City of Refuge

Introduction: The Geography of Grace

Today we have a lot of scriptures to read. I want to preach and teach on a topic I've titled — you would typically call these the cities of refuge. But it's interesting how we singularized it to be the city of refuge, because when you understand what these cities prophetically point to, you'll see why.

Bring out your notes if you need to write. I say this every single time: a short pen is greater than a long memory. So you can go back and break the Bible open.

Say to your neighbor, "Are you ready?"

I subtitled this message "The Geography of Grace." Back in the day I never liked geography, never liked coordinates and all these things, but I had to study geography because of the scriptures.

Everything in the Bible Is by Design

Today we're going to see in the scriptures how everything in the Bible is there by prophetic engineering. Every word, every place, every name is there by intelligent design. Say "intelligent design."

If the Bible itself is an intelligent design coined by over 40 authors over a period of 1,600 years, and they have some kind of connected symmetry, it means that the one who designed the work has to come from beyond time, beyond space, and beyond matter. So God is the intelligent designer, because everything in the Bible is there by prophetic engineering.

There is no mistake in the Bible. The mistakes we have in the Bible are human — from interpretations. Everything there is there by design.

Redefining Grace

When we hear of grace, there's a context of grace we haven't really delved into. We talk about grace as God's provision for the church, grace as God's common provision for mankind. But there is a kind of grace, church, that we haven't really delved into. You could call it the saving grace, but there were parameters around the saving grace that I feel we need to understand.

Back in the day there were no police in Israel. So the constitution of the state had to be through a legal system, and God had to put policies in place so that the people would oblige to the policies of the nation. So the cities of refuge is not new to you and I.

The concept of grace is not an abstract dialogue or theory. The concept of grace is not a thing. And that's the problem:

• We think grace is what happens to someone.
• We think grace is what God gives to someone.
• We think grace is you being given some kind of privilege.

But grace is not what happens to you. Grace is a person.

Say to your neighbor, "Grace is a person."

So grace is not what we do. The context and concept of grace is not just God's provision for you — it is actually the context and the concept of a man, Christ.

The Levites: A People Without Land

The cities of refuge are cities God had delegated to the Levites. When God shared the portion through Moses and called the 12 tribes and said, "You're going to have such and such a land," the Levites were the only ones who had no inheritance.

Why? Because the Lord was their inheritance. The context of the Levitical rights was that they ate of the thighs of the Lord, they ate of the fruits of the Lord, they ate of the offerings of the Lord — their sustenance was in giving to the Lord. God chose these people to be his representative on the face of the earth.

From Israel to the Levites

Prior to when they made a golden calf, the nation of Israel was meant to be the mediator between heaven and the earth. Israel was meant to be the mediation between God and humanity.

But God gave Moses the decree, and then God sent Moses up to the mountains for 40 days. And when Moses came back, they had built a golden calf. Because of that, God struck 3,000 people. And there was a realignment. God said, "Well, I want to start all over again. But who are the people that are ready for this new revolution?"

Only the Levites came out. Therefore, Israel stopped being the mediator between heaven and earth. The Levites became the mediators. Although they don't have a land, the Lord was their portion.

Grace Is 100% Jesus

We want to see in scripture how God gave them cities in lands that do not belong to them, and what these cities prophetically symbolize. Once you understand the provision of these cities, you understand what grace does for you.

Grace is not what you do. If you did it, it's not grace — it's works. Grace is 100% Jesus. There was nothing you did to obtain grace. Everything of grace is God-given to man.

Because you did nothing to deserve grace, you can do nothing to forfeit it.

It is given to you not by your own doing, because the context of forfeiting grace is that God is not omniscient — he doesn't know. But because God knows all things, God provided for you.

Four Places in the Torah

Say "the cities of refuge."

There are four places in the Torah — the Torah is the Old Testament writings of Moses — where the cities of refuge were mentioned. These four places sound alike but have different descriptions. I'm going to spend the time to take you through four books from Moses, plus one book from Joshua — what the cities are, and what they represent to you and I today.

Exodus 21: The First Mention

The first scripture we're going to look at is the book of Exodus. Exodus is called "exodus" — the word ex is to come out, and the word hodos is the way — meaning coming out of slavery. Exodus chapter 21, verses 12–14.

Don't spiritualize this. Read it literally as it is. Just read the Bible as it is for now, then we get to the exposition.

"He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death."

This is what you call capital punishment. Capital punishment back in the day was an eye for an eye. You take a life, your life is taken back.

I understand that in the modern or contemporary context we say it is barbaric to kill someone for someone's life. But back in Bible times, capital punishment was what God put in place. God said that if you took the life of a man, your life would be taken from you.

"However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hands, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee."

Say "a place."

Manslaughter vs. Murder

You must understand the difference between manslaughter and murder:

• If a man strikes another man by murder, he shall be put to death.
• If he deliberately waited to strike another man, he shall be put to death.
• However, if he strikes a man unintentionally, there was a place of refuge.

"God Delivered Him Into His Hands"

Let's look at the words: "But God delivered him into his hands." God will not deliver someone into your hands to kill you. Moses was not saying that God doesn't like you and put you in the hands of another person to kill you.

The Hebrew context of God delivering you into someone's hands speaks about God's sovereign providence. Everything that happens on the face of the earth is under God's government. It doesn't mean that God was the one who carried A and gave to B for B to kill A. It means that nothing happens without God knowing.

God may not interfere with man's responsibility on the earth, but nothing goes without God's knowledge.

It is witchcraft to pray that God delivers your enemy to die. "Lord, bring my enemy to me so I can kill them." He will not do that.

Two Places, Two Judgments

Verse 14: "But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from my altar that he may die."

Two things there:

1. If a man deliberately kills another man — kill him.
2. If a man mistakenly kills another man — provide a place for him for the judges to meet together and have deliberations.

There was a place for manslaughter, and there was a place for murder. The one who murders another person will die by the sword. But the one who kills another person mistakenly, unintentionally, there will be a space for judicial hearing.

The Place Becomes a Person

Perhaps you're walking in the field and you throw your axe, and your axe hits someone's head and they die — that is not intentional. Moses says that for those people who kill people unintentionally, without any ill will, there was a place. Say "a place."

We understand that the place is not just geographical. The place becomes a person.

This reminds me of Exodus 33, when Moses had an encounter with the Lord. Moses said, "Can I see your face?" And the Lord said, "There is a place by me." So the context of a place is not just a geographical location — it is a person.

Jesus had become the place of refuge.

Capital Punishment in Both Testaments

In both Old and New Testaments, the concept of capital punishment was scriptural. If you kill by the sword, you die by the sword.

In Genesis 9:6, the Lord said to Noah:

"Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed. For in his image, in the image of God, he made man."

We also see the New Testament repeat this concept in Romans 13:3–4. For those of you who like to spiritualize governments, hear me:

"For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil."

Grace Doesn't Cancel the Law of the Land

Listen — the grace of God can pardon you, but police will not. You will find grace in prison. Jesus is not a police officer, and the police is not Jesus.

Yes, grace will find you, but if you do the crime, you do the time. If you do bad despite grace, you will go to prison. Let's not allow grace to spiritualize reality. There were laws of the land. So if you break the law, you face your time.

God can do a miracle and turn the situation around. But the truth is that you cannot hide under grace when you've broken the decrees of the nation.

Don't use prayer to cover it and say, "Lord, cover my mess." He will expose it. Say "avenger" — "an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil."

Paul is saying the government was put in place to execute wrath on evildoers. So if you're an evildoer, don't come to church — you'll go to prison. We'll come and see you. We'll bring food for you.

Karma Is Biblical

There's a saying they call karma. But karma is biblical. The Bible says whatever a man sows, he reaps.

Maybe sometimes it's in prison you really encounter Jesus. You know people that are really born again — those ones from prison, they don't joke. They've been to hell and back.

The Avenger of Blood

Moses, writing the book of Exodus, said, "If you mistakenly kill a guy, listen — there's a place for you, but there's a condition."

Every family back in Bible times had a man whose ultimate assignment was called the avenger of blood. His responsibility was that if you kill a family member, his job is to kill you. They were elected for that purpose.

The avengers of blood represented a family. If you killed someone in their family, they must kill you — unless you were able to run to that place called the city of refuge. Because if an avenger of blood doesn't kill you, they get killed. So they must kill you.

So if you mistakenly kill someone, run for your life.

Numbers 35: The Details of Refuge

Let's look at Numbers 35:9–34.

The Lord spoke to Moses already in Exodus. You might wonder — since Exodus is the opening passage for the city of refuge — why would God spend so much time to give Moses the details of what happens when someone unintentionally murders another person? The book of Numbers gives us more theological description of what happens and the sites of the cities of refuge.

"Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: when you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan...'"

A Bible School Moment

At the moment Moses wrote this, Moses was already at the plain of Moab. The plain of Moab is the eastern part of Jordan. There is the eastern part of Jordan and the western part of Jordan. The western part is called Canaan. The eastern part is called Moab.

Moses died in Moab. So Moses did not enter the promised land. He died in the east.

Six Cities, Strategically Scattered

There were six cities of refuge, scattered around different places among the 12 tribes. The purpose of this scattering was for someone to be able to run quickly to find refuge. They were made as close as possible so that if you unintentionally murdered someone, you could run there safely.

But the problem is not the closeness — the problem was the avenger of blood.

East and West of Jordan

The Lord said to Moses, "You are in Moab." Moab is the eastern part. There were tribes on both sides:

Eastern side (Moab) — three tribes:

• Reuben
• Gad
• The half tribe of Manasseh

Western side (Canaan) — three tribes given cities of refuge:

• Naphtali
• Judah
• Ephraim

Why half tribe of Manasseh? Because there was a half of Manasseh in the east and a half in the west.

Three cities here, three cities there — but all close together, because if someone was running for their life, they had to have quick access, and the road must be made well.

Seeing but Not Entering

"Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, when you cross this Jordan."

Say "cross this Jordan."

They were in Moab, but they could see Canaan. They were in the eastern part, but they could see the western part. They were in Manasseh, but they could see Ephraim. They were in Gad, but they could see Naphtali. They were in Reuben, but they could see Judah.

Moses was actually in the eastern part, seeing the western part, but did not enter. He died on the plain of Moab, on the mountain. God gave Moses this decree. God told him already that he would not enter the promise — but God gave him the decree.

Miklat: The Asylum

Verse 11 says: "Then you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge." Say "cities of refuge."

That word — miklat — in the Hebrew means asylum. An asylum center. This asylum center is for people to wait until their matter is judged.

"Then you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there."

You don't go to the city of refuge — you flee. You run for your life. You don't stroll. Once you know they've lost breath, run to the city of refuge. Don't even explain to your friend. Run.

Goel Ha-Dam: The Kinsman Redeemer

Verse 12: "There shall be cities of refuge for you from the avenger."

That phrase — goel ha-dam:

• Goel = kinsman
• Dam = blood

The kinsman avenger. Prophetically, the purpose of the kinsman avenger or redeemer is to take the life of someone who took the life of his relative. These guys were on 24/7, making sure that you who killed a family member, you don't get your life back.

But I wonder why we don't have avengers as prophetic people in our lives as well — the one who stands and says, "Lord God, no enemy is coming to my house to kill anyone." The one who says, "I represent my family. No one can..."

"There shall be cities of refuge for you from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment."

The Levites as Squatters Among the Tribes

None of the cities that were given were the Levites' own. The Levites didn't have their own land. So God went out to look for spaces within the 12 tribes and gave to the Levites and said:

• "In this land of Gad, this is your space."
• "In this land that belongs to Reuben, this is your space."
• "In this land that belongs to the half tribe of Manasseh, this is your space."
• "In this land that belongs to Naphtali, this is your space."
• "In this land that belongs to Judah, this is your space."

They didn't have their own land. They were like squatters among the tribes.

The purpose was that God was spreading some kind of liturgy, some kind of devotion — because the Levites were the mediators between the divine and man. The Levites were the ones who carried worship out. If the Levites were not scattered around these places, Israel would not worship the Lord. They were the pastors of the tribes.

The Purpose of the Cities: Deliberation, Not Concealment

If a man ran to a city of refuge, it's not just running for safety — it's running for deliberations. Just because you run to the city of refuge doesn't mean they won't kill you. The city of refuge is to judge the matter. If you killed someone by murder and you went there, they would pull you out and kill you.

So the purpose of the cities of refuge is not to hide the guilty, but to have conversations with the one who had done wrong, and to have deliberations.

The Number Six: The Number of a Man

Verse 13: "And of the cities which you give, you shall give six cities of refuge."

You come to understand the prophetic symbolism of number six. Number six represents a man. Number six is the number of a man.

And that's the reason why the only one who qualifies to cover you despite your flaws and sin is someone who has to become a man. Not God or man — but God as man.

It is impossible for a deity to forgive your sin without compromising his righteousness. In order for God to forgive your sin, he has to be like you. Because gods don't pray for men.

Three on Each Side of the Jordan

Verse 14: "You shall appoint three cities on this side of the Jordan, and three cities you shall appoint in the land of Canaan, which will be cities of refuge."

On this side of Jordan is called the eastern Jordan. On that side of Canaan is called the western Jordan. So appoint three cities here and three cities there, just divided by water.

Verse 15: "These cities shall be for you..."

You might say, "Apostle, you're being too extra to start naming the six cities. Why are you naming Reuben? Why are you naming Gad? Why the half tribe of Manasseh? Why Naphtali? Why Ephraim? Why Judah?"

You will understand — there's a deliberate design for everything in the Bible.