Read: Joshua 19:1-20:9; Luke 19:28-48; Psalm 88:1-18; Proverbs 13:12-14
The rest of the tribes got their inheritances. When everyone had gotten their land, they gave Joshua the town he requested. He wanted Timnath Seriath which means “abundant portion”. God blessed Joshua for living a life of faithfulness. His tribe was Ephraim which means “double fruitful”.
Next, the Lord gave the Levites town within all the tribes to be designated as cities of refuge. They were for people who accidentally killed a person and had no witness to defend them.
They would run to one of these cities before the avenger of blood could get them. The avenger of blood would be the close relative of the one killed. It was his job to avenge his person’s death.
The priests would listen to the plea of the accused and they would investigate to find if he were in fact innocent. If the priest deemed him innocent, he was allowed into the city and was protected from the avenger of blood. He would live there until the death of the high priest; then he could go free.
This is a picture of the righteous that died before Jesus. They were guilty of sin but if they could prove that they didn’t sin intentionally and lived a life of faith in God, they were given a place of refuge in Sheol. When Jesus, our High Priest died, he went to Sheol and preached to the souls in Sheol. If they believed, they would be released to go free with Jesus to heaven. That is why the dead were raised with Jesus after his resurrection and walked the streets of Jerusalem (Matthew 27:51-53). The avenger of blood is the devil who accuses us constantly and is always looking for a way to steal, kill and destroy us.
In Luke, we have the ascention of Jesus into Jerusalem. He walked into Jerusalem at the same time the lambs were being brought into Jerusalem from the north. The people were singing the Hallel which is Psalms 113-118. In the Hallel, it praises God and sings Hosanna to the Messiah. All of Jerusalem was singing these songs as they came to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover.
When the Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke his disciples for singing the Hallel to him, he replied that if he told them to be quiet the stones would cry out. What he was saying was, all the prophets before him had prophesied of him; they were the foundation stones of the faith. They would cry out in praise of Jesus but also in rebuke of the Pharisees. Their man-made foundations were going to soon fall to the ground because their foundation was not built on the Words of God.
Jesus went directly to the temple and began cleansing it. He was fulfilling Unleavened Bread where you clean out the sin of your house. He was cleansing the sin from his Father’s house.
Lord, as we get ready to receive the Lamb of God at Passover, help us to cleanse our hearts of any thing that needs to be cleansed.
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