A Tale of Two Cities: Joshua 20/21
August 3/4, 2002
Intro:
Though I haven’t read Charles Dickens’ classic novel, A Tale of Two Cities, I understand that the major plot lines revolve around the injustice of the rich French Aristocracy towards the peasants, in the period leading up to and including the French Revolution. One critical incident early in the book tells the story of a Marquis running over a peasant child with his carriage, killing the boy. The cruel Aristocrat expresses no regret, saying instead, “It is extraordinary to me that you people cannot take care of yourselves and your children. One or the other of you is for ever in the way. How do I know what injury you have done my horses?” (Book II, Chapter 7). This single incident of callousness and injustice fuels the revolutionary spirit in one of the main characters in the book, who goes on to fight for justice.
It is that same desire for justice that characterizes our look today at two cities in the Book of Joshua. Chapters 20 and 21 describe for us the establishment of two different types of cities for the people of Israel in the promised land. Chapter 20 describes the cities of refuge; chapter 21 describes the cities for the Levites.
Chapter 20:
Chapter 20 is quite brief, so let me read the whole 9 verses:
To understand what is happening here, we need to remember that the Israelites were just becoming a nation. There was no established legal code, no system of lawyers and judges, no elaborate rules dealing with every possible eventuality. They did have the Books of Moses – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy –, and all of the laws there, but they hadn’t yet put them into practice as a nation. One of the principles in those books of the law was the principle of retribution – the famous “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” idea of justice being the right to punish someone for doing something wrong by doing the same to them. This also applied to a situation where someone had been killed – the penalty for murder was death, and it was the responsibility of the family or the person who had been murdered to avenge that death (that is the person vs. 3 calls “the avenger of blood”).
But what if it was an accident? With no police enforcing the law, and with a system of justice based on retribution, you can see that there was a need for something else, and that is why we read about these cities of refuge. As I read, these were places to which you could flee if you had killed someone, and you would be guaranteed protection until a trial could be conducted fairly. The cities were spaced evenly throughout the land, so that they were reachable in about a day’s journey. It is interesting to note that this forms an important premise for our law today – the premise that one is considered innocent until proven guilty.
A God of Justice
This instruction of the Lord’s, at this time in the nation’s history, reveals something important about the character of God – and that is that He longs for Justice. The creation of the cities of refuge served an important link in the process, ensuring that a person could be safely protected until tried and convicted of a crime. We see that this is a high priority for God, demonstrating His heart for justice and fairness for people, especially in the face of a capital crime. Notice also that in verse 6 we read that the trial is to take place “before the assembly,” showing us that God had delegated the exercise of justice to His people – He trusted them to rule fairly and with due process. So we see both God’s heart for justice, and also that He has delegated responsibility for justice in our world to us. This is a key principle throughout Scripture – that as God’s people we are responsible to make sure that there is justice in our world, with a particular responsibility to ensure that the weak and powerless are treated justly. And it is a principle that still applies today, and that is still a part of our responsibility today.
I thought about branching off from here to talk about the need for us to stand for global justice in our world – to fight for the rights of refugees, employees left with nothing while CEO’s collect billions for driving their company into bankruptcy, starving Africans, and children ravaged by HIV. And I would be right to do so, for as Christians I believe God will hold us accountable for how our actions match our convictions. But instead I want to bring it a little closer to home, with the hope that working for justice here will become a lifestyle for us. And I want to ask you where you encounter injustice. Maybe in your school or workplace there is an individual who gets picked on, or constantly dumped with the unpleasant tasks. Maybe in your home there is one family member regularly mistreated and taken advantage of. Maybe as you walk or drive along the street you see the vast difference between what you have and what others have. How can you work for justice in those situations? How can you preserve and enhance the dignity and worth of those people, and give them a glimpse of how they are seen not in the eyes of people around you, but in the eyes of God? Our God is a God of Justice.
A Place of Refuge
I want to pluck another question out of these cities of refuge as well, and that is this: where do you run for refuge? I don’t think any of you have killed anyone this week, but I recognize that for all of us there are times when we need to be able to run to a safe place and be protected – be surrounded by care, be accepted as an innocent, catch our breath without constantly glancing over our shoulder worrying about getting knifed in the back. Where is that place for you? I hope family would be one place, but I know that isn’t true for all of us. My prayer is that our church would become that place of refuge, both for us that are here as a church family but also for a hurting world. That is what I mean when I talk about us becoming a hospital – I mean a place of refuge for a hurting world, a place where people can come with broken hearts and wounded souls, and find acceptance, find healing, find wholeness in the only place all of that truly comes – from Jesus Christ out Lord. I would love for us to build a reputation of being a church of refuge, a place to flee to when it seems hope has run out, options non-existent. Most of us don’t need a physical place of refuge, though those in abusive situations certainly do. Most people today need a relational place of refuge. A group of people with whom it is ok to be real, to be oneself, to be vulnerable and to be accepted. Simply put, we need a group of people to love us. That is what we need to be as a church – a group of people who love others with the love of Christ. And as we do that, we see the Holy Spirit work an incredible transformation in their lives.
How do we become that place of refuge, for ourselves and for our world? Well that is pretty hard to do in a large group like this, and that is why we encourage you to be a part of a small group. Those are places you can be real, you can be loved, you can be accepted, and you can be cared for. They are to be places of refuge. Those of you who have been part of a small group in the past understand what I mean; for the rest of you, I can only encourage you to give it a try for 6 weeks. It is one of those things that is really difficult to explain, it has to be experienced. For me personally, the small groups I have been involved in have been exactly a place of refuge. They were places that I could just be me, I didn’t have to be “Pastor” Steve, didn’t have to be the leader, wasn’t the one everyone looked to to answer the question or explain the verse. They were places I could say, “I’m feeling stressed out… my family is in a mess… I don’t feel like I live in the power of God enough…,” and then a group of people who loved me would gather around and pray for one another. That is what I mean when I ask if you have a place of refuge.
Let me take this one step further for us. In John 17:23 Jesus prays for us – for you and me – “may the be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” What I have been describing as “refuge” from Joshua Jesus describes here as “complete unity.” I want to point out the purpose for this according to Jesus’ prayer: so that the world would know. Our care for one another is meant to be a drawing force for the world – God’s desire is that people who do not know Him would see how much love there is between those of us that do know Him and be drawn towards God because of that love. Understand? Our place of refuge should be available to others who need that also. And what excites me about this for us as a church is that we are really close to this – I believe that when we know about needs among us we are generally quick to respond, to love and to care for one another at times of great need. All we need to do is broaden that circle of love and care to include people that don’t yet know Jesus as Savior and Lord. Think, what would happen if you had a neighbor go to the hospital and you asked if you (through your church family) could provide several meals for the family? Or if their teen daughter got pregnant and you brought that girl into a circle of love and acceptance, and invited her parents into a place of refuge like that also? THIS is being a hospital! This is being a witness to the love of Christ in tangible ways, that will make a difference in people’s lives on earth and into eternity. This is sharing Christ – not that sharing the facts of Christ isn’t important, it is, but sharing the love of Christ is what we most often make the difference.
Joshua 20:9 makes this clear: “Any of the Israelites or any alien living among them… could flee to these designated cities.” The cities of refuge weren’t exclusively for Israelites. The text goes out of its way to make it clear that this offer of justice and refuge was to be applied to any person, even (especially?) those outside of God’s covenant community. The same is true for us. God has called us as His church to be a hospital, to be a place of refuge for a hurting world. It is up to each of us to be the “intake workers,” to be the ones directing people in need of a Savior to a safe place where they can find life, healing, and wholeness.
Chapter 21:
That is the first type of city – the cities of refuge. Chapter 21 describes a second type of city – the cities of the Levites (or the priests). The important bit of background here is that as the priests, the tribe of Levi were not entitled to an inheritance of land like all the other tribes. They were to be exclusively devoted to serving the Lord, and He alone was to be their inheritance. But they still need a place to live, and they still need to have a way of meeting their needs. And that is what brings us to the first 3 verses of chapter 21.
READ JOSH 21:1-3
The rest of the chapter simply describes all of the cities given to the Levites, until the very end of the chapter where we find a kind of summary of the entire book of Joshua up to this point. So why is this significant? A couple of principles stand out, that I want to point out briefly:
1. The Israelites gave the Levites “out of their own inheritance”:
The towns listed had previously been given to the various tribes; now those tribes gave them up for their spiritual leaders. The sense I get from that verse (3) is that it was with gladness that the Israelites supported their spiritual leaders. The Apostle Paul echoes this principle when he instructs the churches to financially support their spiritual leaders so that they can devote all their time and energy to the work of God’s Kingdom. I read an attitude of generosity, of recognizing God as the true owner and the only giver, and so giving gladly. I think that is an attitude worthy of our emulation.
2. All the cities of refuge were also Levitical cities:
In chapter 20, six cities are listed by name to be cities of refuge. We find each of those cities listed again in this list of 48 Levitical cities, indicating that the spiritual leaders had responsibility for ensuring that justice prevailed.
3. The Levitical cities were spread throughout the land:
I find it really significant that God didn’t locate all the priests in one central place, like around the tabernacle. Instead, He sent them out among the people. There were cities of Levites in each tribe, most of them having six of these types of cities. This shows us that God’s heart has always been for ALL His people, not simply for an elite that serve Him exclusively and on behalf of all the rest of the people. It really foreshadows for me the concept we find explicit in the NT of all believers as priests, all of us having direct access to God and direct responsibility for our actions. None of the people of Israel would have to travel far for moral guidance, for spiritual teaching and direction, or for a sense of connection to God. It was among them. Building on that principle, I see our role as believers in our world to function the same way – to be in the midst of people seeking God.
4. One particular city stands out…
There is one other thing that sticks out that I would never had noticed if we hadn’t jumped from chapter 14 last week into chapter 20/21 this week. If you missed it, in chapter 14 we read the story of Caleb, the 85yr old who took on and defeated the giants of the land in order to claim his inheritance. We saw how Caleb had waited 45 years for God’s promise to be kept, and then went and fought for that inheritance, and captured the city of Hebron and then the city of Debir. Well guess what – the very first city of the 48 listed as Levitical cities was Hebron (vs. 11). Not too much further down, the city of Debir is also listed.
So if I have the story straight… Caleb waited 45 yrs for God’s promise, claimed it by going to war against the giants and being victorious, and then he handed those cities back over to God for the use of the Levites. What an incredible ending to an incredible story!
You know what that story tells me? It is all about God. God keeps His promises to us, gives us an inheritance, and yet it still is not about us – it is about Him. All of the gifts we have, all the abilities and resources, all the friendships and opportunities, they really all belong to God. Caleb models that for me. It tells me not to hold on to things too tightly, not to get deluded into thinking I am the “owner” and the one in charge. As Psalm 24 says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”
Conclusion:
That is really the note I want to finish on – this reminder that God is in control, and that the focus is all about Him. If we jump to the end of chapter 21, we read this: READ 21:43-45. These few verses wrap up the entire story of the conquest of the promised land, focusing on the completeness of God’s faithfulness to the promises He had made to His people. The same is true for us – not one of God’s promises will fail. Whether you need to work for justice in your corner of this world, find a place of refuge or be a place of refuge for someone else, or need to develop a giving heart like the Israelites and especially Caleb, God’s promises to accept us, discipline us, equip and empower us, love us, and sustain us – God will be faithful to His promises.
Close in prayer.
Into Communion:
As we conclude our service this morning by gathering around the Lord’s table, I want to hop back into Joshua 20 and pick up one little phrase from vs. 6 (READ). We don’t really know much about this other than what we read here, so drawing conclusions is kind of shaky, but it appears somehow that the death of the High Priest marked an end of a “statute of limitations,” or a period of punishment, or perhaps it somehow atoned for the sin of the people and brought forgiveness and a chance to start over. Does that sound at all familiar?? Here we gather around the table of our Lord Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, whose death has set us free. Whatever that verse in Josh 20 might mean, there is no denying that we see a foreshadow to Jesus. I remind you that coming here to Christ means we don’t have to stay imprisoned, we don’t have to hide out in the place of refuge, we don’t have to fear retribution for the injustices we have committed. Jesus took them all. He set us free. He died for us. That is what we remember, and that is what we celebrate here around the Lord’s Table.
