The Assignment of the Cites of Refuge (Josh. 20:1-9)

10/29/2009 10:05 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                    Focus:  The assignment of the cities of refuge

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Joshua 20:1-9

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, 2  "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘Designate the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, 3  that the manslayer who kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood. 4  ‘He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and state his case in the hearing of the elders of that city; and they shall take him into the city to them and give him a place, so that he may dwell among them. 5  ‘Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand. 6  ‘He shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the manslayer shall return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled.’"

    “7 ¶  So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. 8  Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. 9  These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation.”

            The cities of refuge were places for anyone to go to who have committed a murder or manslaughter and they could stay there until there was a trial which was held by the elders of the city.  Since there were no policemen in Israel it was up to the family of the one who was killed to take the person to who committed the act to the elders of the city and then determine where it was premeditated murder or whether it was an accidental killing.  If murder the accused would be stoned, and if accidental the person would have to stay in the city of refuge until the high priest died.  The six cities were placed so that no on was too far from one, three on each side of the Jordan River.

            Warren Wiersbe in his commentary on Joshua writes that these cities of refuge picture a sinner coming to Jesus Christ for salvation, as there are some similarities between salvation through Jesus Christ and running to a city of refuge.  Even the names of the cities point to the cross.

            The seventh lesson from Dr. Wiersbe’s chapter is:  “Unless you have fled by faith to Jesus Christ, you aren’t saved!  Since our sins put Jesus on the cross, all of us are guilty of His death.  He is the only Savior, and apart from faith in Him, there is no salvation.  Have you fled to Him?”  YES!

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:   After reading the fifth and sixth chapters of 2 Corinthians and then reading this portion of Scripture on the cities of refuge I am again in awe of the great salvation that has been provided to me through Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior.  There are some very important verses in those two chapters that remind me of how great a salvation that was given to me.  “17  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”  “14  For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15  and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1. Since I did not listen to the first three chapters in Ephesians yesterday as I wanted to I will try to do it today.
2. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.
3. Trust the Lord to guide my path today.
4. Put on the spiritual armor:  The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of truth, take up the shield of faith, put on the helmet of salvation, take up the Sword of the Spirit.
5. Trust the Holy Spirit to show me any unconfessed sin so that I may confess it to God.

10/29/2009 10:48 AM