“Now among the cities which you will give to the Levites you shall appoint six cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. And to these you shall add forty-two cities. So all the cities you will give to the Levites shall be forty-eight; these you shall give with their common-land.”
In ancient Israel it was a law that if one man killed another accidentally, he had a safe place to go where the relative, the kinsman redeemer, of the slain person could not enter to take the man's life in revenge for the accidental death.
The city was populated totally by Levites, the priestly tribe, whose job it was to protect the man. As long as he remained within the walls of the city, he was completely safe. But he had to remain there with the Levites until the man who was high priest at the time of the incident, died. Then he was free to return to his own city without fear of reprisal.
This has wonderful significance for the Church today. The Holy Spirit has hidden nuggets of truth in plain sight in the name of every person, place and thing written in the Bible. Not one tiny detail is arbitrary or recorded just for filler to pad the book. He has put every word, every detail in the text to unveil to us more and more of our altogether lovely Jesus! Even the order in which they are written is a message.
Here are the names of the cities of refuge in the order in which they are recorded in scripture and their meanings:
Kedesh------------Sanctuary
Shechem---------Shoulder
Hebron------------Fellowship
Bezer---------------Fortress
Ramoth-----------Highly Exalt
Golan--------------Rejoicing
"A Sanctuary is His Shoulder offered in Fellowship, a Fortress to Highly Exalt us with Rejoicing!"
There are six cities in all, three on one side of the Jordan, three on the other side. All are well-marked and most are on top of mountains. In Joshua 20: 7-8 it says, “So they appointed Kedesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in the mountains of Judah. And on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.”
Jesus is The Refuge for the whole world. The way has been well-marked, plain for all to see so that they are without excuse. The gospel is highly visible and is being broadcast on the most readily available medium of all time: Television. Can't get higher than a satellite, right? TV can easily be accessed by every household everywhere so that anyone looking for help can find it. It's like the gospel is set on mountain tops for all to see.
We, who have fled to The City of Refuge, are PERFECTLY safe. The one who is out for our blood--the devil--CANNOT COME IN. We stay there forever because OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST CAN NEVER DIE!! We are safe FOREVER!
There are six cities because six is the number of man, in Hebrew numerics and these cities are for "man's" benefit. Six different types of cities of cities for every "type" of man, woman and child from every nation, every tribe and every tongue, scattered all over the world where ANYONE can flee for refuge. Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall not perish but have everlasting life.
It is also a picture of the local church, the place where sinners can go to find refuge; where they can find out that Jesus took all their sins and all their shame upon Himself on the cross.
In Hebrews 6, many preachers expound on this passage: "For it is IMPOSSILE for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”
Hebrews 6:4-6
You know what they are implying, right? That there is something you can do something to lose your salvation. RIDICULOUS! If you can do something to lose it, THEN IT ISN'T ETERNAL.
These well-meaning pastors, however, seem to know nothing about the other "IMPOSSIBLE" in the very same chapter...
“For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.”
For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is IMPOSSIBLE for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for REFUGE to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest FOREVER according to the order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 6:13-14, 16-20
Paul, writing to Jewish believers, is using language they understand to drive home a point. I discussed the cities of refuge first so you would understand what Paul said they way they did. He was using the language of the cities of refuge to drive home the point that, once you come to faith in Christ, YOU ARE COMPLETELY, IRREVOCABLY AND FOREVER SAFE.
God swore by himself because there is no one greater by Whom to swear, not that He has to swear at all. GOD CANNOT LIE. So when He tells you that He will bless you, HE WILL. You can take that to the bank! And if you have fled to The City of Refuge, JESUS, and God says you are forever secure, then you are!
Church, Jesus is stooping down, offering His strong shoulder to anyone and everyone who is seeking refuge. Are you tired and weary? Has it been a long journey and you have no energy left? You've gone through the fight of life and you are just plain tired and lost? Jesus offers you His powerful shoulders in fellowship in a place of Sanctuary. Come in and be forever safe! REST IN HIM.
When you take His shoulder, He lifts you up and becomes your fortress in which you can safely hide.
He exalts you high above all your troubles; far above all principalities and powers, far above satan, far above all the powers of darkness; far above disease, far above above poverty and above EVERY curse that is named.
You don't need to do anything in your own strength.
Simply rest on both of His strong shoulders, upheld by His Love and Strength.
That's our Jesus! He truly is our City of Refuge!
That's our Jesus! He truly is our City of Refuge!
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