Fri.’s Devo - Cities of Refuge

Read: Numbers 33:40-35:34; Luke 5:12-28; Psalm 65:1-13; Proverbs 11:23 The king of the Canaanites was king Arad which means “wild ass”. He heard that the children of Israel were coming. When they came to the Jordan near Jericho, God spoke to Moses and told him when they passed over Jordan into Canaan, they were to drive out all the inhabitant of the land and destroy all their pictures and molten images and take down all their high places. They were to dispossess the people living there and posses their land. *** If they didn’t totally drive out the enemy in the land, they would remain as pricks in their eyes and thorns in their sides. They would vex them with their detestable sins like Lot was vexed with the sins of Sodom. *** God gave them the borders of their land so they would know exactly the land he was giving them. They were to divide it and give the land out to the tribes according to their size of people. The land on the east side was not given in the boundaries. It had already been given to Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh. Every tribe was to give cities for the Levites to live in totaling 42. Six more were designated cities of refuge. Three of the cities were on the east side of the Jordan and three on the west. *** These cities of refuge were for a person who accidentally killed another person. He could run to these cities and be safe from the avenger who would be seeking to avenge the blood of their relative who was killed. The murderer would stand before the congregation of priests and be judged. *** If the person was killed with intent in their heart, then the murderer must die. But if he was killed by accident then the priest must hear the case and proclaim whether they were innocent or not. If they were innocent, they must stay in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Then they are free to go and the avenger could not kill him. If he choose to leave the city of refuge before the death of the high priest, then the avenger was free to kill him. *** Spiritually, this means that if we sinned, not knowing the law, God is a refuge from us and protects us from the law. The law is the avenger. We are free from the law when we accept the atoning blood of Christ for our lives. The death and resurrection of our high priest, Christ, sets us free from the penalty and guilt of sin. *** If the person is guilty of intent and there are witnesses, that person must die because blood must be atoned by those who shed it or it will pollute the land. This is talking about a person who is a sinner and doesn’t repent. This person must die for their sins. We should not give mercy to a person who is not repentant because he will continue to pollute society. *** Jesus came to a man who had leprosy and the man begged him to cleanse him. Jesus touched him and made him clean. He told him to go first to the priest and let them offer the offering for their cleansing according to the law so that it would be a testimony to them. *** News spread so fast about Jesus, that he had to withdraw into the wilderness to rest. and pray. One day, while teaching a man was brought to him who had palsy (was a paralytic). There were so many people in the house that the man’s friends lowered him through the roof right in front of Jesus. Jesus proclaimed that his sins were forgiven. The scribes and Pharisees thought this was blasphemous for him to forgive sins. Jesus knew what they were saying and asked them which was harder, to forgive sins or heal. Then he told the man to rise up and walk and he did. The people glorified God. Jesus met Levi (Matthew) who was a tax collector and told him to follow him. Matthew left his job and became a follower of Jesus. *** Lord, may we be repentant and receive the grace of God. Thank you for the blood of Christ that atones us and sets us free.