Sun.’s Devo - Release From Death

Read: Joshua 19:1-20:9; Luke 19:28-48; Psalm 88:1-18; Proverbs 13:12-14 The second lot went to Simeon in the middle of Judah’s land because Judah’s land was too large for them. They acquired 17 cities. One of the cities that is familiar to us is Beersheba where Abraham dug wells and made a covenant with Abimelech. Isaac came back and reopened those wells. *** The third lot went to Zebulun with its 12 cities. Bethlehem was one of them. *** The fourth lot was given to Issachar which included Jezreel where Jezebel stole Naboth’s vineyard and then was killed in the same place. His land came with 16 cities. *** Asher was next with 22 cities which touched on Tyre which we read much about. *** The sixth lot went to Naphtali which included 19 cities, a few are familiar. *** Dan was seventh and was given land but thought their land was too small so they went and took Laish or Leshem and named it Dan. *** When they were finished distributing the territories the people of Israel they gave Joshua the city of his choice in the land of Ephraim. He asked for Timnath-serah which means “abundant portion” and rebuilt the city and settled there. *** Next, God told Joshua to appoint cities of refuge for the person who accidentally killed someone. He could run their for refuge until the death could be investigated and the person be found innocent. When the high priest at the time died, the innocent man was then released to go back to his home and the avenger or blood could no longer legally kill him. *** Whenever the high priest would die, there would be a great release of all the people from the cities of refuge. They could then safely return to their inheritance. When our High Priest, Jesus died, there was a great release of righteous people who had died and were in prisons called graves. They were all released when Jesus rose from his grave. *** They designated Kedesh in Naphtali, Shechem in Ephraim, Kiriath-arba (Hebron) in Judah, Bezer in Reuben, Ramoth in Gad and Golan in Manasseh for cities of refuge. *** In Luke, Jesus told his disciples to go to the village and bring back a donkey that had been prepared for him. The owner would ask why he was untying it and they were to tell the owner that the Lord needs it. This was all they needed to say and it went exactly like Jesus said it would go. They brought back the donkey and Jesus rode it into the city with the people praising him as King and spreading their cloaks on the road for him to walk on. When the Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke the people for praising him, he told them that if he didn’t let them praise him, the very stones would cry out his praises. *** As Jesus drew near to Jerusalem he began to weep because the people there didn’t recognize their visitation from God. He saw the day when Jerusalem would be torn down and the people slaughtered. *** He went to the temple and began to drive out the money changers. He proclaimed that his Father’s house was to be a house of prayer, but they had made it a den of robbers. *** He began teaching daily in the temple. While the people were hanging on to every word he said, the priests and scribes were plotting to kill him. *** Lord, we rejoice that we have been set free from the enemy of death, because of our High Priest who died in our place. Thank you for delivering us from sin to walk in righteousness.