Good Thursday to you my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
Have you ever found yourself having said or done something that caused you to want to hide in shame or even fear of retaliation? God understands those emotions and in His great love for His people, as God was designing a society that honors Him in all ways, God even established a place of refuge for those who find themselves wanting to hide, did you know that? Come with me and let’s take a closer look.
Joshua 20 tells us about six ‘cities of refuge’, each selected by God in strategic locations throughout the newly allocated land of Israel. Those ‘cities of refuge’ were: Kedesh up north in the Galilee hill country; Shechem in the middle of Israel; and Hebron in the south. You remember “Hebron” was the city Caleb inherited as we saw the other day in Joshua 14:13. Then God, in His kindness, remembering that a significant number of Israelites wanted to live on the EAST side of the Jordan river, selected three towns over there: Bezer in the south near the Dead Sea; Ramoth in Gilead in about the middle of all those on the East side; and Golan up north near what we today know as the “Golan Heights”. (Joshua 20:7,8)
But what was God’s purpose for these “cities of refuge” in Israeli society? Oh, it’s very special, my friends: “…so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood…They are to state their case before the elders of the city. The elders are to admit the fugitive into their city and provide a place to live among them… until they have stood trial before the assembly…” (Joshua 20:1-6) Now isn’t that amazing!?
Have you heard the judicial statement: ‘assumed innocent until proven guilty’? Do you see this as a picture of God’s Grace & Mercy for us? Oh, there will be accountability and justice, but in the meantime, there is protection until truth can be discerned, and the offender given the opportunity to repent or face judgement.
May I ask, has your family been a ‘family of refuge’ or a family of ‘judgment & rebuke’? Are you a ‘person of refuge’? Are you a person willing to listen and provide comfort to someone terrified until truth and accountability can occur? Was Jesus a ‘person of refuge’?
And finally, in Joshua 21, we come to the one tribe of Israel who was NOT given a large section of land for their families to call their homeland. Do you remember who they are? The tribe of LEVI. This was the tribe of Moses and Aaron. The Levites were the tribe God assigned responsibility to care for the Tabernacle, including dismantling, transporting and reassembling this great “Tent of Meeting” during their 40 years of traveling the desert! (Numbers 3&4) The Levites were given, by God, the most privileged places for their families to pitch their tents all around the ‘Tent of Meeting’ during their desert journey. (Numbers 1:47-53)
The Levites were NOT given a specific section of land as a tribal inheritance but rather were scattered by God throughout all the other tribes, through the entire land of Israel. WHY? So that they could both serve and lead the entire nation of Israel spiritually, by living among them! Pause… what a great concept!? People whose hearts are God focused, living lives with worship and service as their priority, being a great blessing of God to everyone their lives touch...Levites! Does that sound like YOU and Me, or at least how we SHOULD be? Is that your life purpose and is that why you live where you now live?
So, Joshua 21 is a remarkable chapter of God giving specific guidance WHERE His Levites should live, all around the entire nation of Israel! As you read through it, I urge you to consider a map of Israel in that time and see how God wonderfully and strategically scattered His precious Levites living among His huge nation of Israelites.
It is especially interesting when you then add the six “Cities of Refuge” and consider God’s attention to AVAILABILITY of both places of legal refuge and spiritual leadership.
As Joshua completed the complex and sophisticated process of allotment of all the Land of God’s Promise to the Twelve Tribes of Israel; with the “Tent of Meeting” of God’s Presence, located at Shiloh, almost exactly in the middle of the land; AND the six ‘cities of refuge’; AND the distribution of the Levites throughout the land, Joshua then wrote a remarkable summary statement for the “Grand Narrative” historical record: “So the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies withstood them…Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to Israel failed; everyone was fulfilled.” (Joshua 21:43-45)
Now I urge us to pause right here and reflect on all God had accomplished from Exodus 3 when God called Moses at the burning bush, all the way to their year at Mt Sinai; and through 40 years wandering the desert; and the next generation crossing the Jordan river into the Land of God’s Promise; and now several years later, the accomplishment of the land distribution so all the Israelites had a place to call home, in the Land of God’s Promise! And all of this was in fulfillment of promises God had made to Abraham about 500 years before!! (Genesis 15)
Now let’s personalize this my friends. Reflect back on your family history as you know it and your life story.
Can you see how God has been working for HIS great glory and for your growth and good in your family story?
Can you see when you or your family have resisted God and when you have obediently followed God’s leading?
Can you see what God’s purposes are, right now, with your life in His “Grand Narrative” and does that give you excitement as you look ahead into the future for your family, even those yet to be born?!
Oh my, such great things to talk with God about today!
Remember additional notes and small group discussion questions are found at the Grand Narrative link just below and it’s always great to conclude our time together in worship of our great God. Can you sing that it is your heart’s desire to honor God with all your life? Do you see that was God’s desire in how He distributed the land and the people of Israel? So, let’s worship together, and I’ll meet you here again tomorrow…!
Today’s Scripture: Joshua 20 & 21.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Joshua 21
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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