The 7th City of Refuge

Well, thank you once again, and once again, happy Sabbath to all of you. Welcome back from the Feast of Tabernacles. It's been a few weeks, but for some of us, it's been the first week we've been able to be back since the Feast of Tabernacles. And for many of us, when we go to the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Shelters, we feel that we're kind of in an area of refuge from the world, and it's troubles like we're protected, like we're in a bubble. For eight days, we get to go to services, and we fellowship with people of like a mind, and it's a shelter, it's a refuge, it's a place where we can feel safe. And for many of us, on the Sabbath day, the weekly Sabbath is a refuge. We should be able to come in here and not be assaulted with people's personal opinions about vaccines or masks or the political situation. We need to leave all that junk outside the door, and we need to come in here and allow this to be a refuge, a sanctuary from the world. Not bring the world in here, but separate and isolated from the things that are going on in the world. Sabbath should be a refuge. And I would like to talk about today where our ultimate refuge is, because there is a city of refuge for God's people. There is a king, a high priest, in that city of refuge for God's people. And for us to understand that and appreciate it more fully, today I would like to talk about the ancient cities of refuge mentioned in the Old Testament, and what we can learn from those ancient cities of refuge. I'll give you a little bit of background here. Before we get to Joshua chapter 20, you may begin turning there now, if you desire. We'll start with Joshua chapter 20. When God divided the Promised Land between the tribes of Israel, He gave to each one a large piece of geography, a large tract of real estate. In this was His promise that His people would dwell in that land. And it was from this land that they would farm, they would make things, they would worship, they would marry, they would bury, and that they would live out their lives. But a noticeable exception from these tribes was the tribe of Levi. The Levites were the priests for the twelve tribes, so rather than giving them a single piece of geography, a single territory, God instructed that they should extend their influence throughout Israel. And not simply be confined to one piece of geography. He wanted their holy influence among all the other eleven tribes. So He gave the tribe of Levi forty-eight cities to dwell in that was evenly spread throughout the Promised Land. And they were to rule these cities, they were to dwell in these cities, they were to be there. And the intention was they were to be there as a good example, as a good reflection of God's ministry throughout the ancient Promised Land. They were not simply to earn their living from working the land, because God had called them to an old covenant form of the ministry, to hold the office of the priesthood and to conduct services in the sanctuary. They were supported by the tithe at that time. And out of those forty-eight cities that the Levites were given, God instructed them to set apart six cities that would be distinctly different from all the other cities. They would serve a unique function. These six cities, their purpose and their meaning for us today is what this sermon is all about. So let's learn what these six cities were, why they existed, and then later on in the sermon, the analogies and the parallels of what these mean for us. Let's again go to Joshua chapter 20 verse 1. If you haven't been there yet, I'll give you a few seconds to turn there.

Joshua chapter 20 beginning in verse 1. The Lord also spoke to Joshua, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses. Now, later on, we'll see where God originally spoke through Moses about these cities in Deuteronomy chapter 19. We'll cover that in a few minutes. But this is a recap of what he previously had told Moses. Now, the Lord is speaking to Joshua. Sing, Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses. That the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee, and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. I need to spend a minute to explain what culture was like back then, because our culture is so different. These were tribal communities. And in a tribal community, there was the Hebrew word, is goel hadam, also known as a kinsman redeemer. A kinsman redeemer had many responsibilities regarding land, regarding obligations for marriage, for taking care of the family.

And one of the roles in these tribal communities that a kinsman redeemer had was vigilantism. If your loved one was killed, it was your role as a vigilante to kill that person, to chase them down, hunt them down like a bounty hunter, and kill them. That literally was your responsibility to do that.

But God understood morally and ethically that there's a difference between trying to kill someone out of murder, out of hate in your heart, and an intention to kill someone, and manslaughter, meaning accidentally you take someone's life. God understands that there's a difference between those two. Though both have to be atoned for it, though both are sins, one is guilty of death, that is when we have hate and intention in our heart, and cause someone's death, and the other is the result of an accident. It's not deserving of death. So God is actually, through this instruction, we need to understand many, many years, millennia ahead, of where most the human race is, an understanding compassion, and an understanding of true sense of justice.

So let's continue, picking it up in verse 4. And when he flees to one of those cities, this is someone who accidentally or unintentionally killed someone, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place that he may dwell among them.

So, again, millennia ahead of where the Western world got to eventually, you have the right of a hearing.

People don't have a right to simply hunt you down and kill you. You have a right of refuge. You have a right to stand in front of responsible people and say, Hear my side of the story. Hear from me what happened.

And when someone would come to this city of refuge, they would be allowed into the city. They would go through the gates, and they would be allowed into the city.

Let's continue and find out what would happen. Verse 5.

Then if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand. He had the stop at the gate of the city. He was not allowed to go in and pursue that individual.

They shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did not heed him beforehand.

And he shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days.

So this was just temporary security. When you approached the city, pled your case. You would be allowed inside. You would be given food. You would be given protection. But you still had to go back to your home city and face trial. And there, you would say your case. If there were witnesses against you, they would say their case.

And if you were found guilty of murder, of intentional hate, you literally would be turned over to the avenger. You would be turned over to the avenger of blood. But if the elders decided in this court case that it was unintentional, then security would take you back to the city of refuge. You would continue to live there until the high priest died.

And until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days, then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house to the city from which he fled. So once the high priest died, you were free to leave the city of refuge. The avenger of blood was no longer allowed to chase you or hunt you down. You had paid. Someone had paid the price for your sin of unintentional manslaughter. Verse 7.

We're so used to a justice system in our Western world, we don't appreciate how ahead of human wisdom and understanding God was. It wouldn't be until the Magna Carta, over two thousand years later, that the Western world got a concept and an understanding through the Magna Carta, which was a document, the nobles of King John forced him to sign, that said, we have a right to a trial.

You can't arbitrarily just arrest us and execute us. We have the right to be heard two thousand years before the Magna Carta. God is instilling that right into ancient Israel. So let's have a quick recap of what some of these scriptures tell us here. I think this is all very important for us to understand where the true city of refuge is and to understand some of the parallels.

All right, they were to be designated six cities of refuge in ancient Israel. Three were to be on the east side of the Jordan River, according to these scriptures. Three on the west side of the Jordan.

They were strategically located, not to be more than one day's journey from anywhere in Israel. So if you accidentally killed someone within a day, you could travel and find a city of refuge. Because as soon as that person died, their near relation, the kinsman Redeemer, was going to be hunting you down. That was part of the culture of these tribal peoples at that time. By the way, that's also part of Native American cultures in the United States. So this is a worldwide ethic that are very common among tribal peoples. These cities were part of the inheritance of the Levites. The Levites controlled these cities. And I want you to notice there were only six. Seven is the number of perfection. So the fact that there were only six highlights that there is something missing here. And what's missing are these could only protect one's physical life. There were a city of refuge to protect one physically in this lifetime. But that falls short because we need more than physical protection.

What we need, brethren, is spiritual protection. We need a spiritual city of refuge that we can run to, that we can rely on for protection and security. Because anything in this physical life will eventually fail and fall short because it's simply physical. We're going to discuss this spiritual city of refuge in just a little while.

So as we look at these scriptures, we saw if an individual accidentally killed another person without the attempt to murder, that person could flee to one of these cities for protection from one of the relatives of the dead person who would be seeking revenge. In this tribal culture, it was considered the responsibility to take vengeance on a person of culture relative.

Thankfully, we're beyond that. People in the Western world leave our judicial system, leave it up to our judicial system, the police to arrest, a trial to take place, justice all to take place through our established judicial system rather than vigilantism. And it's taken us a long while to get to the tour, to this point in our culture, that we just don't have raw vigilantism going on in our society. We probably do among gangs in some major cities. It's not perfect the world that we live in, but our judicial system has grown quite a bit and provides particular protections compared to what one would experience back in this time.

A kinsman redeemer was the person who had the legal right to fulfill a number of obligations. They had numerous responsibilities. One of them was to avenge the death of a close relative. Another one, the one that we would most recognize, is the famous case of the kinsman redeemer Boaz. Remember Boaz? He was the kinsman redeemer who redeemed a Benlech's death by taking Ruth as his wife. That's what we normally think of as the kinsman redeemer, but they had many responsibilities.

Let's continue the scriptures, analyzing the scriptures. We just read morally there's a biblical difference between manslaughter, which is killing someone without malice or forethought, and the difference between intentionally murdering someone. The law of the intentional killing or murder of someone was to be punishable by death, by the instruction of the elders of the city, either by stoning or if there were a kinsman redeemer, turning that person over to the kinsman redeemer in order to provide punishment.

This is the basis of today for what we call capital punishment. Turning it over, in essence, to the states to decide how punishment should happen. This form of vigilantism is also called blood law, for inappropriate reasons. It's called blood law, and it exists in various cultures today in our world. Similar to this are honor killings. Anyone ever hear the phrase honor killings? That happens within even our own country today. Usually, through immigrants, an honor killing is the murder of an individual by someone seeking to protect what they consider to be the honor and dignity of their family.

And we sometimes have this happen in the United States. We have particular immigrant groups that come here, and maybe someone's daughter begins to date someone outside of their faith or outside of their culture. And the family, the father sometimes, the brothers, actually feel a responsibility to kill their daughter or sister because they have shamed, dishonored the family by the decisions that they made.

So again, this is a tribal mentality, and thankfully for most of us, we don't live in that kind of a world. But that's what honor killings are, and they're very similar to this idea of blood law. Anciently, the person who sought vengeance was known as the Avenger of Blood, and I want to remind us that these cities were for the protection of both Hebrews and even Gentiles who were living in Israel. Even some of them were just passing through the land. A traveler had this kind of protection in case they unintentionally killed someone. When the Slayer arrived at the city of refuge, they would have a hearing to explain what happened.

The Slayer would receive protection from the Avenger of Blood and would receive security before traveling back to their native city to be heard by the elders in a type of court case or in a type of trial. Numbers, chapter 35, verses 24 and 25, says they shall go back to their home city.

So you went back, you had an armed guard who took you back to your home city and provided that protection so that you could stand trial. If found guilty of premeditated murder, the Slayer would be killed, usually turned over to the kinsman redeemer. If it was determined the death was indeed an accident, the Slayer would receive security back to the city of refuge where they had been, and they were protected from the Avenger. One other point, the Slayer would then live freely in the city until the existing High Priest died. At the time of the High Priest's death, the Slayer was free to leave the city of refuge and the Avenger was not allowed to harm the Slayer.

The reason was is that the death of the High Priest symbolically atoned for the guilt of the person who committed manslaughter.

So you paid your price. The High Priest has died. You can now go home. And when that was done, vengeance was no longer a responsibility of the kinsman redeemer. Matter of fact, if the kinsman redeemer were to hunt down someone in this case, the kinsman redeemer themselves would be killed for your murder and would be punished by death.

So this is complex, but I think there's a lot here for us to appreciate and understand when we begin to consider about the true city of refuge. Now, what happened if at any time before the existing High Priest died, the Slayer said, I'm tired of being in this city of refuge. I don't like the limitations here. Why, I have food, I can make a living, I have freedom, I have protection, I have safety, I can move about the city anytime I want. I'm not happy here. I want to go back outside. So what happened if that happened?

Well, if you left the city of refuge, you could legally still be killed by the avenger of blood. That was accepted because you had left the protection of the city of refuge and the revenger of blood until the death of the High Priest.

The revenger of blood could hunt you down and take your life. So if they left the city of refuge, they lost their protection, and they were vulnerable to harm and death.

How interesting! Well, there's a lot that we can learn from these cities of refuge. I want to expand upon it a little bit now, according to Jewish tradition. These are Jewish writings, which I'm about to mention aren't directly stated in Scripture, but anciently, these are what the Jews said about these cities of refuge.

These cities were accessible from all places and to all people. The roads that led them to the city of refuge were always in good repair. They were always open. The gates of those cities were open day and night for the slayer to seek asylum.

The gates of the city were open, and persons there could welcome the fugitive the moment that he or she arrived at the gate of the city of refuge.

They would be provided with everything necessary to live. No one was allowed to obstruct their journey on the highway.

There was no possibility of mistaking the way. According to Jewish writings, at every crossing and along the way there were mileposts, there were inscriptions pointing in the right direction, and the word refuge was written on those mileposts pointing the way to the nearest city of refuge.

So the slayer could read it even while he or she were on the go. We're running.

Numbers chapter 35 also discusses the cities of refuge, but it repeats a lot of what we already mentioned, so I am not going to go there.

So for those of us in the New Covenant, this was all interesting. It's histories, in fact, tidbits. But what does it all mean for us? What does it mean for you and for me?

The first question is, will there be cities of refuge in the millennium and the world tomorrow? And the answer to that question is absolutely no.

Some people have these myths in their heads, and I've heard them speak and I've heard them say things that somehow the Kingdom of God is just a resurrection of all the laws and concepts and ideas from the Old Covenant brought alive again in the world tomorrow.

Well, first of all, in the world tomorrow Satan is bound and is no longer influencing people as he does. Also in the world tomorrow, there are people who are spirit beings who are present continuously to teach and be part of the culture and society on a routine daily basis.

Rather, we have to allow God to have room to do new things and not simply replicate things that he gave to a Bronze Age tribal people thousands and thousands of years ago.

So let me get back to the question. For those of us in the New Covenant, what does all of this mean? Well, to give you a simple answer, it says parallel that our refuge, our refuge, isn't in some physical city, it isn't in some physical, my priest.

Our refuge is in God, and specifically in Jesus Christ. And so for the rest of the sermon, I would like to explain this using some analogies and understanding that all analogies break down. I'm going to make some statements and use some analogies from the original cities of refuge to what a Christian experience is today. But you can take those kinds of things too far, but we don't want to do that.

So let's begin by point number one. Our refuge is in Christ. Our refuge is not in a physical city. It's not in a place somewhere on earth. Our refuge is in Jesus Christ. Psalm chapter 9 and verse 7, if you turn there with me. Psalm chapter 9 and verse 7.

The Great psalmist was inspired to write, But the Lord shall endure forever. He has prepared his throne for judgment. You see, God believes in righteous judgment, just like he instituted this understanding in the ancient cities of refuge to provide justice so that someone who had committed manslaughter, who killed someone unintentionally, wouldn't automatically lose their life through an act of vengeance. God is always a God of righteous judgment, of fairness. He shall judge the world in righteousness. He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

So who's our refuge? Our refuge is Jesus Christ. Our refuge is in God. Do you feel like you're going through a time of trouble with pandemics and things that are going on in this world today? Do you some days feel like you're oppressed, listening to the news, maybe looking at the social media for five minutes? That's enough to make anyone sick. They weren't sick before. So do you feel like you're oppressed? Well, we have a great God who judges the world in righteousness. He's our refuge in times of trouble. Verse 10, And those who know your name will put their trust in you, for you, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion. Declare his deeds among the people. You see, our city of refuge is spiritual Zion, which will come to this earth after Jesus Christ returns. And within it, within that city, righteousness dwells because it's spiritual. And everything that exists within it is spiritual. Continuing, verse 11 again, Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion. Declare his deeds among the people. So God is our refuge. He's always there for us. And even when we feel that we are chased, we're oppressed by Satan the devil, Christ gives us refuge in times of trouble. Like the kinds of times that we're living in now, where we see loved ones dying of terrible viruses, and we see so much going on in this world today, and every cultful norm being turned upside down, and evil called good, and perversion called heroic. The kind of times that we live in today, we have to remember that God is our refuge in times of trouble. This is possible because our trust, our faith in Him. Anciently, the only hope for the Slayer was to reach the city of refuge. Brethren spiritually, the only hope that we have is our hope, our faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior. That's where our protection, that's where our safety, our security comes from. Not from anything in this world. You may recall in Joshua, chapter 20, verse 4, it stated this. I'm going to quote it. The Slayer stands at the entrance of the gate of the city and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of the city. Again, that was chapter 20, verse 4. Basically, the Slayer would go to the gates of the city, and before it would walk in, would declare his situation, and then after that would be allowed to enter the city. Jesus Himself said in John, chapter 10, verse 9, He said, I am the door. Jesus Christ is the door to our city of refuge.

He said, I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find the pastor. So again, our city of refuge is through our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the door to that Zion, that spiritual Zion, that city that we can all look forward to.

Anciently, the death of the high priest symbolically atoned for the guilt of the person who committed manslaughter. In our case, Jesus, our high priest, died for our sins, and has atoned for our sins in advance. Even before, He became our high priest.

So anciently, just like the death of the high priest secured freedom for the slayer, the death of Jesus Christ secures our freedom, as Paul said. In Galatians, chapter 5, verse 1, He said, Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free.

We're not free because of the death of any physical high priest. We are free because our high priest shed his blood and died and reconciled us to God. Acts chapter 4, verse 10. If you'll turn there with me, Acts chapter 4, verse 10.

A little mini-sermon here, given by one of the disciples. Acts chapter 4, verse 10. Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands before you whole. And this is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. Verse 12.

Knowing Buddha won't save us, following the teachings of Muhammad, Buddha, anyone does not provide salvation. The only name that provides salvation by our faith is the name of Jesus Christ. And I explained on the Day of Atonement how the death of one being was able to atone for all human sins that have ever been committed or could possibly ever be committed. How his one life and death made that atoning possible.

Verse 13.

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained, in other words, they shouldn't be this smart, what they say shouldn't be this deep, this enlightening, this bold. When they saw that they were uneducated and untrained, then they marveled and they realized that they had been with Jesus.

The brethren of the Bible tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

That's in Romans chapter 2 and verse 13. This elementary fact is the core of the gospel. Salvation is a full and free gift through Jesus Christ's glory.

A sinner's only hope is Jesus Christ. Our only real refuge is our Savior, Jesus Christ, because of our faith in Him. As it states in Proverbs chapter 18 and verse 10, The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe.

So are we running? When we know that we sin and we need to repent, are we running to our refuge and repenting of our sins, or are we holding back? Are we running towards Christ? Are we leaving this world and leaving the darkest of this world and crossingly heading towards the light? Or are we delaying? Are we slow-stepping it? Are we making excuses? Are we justifying our behavior and our actions? Or indeed, are we running? Again, Proverbs 18, 10, The righteous run to it and are safe.

So again, there were only six physical cities of refuge, but there's a seventh, and it's the only one that truly saves because it's a spiritual city of refuge. So again, that was point number one. Our refuge is in Jesus Christ. Number two, the slayer or accuser is ourselves. All we have to do is look into the mirror and see that we are the accused. We are the slayer. You know, the very act of fleeing to the city of refuge was symbolic of repentance. You were arriving at the city gate seeking mercies from vengeance because you broke them off. You'd run up to that city? Oh, please have mercy! Hear me! That very act was symbolic of repentance. Obviously, you were acknowledging that you killed someone or you'd have no reason to be there. To be at the gates of the city. It itself was an acknowledgement that you had sinned, that you had committed a wrong. Your presence was an admission that you were guilty of sin, an accidental death of another, but not hateful murder. The slayer had to confess his misdeed and own up to his mistake. Had to tell the people in the gate, I made a mistake. I accidentally killed. Please let me in. Please give me safety and protection. Again, the slayer had to confess his own misdeed and live up to his mistake. Rather than when we are converted, we sin because we're weak. And because we're carnal, we're fleshly, as Paul states about himself in Romans 7, verse 14, He said, For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal. Paul said, Sold under sin. We don't sin because we hate God. I know most of you in this room pretty well, and I know that you love God. We sin because we're weak. We're carnal, fleshly. We have human nature. Not because we hate God. We are simply weak, giving into the carnal instincts and temptations of this physical life. We modern day believers must confess our sins to God and experience genuine repentance before we can be forgiven by Christ Jesus himself, the great spiritual city of refuge. And as we go through our life, we realize we've made mistakes. We've sinned. We've said things we shouldn't have said, and thoughts we shouldn't have thought, actions that we should never have committed. We need to go again to the door, and we need to repent of our sins. 1 John chapter 1 and verse 7.

John wrote, But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. The door is opened. We're given spiritual refuge. Verse 8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and we're living in a mental fantasy land. If we say and make the claim that we have no sin, we're carnal, we're human, we're fleshly. Unfortunately, that urge, that physical instinct, is always going to be there within our physical minds and hearts and bodies until we draw our last breath. So if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So thankfully, God has given us the assurance that he is anxious to forgive the sins of the truly repentant. And hopefully that includes you and I. Remember that confession of sin is not only a spiritual requirement, it's an essential part of Christian growth. Until we repent of our sins and understand the sin that still dwells within us, doesn't matter if we've been part of the church for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years, until we acknowledge that and understand that and continue to work on it, we cannot achieve greater spiritual growth. We begin to make excuses for ourselves. We begin to justify our behavior. And we don't want to do that, brethren. Not at all. We need to recognize ourselves for exactly what we are. That is guilty sinners. And recognize the just claims of the mighty law of God. We need to realize the awfulness of sin, and that sin costs the life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The city of refuge may have seemed like captivity for the fugitive. Even though I think, considering the alternative, where the kinsman redeemer could kill you, and that wouldn't be very happy or pretty, some people, I am sure, felt living in the city of refuge that somehow their liberties were curtailed. And as long as the high priest lived, the slayer had to remain within the walls. If he ventured outside of the walls at any time, the avenger of blood was there. In a moment's notice, the receiver could go and take that person's life. Therefore, it was in the best interest of the fugitive to stay inside the city. Yet, inside the city was a certain amount of freedom. As I mentioned earlier, the freedom to move, the freedom to work, make a living. The freedom of love, to fall in love, to meet someone whom you might want to marry. The freedom to live. In contrast, to being outside of the gates of the city. Have you ever heard someone say that living a Christian life is too restricting? I have. Have you ever heard someone say the church standards are too high? We shouldn't have so many rules. We shouldn't have so many doctrines. The only doctrine we should have is quoted from the book of Judges, and each man did that. That was right in his own heart. Some people think that should be our doctrine. What such statements overlook is what 1 John 5, verse 12 says. John wrote, He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

The mature person who was waiting patiently inside the city wasn't fretting about their loss of former freedoms. They were just very happy to be alive, to be able to continue to live. Outside the city of refuge was freedom also. The freedom to get killed will die. We all have those choices each and every day in virtually everything we do. And as I've said before, there's a price we pay for leaving things alone in the way they are, and there's a price we pay for making changes in our lives. That's a decision individually that we must make. That's a choice. Those are choices that we must make together.

Number three, the final parallel that I would like to draw here between the ancient cities of refuge and today, is that the Avenger of Blood is Satan. The Avenger of Blood, spiritually speaking, is Satan. First Peter, chapter 5 and verse 6, if you'll turn there with me. As I said, in Christ there's freedom while outside of Christ there's an angry devil ready to fill every life that's left the city of refuge with misery and hopelessness. Jesus said, if the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

That freedom is within the spiritual city of refuge, not outside of it. Peter writes, therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. Remember, God is our refuge. That He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares about you. He wants to protect us. He wants to give us security. But we have to go to the door. We have to ask to be let in to that city. Be sober. Be vigilant. Because your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom He may devour. Satan is out there. And when we leave that spiritual city of refuge and go back into the world, and again, that's a choice. And in my nearly 50 years, I've seen thousands and thousands and thousands of people make that choice to go back into the world. We make ourselves vulnerable to the vengeance of Satan the Devil. Verse 9, resist him steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. So the adventure of blood typifies Satan the Devil. It says in Revelation 12 and verse 10, it says that the Devil stands as, quote, the accuser of our brethren, which accuse them before our God day and night.

So Satan is the Avenger of blood, the accuser spiritually speaking. And when we unwisely leave that spiritual city of refuge and step out of that city, we leave ourselves very vulnerable to being devoured, to being eaten alive like a roaring lion, whom is the metaphor used to precede himself. So what's the risk if we leave our refuge in Christ and go out alone? Well, anciently, the Avenger of blood could legally find and destroy the Slayer. Spiritually, you and I run the same risk. And I'd like to remind all of us that what Peter just wrote in 1 Peter chapter 5, he's not writing to the big, bad world. He's writing to the Church. You, I, am vulnerable. So it's something for us to understand and keep in mind. Again, Peter's comments that we just read are not to the world, they are to the faithful. Beware, be sober, be vigilant, stay in that spiritual city of refuge.

Psalm chapter 46 and verse 1, our final scripture today, Psalm chapter 46 and verse 1.

Psalm chapter 46 and verse 2. Psalmist wrote, God is our refuge and strength. Do we believe that? Do we live that? Understand that? A very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear. And yet there are some terrible things going on in this world right now. We've lost some loved ones that we care for dearly, but we also have to hope in the resurrection, knowing that there are going to be a resurrected in a far better world than one that we live in today. Therefore, we will not fear. Even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with a swelling, say, lah, we will stop and think about that for a while, how awesome God's power is. Verse 4, there is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God. You see, that's spiritual Zion. That's our refuge, the city of God. The holy place of the tabernacle, of the Most High, God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved to the city, the city of God. She shall not be moved. God shall help her just as the break of dawn, the nations rage, and the kingdoms were moved. He uttered his voice, and earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Stop and think about that profound statement. So, brethren, we've returned home from the feast this year to our beloved local congregation.

Can we all work a little harder to allow this space to be a refuge and not bring in our ideas and distorted opinions about health matters, politics, and all the garbage and nonsense going on in the world? Can we make sure we don't drag that in here with us? Can we leave that stuff at the door, please? And can we come here and worship with like mind and worship our awesome God? And if you so choose when you leave, if you want to pick up that baggage on your way out, you're welcome to do so. I don't recommend it, but you're welcome to do so. Can we allow this congregation to be our city of refuge from week to week? Because the Spirit of Christ dwells here. Because this is His place, His spot in the greater Cleveland area. Let's make sure that our local congregation is a safe place. It's a city of refuge. Let's all do our part to make sure that that happens and to make sure that we stay with Jesus Christ our refuge, our city of refuge is Zion. Let's do this by worshipping together on the Sabbaths by being a part of His Church and always remembering where our true city of refuge dwells. I wish all of you a wonderful and a profitable Sabbath day.