Refuge
Refuge = for protection, to confide, habitation, taking in, an asylum, defense
I have been studying the connections between the Old and New Testaments, and to
understand salvation fully, we need to understand refuge.
God gave the Israelites 6 cities of refuge for the individual when they had accidentally
killed another person, they could run to the city of refuge for safety from the
avenger. The cities of refuge were provided as an asylum, “that by fleeing to one of
these cities he might live” (Deuteronomy 4:42). If the manslayer reached a city of
refuge before the avenger of blood could slay him, he was given a fair trial and
provided asylum until the death of the high priest. But if he left the city of refuge
before the death of the high priest, he was subject to death at the hands of the
avenger of blood.
The Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 33:27 “the eternal God is your refuge, and
underneath are the everlasting arms, and He shall thrust out the enemy from before
you.” The Psalmist wrote this in Psalms 9:9, 14:6, 46:1,7,11, 91:2,9.
We understand the New Testament by the Old Testament. In the New Testament, the
cities of refuge apparently became a type, or symbolic illustration of the salvation that
is found in Christ. “We … have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us”
(Hebrew 6:18). In other words, when the sinner flees to Christ Jesus for refuge, he is
safe from the avenger of blood. Regardless of his sin, the sinner may find asylum
and sanctuary in Christ; all who flee to Him find refuge. All of us were sinners, and
the wages of sin is death, so when we run to Jesus, Jesus is our refuge from the
wrath of God. As long as we stay in Christ (our refuge) we are safe from the avenger
(the devil) and the devil can’t win over us. Jesus says “The one who comes to Me, I
will by no means cast out” (John 6:37). Jesus said, He would not leave us alone, He
sent to us a comforter who would guide us into all truth. The Holy Spirit is with us
always. The believer is safe forever in the heavenly city of refuge, because the great
High Priest, Jesus Christ, will never die: “He ever lives to make intercession for us”
(Hebrew 7:25).
We are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:1-13). “ Far above all
principality, and power and might, and dominion and every name that is named not
only in this world, but also in that which is to come” Ephesians 1:21). “For through
Him we have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now therefore we are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of
God” (Ephesians 2:18-19).
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: March 10, 2006