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Cities of Refuge: Justice and Mercy 0:09 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Alright. I might be a little out of breath. I just finished the workout this morning. Now we turn to Joshua chapters 20 and 21. Verse 45 of chapter0:21 21. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass. He said it. He will do it if we obey. Now we're nearing0:33 the end of Joshua, and so we're, gonna be moving next into the book of Judges, another great book. And for those who may be new to this journey, because I know we've had a lot of folks join us along the way. And by the0:45 way, thank you to those of you who have invited family and friends to join us on the on the journey as I've traveled around. I'm I'm always hearing from those who are on the journey with us. And I tell you what, it0:56 just it encourages me to know that we have a growing number of believers that are in the Bible and and even inviting unbelievers to join us on this journey so that they might1:08 discover God through his word. Jesus is the word, and that's how we come to the father. So, anyway, there's this is a chronological journey, and it helps1:20 if you have the reading plan. So go to, you can either text bible to 6 7 7 4 2. That's bible to 6 7 7 4 2. I'll send you a link. Or you can go to f r c dot o r g1:32 backslash bible. Alright. Today's reading is, you know, as we're as I compare this to a journey, a hike, it's kinda like trudging up the side of a mountain. You know, it can be a little difficult at times and,1:44 a bit monotonous. But but as I've said before, there are a few gyms along the way if we're looking for them. So be looking for it in these kinda what we might call dry1:56 passages because God's word, his word, even the list of families, names, and cities are there for a reason. Chapter 20, instructs Joshua and then Israelites to2:08 establish the cities of refuge, which God first told Moses about back in numbers 35. Verse 1, chapter 20. The Lord also spoke to Joshua saying, speak to the children of2:19 Israel saying, appoint for yourselves cities of refuge of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there, and there shall be2:32 your refuge from the avenger of blood. And when he flees to 1 of these cities and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of the city, they shall take him into2:44 the city as 1 of them and give him a place that he may dwell among them. Then if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did2:55 not hate him beforehand. And he shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment and until the death of the 1 who is high priest in those days.3:07 Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house to the city from which he fled. Now we focused, on the purposes of these cities back when we were in the3:19 book of of numbers. The practical purpose of these cities was to establish a system of justice, And we we even see the remnants of this in our society today, in our justice system. Now these3:31 were not okay. Hear me very clearly. These were not sanctuary cities that have been a been a part of the current debate over immigration that allow people who are breaking the law to evade justice. Okay? That's not what3:42 these were. Cities of refuge were to ensure justice. The cities of refuge protected those who were innocent of murder, Okay? While3:54 punishing those who spilled innocent blood. Once the facts were examined, and and we see even the the the beginnings of the jury here. So as we previously discussed, the avenger of the blood was4:06 a a near relative that was basically obligated to kill someone who killed a family member. Now these 6 cities of refuge, 3 on the east side of the Jordan and 3 on the west side4:18 were established so that someone who committed manslaughter or accidentally killed someone could go to the nearest city of refuge and find shelter until the congregation of the city, basically, as4:30 I said, a jury, where the event occurred could hear the facts of the case. Now if it was determined to be premeditated murder, his life was not to be spared. There were they were4:41 not to spare those who shed innocent blood. If the death he calls was accidental, he was returned to the city of refuge. And if he stayed in that city, he was protected. He could4:53 only leave and live free from the threat of the avenger of blood after the death of the high priest. Now from a spiritual perspective, the the city of refuge illustrates the5:05 mercy that you and I find in in Jesus Christ. Jesus is our refuge. Now let that sink in for a moment. He's our refuge. We can run to him, and we can find shelter.5:17 And as the death of the her earthly high priest freed a manslayer from the city of refuge, so the death and resurrection of our high priest, Jesus Christ, frees us from the5:29 penalty of sin and death. So we are free. I mean, isn't it amazing we when you study the Old Testament, you see in very vivid illustration5:40 what happened in the New Testament. It's just this is why we need to study the Old Testament. Many say, oh, we don't need the Old Testament. We just need the New Testament. You cannot fully understand the New Testament5:52 without studying the old. Now there are several themes that emerge throughout the Bible. Right? I'm sure you've already seen many of them as we're, well on our journey here. But 1 of the important, 1 of6:04 the 1 of those of great importance to god is justice. And if it's important to god, then it should be important to us. And that's what we see here in the cities of refuge. We're gonna6:16 see it a lot more that god is very concerned about justice. Okay. Chapter 21 is another implementation of what God had previously told them to do once theyLevites' Cities: Faith in Action 6:27 entered the land of promise. Here we have the allotment of 48 cities to the Levites who were not given an allotment along with the other tribes because, remember, they were a tithe to the6:39 lord. They were given to the lord, and so they were given a portion of all of the other tribes so that they would be scattered throughout the land as, what, as salt. They6:51 they they were all across the land so that they would be a constant reminder of the nation's commitment to the Lord. Verse 1, chapter 21. Then the heads of the father's houses of the Levites came near to7:02 Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel. And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, the Lord commanded through7:14 Moses to give us cities to dwell in with their common lands for our livestock. So here here's another example of faith without works is dead. God7:26 had promised the cities to the Levites, not not like the, the other tribes where they have the allotment of land, but cities among the tribes. But notice that they had to ask for the fulfillment7:40 of the promise. I I mean, look look at what James writes in in the in the New Testament. You lost and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and7:51 war, yet you do not have because why? What does it say? You do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasures. We need to ask according,8:03 as John says, if we pray according to the will of God. We pray according to him. We know that he hears us, and if he hears us, he gives us what we ask for. And so the Levites were asking according to the declared word of8:15 God, but they had to ask. They had to pursue it. The Levites were asking according to the word of God. If the Lord said it, he will do it. And, and as we8:27 ask and pursue it according to his word, he will do it for us. If he said it, he will do it. Alright. Verse 3 of, of chapter 21. So the children8:39 of Israel gave to the Levites from their inheritance. So they they each of the tribes gave from what they had. They allocated cities to the Levites at the commandment of the Lord in these cities and their common lands.8:51 Now I think I I mentioned this before, but it's worth repeating. Remember, for our purposes in the New Testament, the priest and the Levites represent the believers. Jesus is the high priest.9:03 The priest in the in the 48 cities, the Levites, were distributed throughout the tribe so that no 1 lived more than 10 miles from a city in which the Levites lived. Now9:15 think about that for a moment. I I made references earlier. God intentionally and strategically placed the Levites to be a spiritual influence upon the people.9:27 They were what? As I said before, they were the salt and the light. And Jesus, in John chapter 17, when he was praying for his disciples, he said, look, father, I don't pray that you take them out of the world.9:39 He doesn't want us to take we we're not saved to be taken out of the world. He wants us sanctified by the truth. His word is truth and to send them out into the world. We're to be in the world, but not of the world. The9:50 Levites were to be in Israel, but not of Israel. I mean, from the standpoint of the connected to as the the other tribes were. They belonged to God. They were gods.10:02 We belong to God. We're in the world, but we don't belong to the world. We belong to God. Verse 43. So the Lord gave to Israel all the land which he had sworn to give to their fathers, and they tookGod's Unfailing Promises Fulfilled 10:14 possession of it and dwelled with it. The Lord gave them rest all around according to all that he had sworn to their fathers, and not a man of all their enemies stood against them. God fulfilled his promise. The Lord10:25 delivered all their enemies into their hands. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass. God did what he said10:37 he was gonna do. You can count. Hear me this morning. You can count on the word of God. It will it will never fail. If only Israel and we're gonna see this as we continue our10:49 journey. If Israel had only continued in this posture of faith and obedience, This would have been their story from generation to generation, but unfortunately, we'll find that it's not. You see, if if you and I, if11:01 we continue in faith and obedience, we will see god fulfill his promise to us because God is a promise keeper. Father, we thank you11:13 for your word, and, Lord, we thank you that you are true to your word. You are a promise keeper. If you said it, we know that you will do it. The only thing that stands in the way is our obedience.11:25 May may in faith by faith, lord, may we obey you and may we walk with you and may we see the fulfillment of all of the promises that you have made. And father, we we thank11:37 you again for the holy spirit leading us on this journey. Open our eyes and our understanding to the truth of your word, how they apply to our lives and the world around us. For we pray and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.11:49 Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning. And until next time, keep standing on the word.11:57 Today's study comes from the stand on the word bible reading plan available for free at frc dot org slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you12:09 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Cities of Refuge: Justice and Mercy6:22 Levites' Cities: Faith in Action10:09 God's Unfailing Promises Fulfilled
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