DCLM Daily Manna 22 February 2024

TOPIC: Seek Refuge In Christ

TEXT: DEUTERONOMY 19:1-14 
19 When the Lord thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the Lord thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses;

² Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it.

³ Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither.

⁴ And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past;

⁵ As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live:

⁶ Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.

⁷ Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.

⁸ And if the Lord thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers;

⁹ If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three:

¹⁰ That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.

¹¹ But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities:

¹² Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.

¹³ Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.

¹⁴ Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it.

KEY VERSE
“Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither” (DEUTERONOMY 19:3).

DCLM Daily Manna 22 February 2024 Message

That God holds justice, mercy and equity in equal measure is evident in our passage today. The sanctity of human life is protected by the imposition of the death penalty on a wilful murderer. But what happens in the event of manslaughter? If an “avenger of blood” was to kill a man who had been unintentionally responsible for the death of a close relative, the land would be guilty of innocent blood.

God proffered a solution to this problem by prescribing the creation of sanctuary cities to which the slayer could flee and live in until the death of the sitting High Priest. Thereafter, he could return to his native city without any fear of retaliation. These “cities of refuge” were to be made amply available and readily accessible, the roads well-paved and clearly signposted to aid the fugitive in his flight.

READ DCLM Daily Manna Wednesday 21 February 2024 – Anointed To Set Captives Free

The refuge offered by Israel’s sanctuary cities was from temporal and physical danger. But there is the burning hell, a calamity of eternal proportions, awaiting all who persist in a life of sin unless, of course, they flee to Christ the crucified Saviour, for salvation. It was to Him that Moses’ cities of refuge pointed. All who by faith in Christ’s atoning blood seek pardon shall find mercy and forgiveness even for the worst sins imaginable.

Fleeing to the city of refuge was an act of faith. The fugitive believed in the efficacy of the city’s status to deliver him from bitter death if only he could reach the city gates ahead of the pursuing avenger of blood. There was no room for doubts or dithering.

There is no need to continue suffering the agony of guilt or the prospect of eternal punishment for sins when Christ, our refuge from Satan’s accusation, beckons. He waits with open arms and love in His eyes, to receive you into justification and eternal life. Come to Jesus by faith today and it would be your wisdom.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Flee to the Rock of Ages to escape the dock of Ages at God’s judgment bar.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JUDGES 14-17