Our Hiding Place

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As of yesterday morning, it is deer rifle season in the state of Oklahoma. It’s an important holiday. However, it’s another year of me not having time to go out.

No, it’s not a good thing. I would like to be out there. Maybe not right this second, but after church, I’d like to be out there.

But after Abigail came, suddenly our house was a little bit hectic, and it was a lot harder to get out into the blind. It’s not a major loss, though, because as much as I love deer hunting, I’m not great at deer catching. Some of y’all in this room are better than I am, but those deer are smarter than I am.

As I’ve watched them, I’ve learned, I think they watch us and learn from our patterns of behavior. Because about the time it starts to be deer rifle season, I know some of that has to do with their life cycle. But about the time every year that it starts to be deer rifle season, I start to see them hanging out in places where they cannot be hunted.

Including my neighborhood. Friday, the kids and I were, I think it was Friday, we were headed somewhere. may have been yesterday for all I know.

The older kids and I were headed somewhere, and I almost ran into a deer crossing the road around the corner from my house, a neighborhood street, and they’re just hanging out in there. And I think the reason they do that is they’ve probably learned over generations, there are certain places that if you go, you may not come back from. When it gets cold, you’re in this part of your range.

Some of our friends don’t come back, But over here, we’ve never lost anybody. And so they go hang out at the neighbor’s house. I can’t legally hunt them at the neighbor’s house.

I thought at one point about standing out on my balcony and hunting down into my pasture. But we live close enough to our neighbors, I thought they’ll run and jump away, and I really don’t want to have to trail a deer through. That’ll be a great way to meet the neighbors.

So I held off on that. But I really believe they look for places to hide. because they’ll be all over in the woods.

You go to the public hunting areas, they’ll be all over in the woods until it’s actually time when you can hunt them and then they’ve gone someplace else. Animals are really good at finding hiding places because they know they need to get someplace safe. We do the same thing.

When we need a place, we’ll look for a hiding place. Yesterday it was a little bit chaotic in my house and I told Charlotte, I said, If we had better Wi-Fi in the storm shelter, I’d go down there and try to work. Because I needed a place to hide, but it didn’t work.

But sometimes we need a place to hide, a place to protect ourselves, a place to get away. The animals know that, we know that. In Old Testament times, they knew that too.

They needed a place that they could escape to in certain circumstances. And this morning, we’re going to look at Joshua chapter 20 at one of the descriptions of these hiding places. This is not my favorite way to preach, to pull in a little bit from this passage and a little bit from this passage and over here.

I think there’s some dangers involved in that. I’d rather camp out in one passage. But at the same time, with the kind of study we’re doing, it’s important to bring in different passages.

But we’re going to start from Joshua chapter 20, one of several places in the Old Testament where it describes these hiding places. And once you find it, if you’ll stand with me as we read together out of God’s Word, we’re going to look at the whole chapter Joshua 20 but it’s it’s just nine verses so follow along with me if you would please starting in verse one it says then the Lord spoke to Joshua saying speak to the sons of Israel saying designate the cities of refuge of which I spoke to you through Moses that the manslayer who kills any person unintentionally without premeditation may flee there, and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood. He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and shall state his case in the hearing of the elders of that city.

And they shall take him into that city to them, and give him a place so that he may dwell among them. Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor without premeditation, and did not hate him beforehand. He shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days.

Then the manslayer shall return to his own city, to his own house, to the city from which he fled. So they set apart Kadesh and Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba, that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah. Beyond the Jordan, east of Jericho, they designated Ed-Betzer in the wilderness, on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.

These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel, and for the stranger who sojourns among them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally may flee there and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation. And you may be seated. As I mentioned, there are a few passages in the Old Testament that talk about this idea of the cities of refuge.

In addition to Joshua 20, we find it mentioned in Deuteronomy 4 and Deuteronomy 19, also Numbers 35. But the purpose of these cities of refuge was to provide a place of refuge to the accused. And what these cities of refuge did was they balanced justice and mercy in the Old Testament.

It was a way of, according to God’s law, if somebody intentionally committed murder, if somebody deliberately killed their friend, or if they said it was an accident, but they were known to have hated this person before. Oh, oops, I just accidentally shoved him off the cliff there. Didn’t know that was going to happen.

You know, they were held guilty of murder. They could be tried by the authorities. They could also be tracked down by a member of the victim’s family and killed.

That’s the avenger that he’s talking about there. They could be tracked down, and they could just be summarily executed, put to death. And sometimes in the heat of the moment, it was difficult for somebody to tell, is this intentional or is this unintentional?

Our emotions will lead us to think everything’s intentional. Look at small children. Anytime one of my kids does something to one of my other kids, especially the younger three, anytime one of them does something to the other, it’s always on purpose, whether it was on purpose or not. He fell on me.

He did it on purpose. No, I think he tripped over that rock and fell on you. I don’t think it was any more fun for you than for him.

But not everything’s on purpose, but we think that. And if your loved one was killed in an accident, in that moment of loss, in that moment of hurt, in that moment of despair, you might think this was on purpose and might set out to take revenge, which you were legally entitled to do, on somebody who didn’t mean to injure or kill your loved one. And so as much as God’s law holds up the death penalty for certain crimes as a way of affirming the sanctity of life.

And I know that’s very confusing to the world, but to say God takes the taking of innocent life so seriously that He’s put this ultimate penalty over here to deter us. As much as God’s law takes that seriously, God’s law balances justice with mercy in saying there’s got to be some provision here to protect those who really didn’t mean to do what they did. And so there’s this balance between mercy and justice that we see clearly in this story of the cities of refuge.

If someone committed murder, as I said, they were put to death. Numbers is clear on that, the passage in Numbers that deals with this, the passage in Deuteronomy, they’re both clear on that. All throughout the Old Testament law, it’s very clear.

God’s Word says, if somebody in Israel murders somebody else, they’re to be put to death. But if someone accidentally killed someone else, he could be put to death by the avenger, as Deuteronomy and Numbers both tell us. But God showed grace here.

These cities of refuge are a carve-out of grace in God’s law. We’re in the pictures of Jesus in the Old Testament. And if you’re with us for the first time this morning, that’s why we’re looking at these cities of refuge.

We’re looking at things in the Old Testament that were not only fulfilled a historical function at that moment, but were intended to be a picture that was going to point Israel to Jesus and what he came to accomplish when he came. These cities of Rome. God gives them a land of their own and says, divide it up.

He divides it among the tribes. The only tribe not to get any land were the Levites. Those were the priests.

And instead, they were given cities interspersed all throughout the other tribes’ lands. They were given 48 cities. And God said, I want you to take six of those cities, and I want you to set those apart to be.

. . .

. . for a crime they did not mean to commit.

They are able to flee to those cities and have a chance to live. And we see that right there in verse 3. Anyone who kills another person unintentionally without premeditation may flee there, and those cities shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood.

Now, when somebody got to the city, you couldn’t just say, out there, and you would argue your case. And if they believed that you did this on purpose, you hated this person, you wanted them to die, that sort of thing, they’re going to hold on to you, and when the avenger comes, they’re going to hand you over. But if they were convinced, if they believed based on the evidence that you had no intention and kill him and you didn’t mean to, you didn’t know, then you run to the city of refuge.

That’s just one example, but that’s the kind of thing they’re talking about. If you could convince the elders in the city that this was unintentional, then it was their duty, these Levites, to bring you into the city and to protect you there. And then suddenly, if the avenger came into the city and tried to flee refuge, the accused was safe.

So if you had this terrible accident and you did something terrible that you regretted, then you would flee to that city of refuge and there you would be safe. But outside the city, you’d be in danger. And Numbers describes this, Numbers 35.

Describes how you’d go into the city and you’d be safe from the avenger. But if at any time you left the small area around the city that you’re allowed to go out into. But if you just go wander back home, just because you’ve been found innocent at the city of refuge, or not liable, at least at the city of refuge, doesn’t mean you get to go home because the avenger can still get you.

You’re safe because you’re in the city of refuge. But all of that changed with the death of the priest. To try you. And then once you’re in the city, until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days, then the manslayer shall return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled.

Once the high priest died, you could go home. And nobody could touch you. That was considered the statute of limitations.

Once the high priest had died, you could go home. And if that high priest died, you were free to go. And you couldn’t be touched.

You were free forever. And the cities of refuge were spread evenly throughout the country. God told them to designate the cities, but he said, I want you to spread them throughout the country.

Don’t just bunch them all up in the middle. God wanted everybody who knew to put three on the east side and three on the west side. west side.

And they spread them from north, central, south, everywhere there was a city of refuge relatively nearby for any of those who needed it. And he mentions in verse 9 that these appointed cities, they were for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them. It did not matter to them whether you had the criteria to go there, then you were welcomed in.

now these cities of refuge were hugely important to somebody in ancient israel if you needed it you know hopefully you would go through your whole life never needing a city of refuge but things happen every day circumstances we don’t we don’t anticipate find and so this was one of those things that you’re glad to have and hope never to need and it was something that people from a jewish background in that day would have been familiar with. And by the time we get to the New Testament, it was still something that people from a Jewish background would have been familiar with. And the book of Hebrews talks about us taking refuge in Jesus, as we’ll see in Jesus.

It’s clear to me that they’re referring to the cities of refuge as a picture of Jesus, something that would help the reader at that time understand what it was that Jesus came to do for us. And so as we look at these cities, we see that Jesus offers a permanent refuge for us. And as I’ve done with each of these things, as I’ve done with the Passover lamb, and as we’ve done with the manna and the water from the rock and the sacrifice of Isaac, the attempted sacrifice of Isaac, the story of Joseph, all of these things that we’ve looked at, I want to take you for just a few moments through some of the parallels between Jesus and the cities of refuge.

Otherwise, this is just a history lesson. And I didn’t come here to give you a history lesson today. You probably didn’t come here for a history lesson.

As much as some of us may like history, that’s not what we’re here for. These cities of refuge point us to Jesus. And the parallels start with the fact that God’s justice still reigns supreme.

God had this idea of justice, these principles of justice that He put out for His people to follow. And folks, the same thing is true today. God has not changed who He is.

Are you with me? Okay, God has not changed who He is. God is still just. God still sets the standard of what is right and what’s wrong.

I don’t, you don’t, we don’t through popular vote. God decides what’s right and wrong. And it’s rooted in who He is.

The moral law is rooted in God’s nature. And because of that, there’s an unchanging standard, and you and I will still be called on to answer for our wrongs, The consequences of our sin, those things will still find us. You know, people think, oh, there’s not a consequence because I didn’t get caught.

Nothing happened this time. They always catch up with us eventually. And one of those consequences is we stand condemned before a holy God.

And the reality of that looms over us like this threat of the avenger coming to kill us for what we’ve done. But God has made a refuge. God has made a refuge for us.

And it’s not a physical city. It’s not a place we run to. It’s a person.

And Hebrews 6. 18 talks about how believers have taken refuge. It’s the passage I was referring to a moment ago, Hebrews 6.

18, that believers have taken refuge. And because of that, we now have a hope set before us as a result. And if you read and study through Hebrews, Hebrews can be a challenging book.

Every time I read through Hebrews, I think I have not seen that before. Now, hopefully somebody’s seen that before. I’m not just making up new things, but I think I’ve not seen that connection before.

There’s always something new to learn from Hebrews, but one thing that will help if you study Hebrews is to understand that the point that’s being made is to talk to people who held the Old Testament near and dear to their heart and to say to them that as important as all of those things are that happened and were taught in the Old Testament, we have to understand that their ultimate purpose was to point to Jesus Christ, who was the fulfillment of all of those things. And so we see how the sacrifices are a picture of Jesus Christ. We see how the tabernacle is a picture of Jesus Christ. We see how the high priest is a picture of Jesus Christ. We see how the law was intended to point us to Jesus Christ. He becomes the fulfillment of all these things. And then there’s the mention of running to seek refuge.

And there are other examples throughout the Old Testament of people running away from something. But the only thing I can think of that’s taught as a concept in the Old Testament of seeking refuge are these cities. And that leads me to believe that the writer of Hebrews is telling that Jesus is our New Testament city of refuge.

He’s the one that we run to. He’s the one that God has made to be a refuge for us. Think about it.

Think about what the gospel tells us to do. When the condemnation of our sin is running us down, It is relentless. We cannot escape from it.

You and I have sinned against a holy God, and we stand condemned before a holy God. And when that condemnation is going to run us down, is going to chase us to the ends of the earth, is going to be with us throughout every day of our lives and into eternity, that condemnation is there. We have no recourse but to run to Jesus.

He’s the only place we can seek refuge from that condemnation, from that judgment. When the hammer of God’s justice is about to fall on us, Jesus is the only place we can and run to, and so we flee to Him. And just like those cities of refuge in Jesus, we are safe from that condemnation.

It doesn’t mean that we’re safe from every consequence of our sins. Those who had committed manslaughter weren’t necessarily safe from every consequence. I mean, for example, if the axe head flies off and hits your friend, there’s a consequence that you’re devastated that you’ve lost your friend.

There’s probably a sense of guilt over the accident, and I wish it hadn’t happened, or why couldn’t it have been me? There’s all sorts of consequences, but the condemnation for that act was something that they were safe from when they were in the city. And folks, in Jesus Christ, we are safe and secure from the condemnation that we deserve for our sins.

Outside of Jesus Christ, we have no security. Outside of Jesus Christ, we have no forgiveness. But in Christ, we are safe from the condemnation of our sins.

That’s why Romans 8. 1 says, There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And that’s why Jesus told Nicodemus in a chapter we looked at last week, John chapter 3, that he who does not believe has been judged or condemned already.

We see that just like these cities, Jesus is nearby for all of us to call on. those of you who have trusted Jesus as your savior did you have to go off somewhere and find him did you have to go to a certain place oh he can only hear me down at the church now some of you might have trusted Christ as your savior in a church building during a church service but that doesn’t mean that’s the only place he can be found I trusted Christ as my savior at our kitchen table my son trusted Christ as his savior while we were hauling a lawn tractor through the little town of St. Louis, Oklahoma.

And if you didn’t know there was a St. Louis, Oklahoma, so do many people that live around it. It’s tiny.

But we were just in the truck on the road when he trusted Christ as his Savior. Many people in this room trusted Christ as their Savior outside of a church service, outside of a church building. It’s because we don’t have to go to a certain place to find Him.

At that moment when the Holy Spirit pricks our hearts and we’re ready to call out to him, he is right there and nearby, just like those cities of refuge were always nearby to anybody who needed them. And God did that with the cities of refuge to make salvation, in that sense, available to anybody that needed it. And for us, Jesus is close by because God has made salvation available to all who will believe.

And again, he didn’t say it was just for the citizens. It wasn’t just for certain people. He said it didn’t matter whether you were an Israelite or a sojourner.

Didn’t matter what your status or your standing or your background or any of it was. You just run to the city of refuge. And folks, the same thing is true for us with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter where you’ve come from.

It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. When you recognize the need, you run to the refuge, which is Jesus Christ. That’s why Paul says in Romans 1.

16 that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. And for a lot of people, that was unthinkable because there was this covenant with God that the Jews were part of and the Gentiles outside were not. And so they assumed the Messiah came just for us.

But like those cities of refuge, Jesus is available to people of every nation, tribe, tongue, background, you name it. The only prerequisite is that we repent and believe. And here’s a bonus parallel.

There’s a couple of bonus parallels that don’t fit as neatly into the cities of refuge part, but still fit into the story of what happened with the cities of refuge. You know how I said they were set free by the death of the high priest? Hebrews is pretty clear that we’re also set free by the death of the high priest, because Jesus is our high priest. For them, the high priest protected them in life, and he set them free in death.

Jesus is our high priest. As a matter of fact, Stella accidentally broke a little plastic duck that was in my office and brought it to me. She said, I need to confess something to the priest. I said, well, you better look up because he’s up there. She brought it to show it to me.

Folks, there is one priest. There’s one priest. It’s not me. It’s not any human. There’s one priest. It’s Jesus Christ. And our high priest, when he died, set us free forever.

That’s just a little bonus for you. But folks, even the names of these cities point to Jesus and what he did. I feel like the guy on the commercials, but wait, there’s more.

Even the names of the cities point to Jesus Christ. These six cities that we read about in Joshua. Kadesh means holiness. Jesus Christ not only is holy, but he makes us holy in the sight of God.

Shechem means shoulder, and it was the idea of something that you would carry burdens on. Jesus Christ bears our burdens. He bore the heaviest burden we had, which was the burden of sin.

When he took that burden to the cross and was nailed to it with our sins being nailed on the cross with him. Hebron means company or fellowship, and he’s promised that he will never leave us or forsake us. Betzer is a fortification or a sheepfold, something that the sheep would run into to be secure, just like we’re secure in Christ. Ramoth means exalted, and Philippians tells us that God has given him a name that is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow and every tongue would confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

and galon means removal, which is exactly what Jesus has done to our sins, where the Bible says that He’s put them as far from us as the east is from the west. And that’s why all of these parallels are why the writer of Hebrews used that idea of running for refuge as he’s consistently showing how Jesus is the New Testament fulfillment of these Old Testament things. He refers to these cities and how we have taken, where they took refuge in a physical city, you and I today have the opportunity to take refuge in Jesus Christ. And as we close today, that leads us to the conclusion, as so many of these things have, as we look at pictures of Jesus in the Old Testament, that for those facing the condemnation of sin, there is no refuge but Jesus Christ. And you say, well, wait, there aren’t other ways? What about this way?

What about this way? Jesus said it himself. If you don’t want to agree with me, listen to Jesus.

Jesus said it himself. I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by me. And as I’ve said numerous times through this series, so what if God only made one way of escape?

It’s one way more than what I deserved. God didn’t owe me salvation. What God owed me was justice.

What God owed you was justice. But God has made a carve-out of grace in the midst of that justice. And He’s made a place that we can run to for refuge.

If we go there and we acknowledge our need, that our sin has brought us to this place of needing refuge, and we run to Jesus, we’ll have refuge from the condemnation. And running to Jesus for refuge is very simple. We’re not talking about physical running.

We’re talking about acknowledging the fact that we’ve sinned against God. Each of us personally acknowledging the fact that I have sinned against God. And I can’t be right with Him based on anything I’ve done.

And so Jesus came to earth, took responsibility for my sins, and He was punished for them in my place when He was nailed to the cross and shed His blood and died. And then to prove that He could forgive our sins and prove that He could overcome death, to prove that he could do all the things he promised, he rose again three days later from the dead. And if we’ll acknowledge our sins and we’ll believe that and we’ll ask for his forgiveness, we’ll have it.