God is Just

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Well, you turn over in your Bibles with me to Joshua chapter 20, Joshua chapter 20. Joshua chapter 20 if you're using your pew Bible you'll be able you'll be able to find that on page 211 Joshua chapter 20 Let's now hear God's holy and perfect Word I The Lord also spoke to Joshua, saying, Speak to the children of Israel and say, 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 there, and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.

And when he flees to one of those cities and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of the city, they shall take him into the city as one of them and give him a place that he may dwell among them. Then if the avenger of blood punishes him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand because he struck his neighbor unintentionally. but did not hate 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 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 they appointed Kadesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and Kirjath Arba, which is Hebron, in the mountains of Judah. And on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwelt among them, that whoever killed the person accidentally might flee there and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation.

Let us pray. Father, we thank you for your word, for what you teach us about yourself. And we pray that your spirit would be working in our hearts That we might know who you are, love you more, and walk in your ways. God, please give me words to speak. Work in our hearts that we might believe in Jesus's name. Amen.

Justice is a big word today. Justice, justice, justice. Everywhere you look, people want justice. Rachel Denhollander, in her book, What Is a Girl Worth?, talks about justice a great deal. And she points out that without a God who is just, justice doesn't make sense. And so, brothers and sisters, today we're going to look at this passage and we're going to explore what God's justice looks like. What does a just God do? But first it needs to start with who He is. God is just. God is just. This is different than saying God does things justly. It's different than saying God acts with justice. No, one of God's attributes, who He is, is just.

When God's goodness and His holiness kiss, it's His justice. Right? When God's absolute moral perfection and all of His goodness meets how He deals with people, justice is what flows from it. When God reveals Himself to Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 23, verse 4, He speaks about Himself this way. The rock, His work is perfect, and all His ways are justice. and a God of faithfulness and without iniquity. Just and upright is He. Did you notice the moral perfections there of God? Deuteronomy 32, verse 4. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity.

You might go in this life and you might find out that if you want to press your case against someone, you might seek justice against someone. Guess what? You might not have a just district attorney. There might be some committee, some board, some jurisdiction that's ruling over something that doesn't let you get justice because they walk in iniquity. You might take your case before a judge in this life and you might find out that they don't actually love justice. They just like staying in office. they have a political bent and aren't for the truth, but that's not so with God.

A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He. There's no spot, no failure, no blemish on our God, but He is perfectly pure, without stain or wrinkle. When He declared His name to Moses in Deuteronomy 36, verses 6 and 7, Listen to how God describes himself. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.

And notice that does not mean that somehow God doesn't care about justice. but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation." You might say, well, hold on, maybe this is just like the Old Testament. Okay, we know that the God in the Old Testament, He was the judging God. But remember what the New Testament says.

1 John tells us that if we confess our sins, He is what? Faithful and just. or faithful and righteous, to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all of our, what? Unrighteousness. What is Jesus going to do when He comes back? Is Jesus going to, when Jesus returns and the clouds part and He descends again from the heavens and He comes to the earth, is He just going to say, alright guys, time to have a good old party. Let's have some s'mores out back. No, what does it say His robe is dipped in? In blood. Because He's going to judge the living and the dead. Why?

Because at the core of our Christian faith is this idea that Jesus is our just judge. God is just. God is good. God is holy. God is righteous. And He is just. His conduct and his mode of operation is justice and righteousness. God cares deeply about justice. This is why again and again, he, he speaks about those judges who will show partiality or favoritism judges who will take bribes. And he says, there's despicable to him. Our God does not take bribes. He doesn't show bias or prejudice. No, he has perfect knowledge and insight into everything.

And so when he is establishing his people in the land, is it any wonder that before they ever get into the land, he gives them his law? And then as they're coming into the land now, God reminds Joshua, hey, Moses did it on the eastern side of the Jordan River. There were already three cities of refuge given there. Now, on the western side of the Jordan, you need to establish those cities there. Because I care about justice. clearly laid out his justice in the book of Numbers. Turn with me to the book of Numbers 34. Numbers chapter 34, beginning at verse 9. No, Numbers 35, sorry, keystroke error. Numbers 35, beginning at verse 9.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall appoint cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who slays any person accidentally may flee there."

Translate that into normal English, this is manslaughter. If somebody kills someone and they didn't mean to, they need to have a place to go. They shall be cities of refuge for you from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment." What is this talking about, the manslayer?

Well, this is actually, we know this well. We went through the book of Ruth, do you remember that? Do you know what Boaz was called? The Redeemer, the Goyal. Now it's the Redeemer of blood. See, there was an advocate in the family that if somebody murdered your mother or your father, you had someone in your family who could go and seek out justice, retribution. But that could be abused. What if somebody accidentally killed someone? Well, that's what this is talking about.

Verse 13, And of the cities which you give, you shall give six cities of refuge, and you shall appoint three cities on this side of the Jordan, and three cities you shall appoint in the land of Canaan, which will be the cities of refuge. These six cities shall be a refuge for the children of Israel, for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills a person accidentally may flee there.

Notice again how just God is. Is there partiality with Him? If it's a stranger and they accidentally kill someone, are you allowed to just go and murder them? No, hold on. Even the sojourner, even the stranger, even the person who's just walking through and doing business in the land of Israel, even that person gets justice. See, we think of justice and we just think of retribution, but justice means you get what is right. This is why when we have pictures of Lady Justice, she always has a blindfold on. Because it's supposed to be going by according to what's true. Continues in verse 16.

What are some ideas of manslaughter versus murder? If he strikes him with an iron implement so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. And if he strikes him with a stone in his hand by which he could die and he does die, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon by which one could die and he does die, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. The avenger of blood himself shall put the murderer to death.

When he meets him he shall put him to death. If he pushes him out of hatred while lying in wait, hurl something at him so that he dies. Or if in enmity he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

So you see it gives clear cases, clear examples of what does it mean, what if he got into a fight with him, what if he's got a club in his hand, what if he's got an iron implement in his hand, what if he's got, what if he was lying in wait and he pushed him, he's a murderer and what needs to happen? Well we actually believe in capital punishment because God believed in capital punishment. However, we're going to use the word but, if he pushes him suddenly without enmity, or throws anything at him without lying in wait, or uses a stone by which a man could die, throwing it at him without seeing him, so that he dies while he was not his enemy, or sinking in harm. Then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments.

So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and he shall remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with holy oil. But if a manslayer at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he fled, and the avenger of blood finds him outside the city limits of the city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. Because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.

And these things shall be a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations and all your dwellings. Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses. But one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty.

Moreover, you shall take no ransom for life. So let's let's just stop there for a second in verse 30. Notice the justice of God there. Can your enemy just say, oh, I know that he killed him on purpose and so you're killed? No, there has to be there has to be multiple witnesses. To show that you purposely did this. But notice verse 31. Moreover, you shall Take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. See, there were other things that if you did wrong in Israel, right? You stole somebody's stuff. You could pay them back five times. You can make restitution. How do you pay back when you've killed someone?

You can't. There's no restitution to be made. That's what the Lord is saying. This is such a violent act that he shall surely be put to death. You shall take no ransom for him. He's fled that city of refuge that he may return to dwell on the land before the priest of the death. So you shall not pollute the land where you are. For blood defiles the land. And no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it except by the blood of him who shed it. Therefore, do not defile the land which you inhabit, and the midst of which I dwell. For I, the Lord, dwell among the children of Israel." See, there's a reality that even God gives in Deuteronomy chapter 19.

Suppose you went out Some of you are strong men, some of you are burly men, you like to go outside. I saw you at the work day and you were out there cutting down trees. There's nothing more manly than cutting down trees. But imagine, instead of using a chainsaw, you were using an axe. And as you were using that axe, the head of that axe fled off, or flew off the end of the handle. And you accidentally killed the guy who was standing next to you. Did you intend to murder him? No. But your friend is still dead.

Something wrong, grievously wrong has still happened. That is the definition of manslaughter, of manslaying that is using here in the New King James translation. This is the scenario that God is giving them in Joshua chapter 20. Look, God's saying that life is real. This can happen. And so you need to have six cities. Two up in the north, on both sides of the Jordan. Two in the central region, on both sides of the Jordan. And two down in the south, on both sides of the Jordan.

So if this happens, no matter where you are in the country, you can flee somewhere fast, and you can go get safety. And you can go find justice. Where the Redeemer of blood, this Goyal, isn't going to come and put you to death. And there's a pre-trial. Look with me again at Joshua chapter 20. God is so just. He sets up a system where there's actually a system of trials here. In chapter 20 verse 4 there's a pre-trial.

Chapter 20 verse 4, when that person first presents themselves at the gate and when he flees to one of these cities and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city that they shall take him into the city as one of them and give him a place to stay that he may dwell among them. See, if you say, you run to the city and you say, I killed someone, I didn't mean to, the elders are going to stand at that city, they're going to hear what initially you said happened. There's a certain amount of presumption of innocence here. And they say, okay, from first blush, from first glance, it looks like you're telling the truth.

We got an apartment over here for you to stay. We'll furnish you with food. You're going to be kept secure until your full trial. We're going to keep you safe from the avenger of blood. And then in verses five through six, it talks more about what would happen after that.

Then if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did not hate him beforehand. So even if the avenger of blood comes and he says, bring him out to me, I want to get him. This person killed my brother. They killed my aunt. Hold on. No, no, no, no, no. Hold on. No, until the full tribe. That's what verse six comes in. And he shall dwell in that city until when? Until he stands before the congregation for judgment.

Under full bailiff support, he goes back to the town in which this happened, where all the witnesses can be present and people are able to say whether they believe this was an accident or whether he lied in wait for this person. Whether he hated this person and was always looking for a reason to harm them, steal from them, kill them, whatever.

Or whether this was truly a tragic accident. This is the justice of God. But the reality is he's never going to shake this. The person who killed the man never lives that down. Here it continually refers to him as the slayer, the slayer, the slayer. He's got to walk around with that. on his conscience the rest of his life. There was once a point in my life when I was cutting wood with a guy, and I accidentally killed him.

See, justice has been done, but it doesn't mean that everything just goes back to hunky-dory. One of the things we notice as we read through this passage, we see that God is concerned with motives. Our God who is just is a God who is concerned about motives. God cares about the degrees of guilt. It's recognized that this person is a killer, but he might not be a murderer. He's a slayer, as the New King James says it, but he might not be guilty of murder.

David Howard, in his commentary on this section, he says, this passage shows that the biblical legislation did make distinctions in degrees of guilt, and that God's law was sensitive to motives and intent of the heart. and providing more lenient treatment for what modern criminal codes now call manslaughter as opposed to something like premeditated murder.

Have you ever wondered that before, why some people get heavier sentences and some people get lighter sentences? Now sometimes that's because judges are unjust and they're too soft. We see that in our country today where there, did you know the largest growing population in our country, do you know what the largest growing prison population is? Geriatric prisoners. People who murdered people and are just getting old and will die slow, lonely deaths in prison because our government refuses to actually recognize that there should be an end to this.

Dale Davies, in his commentary, says God's law and rule takes note of the motives and intents in such cases. A man without a murderer's heart should not suffer a murderer's punishment. This guy didn't mean to do it. And so if God of justice is able to set up a system where you should be able to go and be judged by the congregation and the people should be able to tell you what they know about the situation, then judgment should follow. So there's a reality of unintentional sins. This guy didn't mean to do it.

And yet the cities of refuge are needed. You know that in your own life, don't you? Husbands, how many times have we hurt our wives' feelings? And we didn't mean to. We just did it. How many times have we said things to our children that we didn't mean to be like piercing irons in their heart, and yet we feel it after the words come out of our mouths?

There's a whole sacrifice in the Old Testament for unintentional sins. The reality is it's a problem with our heart. That's what God says in Genesis chapter 6. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth and God was grieved in his heart.

Did you hear that? I mean, the first time I heard that passage, I mean, I had read Genesis before. I had heard, or I should say, I heard the Bible story about Noah a hundred times. But when I became a Christian, I read through Genesis chapter 6 for the first time. That every intent of man's heart was only evil continually.

Third Point

Makes us realize how grieved God must be at us. Because, see, God cares for the sanctity of life. That's your third point. God cares for the sanctity of life. And this is both of the person who was killed and of the person who is seeking refuge. Again, David Howard, when he's talking about this, he says, the legislation concerning the cities of refuge show, on the one hand, God's mercy. And that those who killed accidentally could find a place of refuge, right? The cities of refuge show us God is merciful. There's a place that someone could go.

And yet, on the other hand, it also affirms the sanctity of human life. And that even an accidental death caused blood guilt. And could be avenged if the killer did not go to the city of refuge. Furthermore, the killer who escaped to such a city was not free to return home until after death had taken place. The death of the high priest.

Do you see? Yes, the city is a refuge or a place of mercy, but it's also showing that God protects and cares for the sanctity of human life. If the person didn't flee to the city of refuge, what was the Goyal, the Redeemer, the Avenger of Blood able to do? He is able to take vengeance.

Because something really did happen. There was a real guilt, a real sin. I gotta say, this is one of the difficult things. That we encounter in our evangelical belief system is that we need to recognize that when we sin, there's actual guilt. And there's actual pain. That people are actually hurt. And that the Lord loves justice and the sanctity of life. But it's also a great gift, is it not? That God gives refuge. So the reality is God...

God wiped away the entire world except for 8 people. Let that sink in for a moment. In Genesis chapter 7, God wiped out the whole world because of our sins, minus 8 people. But then in Genesis chapter 8, Didn't get any better. Genesis chapter 8 verse 21.

This is after the flood. I will never again curse the ground for man's sake. Well, that's good. We like that part. But then the Lord just gives us truth that's hard to swallow. Although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done." Do you see, the only reason why we're able to suck in God's oxygen now is because He's still merciful to us, even though the imaginations of our heart are sinful.

And maybe you say, okay, Brian, you're just, you're, we're talking about manslaughter and you're like zooming this out way far. Hold on. Is this really talking about the intent of our hearts? I'm going to say that Jesus is the one who leads us there. What does Jesus say? Everybody loves the Sermon on the Mount, right? Blessed are those who mourn, for they'll be comforted. Drop down a few paragraphs in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew chapter 5, verses 21 and 22.

You have heard that it was said to an older generation, do not murder. And whoever murders will be subject to judgment. Right? That's what we were just hearing about. But I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother will be subject to judgment. And whoever insults a brother will be brought before the council. And whoever says rakah will be sent to fiery hell. Do you see what Jesus is getting at? I need a city of refuge. Have you ever been angry at your parents? Have you ever been angry at your spouse? Have you ever been angry at one of your brothers or sisters? Have you ever been so mad that you felt like you could punch someone?

Jesus says, yeah, you got the same problem as those people who desperately needed the city of refuge. So the problem is each and every one of us need refuge. And the problem is, if all of us are murderers, where do we go? The ground is not going to take atonement. That means we have to die. What do we do about our guilt? If there's no sacrifice for this, what do I do? What if I've unintentionally hated someone? What refuge do you have?

You know, 2000 years ago, you did die. Because Christ died in your place. The death that we deserved, Christ died for us. Do you know what 1 Peter calls that? The just for the unjust. Jesus, the righteous one, died for us, the unrighteous. Our guilt was laid on Him. Our only refuge is in Christ. Our only hope is in the one who died for our sins and was raised for our justification. Our God is a just God. By no means will He acquit the guilty. So what about your sins? The only answer we have is that God laid our iniquities upon Him. That Christ is our refuge. And that Jesus Christ as our high priest has died. And we walk in the freedom that his death purchased for us.

Closing Prayer

Go to Christ. Flee to Christ. Go to your city of refuge. Let's pray. Father, we confess our sins to you. And we thank you that we have a place to run. We thank you that you died the death we deserve and we pray, God, I pray for each one of us that your Holy Spirit might let us cling to nothing more than Jesus Christ, nothing less than Jesus Christ and only Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.

Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.