Day 284 - Numbers Monday (33-36)
“These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.” (Numbers 35:15 ESV)
Many would focus on the clear call for the death penalty stated numerous times in this chapter. And while God does state that if you shed blood, by man shall your blood be shed, He also made a way out for those who accidentally took the life of another. The ten references to cities of refuge in Numbers 35 display God’s desire to protect the “innocent.”
We all need a place of refuge from that which would take our spiritual lives. God has provided just such a refuge in His Church and in His Son. When we gather around His means of grace, we find the spiritual protection of His merciful gift of forgiveness. The hymn writer reveals the source of this refuge with these words:
Jesus refuge of the weary,
Blest Redeemer whom we love,
Fountain in life’s desert dreary,
Savior from the world above:
Often have Your eyes, offended,
Gazed upon the sinner’s fall;
Yet upon the cross extended,
You have borne the pain of all.
(Jesus, Refuge of the Weary, Lutheran Service Book, CPH 2006, # 422)
Heavenly Father, thank You for providing us a place of refuge in Your Church and in Your Son. Please keep me strong in the faith so that I may be safely Yours forever. In Jesus’ saving name. Amen.
Pastor David Paape
P.S. For information on another Place of Refuge, please check this website: www.aplaceofrefuge.org/
The following link is to the 52 Week Reading Plan Bible upon which these devotions are based. http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf
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