“Cities of Refuge”-- Class Notes
Larry R Evans
Reflective Introduction
Does it strike you as strange, as it does me, that after wandering in the wilderness for forty years the Israelites now need cities of refuge? What’s going on here? In Numbers 32 we are given a history lesson—an important one. Here we are reminded at the outset that it was the Lord who opened the way for their escape from Egypt (vss.3,4). Then the circuitous route through the desert leading to the very edge of the Promised Land is outlined. Such memories surely must have brought some pain as their rebellious ways were uncovered once again. But with the pain also came great anticipation as they looked across the Jordan to their new home. Within a very short time God was going to give His wandering people something they had not experienced since before their captivity in Egypt—their independence. As good as that is, it isn’t doesn’t come without inherent dangers. Just ask Adam, Eve, Cain and Able how they handled their freedom and independence. Yet independence is so important to God that He insists on chancing it again. The lessons of the past must not be forgotten and recounting them is important as the people reach a land of promise and opportunity. However, the Lord isn’t oblivious to the nature of sin. Sinners need a refuge in a sinful world, even when surrounded by God’s own chosen people. A vengeful spirit can suddenly pour out wrath upon the guilty without asking questions and without the kind of listening that seeks understanding. One quality of God’s character emerges in setting up cities of refuge – the principle of fairness regardless of one’s status in society. Cities of refuge provided this. This week’s lesson is all about finding hope when found in a hopeless situation. God has provided a way of escape that true justice might be fairly administered but it doesn’t stop there. Jesus is our Refuge but that is where the “fairness” ceases. Isaiah explains,
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed. (Isa 53:4-5 NIV)
Fairness isn’t God bearing our infirmities yet He willingly pays the price. A penalty is demanded for sin--that is not an option. The option came when deciding how it was to be paid and by whom. Independence comes with a terrible risk. True independence can only be lived through a dependence upon God. That lesson took forty years of wandering in the desert to learn and perhaps it was never fully learned. I wonder if I have really learned that lesson. Have you?
Reflective Quiz
1. The wanderings of the Israelites in the desert had no purpose except to wait for a new generation to appear. [Num. 33:2; Deut. 6:4-12; Jer. 29:11-14] False
Numbers 33:2 is thought provoking!
Num 33:1-2
33:1 Here are the stages in the journey of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt by divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 At the LORD's command Moses recorded the stages in their journey. (NIV) Why would God have this recorded? Because at every stage God was with them. They were never alone—good days and bad days He was there.
It has been said that it is best not to make long-range decisions when in the midst of a crisis because so often one’s perspective is tainted by immediate circumstances. Jeremiah 29:10,11 was given at such a crisis point to a people nearly blinded by their hardships.
Jer 29:10-11
10 This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV)
Generations earlier things didn’t look too promising either. After 5 years, 20 years, 30 years there must have been questions like, “Why?”, “How much longer?” Was there any purpose in their forty-year wanderings in a desert? Was God abandoning the current generation and simply waiting until the present one died? There seems to be a lesson that God’s people have a very hard time remembering. It came to the forefront in the story of “Prodigal Son and the Elder Brother”. Both son’s forgot the most important thing that even their circumstances should not have let them forget and that is this: The greatest gift of all is being with the Father. Both son’s thought more of rewards – the younger of the far country and the elder of the inheritance – but both were blinded by circumstances to the point where they overlooked the greatest blessing of all – to have the assurance of being in the presence of the Father. So as Moses recorded the stages of the wanderings in the desert one factor should have been recalled and that was they were never alone. God was with them – the very name depicting the Son of God generations later. It was true then and it is true now.
Sin is an intruder. Some make friends of sin but sin is still an intruder. How can we ignore an intruder especially when it seeks to disrupt and destroy relationships? The Psalmist reminds us that “the earth is the Lord’s” (Ps. 24:1; see also Ex. 9:29, Deut. 10:14). It may seem harsh to rid the land of the present occupants but we must remember that they were on borrowed land. God was retaking it and giving it to a people under His command.
Sin compromises one’s potential whether it be an individual or a nation. In humility and without a hint of arrogance sin must be addressed.
“Aaron failing to stand up boldly for the right, his yielding to the strength of numbers, placed him with the majority. Aaron represents the cases of a large number composing our churches at the present day. They pass over sins existing in the church which grieve the spirit of God. They are lax where order and principle are involved, because it is not pleasant to reprove and correct wrongs. They are themselves carried along with the current, and become responsible for a fearful neglect of faithfulness. {EGW --Signs of the Times, May 27, 1880 par. 4}
Moses represents a class who will call sin by its right name; a class that will give no place to sin and wrong, but will purge it from among them. Our abhorrence of sin cannot be too strong, if we are controlled by no personal, selfish feelings, if we labor disinterestedly for the salvation of souls, pleading in behalf of the erring, and those blinded by their own transgressions.” { EGW --Signs of the Times,, May 27, 1880 par. 5}
3. The Levites were to live apart from the other tribes because of their priestly role. [Num.35:1-8; Eph. 2:19-22] False
The Levites were given cities scattered throughout the land. They were to live among the people as a constant witness and a reminder to the high calling God has for people.”They were no to be some exclusive, elite, arrogant class that lived apart from the community in which they served. They were to serve, not to be served.” (SS Quarterly, Dec. 21, 2009) While they had a specific role they were not elevated above those whom they served—a lesson easily forgotten in our society today.
4. Having cities of refuge shows that God forgives murderers. [Num. 35:6, 9-12] True and False
At this time in ancient Israel there was no operating system of justice. The prevailing system was simply the pay-back system when emotional vengeance often overrode justice. The purpose of these cities wasn’t to condone injustices but rather to provide a setting by which a careful investigation of the circumstances involved was done. Num. 35:12 makes it clear that fleeing to the cities of refuge did not automatically guarantee permanent asylum.
12 They will be places of refuge from the avenger, so that a person accused of murder may not die before he stands trial before the assembly. (Num. 35:12, NIV)
5. The safety found in the cities of refuge is similar to the security all of us can find in Jesus. [2 Sam. 22:3; Jn 8:10,11; Heb. 6:18-20] True
Note these reassuring Bible passages:
2 Sam 22:3-4
3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation.
He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior-
from violent men you save me.
4 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies. (NIV)
As you contemplate the fairness depicted with the cities of refuge do you see any parallel with the way Jesus treated “the woman caught in adultery”?
John 8:3-11
3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11 "No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." (NIV)
The high priestly role of Jesus is waiting for all weighted-down with the guilt of sin.
Heb 6:18-20
18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. (NIV)
There is, however, an important role for the Church to play as a city of refuge.
“During ages of spiritual darkness, the church of God has been as a city set on a hill. From age to age, through successive generations, the pure doctrines of heaven have been unfolding within its borders. . . . It is the theater of His grace, in which He delights to reveal His power to transform hearts. The church is God’s fortress, His city of refuge, which He holds in a revolted world. Any betrayal of the church is treachery to Him who has bought mankind with the blood of His only-begotten Son. From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth. In every age the Lord has had His watchmen, who have borne a faithful testimony to the generation in which they lived. These sentinels gave the message of warning; and when they were called to lay off their armor, others took up the work. God brought these witnesses into covenant relation with Himself, uniting the church on earth with the church in heaven. He has sent forth His angels to minister to His church, and the gates of hell have not been able to prevail against His people.” {EGW in The Faith I Live By, 281}
Reflective Conclusion
We conclude this quarter with God’s people on the edge of the Promised Land. Today we are there too. Along with Abraham and God’s people spanning generations we look forward to “the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Heb. 11:10). With great anticipation of realizing the fulfilled promises of God, we are left with the sobering question, “Have we learned the necessary lessons from our wanderings in the wilderness?” “Have we learned the lesson of dependence upon God when we can’t see beyond the clouds of uncertainty?” “Do we know Jesus?”
This lesson ends with the cities of refuge. What a perfect place to end the quarter especially when we realize that Jesus is our refuge. It is also an appropriate place for me to hand off the teaching responsibilities for the next several months to someone else. This has not been an easy decision but other responsibilities need to be given the time they need. Check the blog from time to time. It is my plan to update some of the information there. We wish you God’s blessings until we meet again.
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