Now before we start, let us pray. 

“Our gracious Lord and our Father in heaven, as the hymn writer says: “He speaks, and listening to His voice, new life the dead receive.” This morning, we ask that You will speak to us so that we may live. Call sinners unto Yourself, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.” 

As of yesterday, I just checked the UN’s website. Nearly three million Ukrainians have already fled the country. They are considered refugees. Three million is a big number actually, just a little short of three million as of yesterday. Refugees, what does it even mean to be a refugee? It’s defined as somebody who’s seeking safety or shelter or protection from pursuit, from danger or difficulty. Why would these people flee their own home? It’s because there’s a war going on. When your own home is not even safe for you to live in, you run away from it hoping to go somewhere else, anywhere that you think will provide you with safety. 

Refuge, that is what we are looking at today. Refuge. A place of refuge where you can run to and feel safe, feel protected. Now as we come to Joshua chapter 20, we are going to look at these cities. Certain special cities are designated called cities of refuge (or you could say cities of safety). What are these cities all about? That is what we want to learn today. I wouldn’t dare to assume that we are familiar with this. Even I myself as I studied this, I wasn’t really familiar with this. And so let us discover what are these cities all about. Let us use three headings to guide ourselves as we study this passage. First, let us consider the provision of safety, and then the prerequisite of safety. Finally, the price of safety. 

Now let’s start with the first verse: “Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses””. There is an instruction already given to Moses. He says to the Israelites when you enter the Land, the Promised Land, this is what you’re supposed to do. Appoint certain cities and call them cities of safety. And so, what are these cities for? Now that they are in the Land, they are ready to obey this instruction to out of so many, forty over, maybe fifty other cities, select some of them only to call cities of refuge. But what is the whole point of this? 

Verse 3: “that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there.” And so let us just consider this first. What is this city even for, or who is this city even for? It is for a manslayer. A manslayer who strikes another person. NKJV says he kills another person. Why would they use the word ‘manslayer’ here? Why not just say murderer or killer? There is a small difference, and of course I had a lot of help. This church thankfully full of lawyers, I can get free advice from some of them. And so, they explained to me that there is a category called murder, but then there is also manslaughter. And they are not exactly the same. 

And of course, this is not a human invention. We are so clever to design certain categories of killing. We actually find this in the Bible as early on as Exodus 20 where the Law is given to us. The sixth commandment says: “Thou shalt not murder”. And if you were to quickly look at Exodus chapter 21 in the explanation, we also see a different category. In explaining the law “thou shalt not murder”, Exodus 21:12 says this: “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.” This is the sixth commandment. It is about protecting life. It is about the sacredness of life. How sacred is life? 

Surely, we live in a world today that have already lost their direction. They treat life so lightly. You hear of how people are arguing that it’s okay to take life in various debates and arguments. But not so in the Bible. Life is sacred because only God can give life. God has the right to take life, not us. And so, if we do take life, we die. It is so serious, a life for a life. You take a life; you’ll lose your life. That is the law. It is very serious if you commit murder. 

But verse 13 says this: “But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee.” And so, we see a provision of safety over here. There seems to be a second category of killing. On one hand we have murder and we know that the Law, the sixth commandment is not just about the outward action of I kill someone. It starts with the heart. It starts with us not loving people, being angry towards someone, holding a grudge, and that anger boils in my heart. And after some time, you get more and more hatred for him. And finally, ending with murder. 

But that is not the case for manslaughter. As we read through the passage just now the various words describing manslaughter. Without intent, unknowingly, or the NKJV says accidentally or unintentionally. So, there is a difference. There is a distinction. Murder is not the same as manslaughter. Now we do not have to crack our heads over the examples of manslaughter. Maybe you are thinking, what kind of examples do we have about manslaughter. But even in the other passages, they give us examples. 

And so, in the other passages regarding the cities of refuge, in example Deuteronomy chapter 19, we are given some examples over there. So, suppose two friends go into the woods and they want to chop wood. So, you carry an axe and then you chop the wood. You swing, you chop. You swing, oh where’s my axe? Hit my friend, fly away already. I still left the handle only. I think, guess you can call it an axe-cident. And so, accidentally. It’s not in your heart. It’s not like you were angry with your friend and then… No, it was an accident. It flew away. 

Or in Numbers 35. Numbers 35, you pushed someone or you were throwing rocks. You’re throwing stones and you’re just throwing it randomly everywhere and it hit someone so that they die. So, you see a difference over here, manslaughter. It’s impossible for you to say that oh, because I hated that guy that’s why I threw stone and it just so happens hit him. No. Now even in today we have plenty of examples. We heard a few years ago, not too sure if you’ll remember. There was a freak accident of a crane dropping down, hitting a vehicle, and the driver died on the spot. Manslaughter. 

Or as some of our construction friends would tell us plenty of stories. I think my good friend, Chze Hsing, he tells me stories. He’s in charge of the MRT. And one day, the whole cement block just fell down. And of course, the news report always reports what? Oh, four Bangladeshi workers killed? No, four Bangladeshi workers missing, cannot find them already. And so, they like to cover it up. But then these are all cases, accidents. Of course, there’s negligence. Of course, there is carelessness. Somebody should pay for the crime, but this is not exactly the same as murder. You’ll find the words being described here. He did not hate him, he did it unknowingly. 

And so here we find in our very first heading a provision of safety. God is the One who made this provision. It wasn’t our cleverness that came up with a new category. God provided these cities. And so back to our text in Joshua 20, “That the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood.” Of course, there are consequences. You may say it’s an accident, but surely the loved ones of the person who died will be coming after you. Surely, they want your life. They are angry they are in hot pursuit of you, and you are in danger. 

And so, the one who has committed manslaughter, though it was an accident, he is in trouble. He is about to lose his own life. The avenger is coming for revenge. And so, there is a provision here. Isn’t this good news for him? When this instruction is given to them, the Israelites, what would they be thinking? Perhaps some of them were feeling a bit of relief because although they don’t plan to murder somebody one day, they are quite loving people, quite peaceful people, who knows accidents can happen? I might be in an accident one day. I may accidentally kill a person one day. And so, it is good news here that there is a provision being made. If I do accidentally kill someone, I don’t have to lose my life. I can flee to a place of safety so that I may live. 

And so, there is a provision here, a provision of safety for this manslayer. Now let us pause for a little while here. Consider this provision. It is a gracious provision. God was not obliged to have this set up for them. And can we all not see a picture over here? Can we not see that this manslayer is a picture of us? All of us, what’s the Bible say of us? We all have sinned. There is none righteous. And even in the Garden of Eden when man sinned, God say you shall surely die. That is the punishment for sin. And just like this manslayer, we are all in danger of the punishment. We are all law breakers. We have transgressed the law of God, and the only punishment that fits is death. 

And so, like this manslayer, we are in danger. This is definitely not something that we like to hear for sure. We know of plenty of people. And not just people out there. Even in the church, people don’t like to talk about this. Why you talk about unpleasant things, every time telling people about sin, telling people they are in danger? Don’t scare people. Tell them something nicer. And that is why we hear plenty of places, even churches choosing not to touch on these things. Don’t talk about unpleasant things. Tell people other stuff. Choose some topic, nicer topic. 

Don’t be surprised. Even in the Bible it was the same people. People don’t like talking about this. In the days of prophet Jeremiah, the crying prophet, what did he find? People living in sin, people in danger, and the false prophets are out there preaching what? Peace, peace. Everything is fine, all is well. Peace, peace. They preach peace, peace when there is no peace. Let us not be surprised to find this world fool. Not just people but even in the church, people are unwilling to talk about this. But let us be clear about one thing. It is not unloving for us to tell people that they are in danger. In fact, it is the only loving thing to do. 

When I tell you you are in danger; I can tell you the good news over here that there is a provision of safety for you. How tragic it is when people run away from the only One who can provide them safety! God has provided safety, but people are running away from God, away from safety. Now suppose we preach this message to people, and maybe they believe you. Maybe they agree. Oh yes, I agree I am in danger. I believe you. Yes, I’m a sinner. What next? What must I do? 

That is indeed, a very important question, one of the most important questions you may ask. What must I do to be saved? But then you point them to the next part of safety. From the provision of safety, let us consider the prerequisite of safety. Is there anything that is required of you? Are there any conditions to enter these cities of refuge? Let us consider verse 4: “He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city.” Now just underline or highlight the verbs being used here. I find three verbs there- flee, stand, and explain (or in the New King James ‘declare’). That is what you need to do. 

Manslayer, you are in danger. So, run. Quickly, there is urgency here. Flee, no time to wait. No time to go back to your family and tell them oh, this happened and that happened. No, flee. Stand. Stand at the gate there. Don’t bang on the gate and declare there and demand that I want to enter. No, you have done something wrong. You now have to fulfil the conditions set by them. And so, you stand there, you wait, and you declare. You explain what you’ve done. Don’t hide what you’ve done or what you did. Confess, tell them exactly what happened. Declare it to them. This is what you need to do. Urgency, honesty, confess to them. These are the conditions. This is what you must do. 

But sadly again, when people hear of these things, they don’t exactly respond the right way. When you say that these are the conditions, this is the way you can be admitted into the city, they don’t like it. Various responses we can expect. Let me introduce to you three characters I made up, characters to represent some of the responses we might find. First character is Mr. Wait First. I call him Mr. Wait First. He’s not urgent. He believes you. Yes, I agree. Yes, I’m in danger one day when I die. and so, I will do something about it, not now. Let me wait first. 

Mr. Wait First will die because when the manslayer dilly dally over here and slowly takes his time, the avenger of blood is coming for him. He has no time to wait. How can he be saying, wait first? It is a lie that Satan loves to feed us when he tells us that we can wait first. Satan is laughing every time a person says oh, I love the gospel. I believe. I’ll wait first, and then put it on hold. There will be a time in my life where I will do something about the gospel. For now, wait first. Wait first. 

Now apart from Mr. Wait First there’s also a second person called Mr. Not Me. Mr. Not Me will hear you tell them about this bad news, and Mr. Not Me will agree with you. Yes, people are in danger. They are sinners. They have broken the laws of God; they deserve to die. In my office got many. Many people like to lie in my office. Yes, I know those sinners. My neighbourhood, plenty of them, always annoy me. I know there are plenty of sinners all around, but not me. Don’t tell me I’m a sinner. What do you mean declare? I got nothing to declare. 

Mr. Not Me is proud. And being proud, he says that he has no sin. But remember when you say you have no sin, you are a liar. That is not true. And so, there is Mr. Wait First who is not urgent at all. There is Mr. Not Me who’s a bit too proud to admit and declare what he has done and explain his case. He doesn’t want to explain his case. They will not enter the city of safety. 

But lastly, there could be Mr. How Dare You. Who is Mr. How Dare You? Sounds like a Chinese name, How Dare You. Mr. How Dare You is angry when you tell him. When you tell him the solution, he may agree with you. In fact, he knows. He knows of this condition. He knows he is in danger. He knows he needs a solution. When you tell him the solution, he’s angry with you. 

Let me tell you a story from the Bible of a man, a man who became furious. Now this man, he was a commander of an army. He was a powerful man. He was a victorious man. Because of his leadership, they won many wars. They had many victories. This man was a mighty man of valour. You could say that this man, everything in his life was perfect. All is well. Everything seems to be going well for this man. And yet, the Bible says he was a leper. This man’s name was Naaman. In Second Kings chapter 5, you can read about him. Everything in his life was great. Everything in his life was perfect. Just one tiny problem, he was a leper. 

But we know this is not a small problem at all. Leprosy was a deadly disease. It could mean the end of his life. Leprosy was a disease for which there was no cure. And so, this man whose life was perfect has just one tiny problem. He was a leper. If only he could solve this problem in his life. Prophet Elisha gave him the solution. Naaman, go to the river Jordan and dip yourself there seven times. And the NKJV says Naaman became furious. Don’t you know who I am? 

My status is so high. I’m the commander of the army. People listen to me and obey me. Whatever I ask them to do they will do. I’m a mighty man. How dare you ask me to do something like this! And by the way, don’t you know there are many rivers nearby? Why must I go all the way to the Jordan? 

You see, when we preach the gospel, we are telling them a way, God’s way. But people may not like God’s way. People want to approach God on their own conditions, on their own terms. And they all cannot enter the city of safety. And so, we see the prerequisite of safety. You can run, quickly free, but you must obey their conditions. You stand, you wait for them, and you declare your case. The elders will listen to you, and if your case is correct, they will let you in. 

And so back to Joshua 20: “He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them.” If we want safety, this is what we must do. Verse 5: “And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbour unknowingly, and did not hate him in the past.” 

So, we see there is a difference here, a manslayer. And when he runs, when he goes to the cities of safety, and he declares his case, he will be admitted into the city and they will protect him. The people of the city- the elders, the congregation, the high priest, they are there to protect him, guarantee his safety. Let us not be proud people. Let us not say that God’s way is a bit too silly and too simple. We want to approach God on our own way. No, let us follow exactly what is being commanded because it’s only when he follows that he will be admitted into those cities. The provision of safety, the prerequisite of safety. 

Finally, what is the price of safety? Verse 6: “And he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgement, until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.” Now in verse 6 what we find here, verse 6 highlights the severity of your wrongdoing, the severity of taking a life. It is not something small. Don’t run to the city and then expect them to just admit you in so easily. Don’t run to the city and think that oh, I spent a few days there, I’m safe already, okay back to my normal life. 

No, you have taken a life. It is serious. Don’t make a mockery of the system. Don’t think you can deceive them. You’re gonna stand before the congregation for trial. They’re gonna judge you and the avenger of blood, and they will see. They will listen, and they will judge and see if you have a case. And if you truly have a case, they’ll allow you to stay there. But you are gonna stay there until the death of the high priest. Not just for a while, not just for a few years. Your life is totally changed already after that. It is not a small thing. This highlights how severe the thing is, how severe is this taking of life. 

Numbers 35 gives us a more elaborate explanation of the whole process. And in Numbers 35 we find that it says that there is no ransom that can be made. Certain crimes, there is some compensation you can make to free the criminal. But in this case, you have taken a life. You’re supposed to lose a life. A life for a life. That is how serious taking life is. No ransom can be paid. And so, you stay there until the death of the high priest. Why? Why the death of the high priest? 

You see in one sense; the high priest has a role. Sometimes I get a bit confused between the prophet and the priest. So, one person gave a very helpful illustration. A prophet is one man who stands before God in front of the people. He’s facing the people. That is a prophet, standing in front of God, facing the people. But the priest is standing in front of the people facing God. He’s helping the people. He’s arguing, pleading for the people. 

And in one sense, this is the picture over here. The high priest is the one who’s protecting the manslayer. He has heard his case, he’s protecting him. And as long as he stays in the city of safety, he’s being protected. If any point- if at any point he does go out of those cities, the avenger may take his life, and the avenger has the right to take his life. But as long as he remains in the city of safety, the high priest will protect him, will guarantee his safety. And in one sense you could say that the death of the high priest is the only event that can set him free. Taking life is so serious. It is a life for a life. 

In the case of murder, you commit murder, the punishment? Execution of the murderer. But in this case, you commit manslaughter, the death of the high priest. A life for a life. In one sense the death of the high priest has satisfied the claims of justice. And so, as we consider the price for safety or the price of safety, we see here how serious is this crime, how serious is the act of taking a life. You took a life; a life must be paid. But in this case, not the life of the manslayer; the life of the high priest. And it is the life of the high priest that sets him free so that he can finally go back to his normal way of living, and the avenger can no longer seek him out. 

The high priest over here points us to our great high priest. Our high priest is our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who exactly like the high priest. He’s bleeding for us. He’s facing God and he’s pleading for us, saying do not destroy them. I’m pleading for their safety. And finally, by His death, He propitiated the wrath of God. Propitiate simply means He appeased the wrath of God. We are the one who did wrong. We are the one who broke God’s law. And so, we are the ones like the manslayer, we’re supposed to die. But Jesus died instead of us. 

So, when we look to the cross, if you ever doubt the love of God, look to the cross. That is the price of your safety. If you and I are to live, for us to live, Jesus had to die. That is the price. So, the hymn writer writes: “When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride.” There’s no more pride left in us when we see the price of our safety. The manslayer who’s dwelling in this city of safety is not boasting there, not saying oh yeah, I deserve to be here. No, nothing to boast about. His crime, but the high priest dies. 

And so let us conclude. The cities of safety are for this manslayer. It is a provision for him and for us as well. We, like this manslayer, deserve to die. And yet, there is a special and gracious provision over here. It is by grace that God provides us safety, a place that we can run to. And we have seen the prerequisite of safety. What we must do? You must confess. If you refuse to confess your sin, don’t expect to enjoy this safety. And we see the love of God here. It wasn’t free. Salvation is freely offered, yes, but salvation is not free. It costs God the death of His only Son. 

Let us look at the wonderful names of these cities from verse 7: “So they set apart Kedesh (Kedesh means holy place) in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem (meaning shoulder, a symbol of strength) Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, Kiriath-arba (that changed its name to Hebron, remember?) Hebron (meaning fellowship) in the hill country of Judah.” Three cities over here, the other side of the Jordan another three cities. 

“And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer (Bezer meaning fortress) in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead (Ramoth meaning heights), from the tribe of Gad, and Golan (meaning joy) in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.” These are the cities of safety. Six cities for you to run to, freely provided for you, easily accessible on both sides of the Jordan so that the manslayer can quickly flee there. It’s not a place where it’s so difficult to find that I cannot find it. 

“These were the cities (verse 9) designated for all the people of Israel and for the stranger sojourning among them, so that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation.” Gracious words indeed. You see the cities designated not just for Israel. We might not be Israel today, but these cities were for all. Even the strangers dwelling among them can be part of this. 

And so, we see the good news over here. Let us respond to this good news today. Let us first understand that we are in danger. There is judgement coming. Let us not try to hide away from that truth. And in the New Testament, when the Lord Jesus speaks of judgement, at one point He says it might be even more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah. Why? Because judgement is coming for you, and you are unrepentant, although you received so many warnings. Sodom and Gomorrah, they are sinful. They were unrepentant. So, fire rained down from heaven to destroy them. 

But we have an advantage. We are better in the sense that we got warnings. We’ve seen examples. We’ve seen what happens to Sodom and Gomorrah. We have got more time to repent, so, if we still do not repent, our judgement, it’s going to be worse, it’s almost as if Jesus said look at Sodom and Gomorrah. Fire raining down on them, that one considered okay. That one considers nice compared to the judgement that is coming for us one day. But imagine on the final day of judgement where there is no place to hide, where people are running all over and screaming. Imagine on that terrible, terrible day, you have a place to hide. You have a place of safety. Let us pray. 

“Our God and our Father in heaven, we come before You and plead for mercy, for we are people who are often stubborn and unrepentant. Despite many warnings, we go astray, disobey Your Laws, and transgress. We thank You that You have provided us safety. But safety is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. And so, this day, help us run to safety, not away from safety, lest we be destroyed. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.” 

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.