The Lord also spake unto Joshua, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses, that the slayer that killeth any person unaware and unwittingly might flee thither. And they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place that he may dwell among them. And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand, because he smote his neighbor unwittingly, and hated him not before time. And he shall dwell in that city until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days. then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, and unto the city from whence he fled. And they appointed Kadesh in Galilee, in Mount Nastali, and Shechem in Mount Ephraim, and Kurgeth Arba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. And on the other side, Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned Biza in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bation out of the tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. that whosoever killeth any of them, any person that unawares might flee thither and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation. Now let us just go to the New Testament again in the epistle to the Hebrews and chapter six. Abrahs chapter six. This scripture has a bearing upon what we've been reading in the Old Testament. Verse thirteen. For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swear by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so after he had patiently endured he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation to have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. Which hope we have, as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil? Whether the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Shall we pray just a moment? Heavenly Father, we just ask you to open up these scriptures to us and the thoughts that we have had might be a glory to our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that the Holy Spirit of God might be with us and might bless. We ask it in the Savior's name. Amen. Now on the island of Hawaii there is a place called the place of refuge. It is not a place that would look to you like a place of refuge because it is on a very rocky point of the island It consists of just a pile of volcanic rock, black volcanic rock reaching out to the ocean, and behind it, sealing it off, is a high wall made of the same kind of volcanic rock. The only way to get into it, particularly when the tide is high, is to swim round to it around the edge of the wall. But when the tide is not high, it can be reached by going to the end of the wall as we did and walking across the stones into this place of refuge. Now it appears that many years ago, under the reign of the kings of those times, If a man had offended against the king, or he had done something wrong, the soldiers of the king would pursue him, ready to take his life. But if he could reach that place of refuge and stay there, I think it was forty-eight hours. I'm not just sure of that time. But it was a definite time that he had to stay there. Then after that time he was free and clear to come back to his own place. And it reminded us so very much of the cities of refuge in the Old Testament that I want to speak about this morning. Now it appears that the land had been divided. according to the inheritance with two and a half tribes on the one side of Jordan and nine and a half on the other. The land had been apportioned, and then last of all to the Levites, who had no real inheritance by land, was given forty-eight cities in the land itself. Now six of those cities were called cities of refuge. And I wondered just how much these people in the olden times on the island knew of the plan that God had for his people that innocent blood might not be shed. But it is a beautiful picture of God's provision for his people as they took possession of the land. Now the custom in the East was, after this fashion, that if a man had killed someone by accident, or unwittingly as the word of God says. It was the practice of a near relative of that person who had been killed to pursue after the manslayer and to apprehend him and take his life for the life of the other. Now it was not in the will of God to do that. It was a custom of the East, but God had made a provision for the manslayer that he could flee to safety, and upon going to the city of refuge, he would be safe from the avenger of blood. We have a merciful God. We have a God that is infinitely righteous. A God who has said, when man sheds the blood of another, his blood should be shed in return. But if a man has done this as a complete accident, which very often happens, and of course happens more frequently in the countries today. He should be protected from those that would seek his life. Now, when he fled from his own city in search of the city of refuge for safety, he forfeited his own place. he forfeited his own inheritance for the time being and all that was dear to him as he went to the city of refuge to save his life now the word of God says that everything that a man has will he give in exchange for his life I think that's in the book of Job and it's true and it's true today now In the word of God, it is told that that man must stay within the safety of that city until the elders have determined if his cause is right, and if his cause is right, and they uphold it, he will be in perfect safety in that city until the death of the high priest, after which He was free to go back and his own inheritance would be given back to him. He could claim it again and he could go back to the safety of his own place. Now it seems a very simple provision and a provision that only God, a loving God, is able to make. Now in the Old Testament, There is a Hebrew word, the word goel. It simply means kinsman redeemer or kinsman avenger. Now you and I like to think of the word meaning kinsman redeemer because we have some lovely thoughts in the word of God concerning this. And how our Lord Jesus Christ is the great Goel, the great kinsman redeemer. But also this same word means kinsman avenger. And we have it here in the Word of God that we're looking at today. Now I want you to try and have me give you just a little picture of the land. Being as we don't have a picture up here. But from north to south ran the river Jordan with the two and a half tribes on the one side and the nine and a half on the other. But as the Jordan River divided the land exactly down the middle, God provided, according to the book of Numbers, which we didn't read, chapter thirty-five, that the children of Israel should provide these six cities, three on the one side and three on the other side, that they would be evenly spaced and that they would be accessible to anyone who needed the safety of those cities. Six cities in number. And of course, that's a type of man's imperfection, because the next number, seven, is the type of God's perfection. So we have man's imperfection. And that is why God had appointed these cities on either side of the river. Here's their names. I'm sure most of us that have looked into the Old Testament at any length at all will know the names of those cities. On the one side there was a city of Kadesh in the north, Shechem in the center of the city of the land and Hebron in the south. There was Beza on the north, on the other side, Ramoth Gilead in the middle, and Golan in the south. Now, they have interesting names. I might spend just a moment and look at their names. Kadesh means a sanctuary. That's exactly what God is establishing here. A sanctuary. for one who needs one. The city of Shechem, it means the shoulder. And you know, in speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ, he speaks about the shoulder being the place of strength, the place of safety, upon which, says Isaiah, the government was placed. And then Hebron just simply means communion. or the safety in the city in communion with God's people and in communion with God himself. Now we come to Biza, it's in the wilderness. Notice on the one side they were mountainous city. On the other side they were wilderness city. Biza simply means defense. is the truth of what God is portraying here in this portion of his word. Ramoth, of course, means the heights. The same as Rama. It means the heights. And Golan means rejoicing. Lovely names, these cities, definitely chosen by God and appointed by him to be the cities of refuge. Now, I want you to remember... that every one of those six cities was a Levite city. And it was in those cities that the word of God was told that the word of God was upheld by the Levites. That was their function. And so as the man was fleeing to the city, he was going to be in the place where the word of God was pre-eminent and sheltered by the God whose word was told there. Now, every one of those cities was on some kind of a hill, whether in the wilderness side or on the mountain side, it was on some kind of a hill. It could be easy thing. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, in his Sermon on the Mount, I think Matthew chapter five, He says that a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. And it's a beautiful thought that when God was providing this, He was providing something that was obvious, something that could be seen easily. Secondly, the gates were always open. The gates were open wide to receive the man who was fleeing to its safety. And you know, in this regard, as we have no other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself being the great antitype of the city of refuge, that he is the one that can shelter us, he is the one that can give safety from the one that is pursuing. And if the devil himself and all the legions of hell are pursuing after the child of God in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is perfect shelter and perfect safety. Now we're told that from any part of the land, One of those cities that was nearest to them could be reached within a half day's journey. Now you see how easy it was for them to get to the place of safety. The Lord's bountiful provision. And you know, the apostle, when he writes to the Romans, he says that where sin abounded, Grace did much more abound. And today we're living in a world where sin abounds. There's no doubt whatever about that. As we pick up the newspaper, as we listen to the news on television, it seems to get worse and worse sin abounds. is abounding in this world of ours. But, blessed be God, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. And you know, as we think of these cities so easily apprehended, we think of the words of the songwriter, grace is flowing like a river. Millions there have been supplied. Still it flows as fresh as ever. from the Saviour's wounded side. None need perish. All may live, for Christ has died. He is the great refuge to which we can flee in this day of abounding sin. Now, I suppose that the city of Hebron was perhaps the most famous, or shall we say, infamous of the cities of refuge. I think of what happened to a man just outside the gate of Hebron. An awful thing happened to him, a thing that could easily have been avoided. And right within arm's reach of the city of refuge he lost his life. And David mourned for him after the incident. You remember that before David was made king over the whole land, he had his headquarters in Hebron. And Abner was a man who had established another portion of the kingdom and set another king up. And he was coming to see David. And he went inside the city of Hebron. And then he went out and he left it and he went back to his own place. But in the meantime, Joab said a message after him. And Joab was the avenger of blood. Joab was the kinsman avenger. But Abner had not taken Asahel's life only. in the battle, and it was a different situation. But Abner was coaxed outside of the city of Hebron, just outside the gate, and there within arm's reach of the shelter that was his by right, he lost his life at the hand of Joab. And this brings me to something else. How many people in this world in which we live are within arm's length, almost knocking on the door of heaven, and fail to enter in there because they have not accepted the shelter that God has provided. God has provided in his Son not only a shelter in the time of storm, not only, as Isaiah has said, a hiding place from the wind and the covet from the tempest, but God has provided in his Son a Savior. And through the shedding of his precious blood, He can be yours this morning. If I'm talking to someone in the meeting this morning, I don't know everyone that's here, but if I'm talking to someone that has never taken the opportunity that God has given to seek shelter beneath the blood of Christ, as the Lord himself has become the place of refuge for you, if you have never fled to that place, If you've never found safety in Christ or this morning, think about it. Think that Abner died like a fool died because he was outside of the shelter that God had provided. Now I want to speak a little about the death of the high priest because this is very important. We read something of that in the book of Hebrews. Almost two thousand years ago now, the land of Israel was stained with the blood of the manslayer. And as we were remembering in our meeting this morning, God's own beloved Son came into this world as a savior for sinners. And his blood was shed at the hand of the manslayer. Now, because of that, Israel was scattered to the four winds of heaven, with the inheritance completely lost. They were driven from their cities. They were driven from their inheritance because of what they had done. But now, when Peter speaks, you remember that sermon of his in Acts chapter three, he says, you killed the prince of life. You killed him. By wicked hands, he was crucified and he was slain. You it was that cried out in Pilate's judgment hall, His blood be upon us and upon our children. But Peter said, I want that through ignorance you did it. Through ignorance you did it. Somewhere else it said, if they had known, They would not have crucified the Lord of life. And yet, the blood of God's Son was shed at the hand of the manslayer. You know, there's an old spiritual that goes, Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? And there's a sense in which, yes, we were there. Were we not? We were there as guilty as they were that actually did it. Because in our lives, until the time that we accepted Christ as our Savior, we rejected him. We spurned his offer of grace. That blessed be God's We trust that all in the meeting this morning have been recipients of his grace, have trusted Christ as their own personal savior, and have been saved by grace. And if there has to be one in the meeting, or more than one that doesn't know him as their own personal savior, that today you might put in with God's offer of mercy and trust him with that soul of yours. Now, because Israel has been dispersed, because they have lost their inheritance because of the manslayer. The high priest has gone through the heavens and is there at the right hand of the majesty on high. The high priest is yonder in the glory. But there's a day coming when that same high priest is coming out through the heavens and coming back and then Israel will be able to go back to their inheritance. We'll be able, by the grace of God to receive it, we'll be able to be established in the land because the high priest will have come back again. You see, when the one that fled to the city of refuge was in that city he was safe until the death of the high priest or until the coming forth of the new high priest which would be at exactly the same time as the death of the high priest and oh what a beautiful thought that when he comes our great high priest Israel will be restored again to his inheritance but now the inheritance for the most part is lost because of the hand of the manslayer. Now, Peter, when he spoke to them on that day when he preached in Acts chapter three, he said, Repent therefore. And they replied by imprisoning the apostles and stoning Stephen to death. And so they refused those times of refreshing that were going to be sent. They refused the grace of God. They despised the sacrifice of Calvary. And because of that they are separated. from the land, or they're starting to go back to the land now. But they never will go back to that land in its fullness until the high priest comes from out of the heavens for their sake. Now Hebrews chapter six tells us that we have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us, which is as an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast. The writer of the Hebrews is thinking again of those cities of refuge in the land of Israel. He's thinking again of the one who has shed innocent blood. And he's seeing them straining every nerve to reach that city. We're told that Jewish tradition has it, that there were signposts with the word refuge on them, pointing definitely to the city where a man could be saved. And you know, in place of those signposts, today we have one signpost that points to safety the word of God speaking of the cross the hymn writer said and there between us stands the cross two arms outstretched to save like a watchman set to guard the way from that eternal grave Or I plead with you today, if you're outside of Christ, he is the great refuge to which we can flee and lay hold on the hope that is set before us. And to the child of God, he says, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, which enter within the veil. Whither our forerunner has for us entered, even Jesus made a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Today, the high priest is at God's right hand on our account. Tomorrow, he's coming through the heavens to establish the nation of Israel. Oh, what a wonderful thought. that we can be saved today and know it. That we have a high priest up yonder that pleads our cause. And these wonderful things that are going to happen, we're going to see them with our own eyes. We have fled for refuge. We have laid hold on the hope set before us, and that hope is like an anchor. It is steadfast. It is sure. It is anchored in the presence of God. There's safety there, just as there was safety for the manslayer in the Old Testament times. There's safety for everyone that will flee to Christ and find in him a refuge for their soul. Shall we pray? Our Father. We thank thee for these things that are contained in thy word. We thank thee, gracious God, that they're there for our learning. And we bless thee for our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is a refuge for every soul. Oh, our God, we just commend the message to thee this morning. We commend the word of God to thee. And we pray, our Father, that we might think about these things. carry them away with us in our hearts, and that thy name might be honored, and that thy glory might be established. We ask it in the Savior's name. Amen.