JOSHUA CHAPTER 20-21, “Cities
Of Refuge / Cities For The Levites”
By
Jim Bomkamp
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. In our last study, we looked
at chapters 16-19 and the inheritance that was to go to the remaining eight
tribes of the children of
1.1.1. We saw that Caleb was such a
remarkable man in so many ways, and that he ought to be our standard or role
model to follow in how he went out and possessed his possession, that land that
was to be allotted to him.
1.1.1.1.1.
We saw that Caleb had been given an allotment of land by the Lord
because he had followed the Lord fully when the children of
1.1.1.1.2.
Caleb also remained steadfastly obedient in his service to the Lord
throughout those 38 years of wandering in the wilderness because he kept
focused upon the reward to be given to him of a plot of land in that land that
was flowing with milk and honey.
1.1.1.1.3.
Even though Caleb was 85 years old, the second oldest in all of Israel,
he desired for himself the very hardest land to conquer, the hill country
around Hebron in which the Anakim (giants) lived, and as soon as he had been
given his allotment of territory, he immediately got busy and began conquering
all of the enemies in his territory.
1.1.1.1.4.
We saw also that Caleb was the only one of all of the tribes who gained
an inheritance who actually conquered all of the peoples in his land.
1.1.2. We then looked at the land
to be allotted to the rest of the tribes of Israel and we saw that it was with
“attitudes of laziness and indifference” they went about receiving their
allotment as well as going to battle against the remaining inhabitants in the
lands that they are allotted.
1.1.2.1.
We saw that just as few of the tribes of Israel even came close to
conquering all of the enemies in their allotted territories, that likewise few
Christians really allow the Lord to do the work that He desires to do in their
life and that they also let the enemy have footholds in their life.
1.2. In our study today, we are
going to look at chapters 20 and 21, and we will see how that the allotment of
the cities of refuge in chapter 20 symbolizes for us as Christians the refuge
that we have available and can flee to in Christ, and that chapter 21 details
for us the 48 cities allotted to the Levites throughout the greater land of
Canaan as well as the land inhabited by the children of Israel east of the
Jordan.
1.2.1. We are going to see many
ways in which the cities of refuge symbolize the refuge that we have in Christ.
1.2.2. We are going to see how the
Levites symbolize those called to full-time ministry in the church.
2. VS 20:1-6 - “1 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua,
saying,2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘Designate the cities of refuge,
of which I spoke to you through Moses,3 that the manslayer who kills any person
unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall become
your refuge from the avenger of blood.4 ‘And he shall flee to one of these
cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and state his
case in the hearing of the elders of that city; and they shall take him into
the city to them and give him a place, so that he may dwell among them.5 ‘Now
if the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver the manslayer
into his hand, because he struck his neighbor without premeditation and did not
hate him beforehand.6 ‘And he shall dwell in that city until he stands before
the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is high priest in
those days. Then the manslayer shall return to his own city and to his own
house, to the city from which he fled.’”” - The
Lord tells Joshua to setup the cities of refuge which the Lord had commanded
Moses in the wilderness to set up when they entered the promised land
2.1.
In Exod. 21:12-14, the Lord told Moses as part of the law how
that cases of murder were to be handled, and that there was to be a place for a
person who had committed a murder to flee to, “12 “He who strikes a man
so that he dies shall surely be put to death.13 “But if he did not lie in wait
for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to
which he may flee.14 “If, however, a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor,
so as to kill him craftily, you are to take him even from My altar, that he may
die.”
2.2.
In Numbers 35:6-7, we read additionally that the Lord told Moses
as part of the law that there were to be six cities of refuge that were to be
setup in the land and that they were to be part of the 48 cities given to the
descendants of Levi, who were chosen to be the line of the priesthood, “6 “And
the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the six cities of
refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to; and in addition to
them you shall give forty-two cities.7 “All the cities which you shall give to
the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, together with their pasture lands.”
2.3.
In Numbers 35:11-12, we read about how that the purpose of the
cities of refuge was so that every person who had committed a crime of murder
would be able to have a fair trial, “11 then you shall select for
yourselves cities to be your cities of refuge, that the manslayer who has
killed any person unintentionally may flee there.12 ‘And the cities shall be to
you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer may not die until he
stands before the congregation for trial.”
2.4.
Numbers 35:13-14 tell us that the Lord commanded Moses that of the
six cities of refuge that were to be setup that three should be setup on each
side of the
2.5.
In Deut. 4:41-43 we see that the Lord actually even specified which
cities were to be cities of refuge on the east (wilderness) side of the
2.6.
In Deut. 19:3 we read that the Lord specified that on the Canaan
side of the Jordan River that the land was to be divided up equally such that
each of the three cities of refuge would be accessible and not far from any
of the children of Israel.
2.7.
In Deut. 19:9-10, we read about how that the cities of refuge were
to serve the purpose of keeping innocent blood from being shed in the land of
Israel, “9 if you carefully observe all this commandment, which I
command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in His ways
always—then you shall add three more cities for yourself, besides these
three.10 “So innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land which
the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, and bloodguiltiness be on you.”
2.7.1. I have a friend who many
years ago felt that the Lord was leading him to move his family to
2.8.
So, putting all of these Old Testament scriptures together, what we
come up with concerning these cities of refuge is this:
2.8.1. The cities of refuge were to
be established because if a person did some act that caused a person to be put
to death, or was accused of doing something that caused a person to die, he
could be put to death by a relative (called an ‘avenger of blood’) of the one
who died, if he was found by the ‘avenger of blood.’ The person who committed any act that
resulted in the death of another was called a ‘manslayer.’ However, in reality the ‘manslayer’ may not
be deserving of death for the death he was accused of bringing about may have
come about accidentally.
2.8.2. Therefore, the ‘manslayer’
who had committed the act that caused someone to die, or who was being accused
of committing some act that caused someone to die, he could flee to a nearby
city of refuge and be safe from harm there until the elders of that city of
refuge had had time to investigate the incident and determine if the act
committed was one deserving of death.
2.8.3. An act deserving of death
then is one that Lord tells us was a death caused by a pre-meditated murder. Deaths caused by accidental acts, which we
would call today ‘manslaugher,’ were not cause for a person to be put to death,
however the legal and civil consequences for acts such as this was that the
person had to remain in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest (if he left the city he
could be killed by the manslayer), after which time he would be exonerated of
the crime and be allowed to return to his own city and the manslayer would not
be able to harm him.
2.8.3.1. Moses gave an example of
‘manslaughter’ being where a man using an axe had the axe head fly off
accidentally and kill a man.
2.8.4. If a person truly had
committed a pre-meditated murder against someone else, then the person was to
be killed and
if necessary he was even to be dragged from the very altar of God where he was
seeking refuge in order to be put to death for the murder.
3. VS 20:7-9 - “7 So they set apart Kedesh in
Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali and Shechem in the hill country of
Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.8 And
beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on
the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad,
and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.9 These were the appointed
cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them,
that whoever kills any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by
the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation.” - Joshua tells us the names of the six cities
of refuge that were set up, three on the Canaan side of the Jordan River, and
three on the wilderness side of the river
3.1.
The cities of refuge on the Canaan side of the
3.2.
The cities of refuge on the wilderness side of the
3.3.
What we need to see about these cities of refuge is the many ways that
the Lord designed these to represent to us in a pictorial manner how that Jesus
(and the salvation He provides us) is our refuge from sin, death, hell, and the
grave:
3.3.1. The person who had injured
another was “being accused of a crime,” that of murdering another, and we
Christians have the Devil as our accuser who makes accusations before the Lord
regarding us, just as he did with Job when he appeared before the Lord in the
first chapter of Job and told the Lord that Job was only serving the Lord
because he was being blessed by the Lord.
3.3.2. The penalty for the crime
that the man who had injured another was being pursued for by the “man slayer”
was death, and we read in Romans 6:23 that for all of us as people that the
wages of sin is death, “23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift
of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
3.3.2.1. Because we have sinned, each
of us from birth has died spiritually (our spirit is separated from the Lord),
each of us will die physically, and each of us will die eternally (be separated
from God for all of eternity in a place called hell in the New Testament).
3.3.2.2. These realities of death
were all overcome by Jesus upon the cross of
3.3.3. To be safe in that place of
refuge which symbolizes the refuge the person had to leave his home and family
and flee to the city of refuge where he must remain, and this symbolizes that
in the salvation that Jesus procured for mankind on the cross, a person has to
also be willing leave the influence of his family and friends, and even his own
life, and come to Jesus and follow Him.
We see this taught by Jesus in a few places in the gospels, including:
3.3.3.1. Matt. 16:24-25, “24 Then
Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.25 “For whoever wishes to save
his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.”
3.3.3.2. Luke 9:57-62, “57 And as
they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You
wherever You go.”58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds
of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”59 And
He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Permit me first to go and bury
my father.”60 But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but
as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the
3.3.4. The person who was being
accused of committing this murder had to “flee” immediately to the place of
refuge otherwise if he procrastinated and waited too long to flee, he would be
caught by the manslayer and killed, and in the same way the scriptures tell us
to be wise and thus be saved today while we still have the opportunity to be
saved, for we will not always have opportunity:
3.3.4.1. We need to take full
advantage of what is being offered to us and be saved today for, “today is the
day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).
3.3.4.2. You never know when you may
pass away unexpectedly or the Lord would return and you would be left behind,
for James 4:14 says, ‘14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like
tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then
vanishes away.”
3.3.4.2.1.
After attending the funerals of several friends who did not expect to
die unexpectedly, I appreciate the fact that none of us can take it for granted
that we will even be alive tomorrow.
3.3.5. In fleeing to the city of
refuge, it was the person who had acted unintentionally in committing this act
that resulted in the death of a person who would be given refuge, a
pre-meditated act was punishable by death, and in the same way it is the person
who has inadvertently sinned as a result of the weakness of the flesh, not one is hardened in sin
and unrepentant, that will be given salvation in coming to refuge in Christ
by saving faith in Him.
3.3.5.1. Repentance was always a
necessary ingredient in a person come to salvation in Christ as we see in
scriptures all through the New Testament, such as Peter’s preaching in Acts
3:19, “19 “Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in
order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”
3.3.5.2. Repentance means that we are
going in one direction and that we turn around and go 180° in the opposite
direction. We were living for ourselves
and doing the things that pleased ourselves, and we turn around and go in the
direction of pleasing the Lord and doing the things that please the Lord.
3.3.6. The person who had fled to a
city of refuge was only safe from harm as he long as he remained within the
walls of the city, and in the same way we Christians can only have assurance of
our salvation through Christ as we are abiding in Him.
3.3.6.1. In John 15:1-6, Jesus
talked about Himself as being the vine, with us as His branches, and how that we
have to abide in Him or otherwise we will be cast into the fire and burned up,
“1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.2 “Every branch
in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears
fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.3 “You are already clean
because of the word which I have spoken to you.4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so
neither can you, unless you abide in Me.5 “I am the vine, you are the branches;
he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you
can do nothing.6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a
branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and
they are burned.”
3.3.6.2. We Christians only have
assurance of our salvation only as we are walking in obedience to the Lord and
doing the things that please Him in our life.
3.3.7. We read in Deut. 19:3 that
the children of Israel were to build and maintain good roads of access to each
of these six cities of refuge and have the way to them clearly marked out for
the traveler, and in the same way the gospel message is to be preached by the
church so that the way to salvation is clearly designated for any might choose
to flee to Christ for salvation.
3.3.7.1. In Rom. 10:13-15, we read
about how that someone has to go and preach the gospel in order for people to
come to salvation through the gospel, “13 for “Whoever will call upon the
name of the Lord will be saved.”14 How then shall they call upon Him in whom
they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not
heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?15 And how shall they preach
unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those
who bring glad tidings of good things!””
3.4. Now, not only were the
cities of refuge symbolic of Christ, the high priest himself was also symbolic
of Christ. When the high priest had
died, then all of those who were taking refuge in all of the cities of refuge
were exonerated from committing any acts of manslaughter and thus free to go
home safely, being free from fear of attack or reprisal from the manslayer.
3.4.1. In the same way, because of
the death of Jesus, our high priest, we Christians no longer need to fear the
death which comes about because of sin, for He died in our place.
3.4.1.1. Rom. 5:12-17, “12 Therefore,
just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and
so death spread to all men, because all sinned—13 for until the Law sin was in
the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law.14 Nevertheless death
reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the
likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.15 But
the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the
one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of
the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.16 And the gift is not like that
which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose
from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the
free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.17 For if
by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those
who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign
in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”
3.4.1.2. ”Heb. 2:14-15, “14 Since
then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of
the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of
death, that is, the devil;15 and might deliver those who through fear of death
were subject to slavery all their lives.”
3.4.1.3. Rom. 6:23, “23 For the
wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord.”
3.4.1.4. Col. 2:13-14, “13 And
when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our
transgressions,14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of
decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the
way, having nailed it to the cross.”
3.4.1.5. 1 John 2:1-2, “1 My
little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if
anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;2
and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but
also for those of the whole world.”
3.5. Arthur Pink has written
about how if the definition of each of the names of the 6 cities of refuge are
put together that they reveal the work of Jesus Christ in providing refuge to
us, His people, “Schechem means “shoulder,” which is the place of strength
(Isaiah 9:7) and of safety (Luke 15:5)—under the government of Christ the
believer finds security.
3.6. No type in the scripture has
every detail concerning it fit in with its function as a type and thus we find
that there are some dissimilarities between the cities of refuge and the refuge
that we as God’s people find in Jesus Christ, such as:
3.6.1. There is no investigation of
our sins when we come to Christ as the elders of the city of refuge would
investigate the supposed crime committed by one who fled there. We are all as people guilty before God of
breaking His law, and thus are deserving of death, and thus there is no need
for an investigation.
3.6.2. We who have fled for refuge
in Jesus do not have to go to trial to defend our own innocence in the sins that
we have committed as the one who fled to the city of refuge would have to
appear before the elders for trial after an investigation had been made of
their act that had supposedly harmed another.
As was mentioned previously, our innocence is not in question, for we
are all guilty before God and deserving of His just wrath.
4. VS 21:1-45 - “1 Then the heads of households
of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the
heads of households of the tribes of the sons of Israel.2 And they spoke to
them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “The Lord commanded through Moses
to give us cities to live in, with their pasture lands for our cattle.”3 So the
sons of
4.1. You want to note here in
this description of all of the cities allocated for the Levites that 6 of these
cities were designated to be cities of refuge
4.2. We read in Numbers 26:62
that there were 23,000 Levites before the children of
4.3. The Levites were to be
scattered equally all throughout the land of Canaan so that they could perform
the very important function described in the story in 2 Chron. 17:7-9 of
interpreting the law to God’s people and teaching them of God’s ways, “7 Then in the third year of
his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and
Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah;8 and with them the Levites, Shemaiah,
Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and
Tobadonijah, the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests.9
And they taught in Judah, having the book of the law of the Lord with them; and
they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.”
4.4. The Levites who have the
Lord as their inheritance and who are dedicated to the service of the Lord for
the people form a type of those in the church age who are committed to the
ministry full time. As such, just as the
Levites were to be supported by the offerings that came into the tabernacle or
temple, so the Christian pastor or minister is to be supported by the
ministry.
4.4.1. Paul wrote extensively in 1
Cor. 9:7-14 about how that, though he and Barnabas chose not to take advantage of this, that
the one who labored fulltime as a pastor or minister was to be supported by
those whom they ministered to, “7 Who at any time serves as a soldier at his
own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who
tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock?8 I am not
speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does not the Law
also say these things?9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall
not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.”
God is not concerned about oxen, is He?10 Or is He speaking
altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman
ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the
crops.11 If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we should reap
material things from you?12 If others share the right over you, do we not more?
Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things, that we may
cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ.13 Do you not know that those who
perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend
regularly to the altar have their share with the altar?14 So also the Lord
directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel.”
4.4.2. It is our responsibility as
Christians then to financially support those who labor fulltime for our
spiritual benefit as pastors.
5. VS 21:43-45 – “43 So
the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers,
and they possessed it and lived in it.44 And the Lord gave them rest on every
side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all
their enemies stood before them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their
hand.45 Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of
Israel failed; all came to pass.” - Joshua
summarizes that he had now described how all of the land was allotted to each
of the tribes of
5.1. Perhaps one of the most
important verses in the entire book of Joshua is verse 45 here where Joshua
tells us that ‘not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the
house of Israel failed; all came to
pass.’
5.1.1. This verse emphasizes the
faithfulness of the Lord, for every promise that had ever been made to the
children of
5.1.2. Verse 44 tells us that
whenever the children of Israel by faith stepped out and claimed the promises
of God which had been made to them and went to attack a city that not one of
their enemies in the land of Canaan, and beyond, had been able to stand against
them.
5.1.3. In 1 Kings 8:56-57, we read
that after the temple had been built under Solomon that in Solomon’s prayer
of dedication for the temple that he said much this same thing about how
every word God had promised to them concerning the building of the temple had
also come true, “56 “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His
people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of
all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant.57 “May the
Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or
forsake us.”
5.1.3.1.
Note here in verse 57 that these very words which we saw in Joshua 1:5,
“5 “No
man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have
been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you,” are also repeated by
Solomon in his prayer. These words are
also repeated to us in the New Testament in Hebrews 13:5, “5 Let your character be free
from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has
said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.””
6. CONCLUSION:
6.1. Have you come to the city of
refuge that you have in Jesus Christ?
6.2. Have you surrendered your
life to Christ, being willing to leave the influence of family and friends, to
come to Christ now and follow and serve Him in His plans for your life?
6.2.1. This means that you have
died to self, taken up your cross, and now follow Jesus…
6.2.2. Have you done this?
6.3. Are you abiding in your city
of refuge that you have in Jesus Christ, you haven’t just come to visit Him
like a tourist on vacation, but have come to live and abide in Him and His
plans for you?
6.4. If you have not come to
Jesus Christ in this way, I encourage you this day to surrender your life and
will to Jesus, to do His will, believe that Jesus died on the cross for your
sins, and by faith ask Him to come into your heart and life and give you the
eternal life that He has for you…
6.5. If you have asked Jesus
Christ to come into your life today as a result of reading this message, please
contact us via email as we would love to hear about this and rejoice with
you. Click here to email us--> mailto:webservant-greenbay@calvarychapel.com?subject=Asked
Jesus into my life from Joshua 20-21 sermon notes