“Glory to the Precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ”

Psalms 46: 1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen

Hallelujah 

For us, the bride, the church our Lord Jesus Christ is manifests as the refuge city.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the portion of the Bible that we meditated upon in the past days, we meditated with patterns that we, the bride, the church are being changed into the house of God.

Next, what we are meditating is that Joshua 20: 1 – 9 The Lord also spoke to Joshua, saying, 

“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, 

that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. 

And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. 

Then if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbour unintentionally, but did not hate him beforehand. 

And he shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.’”

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. 

These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwelt among them, that whoever killed a person accidentally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation.

Among what is mentioned above, according to the generation of the seven tribes who did not inherit the land in the right day, God used Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and divided as an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting and according to that lot they divided and gave them and regarding each one’s portion and we saw regarding why God ordained it in this manner. After that according to what God had said he appointed certain cities as refuge cities and then it was written and kept. Those places were at Joshua 20: 7, 8 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.

The above-mentioned words for what the Lord is showing as a pattern is that among the children of Israel these were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwelt among them, that whoever killed a person accidentally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation.

My dear people, the explanation of these cities of refuge is that in the portion of the Old Testament when we read it, if a person hereafter beats another person, strikes or injuries him by throwing stones or kills him by throwing stones or if he kills him in any manner God said to seek vengeance according to his deeds. But if any thing happens accidentally or unintentionally in the lives of the children of Israel they should run and enter into the refuge cities to escape, and this was the law of the Lord. The reason is that if any untoward thing happens accidentally or unintentionally then he should stand before the congregation and he should settle that. Till that time, God has ordained that they should be gathered within the refuge cities.

The reason for this is that the time for him to receive a covenant with God has come. Also, our Lord Jesus Christ is saying that vengeance is mine, and I will repay. This is because Christ rises in our soul, and as a resurrected Christ from within us he takes vengeance for us. Therefore the law has not been changed and we must realize that.

Regarding this, how God is showing as a pattern is that God is telling Joshua that appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there. and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.

That is, in a person’s life if any mistakes happens God is forgiving us and that if we give them to Christ and safeguard them then in their lives it becomes a reason for them to be a part of the inheritance of Christ and God manifests himself as a refuge city for them. But the person avenging his blood if he follows him, because he killed the stranger without any previous hatred, we should not hand him over to his hands says the Lord.

My dear people, our Lord God will not judge any matter without justice, and this is manifested. Till he is made to stand in front of the congregation which is seeking justice he should be safeguarded within the word of God, which is the refuge city. Also, he is united along with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and he is making all his sin, iniquity which is wickedness into death and if he will change as the image of him who is resurrected along with Him then he can return to his city and to his house says the Lord. This is showing us about baptism. After that, God is his refuge. He will be saved from all evil and will be saved.

My dear people, let us submit ourselves to be saved from all evil and be saved.

Let us pray. May the Lord bless you all abundantly. 

- To be continued