I'm Following Jesus – Page 1141 – Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Chapters: Numbers 35-36
Message: Refuge From The Slayer

Hello My Friend,

As I was reading the chapters for today, something that Jesus said came to mind, [John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.].

It is a fact that Satan is not a creator, he is a destroyer, in fact, THE DESTROYER, and anyone who puts their faith in a religion, or rejects the fact that Christ is the only way to God is seen by God as one of the Satan’s. We can account to the fact that God created not only man, but Satan as well, and we can account to the fact that when God created everything that He saw that it was good. Yes, he was created for good, as one of God’s angels, in fact, perhaps the most highest ranking angel, Lucifer, [Isaiah 14:12]. That was until he decided that he wanted to be God, and attempted to overthrow God, and was cast out of heaven. To get revenge he brought the temptation to be like God down to earth, enticing man, which brought death upon us. This is why Jesus refers to him as a murderer from the beginning. Only those who believe in Christ are His, [Revelation 21:7-8 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.]

There is not one soul in hell that God wants there, but God is a just God, He is a Jealous God, and He gives all a choice to live or die, but if you want to live then you must believe in all that He is, and that His Son is the only way to live. Now, those who were here before Christ came here in the flesh had no idea who Jesus was, or when He would come, but they had hope that their faith in God would save them. As God prepares the Israelites for their going over the Jordan and into the land He promised them, He commands that they divide the land between the nine and a half tribes that would dwell there. Since the Levites would receive no part of the land as God was their inheritance, He commands that each tribe give the Levites cities to dwell in.

[Numbers 35:2-5 Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and ye shall give also unto the Levites suburbs for the cities round about them. 3 And the cities shall they have to dwell in; and the suburbs of them shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts. 4 And the suburbs of the cities, which ye shall give unto the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about. 5 And ye shall measure from without the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits; and the city shall be in the midst: this shall be to them the suburbs of the cities..]

[and the city shall be in the midst:] Do you see how God had them place the Levites in the center of what we would know them to be as counties? This was done so that anyone who wanted spiritual guidance could come to one of the priests who were off duty and not have to go to the Temple or in this case, the Tabernacle. This has to do with the fact that not everyone goes to church, and we who are saved, born again Christians, live in the midst of them for the sole purpose that we may minister to them, [Matthew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.]

You know, while we have access to Jesus twenty-four seven, it helps to be around those who can minster to us, which is why we need a local church. It does not matter who we are, or where we come from, we need a place to find refuge, and what better place than among those who can educate and comfort us through God’s Word, and our faith. Now, out of those cities that were to be given to the Levites, six of them would be cities of refuge.

[Numbers 35:10-13,15,24-25 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan; 11 Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares. 12 And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment. 13 And of these cities which ye shall give six cities shall ye have for refuge. 15 These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither. 24 Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments: 25 And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil.]

[until he stand before the congregation in judgment.] Think about it, the cities of refuge were literally a place for those accused of murder to escape being killed themselves until they received a fair trial. It occurred to me when I read this that Satan is our avenger, he is the one who wants nothing more than to slay God’s most precious creation. We must all come to grips with the fact that we are wanted criminals, our sin is our crime, and the sentence for that crime is death. It is only through Jesus can we find permanent refuge from the slayer, [Hebrews 6:18-20 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.]

You see, these cities of refuge were where they could go if they were in danger of their own lives, even if they murdered someone willingly, as long as they were there they were safe from their avenger until they could get a fair trial. God places great emphasis on those committing murder being guilty, and subject to death, but as long as they were in a city of refuge they were safe from their avenger until the priest died, or they were acquitted. If they went out of the city at any time before the priest died, their avenger has every right to avenge them.

[Numbers 35:26–28,30-33 But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled; 27 And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood: 28 Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession. 30 Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. 31 Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death. 32 And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest. 33 So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.]

[Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge] Common sense tells us that even after we are saved that we need to keep ourselves within the confinement of the fence that our Saviour places us in so that we are not subject to the wolves. While the devil cannot touch our soul, or even one hair on our head, we need to stay out of danger by remaining in Christ’s refuge, [I Peter 5:8-9 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.]

[ye shall take no satisfaction] We should never take delight in the fact that we are saved by grace alone, and are no longer subject to hell so that we may continue to remain living in sin. We also should never take delight in others who are not saved and or refuse to get saved being subject to hell. Hell is no place for anyone, and we should never take for granted that we were once subject to hell, and what Jesus saved us from, [Galatians 2:16-19 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. 17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. 18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.]

[but by the blood of him that shed it.] Wow! Think about that. Jesus gave His life, He shed His innocent blood on the land that Satan tainted when he brought death upon man. It is the blood of Christ that recompenses the blood that Satan brought upon the earth when we accept His blood as the payment for our punishment. Now, once we are saved we are a part of the Kingdom of God, and have an inheritance awaiting us, it does not matter if we were the vilest of sinners, our faith alone saves us from God’s wrath to recompense for the blood that was shed. After Israel was told where they would be and what was appointed to them, the tribe of the daughters of Zelophehad asked Moses about an inheritance that was to be given to them. God reconfirmed that, but one condition had to be made to keep it, they had to either stay unmarried or marry someone within their own tribe.

[Numbers 36:2-3,5-7 And they said, The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto his daughters. 3 And if they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then shall their inheritance be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and shall be put to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received: so shall it be taken from the lot of our inheritance. 5 And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph hath said well. 6 This is the thing which the LORD doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry. 7 So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.]

[The tribe of the sons of Joseph hath said well.] Notice that it states that the women were of the tribe of sons of Joseph. Joseph, although he has not been mentioned since he was a governor in Egypt, had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. They were blessed by Jacob [Israel], he saw them as one of his own, even though their mother was an Egyptian. [Genesis 48:5 And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.]. It is very important that we marry someone who is a saved, born again Christian, not any Christian or religion, one of likeminded faith. A saved Baptist and unsaved Catholic are just as unyoked as a saved Baptist and unsaved Jew. There are different beliefs among the two and it will cause distress in the marriage, [I Corinthians 7:12-15 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. 13 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. 15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.]

Jesus Christ Magnified: [Numbers 35:25 And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil.]

Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for making it simple to be saved from the wages of death and hell. There certainly is a price for sin, far beyond an eternity in hell, and that includes being separated from You and a multitude of consequences that result in our ignorance to the truth. Thank You for showing me the truth, and setting me free from false religion that would have sent me straight to hell. And thank You for the great sacrifice You made in sending Your Son to pay for a debt that I could never pay. He is our refuge, the one who covers us in His blood so that we can stand before You innocent, cleansed, and as though we have never sinned. Lord, Lead us and guide us, let us not hide in fear of Satan and all his religions that keep lost souls from finding out the truth, let us boldly proclaim the true Gospel, and find those souls who accept Your Son if they only knew the truth. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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