how he wants his people to live. Now when we come down to verse four and five, we realize that this is much more sophisticated.

He shall flee to one of the cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. So we understand that a person who has committed manslaughter, unintentionally killing somebody, and Deuteronomy gives us examples of how that can happen In the forest, in the workplace, there's different scenarios. But here's what we understand. When this person realizes what he's done, he runs to one of these cities, and there's plenty of them, and they are all accessible no matter where you are in Israel. They would run, they would come to the gate, the leaders would come, and they would say, What's what's going on here?

And he would plea his case, and there was a pretrial. There was a convincing that this person is innocent. And once that's established, this person is brought in, and what are we told? Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place and he shall remain with them. The idea here is that this individual will be protected and shielded from the avenger of the one who is a victim, and he would be he would be laid to rest to know that nothing will happen to him.

But until when? Well, we read in verse six. What do we read? And he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment. For judgment.

So not only is he protected, he's confined. This individual doesn't have the liberties that he did before. He can't see his family. If he's left his family, he can't go to work. He is stuck in this place because now he has to go through trial before a congregation, before leadership, and then they are going to determine if this is really the case, if this individual is truly innocent.

So we shouldn't get this idea that the cities of refuge are some silly spots, these areas, like, kind of like a rule to a game that you just run to and you're protected no matter what without justice or without a fair trial. No. There are legalities here. There are policies here. There are laws here.

And God is showing us something about himself because more than just history again, the cities of refuge testify of the attribute of God, specifically namely his justice. God's justice. God's laws are shown here to protect somebody from being treated or judged for something that he had not committed. And so God is deeply concerned about the well-being of his people. Now this is why it's important, because though this is something that is specifically for Israel in this time, and we know that throughout history there is progression and understanding how we deal with accidents and crimes.

Here's one thing that is unchanging from this text. This is something that is stapled. This is something that is true, and this is something that is established. It declares something of God's character. It's evidence of who he is.

It declares something of what? His holiness. His what? His wisdom. His what?

His dealing with this world concerning government and law. His what? His mercy and his grace and the estimation that he has concerning human life. So you read this and you think, what does it say about God? It says plenty about God.

See, here's what we understand. When we study the promised land, we have to get this out of our heads. The promised land was not the Garden of Eden. The promised land though it was God's perfect will for his people, his designation for his people where he wanted them to experience his goodness was not paradise. This is post fall.

So even within the will of God for his people, there is still the effects of what Adam and Eve had committed against God. Accidents, murder, all these different things that are possible, And God knowing those possibilities now wants to bring some kind of order to his people. Structure, systems to do what? To make life more livable. So that you and I can can endure through this life in a fallen world.

So you know what God didn't do when he created us? He didn't create us, see that Adam and Eve messed up, zoomed out and says, I hope you figure it out in this mess. No. God in his care and in his mercy and his love, even after the fall, steps into our world through his word, through the prophets, through the apostles, and now he gives certain commands and systems and institutions to be able to what? At least restrain the evil that can so easily flood our society.

And this is God's heart from the beginning. You probably know where we're going here, right? This Bible study. Let's go to Genesis nine and let's understand something about God's character, specifically with his justice. If you wanna summarize God's justice, biblically speaking, this is how you can summarize it.

God desires for us to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. That's the simplest way of saying it. He wants this world to learn how to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. And here's what you and I are experiencing in our day. We're experiencing this and it's only gonna increase unless God intervenes.

We are seeing an increase of the massacre of the innocent and a tolerance for lawbreakers. And that is something that God had condemned concerning his people Israel throughout the prophets you see, and we all know this verse, Isaiah five twenty, woe to those who call evil good and good evil. What happens in Genesis nine six? God establishes a universal decree. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

How can we summarize that? Two words, capital punishment. God had instituted something after the flood with the only remaining humans that returned to a normal world, and this is what he decreed to these humans, not just for their day, but for the universe, for all time, for all generations, and all cultures. From now on the world is gonna operate under a certain system and it is this, that if you kill somebody, the payment will be your own life. This speaks of God's seriousness concerning the value of human life, and this speaks of God's wisdom.

Now why would God, out of all times I mean, this is early in history and early in our bibles, God would institute such a thing. The reason why we know it's strategically placed there is because we have to understand why the flood happened in the first place. And all you have to do is go three chapters back and see in chapter six verse 11, what was the description of the world in God's sight? This is what it says. Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with what?

Violence. Violence. So when God looked over and he saw the world, and the reason why he unleashed a worldwide flood was because there was bloodshed of men and women, perhaps even children, in such a normative pattern that the cries of people's blood reached the corridors of heaven. And what God was witnessing was a total disregard to the crown of his creation, seeing people who were playing God by taking life from their own authority. And what God was seeing was a reversal of his initial command in the world, be fruitful and multiply.

And what was happening? There was killing and elimination. And so it reached his nostrils, and God commanded for there to be a flood. And once the flood subsided, once it was all over, his judgment was executed. Here is at, excuse me, Noah and his family, they're entering into a normal world again, and this is what he says, if a man sheds another man's blood, his life will be taken.

What was his reason for that? So that we would not reverse into the corruption before the flood again. That no society would hopefully see what God saw before he issued judgment on a worldwide scale. And so this is what we know from his desire for establishing such a rule. It serves as a restraint to the potential of man's wickedness and evil.

And so what does he do? He decrees. He decrees a system, and this is his heart from Genesis, and we see it in Joshua, and you only see it elaborated more and more throughout the books of the Old Testament, especially as he's establishing a society in Israel. He does not want anybody to die unjustly. And that is seen even in the cities of refuge.

That person who killed innocently doesn't deserve to die. There are different things that he has to pay for but not his life. You know what's amazing? Violence described the days of Noah. And the days of Noah will describe what?

The end times. Jesus clearly said that, like it was in the days of Noah, so so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man. You know what's amazing? What described the days of Noah? Absolute havoc, murder, bloodshed.

We said this before and if you haven't heard it you'll hear it now, the bloodiest century is the twentieth century. We think that we're getting better and better. Now we've killed more and more as we've progressed. With our technology and our science. We've only found more creative ways to slaughter people.

That's how sinful we are. Even when we invent things, we find a way to turn it for evil. Here's the internet. Here's all this filth. Here's an advancement in our healthcare and we deem healthcare to justify the slaughter of innocent children.

We are so creative in our wickedness. And so God has a concern and Jesus said, what was happening in the days of Noah, the level of violence will be reflected. The horror in those times will be seen on the same level in the end time generation. You know what that must mean? That tells me at least two things.

One, it speaks of the lack of sufficient government, the lack of courage with civil authorities, or the corruption of citizens to such a degree that they are fearless concerning even any establishment, or both. What God had in mind in Genesis, he had in mind for Israel, and he didn't just have in mind for Israel, he has in mind today. So you know this verse, but let's unpack it for a second in in Romans 13 in our bible study. What did God say in Romans 13 concerning government? Verse three down, this is what he says, for rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.

Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good. Listen, we're not in Genesis or in Joshua, we're in Romans, by the way. We're in the new covenant. Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval for he is God's servant for your good.

But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. There's we can just spend a series on the words presented in these verses. But let's just touch on God's core idea behind establishing government. Notice that Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is not concerned about the form of government. Because there are different forms of government in different cultures.

And Paul is not explaining to us that in God's mind he is concerned about the exact forms of how government should operate. Because regardless of the form, regardless of how it looks like, there is one thing that remains true for all types of government. There is one purpose for why they were planted and established in our world, to bring terror to wicked people. That's the that's the main purpose. To literally put fear on those who are bent on doing evil.

Government is not man's idea. Government is God's idea. And what we see here is that in verse four, this is the means by which there is terror that strikes the heart of citizens, especially those who are tempted to do wrong. He being the government, civil authorities, does not bear the sword in vain. So the government has a sword, a symbol of what?

Of execution or punishment, even of the taking of one's life. For the sake of what? Restraining evil from its full potential of manifesting in our streets, in our cities, in our homes, and everything in between. Law and order. Ready?

Armies. Ready? Ready? Police. Yes.

All those things. And so, those establishments, guess what? Are God's idea, not man's. Not The United States Of America, from the headquarters in heaven. In fact, we are told What does it say?

Look at your bibles here. Near the end of verse four, For he, being the government, is the servant of God. The servant of God. You know that word servant is the language used for pastors? Language used for elders?

Servants of God. They are what? They are to manifest the character and the will of God in society. So what's happening today? This is what we're seeing.

We're hearing the cries of people who desire to abolish the police. Abolish the police. Big difference from defunding, and we can even argue about defunding. But you know what the ultimate goal of radical agendas? You know what it is?

Let's get rid of them and let's replace them with different means of community management. That's not politics, that's spiritually inspired. I have Bible. Romans 13 says, government are what? Servants of God.

It is no wonder that there is such a strong pursuit in wanting to dethrone what God has established, to try to weaken what God wants to strengthen, to try to remove and replace what God and his wisdom has established for society to flow in a way where we can at least function and leave our homes without being afraid. So, so this attack on the idea of the government yielding a sword and executing punishment, this is inspired by the Spirit of God who knows what the world will look like if you remove it. And here we are running around thinking we know how to run society and our cities better than God. How cute. The very same people who argue for that are the very same people who lock their doors at night.

And so what do you have? You have an attack, not on an agenda, not on a political party, not on a president. You have an attack behind it all. Are we not Christians? Do we not know that this is a spiritual thing?

Everything is governed by what? A spiritual realm? In the end, it's an attack on God. No question about it. You can bring your policies and your ideas, but make sure you have a finger on a verse.

Because if you're a Christian, this is your authority. Not what the news station say or the popular YouTube videos that go viral. And if you're a Christian that's slightly tempted in thinking that abolishing the police is a good idea, I want you to ask yourself tonight how comfortable you feel with the world that you live in. Lock your door at night? Do you lock your car when you park it downtown, when you go to your favorite restaurant?

Let me ask this, do you have a password on your phone? Do you hide your pin number when you try to withdraw money from the ATM? Why do you do that? Because you've learned something about your society. People are evil.

People are evil. So if you want to argue for a certain policy or a certain agenda, prove it with your life first. I can tell you this, I had somebody break into my house a few weeks ago while I was sleeping, and after I called the police, you know what didn't run through my mind? I can't wait to replace these guys. You guys did such a terrible job.

I ran into my room, locked the door, and I called the police, and they showed up. And they are willing to what? Risk their lives while I'm locked upstairs in my room. If you're thinking that this is getting too political, I'm preaching bible. Now, it's important to state here that the main purpose of government, no matter its form, is to restrain evil.

And even though they are called God's servants, they are not called God's servants in the same way that there are servants in the church. Those are two different types of servants. They serve God in one thing. One thing. Ready?

To simply hold back the tendencies of human sinfulness to break loose. That's their role in God's agenda and God's economy. And that means what? This is how we have to interpret government now. Let's look at it a different perspective.

The government is called to restrain not to regenerate. Can I say that one more time? The government's job is to restrain not to regenerate. You know what I mean by that? Regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit that changes a man's heart to being born again.

The government doesn't do that. Why am I saying that? Because as much as we have to understand what God has in mind for government in our world and we have to champion that, the government is not our savior. And the government is not man's savior either. They're not called to what?

They're not called to go into the soul and deal with the soul and bring conviction. No. They are they are there to deal with those who have determined in their lives unless God convicts them to live for evil. And again, to make society something of enduring pleasure and joy and for the Christian to know something of the proclamation and the advancement of the kingdom of God. That's what it's there for.

And that's important because that frames how we view government, that frames how we talk about government, that frames how we understand everything concerning what's going on in our world today. And here's a good question. They are to protect those who who do good, praise them. They are to promote righteousness. And they are to condemn wickedness.

You know what that means then? The government, those in those leading positions must have what? They must have a moral compass. Like, how can you punish what is evil if you don't know what evil is? And how can you praise those for doing good if you don't know what good is?

So those who are in that kind of position must have a moral compass. But you and I have learned that that is not the case in many governments. And I would argue this, that those who are to be in those positions must have a realization to some degree, saved or not saved, that they're entering into a God ordained position. And it's possible to have a measure of the fear of God and not be truly saved. You realize that.

Right? And that Cornelius fear God? You didn't know the gospel yet. It's possible to have a measure at least because we all inherited a conscience, which is another restraint in society, your own conscience, and that's being attacked in our day. But the conscience is something all men have.

The law of God is written on our hearts and that has to be brought into those places of authority in order to determine what's good and what's evil and to to act on those understandings. Now what happens when the servants of God in the context of government fail to do what? Fail to punish what is evil and now promoting evil and failing to to praise good but now are condemning good? If they fail there, I argue from the scripture that God will now punish the government. God will in his timeline, Though he's allowed certain governments to run and to reign for a certain amount of time, he ends up having his way because he doesn't have a a a special treatment for those in these positions.

If anything, they're held more accountable. And we can go to many examples, but let let me just bring one to you tonight. Think of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was not the king of Israel, he was the king of what? Babylon.

And Nebuchadnezzar used a prophet named Daniel to interpret a dream to let Nebuchadnezzar know that God had a certain standard for his understanding of his position and who was really in charge. And so I read this, you don't have to turn there, but listen to this, in Daniel four twenty five. This is a pagan king. This is one who promoted the worship of himself and the worship of other false gods using the means of sorcery to interpret life events. This is who we're talking about.

And listen to how God, the God of Israel in the Old Testament, speaks to this man. In Daniel four twenty five, Daniel says that you shall be driven from among men and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. This was his warning. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you. To when?

Till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. Nebuchadnezzar, pagan king. You gotta understand something before God executes judgment on your pride. You're only here because God has brought you here. And you are to operate with that power and authority based on that revelation.

Jesus in his own trial looked at Pilate and says, You have no authority unless it's been given to you from heaven. And so God does expect those in leading positions to have some kind of an understanding of their God ordained power and responsibility. The more God fearing leaders are, the more blessed the land will be. And so we understand that they have a main purpose, but I want to say something else in light of the text that we're reading. Notice that they're called servants of God.

Now, civil authorities are God's servants, but their roles are very specific. Very specific. You know what that means? That means that they are called to govern their country, their states, their cities, their districts, but there's one place that remains untouchable from their influence and it's the church. It's the church.

Not that Christians are not law abiding citizens. Not that Christians do not obey what the government has established concerning rules and regulations. No. In fact, the Bible promotes that you and I should be the greatest of citizens in whatever land we find ourselves in. But when it comes to how the church should operate in light of the commands given through the scriptures, if a government for some reason begins to feel like they have the ability and the power to reach into that sphere, we have to realize that God has a separate category of servants to do just that and it's not the civil authorities.

God's servants, in light of government, have one job amongst many, but one main purpose job. And then God has a complete separate group of servants to deal with how the church should run and function in light of what? The authority of the word of God. And so what's the danger here? The danger is it's possible for the servants of God in their lane to step out of their lane and to begin to now drive into the lane that belongs to elders and pastors who submit to the written scriptures.

And so, what is the church supposed to do? Well, for one, Paul tells us one in first Timothy two one and two. You know the scripture, right? First of all then, when he established the church in Ephesus, he wanted Timothy to do what? Timothy, before anything, you need to get the prayer meeting going.

I love that. First of all, like, before anything, he goes, get your people praying. And what does he say? Pray for your government? Yes.

Kings, verse two, and all who are in high positions. For what reason? It says here that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. You want to translate that into modern language? Pray with your church.

I want there to be supplication, intercession, thanksgiving for all people including your government. For what purpose in in your relation to government? So that they would leave you alone. In the sense of what? In the sense of not interfering with what?

You practicing the very things that the Bible calls you to practice as a Christian. And that you may peaceably, not without resistance or persecution, that you may just be able to freely exercise what God has called you to do, not just in evangelism. In all things, in worship, in gathering, in all matters concerning the Bible's commands of how the church should look like, pray that the government would be inspired by fear of God to give you and to protect your rights as people created in the image of God. And we shouldn't just limit it to that. We shouldn't just limit it to say, Lord, give us a grace to live like the church.

We should be praying that. But we can even go beyond that and America has experienced the freedom that I'm about to speak about. We can pray and ask God, God inspire the government to protect the church from other sources of persecution that may come against us. And we have those things. Right?

We have benefits as a church. We live in a wonderful country. And then we know what the Bible says, I don't have to explain it much, that it's possible and history has proven it that even in the best of lands where there's corruption in those positions to such a degree that they target the people of God in different levels. In different levels. And know this, the enemy works in different ways, but one way he works is that he sneaks his way.

He doesn't make things so obvious right away. He's very subtle in turning the tides, in turning the direction. So much so that if we're not aware and we're not remaining in prayer, it will catch us by surprise. And we'll think to ourselves in 2020 or 2021 or whatever year in our lifetime, how in the world did the church in America come to this point? There's a lot of tension in the evangelical world today.

All you have to do is go on social media to see all about it. The greatest safety you and I have is to stick to the Bible. Don't get into politics, man. Don't get into opinions of things. Come to the word of God and see what the scriptures say.

And you pull that verse out and you interpret it according to its context, then you'll be fine. And so what happens when a government overreaches and now begins to function as the servants of God outside of their lane because God has a separate category of servants for the church? Well the servants of this lane, the church, need to prayfully and carefully figure out at what point do we as a local church stand against those who have walked away from their God given call? And the more bible you have, the better. The more scripture reasons you have, the better.

The more discerning and God fearing leaders are, the better. But we have to, as a church, continue to do what Timothy was told to do, that's seek the Lord for peace and for quietness. And though it doesn't happen according to will of the will of God, the church will be tested to see how much she values the local church with respect, with integrity, with a loving heart, but at the same time to fight in righteousness and in holiness and in the fear of the Lord, to exercise what God had said in his word. It's a sad thing to see the world protesting things and contrasting it to the church that's not willing to fight for the kingdom of God. People are willing to risk so much for their own agendas, And Christians are too busy fighting one another.

So, where did we go? We gotta go back to Joshua. Let's go back to Joshua 20. Joshua chapter 20, we understand some level of understanding of God's law and order, structure, and organization within the camp of his kingdom. But the cities of refuge have more than just practical and even theological.

There is prophetic weight to these designations. The cities of refuge, the cities of refuge, we read about it. We we get a summary of it in verse nine, and and here's the beautiful thing. We're there in Joshua 20 and if you haven't been there for our study in Deuteronomy where we talked extensively about the cities of refuge, in Hebrews chapter six, what do we get? In verse 18, listen to this language.

The writer says, So that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have a strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. Think about the context of the book of Hebrews. You have the author writing to a Jewish Christian audience, And he is trying to prove through this truth and many other truths in this book, how the covenant in Christ is more supreme. The priesthood of Christ is more glorious than that of Levi or Aaron. And he's proving how the new covenant is so much better than the old.

And so as he's speaking, he's speaking their language. And he comes to this point where he he uses a phrase, fled for refuge. And you have to ask yourself this, did their minds run to Joshua chapter 20 when they heard or read this text? You have to ask, did they not think that the image not pop in their minds as as Jewish background believers? Here's the writer talking about fleeing for refuge.

Where do you think their minds went? Well, the cities of refuge. The cities of refuge. And now the writer is taking the principles of the cities of refuge and he's applying them to Christ. In order to say, what you knew about the cities of refuge, Christ is greater.

The benefits of the cities of refuge, Christ is greater. The glories and the mercy and the holiness and the beauty of the cities of refuge is only a shadow. Christ is the substance. Christ is the substance. And so we have permission with safety and carefulness to come to Joshua 20 and other texts of the cities of refuge and ask, where's Jesus?

Where's Christ? Where is gospel truth in the cities of refuge? And we can go to Deuteronomy 19, we can go to numbers 35, but let's just let's stick with our bible study and stay here, Joshua 20, as much as we can. Look at verse nine of Joshua 20. Look look at the tones here.

Look at the hints. These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and for the stranger sojourning among them. So the reality of the city Of refuge was not limited to the nation of Israel, but even to outsiders that would find themselves within the limits of Israel sojourning. They too, if an accident happens, if they accidentally killed somebody, the cities Of refuge was just as available to them as it was for the Jew. Jew, Gentile, Jew, Gentile, same access to the city Of refuge.

So it is with Christ. So it is with Christ that in him he has brought down the wall of hostility, he has removed all barriers. Now it doesn't matter where you're from, doesn't matter your skin color, doesn't matter the language, doesn't matter your culture. The gates of the cities of refuge in Christ are wide open and they will not shut in your face because you are not a physical seed of Adam. And so here we get a hint that it's not just the Jew, but it's also the sojourner, the one outside, the one traveling by.

And then we come to verse four of Joshua 20. Now we hear this with a different ring. He being the one who committed this manslaughter shall what? Walk? Crawl?

No. Flee. Flee to one of these cities. There's urgency. There should be an alarm to the soul.

There should be a realization of how serious your sin is and what it will cost you if you're not fast enough to flee and to run and to find shelter in the city of refuge. And the gospel does not tone down the urgency of the message. There's nothing casual about what happens here every Friday. There's nothing casual that happens every single day as the church is being the church. And as people are sharing truth concerning the gospel, it demands urgency from the sinner.

You can't just sit back and hear the gospel, that's kinda cool. I'll think about it. I'll think about becoming a Christian. It's not so yet you have something else to do on Sunday morning. Everything about you responding to the Christian message has to do with your soul and where you will spend eternity.

Eternity. And so what's the message of the city of refuge? That if you've realized that you need refuge, you run. And so it is in the new covenant that when you hear the gospel, it must be proclaimed as it was ordered here in such a manner that it causes urgency for you to hear it and for the Holy Spirit through that vessel to speak it in such a manner where you have to make a choice if you're not a Christian here tonight. And part of that responsibility is from the herald that declares the message.

We've we've preached Jesus and most of our generation as though he's just some option, that he's just a slightly better way of life. No. If you don't flee and you don't hide in him, you will die and you will die eternally. You will wake up in a place and you will wish that you heard the word repent. You will wake up in a place and you wish that you can die, but you've received the body that will never die but experience the wrath of God forever.

Flee. Flee to him who has made a way through the wounds in his hands inside his feet for you to receive mercy and forgiveness and sonship and protection from the wrath of God, only to know the goodness of God for all eternity. You come to verse six and we read something really interesting. I mean, it's so interesting that it can be only almost labeled prophetic because we don't really get insight to this rule. It says, and he, that's the person who who has committed this involuntary act of murder, and he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment.

That's clear, but there's another exception. Until the death of him who is high priest at the time, then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home to the town from which he fled. There are two exceptions to this person who has run to the city for refuge. Either he goes through a trial and he's proven innocent, he can go back to his way of life, or for some reason, the high priest dies. If the high priest dies, for some reason, without explanation and there's many interpretations to why, but for some reason the death of the high priest is enough for that manslayer to go free.

You have Christian lenses on, brothers and sisters. You know what this means. You have new covenant eyes. You know what this means. Don't tell me that the Bible is not unified.

Don't tell me that the gospel is not tucked into verses like this. This is gospel oozing out of it. And what do you see? That true and complete liberty for the sinner only comes by the death of the high priest. And listen, this is the high priest.

I mean, so valuable is this individual in Israel's day that his death is accounted for and is even almost a payment, though it's not clear. So so this isn't perfect interpretation, I'm just exploring the possibilities with you. That it's enough for the one who's been accounted as somewhat limited because of his failure to actually go home and to live in his freedom based on the death of the high priest. And we fast forward to the high priest of high priest who, what? Hebrews nine twenty six.

For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly, talking about Jesus, since the foundation of the world, but as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. So one high priest, for a certain level of people, only his lifetime can liberate those who are under his observation and guidance and protection. But then you come to the high priest of high priest who by one death, one sacrifice of himself, gives all men for all time liberty forever. This is gospel. But this is more glorious than we think.

Why? Because Jesus Christ is not the new covenant city of refuge per se. Jesus Christ, like every type and shadow in the Old Testament, is the greater city of refuge. So the parallels can only go so far, and here is what I believe the difference between Christ being our city of refuge and the city of refuge for the Israel. There's many points you can make, but this is one that burns in my heart and I see clearly from these two covenants.

The city of refuge was only for those who were innocent in their accidental crime. Jesus Christ, the gates are so much wider and so much bigger because it's for the guilty and those who know that they are guilty. And those who with their own minds and hearts and actions realizing that they've been given a conscience, realize even if they grew up in church that they have sinned against God, those gates to his refuge are open. They don't shut on you if you have lived in a way where you intentionally sinned. They are open.

Can you imagine if the new covenant was only for those who lived their lives not knowing that they were sinning? Only making accidents through your life? No. He's the greater city of refuge. Because even when you premeditated your sin, even when you thought about it, even when you and your perversion because you grew up in the church long enough to adopt this mentality, I will just live how I want and Jesus will forgive me because I heard about grace in Sunday school.

Yeah, even you. Those gates are open because he's the greater city of refuge. And what happens? Well, we're concluding here with chapter 20, and we'll quickly go through chapter 21. Once the cities of refuge have been established, we realize there's one more tribe that hadn't received anything.

We talked about every single tribe except the Levites, sons of Israel, sons of Jacob. And they come in verse one of 21, they say, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. And they said to them, at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, the Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with their pasturelands for our livestock. Now the question is, why are the Levites left to to to be last? Well, if you were here last week, you realized that there are two tribes that did not receive land.

Who are those tribes? One of them is Levi, and who's the other one? Simeon. Simeon and Levi, who were brothers and partners in the slaughter of Shechem, based on that act, received a punishment that would last to this point, you have no land. You'll be scattered throughout the land.

But Levi is different because Levi did something that Simeon didn't do. Levi repented. Levi as a people came before Moses. They said, We want to obey God at Mount Sinai. They slaughter their own family when they were worshiping at the golden Calf.

And God said, because of this, I will make you into a priesthood. And so the judgment was still there in the sense that they would not receive land. They would still be scattered, but they would be scattered into cities. And this is what's so beautiful about God's heart towards a repentant. You read the rest of this, I mean, we don't have to read it, but you read rest of the you can just look at it and realize names after cities and their allotments and the and which tribe they were found in and what part of the neighborhood they would be found in, and you realize that they're spread out.

You think, well, why are they so spread out? They weren't caught up in one neighborhood like all the Levites are all there. They were spread out in different cities, because the Levites responsibility was not just to to deal with the tabernacle and the sacrifices. We are told in Deuteronomy 33 verse 10 that the Levites were given the right to teach Jacob God's rules and to proclaim God's laws. So you know what God is doing here?

He is sprinkling his servants across the land so that there would be an influence of the word of God being taught and declared to different people within the land. And what I love about what God is doing here is that based on repentance, based on the the the heart that says, Lord, I I didn't live for you in the past but I'm gonna live for you now, not knowing what their future would hold. God is a master at rewriting stories. His mind is so wise. How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable are his ways.

That though he had decreed that they would be scattered throughout the land, he was able to turn something so sour and make it so sweet. You're gonna be scattered, but you're going to be my preachers now. And I'm gonna sprinkle you, but I'm gonna sprinkle you so that you can sprinkle salt on your brothers. You are going to declare my truths and and I'm gonna park you there. What a way of rewriting their story.

And that's what they do. They are about to now move into these cities, and we come to verse 43 down to verse 45, and this is like the exhale of this section of the book. It's like the We've been just taking in week after week, and now we can exhale at least at this part of the Bible. Thus, the Lord gave to all, to Israel, all the land that he swore to give to their fathers and they took possession of it and they settled there And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands.

I love verse 45. Here's the exclamation mark of this section in Joshua. Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed. All came to pass. All came to pass.

Now if you read this with an honest heart, you look at that verse and you go, that's glorious, that's wonderful, it is true, but if you have rearview mirrors, you realize that it was a bumpy road. I mean, you just go back to Exodus and you realize after God delivered them, it only took the Red Sea to split open and a few days in the wilderness for things to start spiraling downhill. Rebellion, difficulty, stubbornness, stiff necked people over and over again. And you know what you and I learned from this verse? If the advancement of God's program rested on our shoulders, it would have been over a long time ago.

And here's God's power, here's God's wisdom, here's God's ability that he's able to work with sinners. He's able to work with broken, inconsistent, failing, stumbling people and yet still through them accomplish his purposes. God was able to maneuver through all their mistakes, their adultery in the wilderness, their worship of a golden calf, their killing of each other, their their division, and still somehow I mean, you had Moses who was willing to say, Just take my life. I can't handle them. This is why we praise God that God is God and none of us are God.

God is God and we thank God for that because of many things, and here's one of them, that he is able to fulfill his word even though we can't even keep it for a week. And you know what you and I see here? We see something of truth. We see a testimony what God is able to do with the people, and we have to say to some degree that this will be said. It will be sang in one of the songs in glory for the church age.

That at the end of this age, the end of this covenant, when it is complete and we are now brought to him, surely we're gonna say all the good promises that the Lord had made to the church of Jesus Christ, all came to pass. It's gonna happen. God is gonna be able to do it because church history has proven, we're not we're not we're not any better than the Israelites. We've stumbled, we've fallen, there have been times of great division, there have been times of no power, there have been times of of there have been times of glory just like Israel, wonderful things, wonderful powerful moments. And so I look at this verse, you look at this verse and and we realize no matter what we see out there, we get the articles, this leader of this movement, this leader of this Christian band, he left the faith, he left the faith, he's an atheist, writer of this book, he's a now Jesus will complete his work.

He will complete it. Now, what do we learn from Joshua? Do we wanna be those who experience God's faithfulness despite our lack of faithfulness? Do we wanna see God's program move without our participation? No.

I wanna be a Joshua, and I wanna be a Caleb. I wanna work with God and not give God a reason to work despite me. I want God to use me. We want God to use us to know his promises and to know his will in our generation. And this is where we come to in this book.

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for the wisdom found in these texts. Lord, we are amazed at how you can speak so clearly into our day, into our lives, into the circumstances that we are experiencing on a national level, on a personal level. God, surely your word is alive. It speaks.

It vibrates with revelation in life, and you have feasted our souls with goodness. We testify that we feel as though you've spoken to our hearts, and we give you praise for that. Lord, we thank you for Jesus Christ, the greater city of refuge. Lord, we we sing in his shelter. We sing in and under his wings.

And, Lord, we just pray that if there's anybody in here that doesn't know you, that they would run to you, that if anybody is uncertain that they are sheltered by and from the wrath of God to come, that they would not risk it tonight. They would realize that you're calling as the great high priest, the loving high priest who laid down his own life to give all men access to life. Lord, tonight we worship in light of our redemption. We worship not just in light of our redemption, but your wisdom in our society, How you care for how we live and how we experience our day to day. And we pray for our government right now, and we ask God that you would give them the fear of God, to give the church the ability to be the church.

So we pray for favor in the state of Illinois, in the city of Chicago, in Des Plaines, and all across this land. We pray for those churches that are fighting for their god given right, that you would give them wisdom and courage and favor. We're praying for those who might have a different opinion, that it would not be a matter of division, but that, Lord, we would keep our eyes focused on the kingdom of God and the gospel. We pray that this would not be used, what's happening in the political world, what's happening with this pandemic. We're praying that this would not be used to divide the church because that's how crafty the enemy is.

We're asking God that you would give us a loving heart, not just for the world, but for one another and to understand where we come from. And so, Lord, we just pray right now for a shield, a protection. Lord, we we submit this future election to you, and we know that you're gonna establish who you want to be established. And, Lord, this is not our life. This is not our citizenship.

This is not our world. Lord, we are passing by. All we ask, Lord, is for greater grace to do what you've called us to do. Greater grace. Lord, we pray that this next generation of preachers, of politicians, Lord, let us not be like that generation and judges that did not know the Lord or the works that he had done for Israel.

We ask that you would raise up God fearing men and women, that Lord would would promote righteousness. Give us grace, but we sing your praises tonight in Jesus' name.