Sat.’s Devo - Cities of Refuge

Read: Numbers 33:40-35:34; Luke 5:12-28; Psalm 65:1-3; Proverbs 11:23 We are given the last campsites of the Israelites and the total was 49 which means their 50th camp was in the promised land. Fifty is the number of Jubilee where the land goes back to the original owner. The original owner of the land is God and now he is giving that land to his own family. God told them to destroy all their statues, idols, and pagan shrines. They were to take possession of the land and live in it because God was giving it to them. If they failed to get rid of the people living there, they would be like splinters in their eyes and thorns in their sides. *** God set the boundaries of the land he was giving them. They were to distribute the land according to the size of the tribes. God gave Eleazar and Joshua the job of dividing the land grants among the people. Since the Levites were to get no land as their inheritance, the people were to give them towns to live in from their land. The land of the Levites were to extend 1,500 feet from the town walls and surround the town. *** Six of the towns given to the Levites were to be cities of refuge where a person who has accidentally killed another person can go to for safety. Inside the city of refuge they would be safe from the relative who wants to avenge that person’s death. *** If someone strikes a person with iron, stone or a wooden object, it is murder and the persons nearest relative is responsible for putting the murderer to death. If someone plots to hurt someone and they end up dead, it is murder. *** If someone accidentally hits another person with an object, with no malice in his heart, that person can flee to a city of refuge before the avenger of blood can reach him. The community of Levites will hear the case and decide if the man has committed murder. If he is judged innocent, he is to stay safely in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest at the time. When he dies, the man is free to go and may return home in peace. *** No one can be put to death with out the testimony of two or more witnesses. All murderers must be put to death. A bribe cannot be given to get out of the city of refuge early. When a murderer is rightly judged and killed, it cleanses the land also. *** So, what does this mean to us? We are all murderers (sinners). We have all shed innocent blood (the blood of Christ). God as the avenger of Jesus’ blood, will kill us if we don’t find refuge in Christ. Jesus is our high priest and when he died, his blood paid for our salvation. He is our city of refuge. *** Before Christ, the people died, unsaved, and went to Sheol where they rested underground. Those that believed in God were righteous because of their faith and rested in cities of refuge in Sheol. When Jesus died, he descended to those cities and preached salvation and raised them with him (Matthew 27:51-53). *** All of the patriarchs were buried in places that became cities of refuge. The cave where Sarah, Joseph, Jacob, Abraham, Isaac, etc. were all buried, became Hebron which was designated a city of refuge. In the KJV it talks about death as “sleeping with their fathers.” (1 Kings 2:10) That is literally what they did. They slept with their relatives until Christ awakened them to life. *** In Luke, Jesus met a man in an advanced stage of leprosy. This man was dying in his sin. He bowed before Jesus and begged to be healed. Jesus told the man he willed him to be healed and told him to be healed. The man was instantly healed and was told to go to the priest to let him examine him. He was to present the required offering to the priest and it would be a public testimony of his healing. These are the steps of salvation. First bow before the one who can save you and ask for forgiveness. Receive that forgiveness, then offer your life as a gift and freely testify of what God has done for you. *** One day when Jesus was teaching in a house, a paralyzed man was lowered from the roof in front of Jesus. Jesus saw the faith of the man’s friends and told the man that his sins were forgiven. The religious leaders were most upset because he forgave them mans’ sins when only God can do that. To show them that he had power to forgive sins, he told the man to stand up and walk and the man immediately jumped up and went home praising God. The fear of the Lord fell on everyone. *** Jesus stopped at the table of the tax collector and called Levi to follow him. He left it all and became a disciple of Jesus. *** Lord, I long for the day that we will consistently walk in your “greater works” consistently. Thank you for being our city of refuge from sin and death. Thank you for atoning for our sins and making us righteous in you. May we walk as shining lights and beacons of truth.