JOSHUA

Chapter 20

"Sacred Cities. [20:1 - 21:42]"
"Cities of Refuge. [1 - 9]"

This Bible Study is is provided by http://www.theseason.org/ and shared with permission from it's author R. Christopherson

In the book of Numbers, God laid out the plan of dividing up the land and how the assigning of the land would take place. Then after the hand had been freed from the heathen nations that were occupying it, There were two other factors that had to be taken care of, and one those factors were the cities of the Levite, the Levitical cities of the priest's families. The other was "the cities of refuge". This Joshua 21 deals with those cities of refuge, the place where the innocent can flee to when he of she as taken a life accidentally.

Murder is the claiming of a life when the murderer as lied in wait, to take the life of an innocent victim. It is premeditative murder, and God said to send that soul back to me. The penalty for murder is death, for when one takes a life, you purge God curses on your community with you send that soul back to the Father for judgment, where the soul of the innocent victim stands in wait for the guilty soul to face judgment. However these cities of refuge are not set up for that purpose, but for the man that by accident has taken another life. Sure there will be a trial and hearing on earth as the law states, but this measure is taken so that the family of the slain victim, in the heat and passion of the loss of the loved one, doesn't kill the innocent person.

Numbers 35:9-34 gives us the description and purposes for these cities of refuge, and the Levitical cities, which we will be discussing in Joshua 21. This again is the actual setting up of these cities, in accordance with God's instruction to Moses, and being carried out by Joshua after the twelve tribes have received their homelands in the promise land.

Numbers 35:9-11 "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying," [9] "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, "When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan;" [10] "Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares." " [10] 

Then God gives us the purpose of these cities.

Numbers 35:12, 13 "And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment." [12] "And of these cities which ye shall give six cities shall ye have for refuge." [13]

Notice that these cities don't free you from stand before the courts, or congregation, but allow you the freedom to live and not be killed before that time of judgment comes. These cities are to be scattered from one end of the nation to the other, so it is possible for the "manslayer" to make it to one of these cities before the anger of the family of the victim , "the avenger", has the chance to kill him.

So with Chapter 19 over, that the land completely divided up, Joshua is now reminded by God to set up these cities immediately before trouble can start in the new nation.

Joshua 20:1 "The Lord also spake unto Joshua, saying,"

Joshua 20:2 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, `Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses:"

Joshua 20:3 "That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood."

Joshua 20:4 "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."

To be protected by the Levites within one of these cities, it can not be hidden, the person coming to a city of Refuge must declare his innocence at the gate before entering into the city and state the reasons why, before the protection is granted. He states he did take the life and the conditions under which the life was taken. That is how it is today when a life is taken accidentally, by an innocent person. The facts of evidence are presented and the elders or law enforcement officers grant protection which the case in being investigated.

Joshua 20:5 "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 beforetime."

Joshua 20:6 "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, unto the city from whence he fled.' "

When a man flees to one of these cities of refuge, which are six of the cities of the priests; the priests then bore the sins of the manslayer, until the time of judgment. What the high priest represented to the Levites; these Levites were to the nation, all the tribes of the children of Israel. Then on the day of Atonement; therefore, remember that all the sins of the nation came into the hands of the high priest, as he entered into that holy of Holies, and sacrifices were made for the nation. On the high priest's death the manslayer was freed from the Law. However as Paul points out in Romans 6:6, 7 "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that hence forth we should not serve sin." [6] "for he that is dead is free from sin." [7]

When Christ went to the cross, suffered and died for our sins, at His death Jesus paid the price for our sins, but it requires you to make the move. It requires you to, by faith, accept that forgiveness that God has offered to you, and we do that through repentance for those sins in Jesus' name. Then once you have repented in Jesus' name, which you are declaring that you are a believe, and that you believe that the death and resurrection of our Lord is sufficient to take away your sins; Father then blots those sins out for the books of heaven. So the only person that you need to forgive after you have repented is yourself. Sure guilt will remain, and Satan will use that guilt to try to mess over your life.

Our day of Atonement is the day that our Lord Jesus Christ came out of the tomb, victorious over the curse of death for the sin that hang over all mankind. No, we don't have to go into that little room once a year, or slay any animals for a temporary covering for sin. But a sin once repented is forgiven. Remember that this chapter is not dealing with people that are guilty of premeditative murder, of the taking of a life, but one that took a life "which killeth any person at unawares", by accident. So these are the Levitical cities where the priest's families live, that are set aside as cities of refuge to protect the innocent.

Joshua 20:7 "And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah."

Joshua 20:8 "And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramouth in Gilead out of the tribute of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh."

Joshua 20:9 "These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, That whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation."

 

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