Well, we're continuing tonight our study in the book of Joshua. We're in chapter 20 after taking a giant leap last time and considering chapters 13 through 19 in one sermon. And now tonight we're in chapter 20. There's only 24 chapters, so we're nearing the end of our study. And we'll consider all of chapter 20 tonight. Joshua chapter 20 found on page 229 in your Bibles. Let's give our attention tonight to the reading of God's word. Then the Lord said to Joshua, say to the people of Israel, appoint the cities of refuge of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a 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 explain his case to the elders of that city then they shall take him into the city and give him a place and he shall remain with them and if the avenger of blood pursues him they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand because he struck his neighbor unknowingly and did not hate him in the past and he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment until the death of him who is high priest at the time then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home to the town from which he fled so they set apart kadesh in galilee in the hill country of naphtali and shechem in the hill country of ephraim and curiath arbath that is hebron in the hill country of judah and beyond the jordan east of jericho they appointed bezair in the wilderness on the table land 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 cities designated for all the people of israel and for their the stranger sojourning among them that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood till he stood before the congregation there we'll end the reading of god's word tonight what an interesting section to come to in the book of joshua everything that our lord does has a very specific and intended purpose and that's what's so enjoyable i think about studying the old testament i said to you before it was rc spro's said years ago that if you want to know the character of God, study the Old Testament. And here's one of those great passages that teaches us a lot about the character of our God. And in the particular text that is in front of us tonight in Joshua chapter 20, we're dealing with and looking at what are known as cities of refuge. Obviously something very important. It seems to come out of nowhere in this but something that meant a lot to the lord in establishing these cities but why were they so important i wouldn't even dare to try to get into the whole concept of sanctuary cities in our day because it's been so politicized that would cause all kinds of confusion if i tried to draw parallels here this is a little bit different i'd say a lot different what are we looking at here great attention is given to these in the Pentateuch and in Joshua why in fact through Moses the Lord gave instructions way back concerning them that once they entered the land that they should be set up and that tonight is what I want to consider with you it's it's a somewhat simple message that comes out of this but a very important one that we're going to be looking at so i want to consider with you the meaning the importance and the meaning of these cities of refuge and really trying to answer the larger question of why what is the lord teaching what was he teaching israel in establishing this these cities and what does he teach us the principle still applies the principle is still alive and we'll look at that tonight so we're going to break this down simply with the when, the where, and the what of these cities. When accidents happen, where were they to go, and what this taught Israel. That seems to be a simple breakdown tonight and a simple way to look at this text to help us understand Joshua chapter 20. And that's what is being addressed singularly here are the importance of the cities of refuge. And the Lord, verse 1, spoke to Joshua speak to the children of Israel saying appoint the cities of refuge of which I spoke to you through Moses that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there they shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood that's an interesting concept a refuge from the avenger of blood hold on to that and we'll work through this the key here to understand this particular passage tonight is the kind of death that is being held out to us to think through and to understand it's um it's a death that's not premeditated a killing if you will it's an unintentional one i thought about this this week and i couldn't uh get cain out of my mind when cain of course killed abel that was completely premeditated that was that was what in our terms murder one uh he did that with malice of forethought in legal terms he did that wanting to kill Abel in anger in his heart and and even then you'll remember God put a mark on Cain so that when he went out there wouldn't be an avenger who would come there wouldn't be vigilante justice which is what all our movies are about today that we like right vigilante justice the Lord was was trying to to stop and put it into in society justice is mine vengeance is mine I will repay says the lord well god didn't want this and the mark was to prevent that kind of lawlessness in the mosaic administration things were a lot more rigorous the section is engaging moses instructions in deuteronomy 35 a lengthy description is given in deuteronomy 35 that's referenced here in joshua 20 of when these instructions were specifically given to moses that if somebody went out and with premeditated without pre um well you could say with premeditation all the instructions are there and they die then they would be classified as a murderer and what did the old testament theocracy what did it require of a murderer when it was premeditated in the old covenant this the little phrase rings out in deuteronomy 35 they shall surely be put to death they shall surely be put to death so the murderer who did this with notice as it says in the text anger and hatred in the heart before it came out in the act was to be put to death stoning now in the law of moses there was no mercy for the murder with premeditation now you know the law was given to teach us the seriousness of sin to teach us this that this is ultimately what everyone deserves we'll come back to that thought but i find a tension here that i wrestled with in writing this sermon that wasn't as easy for me to draw lines as i thought it would be the tension here is in the old covenant there was this tension of course it seemed between justice and mercy and that even here god didn't want to be thought of simply in terms of strict justice without any mercy even in the old covenant now that's what these cities of refuge were intended to teach they were to teach all generations something about justice the justice of god and the mercy of god And so this is how it worked. Numbers 35 says, if he pushes somebody suddenly without enmity or throws something at him with lying in wait or uses a stone by which a man could die throwing it at him without seeing him so that he does die while not seeking his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments you find that right in deuteronomy 35 that's what moses was told so when they were to get to the land they were to set these up what the text makes clear is when these accidents happen to prevent somebody who was related to them to the one who was killed most likely somebody close to prevent him from becoming the manslayer to prevent him from becoming the avenger i mean they would then without by going out and taking vengeance on the person the lord set up these cities so that these people could run to flee to they would bolt in this dangerous predicament to one of these cities there at the gate of the city there would be elders sitting there they were specific cities cities determining judgment and they would hear the case of the person and they would determine if this was a lawful case according to the instructions given in deuteronomy 35 and then they would allow the person into the city to live there and to have a place to dwell there safely and they would not let the manslayer in who would come after him so then you see what's happening here there would be a due process two things would happen at that point the congregation would judge the matter was this intentional or was it not was it premeditated or was it not and if it was found out that the person was not guilty then the manslayer could leave the city only when the high priest died and when the high priest ruling there died he could go back and he could live a normal life with this family again so that's the simple outline of what this pastor is uh what this passage is helping us to understand and that's verse five and six when they flee to one of these cities they are to stand at the entrance of the city of the gate state their case before the elders of that city then the elders are to admit the fugitive into their city and provide a place to live among them if the avenger of blood comes in pursuit the elders must not surrender the fugitive because the fugitive killed their neighbor unintentionally and without malice a forethought they are to stay in that city until they have stood trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest who's serving at that time then they may go back to their own home in the town from which they fled now i think we understand this a little bit um there was an article in the uh one of a major magazine i think this one was in the new yorker a few years back that was called the sorrow and the shame of the accidental killer and her name was marion gray and she was 22 years old and she was pursuing a master's degree in clinical psychology everything was going well in life for her everything was was was very successful and she was only 15 minutes from her apartment and she's driving on the posted 45, the article said, miles per hour along a wooded two-lane country road when she saw a pale flash and felt a bump. The statement Gray gave to the police later that afternoon is written in a neat script a young student might use on a final exam. A child, blonde male, ran into the street from my left. running in front of the car. I tried to go around him but couldn't get by. I hit my brakes instantly, skidded to the left. Gray recalled crouching behind a bush, terrified and hiding. I remember thinking, what's that noise? Then realizing it was me screaming. The boy's mother ran out of the house. She began to wail. Can you imagine this? Police arrived 20 minutes later. and he was pronounced dead. 22-year-old girl. What an awful situation in life. Maybe you heard of the 84-year-old man who accidentally hit the gas pedal at the farmer's market. I think it was over in Santa Monica. He killed 10 people and injured 63, just accidentally hitting the gas pedal. Most people who the article said post on accidental impacts were involved in fatal car crashes but there are also cases of guns going off where they shouldn't have boating mishaps momentary neglected babies accidental killers often report experiencing symptoms associated with post-traumatic traumatic stress disorder flashbacks hallucinations nightmares and what is known as moral injury most are considered haters by society one of the worst things that can happen to someone this article said is this because they have all kinds of helps for people and all the problems that they face but this comes the people who faced it with the absolute worst guilt and the worst shame that a person has to bear now maybe that's exactly the point here maybe that's exactly the point um he set up cities of refuge for those who experienced in this life the worst pains of guilt and of shame for actions like this and you know we're going through life all the time you don't even understand in the providence of god what could happen we put our children behind vehicles that's a scary thing for a parent and um i think the message in this is powerful they would arrive at the gate terrified broken distressed now someone's trying to murder them fearful they would say to the judges they're completely cast upon the mercy of the congregation they would say to the judges who had to determine was this legitimate that they should even be led into the city they have nowhere to go they have nowhere to go what did god do he set up cities for them and um when you think about this you know a murderer who does premeditated murder is a pretty hardened individual isn't he cain didn't seem to show any remorse these people do these people do there's something here this is what i was struggling with this week it was genuinely an accident what a burden to bear in society life was taken god said blood was shed i want a city set up now i think it's important to reflect on a few things about the lord here i think that's what's really remarkable in a society that is really you look at how the justice system works and even how the justice system fails in society and how our rulers claim to be just look at the justice and look at the mercy of god coming together here um it was to show just as one pastor said and what an important point he makes god wants done what is right god wants done what is right he's just he is not just about and this is so good for young people today because i think this is how the lie as i was praying earlier to think about he is not about just exacting justice on people for a mere infraction of breaking the letter of the law. God knows the heart. And he's just. And he gave away for people to be proven, to be innocent until proven guilty. Everyone, as this pastor said, and this is absolutely true, it's so good for us to hear this in our day we're dog-eat-dog world accusations fly against people all the time reputations are destroyed and we just believe it on the news everybody should have the opportunity to proclaim and defend their innocence and must be presumed innocent until proven otherwise that's important that's not our society today charges are made against people and we believe them without any fair hearing and people's lives and reputations are absolutely ruined this way god so wanted justice to be established by ruling righteously and justly not just by the letter of the law but what is true and what is right and that's so wonderful to study about our Lord here that's why I said you see his character so beautifully in a passage like this there are a lot of people in prison today it's just true because this is not the case well that would have been the Hebrews some of them were put in prison but I think the larger point here tonight is this principle of mercy that we should see here triumphing over judgment and this tension even in the old covenant here's somebody deeply burdened here's somebody afraid of their life here's somebody so burdened by what's happened you can't even imagine the shame of things like this he has to flee to a city of refuge do you think there's any message in that that's that's the question is there any message in this for israel here's what's interesting back in numbers 35 there's some details that are not here that's why it's always important i think when when uh this text begins by the lord saying put into place what i told moses you deuteronomy 35 is really important in this listen to deuteronomy 35 anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness so there's that principle justice shall be established the truth of a matter by two or three witnesses verse 31 do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die they are to be put to death okay right after this verse 32 do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge. And so allow them to go back and live on their own land before the death of the high priest. Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land. And atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed except by the blood of the one who shed it. do not defile the land where you live where i dwell for i the lord dwell among the israelites this is a big issue there's still a big problem here blood blood as i read that even the unintentional death caused blood to be shed on the land which polluted the land and god just said it pollutes the land listen carefully blood was shed atonement has to be made for the land by the blood of the one who shed it but listen to verse 32 again do not accept a ransom for anyone who's fled to the city of refuge remember unintentionally and so allow them to go back and live on their own land before the death of the high priest now this is my moment to say do you see why we say it's so important to preach the gospel everywhere because the gospel is everywhere when we say we preach jesus from all of scripture you don't have to ask where to go he's everywhere this is such an important passage to understand a ransom had to be paid this is what had to happen because of the blood what is it saying here is important tonight the death of the high priest released him and gave him permission to go back into society the death of the high priest brought a change of his status his status as a manslayer was changed by the death of the high priest in other words the manslayer though he was guilty even if he was guilty of doing it was found unintentionally doing it blood was still shed the death of the high priest had to change the status you see what he's saying tonight what was god teaching israel well in the old covenant there was a provision for unintentional sins there was a provision made for accidents here's the problem there was no provision made for a murderer that should stand out there was no provision made for a murderer. And yet God showcased mercy to the one who had the most broken and contrite spirit in the face of this kind of death. This taught everyone something very important, beloved. As I was writing this this week, I thought, this is where I'm a little confused. It still doesn't solve our problem. It still doesn't solve our problem. What's our problem? What if you committed murder? Well, you're done. What really is God's standard? Can you imagine how shocking these words are, beloved, when Jesus comes along to the Pharisees and says this? You have heard that it was said of those of old, you shall not murder and whoever murders will be liable to the judgment but i say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to the judgment whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council and whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire so if you're offering your gift at the altar and remember that your brother has something against you. Leave your gift, therefore, before the altar. First be reconciled. Make what he says here. Make terms quickly with your accuser while you're going on. Unless you go to court, the accuser hands you over to the judge. Whoever murders from the heart is a murderer who hates his brother. See the standard. There's no city set up for this predicament. it gets worse you come to acts 2 what is the main charge that's made against all the people at the preaching of pentecost men of israel hear these words jesus of nazareth a man attested to you by god with mighty works and wonders and signs that god did through him in your midst as you yourselves know this jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. You crucified and murdered and killed by lawless hands. God raised him up, loosing the pains of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Problem. It's all premeditated on our parts. You, says Peter, denied the Holy and the Righteous One and asked for a murder to be granted to you. And you killed, listen to this charge, you killed the author of life whom God raised from the dead. you and me on all accounts are murder one before god because of sin in the old covenant you would have been done this should have made israel cry out and you see when peter preached that that day at pentecost do you remember what was the response of the people and they were cut to the heart and they said what do we do to be saved and he said what believe on the lord jesus christ you and your children receive the sign see this is what we considered in hebrews beloved in the days of his flesh jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death. He was heard because of his reverence. Such a high priest truly meets our need. Think about it. The high priest had to die for there to be a status change. Such a high priest truly meets our need. One who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted in the heavens, Hebrews 9.15. Therefore, he's the mediator of the new covenant so that those who are called may receive the promised inheritance, the land, since a death has occurred. Since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. A death of who? The high priest. Who is Jesus? and what that means is beloved tonight is something so simple that i've preached to you you know every week i try to by god's grace what that means is you're released back into the household of god you're released you're cleared in the new covenant even of intentional murder through his death in that courtroom we've received the new status of having been justified by faith we have peace with god and atonement has been made here's the important point where's the city where's the city and so we're coming to this in hebrews jesus suffered outside the city jesus suffered outside the city to make people holy through his blood so let us go to him so let us go to him everyone has to flee outside the city to a place of refuge and now you understand this concept all throughout the scriptures in the psalms that we sang tonight god is our refuge and our strength a very present help in trouble therefore we will not fear you are my rock my refuge my fortress to whom i may resort continually we who have fled for refuge to jesus that we might have strong consolation and hold fast to the hope that is set before us what the lord desires of us is the very thing that was demonstrated with the unintentional sins with the greater the intentional sin what does he desire he desires that broken in that contrite heart deeply burdened for something not for something unintentional but for what was intentional for our murder of the author of life he will not despise those who flee to jesus this way he will never despise those who struggle in their sins listen to me you guys all have sins you're struggling with and great guilt comes over you and you feel the despair that's the conscience working on you that's a beautiful thing and every week he says to you flee to jesus flee to jesus flee for refuge to jesus this is what we do we are constantly coming to jesus for refuge and just like the spirit of that person who committed the unintentional act of killing someone all the pain all the sorrow all the guilt all the shame that comes with that we did something far worse we crucified the lord of glory and he comes to you and he says and he wipes away your tears and he says you're forgiven you leave me come to me for refuge my death has released you you are my sons and daughters what should that produce in us well what were the cities of refuge to teach a bruised reed smoldering wick you'll never despise so that even in the old covenant I couldn't get away from this thought somebody else was a murderer in the old covenant you know who it was it was David he was guilty for the murder of Uriah that was premeditated how did he escape how did he escape it was always because the covenant of grace was in place and it was always because he had fled to jesus and you want to read about that read it in the psalms blessed is he whose lawless deeds are forgiven blessed is the one to whom he shall not impute iniquity. He was running to Christ. David ran to Christ. And that's what he calls us to do in this life. That's what God always intended to teach these people with these cities set up. What an encouragement. How firm a foundation in the new covenant. You saints of the Lord, what more can he say to you than he has said to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled let's pray together lord thank you for teaching us and instructing us the importance of fleeing to Christ and father we have a greater problem than even when these horrible things happen in this life that are unintentional something very intentional was done crucifixion of the lord of glory because of our sin and we are so thankful that you've made a provision for us that through the death of the high priest who lived and rose triumphant over the grave we are a people who are able to draw near with boldness and assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled clean of an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water we are released into the community of god to know your friendship and so we thank you oh lord for encouraging us where we struggle with sin and we feel great shame may we repent of it may we come to you to the throne of grace confessing our sins may we flee to christ as was called come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden i'll give you rest may we enjoy and believe the freedom and the release that the blood of the high priest has guaranteed for us. In Jesus' name, amen.