Save And Heal People as the City of Refuge (Deut. 19:1-21)
Today we will receive and share the grace of God with Deut. 19. Deuteronomy is the content where God is telling them what to do when they go into the land of Canaan. God created humans, and life belongs to God. Even when we go into the land of Canaan, God is the One Who fights the war. God promised to give us the land.
So it seems like we’re basically living life, but that is never the case–we are within God’s absolute hand because even right now, God is moving all of creation, and all of creation exists for Him. That is why, in the Old Testament when they went into the land of Canaan, God told them to create the cities of refuge. That’s why in Deut. 19:1, it says, “When the LORD your God has destroyed the nations whose land He’s giving you, and when you have drive them out and settled in the towns and houses,” it says also in Deut. 19:2, “the Lord your God is giving you to opposes this land,” that means it doesn’t belong to me, but God has entrusted it to me.
In Deut. 19:3, it says, “Divide into three parts the land the Lord your God so giving you as an inheritance,” the land of Canaan is large, it is ok the western side of the river of Jordan closer to the ocean, and He says, “Divide this into three regions and create a city where a man may flee when they kill somebody.” God gave this law to the Israelites in advance, knowing that once they go into the land of Canaan, there will be incidents where there’s murder among the people there.
Deut. 19:4 tells us, who are the people who can go to the city of refuge to save their lives? It’s the “one who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without any other thought.” In Deut. 19:5, it gives us an example of when this would happen, for example, if someone is going into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him,” so this is talking about involuntary manslaughter. So, the one who was unintentionally killed is God calling his life, because life and death are in God’s hands.
Deut. 19:5 continues, “That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life.” What would happen if these cities did not exist? Before Deut. in Leviticus, they had these retaliation laws that essentially said, “If you kill me then someone else can kill you to avenge me.” So, this kind of retaliation actually exists in multiple different ways. If the older brother dies, then the younger brother has to marry the older brother’s wife and have his children. If one of the brothers or one of the siblings borrows money from someone else, then absolutely, one of those siblings has to pay back that loan. If one person of a family kills the member of another family, there absolutely must be retaliation. These were written in the laws of Israel but this is talking about the situation where the murder was absolutely unintentional, then they must flee to one of the cities of refuge.
So essentially, this city of refuge is meant to block retaliation so the one of the family who was murdered cannot seem revenge in their rage to take the life of an unintentional murderer. In Deut. 19:7, God says, “This is why I command you to set aside for yourselves three cities.” What would happen if these did not exist? We said this earlier, but the people born of Gen. 3 have no choice but to retaliate and seek revenge. So, God desires to prevent these unfair deaths.
In Deut. 19:8, “If the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as He promised on earth to your forefathers, and gives you the whole land he promised them because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today–to love the LORD your God and to walk always in his ways, then you are to set aside three more cities.” Deut. 19:10, He says, “Do this so that innocent blood will not be in your land,” and if you still seek revenge despite this, then you will be “guilty of bloodshed.”
Starting from Deut. 19:11, it is talking about what happens when someone kills another person intentionally. If somebody kills another person intentionally and runs to these cities of refuse, you find him until the very end and kill him. The killer shall be sent for by the town elders and he shall be brought back to the city and handed over for him to die.
Why do you think God said this? “I thought God was a God of mercy; shouldn’t He forgive this?” But if He forgives this, then murder will continuously increase, right? “If I kill someone intentionally and run to the city of refuge to save my life and I get away with it, then I can continuously kill people.” So, in reality, this retaliation law where if you kill someone intentionally you will absolutely die for it, it’s to prevent murders. Because this law exists, people will not intentionally try to kill other people.
However, a few weeks ago, we received the Word through the pulpit in Matthew 5, “You have heard from the Old Testament, ‘Do not murder,’” and Matthew 5:22, Jesus Christ says, “But I tell you if anyone is angry with their brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court and anyone who says ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” According to the New Testament, we cannot say we have never murdered anyone, because anyone who is angry at their brother or sister has murdered someone. Because if someone is angry at someone else, you have subconsciously murdered them, even though you haven’t actively murdered them, those kinds of things are already in play.
That is why God has given us a way for us to resolve the anger, even when it’s at a subconscious level. Even if you insult or swear at someone, that is murder. The Lord is blocking that, even fundamentally, because He is telling you, “Do not rely on yourself,” because it’s impossible for us to not be angry. If we get angry, we’re filled with wrath, then what happens? Eph. 4:26-27 says, “Be careful to not let the sun go down on your anger so you do not sin. Be careful to not give the devil a foothold,” this means that Jesus Christ has already received all of our sin, curses, and disasters on the cross on our behalf.
Whenever you have anger within you, hold onto God’s covenant because the one who is angry, it says in John 8:44, your father the devil was a murderer from the beginning. In the Old Testament, if someone murdered someone else intentionally, it was typically because they had lost all of their inheritance or their wealth unfairly, or they’re trying to steal someone else’s wealth unfairly, and the Lord is preventing that. That is why the Lord already overcomes all the sun curses, and disasters and Satan on the cross and is with us together with the Holy Spirit. Then, even if something unfair happens to you, entrust it to the Lord. You are not the judge. Christ is the Judge, so no matter who that person is, entrust them to the Lord. What happens if you do something about it? Then God will stay still, but you are not the judge. The Lord is the judge. DId something unfair or regrettable happen to you? Entrust it to the Lord.
The New Testament treats humans very preciously . If we continue reading Matthew 5:23-24, “Therefore, if you’re offering your gift at the altar and then remember your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift at the altar. First, leave your gift and be reconciled to him, then come and offer your gift.” if you leave this resentment there, then the other person will not just let that go. In the beginning, just go there and forgive and ask for forgiveness. Otherwise, you will not be able to worship. If you look at these words, God is already telling you how you should act in the human relationships in your field.
We cannot act rashly before God. This is obvious in the church, but it’s also true outside of the church. But because this is almost invisible to the eyes, we just act according to our anger. So, the angrier you are, it is actually more to your own loss because God told you not to do that, but because we cannot stop ourselves, the Lord is with us. That is why every day, receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. In other words, what is the most precious treasure in your heart? It is having Christ as the most precious and valuable treasure in your heart.
If you have money as the central treasure in your heart, then without a doubt, you’re bound to fight and have conflict with people like this. If you think money is the most important thing in your heart, then without a doubt, you will use people. So, already the problem has begun inside of your heart, and then you’re going to face problems with people and even further problems will result because of money and financial issues. Even though I did not intend to do it, if money is the most valuable thing in my heart, then even subconsciously I will end up using that person and trying to gain some kind of benefit from them, then that person will feel used. People say things like, “I was deceived by this person’s money,” but it’s because money is this person’s master, and if money is your master, then you can’t even give offering to God. Then, the result of that life will be a slave; your entire life living in suffering.
It says in Matt. 5:25, “If someone is taking you to court, the quickly settle it and come before the Lord,” because the LORD is saying, “How could the children of God go before nonbelievers to receive judgment? Quickly settle it before it gets to that point,” and you have to pay them back fully, so I hope you will pay them back. Look into my eyes, if you’re not making eye contact with me right now, it means you’re guilty; otherwise that person will have resentment. Even if that person is in Korea, that person still harbors resentment in their heart, and that is murder. God is not pleased with that. What happens if that person dies? Then the Bible tells you, “Go and pay back their relatives,” and if you’re not able to pay back that money at all, you need to give it before God. May you receive an answer and without a doubt, repay them. That’s the way to save them, isn’t that right?
How would you feel if you lend a tremendous amount of money to someone else and they didn’t pay you back? That person will always be in wrath from their perspective. Then, either you can repay them by going to jail, or you can just repay them, and if the person who is not paying them back is a Christian, a lot of people will say, “That’s why you can’t trust Christians. Because the ones creating money problems is Christians, and in reality non Christian’s do it more but we just notice it more if the person is a Christian, and from my perspective, I don’t think God will ever give you money that way. If you took money from someone else and you’re not giving it back to them, either way, God works through money. I hope you will give it before God.
If you cannot find them, and you’ve already done this or it’s already been done, and some people will run overseas but your heart will not be at peace and you need to resolve that before God, you need to resolve it before Christ. You need to use these materials for the Lord, otherwise, you yourselves will not be comfortable, and you can’t forget about it because 4the holy spirit is inside of you. Satan will also poke you with your guilt, so in those situations, say, “I will use this for the Lord.”
Money is extremely accurate. This past Sunday or the Sunday before that, I was talking about how when I did not have any money, I saw GodGod working accurately with money because Money is quantifiable, and I saw God worked so accurately. I experienced so much of that all though I’m sure you have as well. I hope you will be able to see this answer by repaying the debts that you owe, so I hope you will be able to see this answer to repay the debts you owe, but if not, use it for the Lord. Because for the people who have debts, God will not give them materials, because you’ve already stolen other people’s.
Either pay that person back or use it for God’s Life-saving movement. God has that kind of power; I hope that you will pray. I hope that you will pray and if you act with your faith, God will work. ”Oh but I’m so old, “ I don’t even have a job,” but if you hold onto this promise then God will even work through your children so I hope that you will. Why else would this person have this kind of resentment in their heart?
Don’t you think most human relationships are like that? If this person is treating me unjustly, it’s usually because of money. For every person, money is their master. So we need to pay them back so we will not be deceived by Satan. We need money to save lives. I think I’m going in a direction that’s very irrelevant to the Bible scripture, but I think there are some people who need to pay back some debts and it’s right in my eyes. That way, even if God does give me blessings, you can use those blessings to save. Let us go back to Deuteronomy 19.
Deut. 19:14, “Do not move your neighbor’s boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance in the land your Lord God is giving you to possess.” Nowadays we have all our boundaries drawn out by the law, but back then they would just plant some landmarks there but what if a strong man moves that in the middle of the night, it would be unfair.
Don’t do that, because it would be unfair for the weaker person. Deut. 19:15, It says in the later verses that one witness is not enough to convict anyone of any evil they committed but there must be two or three witnesses in order to confirm their guilt. So, if this person has committed a crime, are there witnesses? Its not enough to have one witness. There must be two or three. They must confirm that this crime has taken place, but what happens if three people plot together to make up a story to steal money from someone else?
Then it says in the later verses Deut. 19:16, if someone makes a witness that is proved by an investigation to be a lie, then the one who has given the false testimony must be judged before a priest or a judge. And once that judge has made a thorough investigation and proves that the witness was a liar, then in verse 19 it says “then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you.” so if you have given a false testimony against someone else then whatever you wanted from the other party will be done to you. What happens if the judge or priest is unable to give the correct judgment? That is not for us to know. That is why, King Solomon asked for the wisdom to be able to judge for his people accurately.
And there was an incident that is King Solmoon’s famous judgment. There were two women fighting. There was one baby and they were bruh fighting that ur wad their baby and this case made it before Solomon and he had had to make a judgment, and that’s King Solomon’s famous judgment. Then He said, “Let’s just split the baby in half, and we each have faith in blood.
There was one woman who was crying and said she would give up the case and the other women agreed to it. The woman who was crying in objection was the real mother and the woman who agreed to kill the baby was the fake mother. God is the one who judges but he raises up individuals and anointed them with the filling of the Holy Spirit to make the correct judgment. You and I cannot act so perfectly. There are some situations where we will borrow money and unintentionally not be able to pay it back, and there are other situations where we intentionally borrow money with the intention of not paying them back. That is the reason why the Lord has already crucified all of those sins on the cross. That is why the Holy Spirit comes inside of us, and with guidance, we walk with the power of the Holy Spirit. And it’s in God’s hands whether He gives financial power to the person.
That is determined based on whether this person’s financial state is centered on themselves or on God. If somebody thinks that material possessions are more important than Christ, then they are bound to live for and use the material possessions for themselves. And God will not give that to them, because it would crush and oppress them. They have to live the rest of their lives as slaves to material possessions. And not only that, but because everyone’s idol is money, there’s going to be so many reasons to fight with others. That is why, even before the material possessions, you must acknowledge that everything is within Jesus Christ, and that must go into your heart as the most valuable treasure. If there’s someone who needs your forgiveness, I hope you will go to that person first and forgive them and not make an enemy relationship with others. If you have been wronged, then it says in Matthew 5, do not avenge that wrong.
Imagine how unfairly you’ve been treated for to end up wanting revenge, but instead, forgive that person, but don’t forget the sin inside of that person. That is the word of the lord. He’s saying, “Do not make a relationship of animosity, and instead, fight against the three things Satan has placed into this person ever since they were young. And you need to change the things inside of them in order for them to come to life. That’s what we need to do first. Then what’ll happen? The people will start to come to life. And don’t you think that those kind of churches are the kingdom of God?
The church is a place where no matter anybody does, they can be forgiven. Because we’ve been forgiven first. I have no right, absolutely to judge anyone else, because I’ve already been forgiven of the debt where I cannot pay back even if I work my whole life. And if someone has borrowed just 100 denarii from us, do not shake them and try getting it from them. The Church must become the city of refuge and your church needs to become the city of refuge and your family.
Inside the family in your church it must be a city of refuge so no problem will be a problem but instead within the gospel you’re able to forgive one another even if your original reaction is anger. But there’s a reason you can’t do that, if money becomes your master then there will be conflict in your family. The parent will look at their child and the way they are studying they won’t make money in the future so the parents will get angry.
So you need to change the fundamental base where there’s no choice for anger to happen. I also Need Christ and my family needs Christ. I need Christ and every member of the church needs Christ. And I hope you’ll entrust this to the hand of Christ so he can make the judgment. All we can do is two or three people gather together and pray for that person. And only the church is like this. When you go into the world money and success is people’s idols so there are people that are actually killing others for that.
People are living their lives so that no matter what they try or what they think, they just want to get money from people. That means that in this world, people have no choice but to kill or be killed. That is why inside of the temple, build the refuge. Inside of your fields, create a regional church or an upper room meeting so that any person can come there to live. In your business fields, create a specialized church or a regional church where anybody can come to life and be saved. That is what the Lord told us to do when we go into the land of Canaan, the inheritance He promised to give us.
In this business or this company I have given you, you need to create the upper room meeting or the regional church or the specialized church that saves people. No matter whom you meet, you must save that person and because of you, do not create any relationships with anger or resentment for people, then what happens? If you want to seek your own advantage you’ll be bound to fall into a conflict. If a person is willing to be at a loss, it means it’s possible when money isn’t their master. They’re able to be at a loss because their life is living for saving others with the gospel. If someone wants to be served then you must serve.
The Lord always tells us to look at ourselves first and change ourselves first. Do not try to use someone else to gain an advantage, but you do that for others first. It is only possible because the Lord is our every treasure already. For the people who are moving finances, may you move them for Christ. You do not move finances for your own glory and greed but for the glory of Christ. Christ is truly our everything. I can forgive anyone for anything because I have the amount of grace and power to do that. If I’m not able to do that, then your prayer topic is to allow the Lord to do that for you.
It doesn’t matter how they have hurt me, I will save them. This word is bound to be fulfilled, that’s how we follow the word. We aren’t following God’s word to get what we want. We use the materials as a tool to save others. And the reason you’re going into your field is to save people through the city of refuge. You’re not going to your work to make money and do something, that’s not God’s plan. God said he has already prepared the inheritance he will give to you.
In conclusion, what is the greatest value inside of me? Can I be satisfied with all things in Christ alone? Even if I’m treated unfairly or something unfair happens, can I entrust it to the Lord? And can I pray for that person to be saved and for them to live ? That’s the kind of person to whom God will entrust material possession too. Because that’s a person who will use their material possessions to save others.
We say we are going to do temple construction but there are so many buildings in the world, so we don’t need another building of the world, but we need the building that has the content that saves people. Through these people, God desires for us to save the entire city, region, and America. Everything is in God’s hands and so rightfully, he has no choice but to answer.
I hope that, just like the gospel message God has given us this week, the gospel is so precious because only it can save people. And we do missions and evangelism to save people. We do not do missions and get something in return; for such people, the gospel isn’t their master but material possessions is their master. Through our thanksgiving, we are serving the church and giving offering to God. May this be a blessed day like that for you.”
Prayer
Let us take the word God has given us today, and pray for our family, church, and field or job to become a city of refuge that saves people. Let us pray together.
Our second prayer topic, let us pray together for Temple Construction. When I give you these prayer topics, you need to ask yourself before God again, “Why do I have to pray for Temple Construction?” Then, the Word God is continuously giving will become your answer. When that comes upon you will receive the answer of word fulfillment. In the world, people give donations but that is not what the Lord desires. That’s something that unbelievers with a lot of money can do. But we are doing this with the covenant God has given to us. The 237 nations must come to this place and be saved, the diseased and demon possessed that are scarred must come to this church and receive healing. These healed people must be changed into the summit to save people. That covenant of Temple Construction will do world evangelization. Let us pray together.
Our third prayer topic, the remnants of the 237 nations are here at the church, receiving healing, and so that they may be raised up as the summits who will save each of their nations. We must have that content as well as the facilities, so that’s why we must pray for Temple Construction. “God, give us the answer of Mission Home within our families so more and more disciples like this can come and receive training.” Let us pray together at this time for remnants of all ethnicities and for world evangelization.
Let us pray for regional evangelism. The Word that says we must save the 70 disciples in 70 regions means we must find that person in these regions who can play the role of the city of refuse. That person when you give them the word of the absolute covenant, they will react. Disciples do not react to any other word; only when I have the complete gospel will I have my meeting with them. If money is my master, then the people who also have money as their master in the field will meet me, then your life becomes miserable, let us pray for the remnants and church officer to rise to save the 70 disciples, regions, and nations.
Finally let us pray for our missions fields and let us especially pray for the weak and vulnerable inside our church. If there’s anyone in the church you have not been able to forgive, I pray you will hold onto the cross of Jesus Christ just as you have been forgiven. I hope you will forgive them and block the channel of Satan. After the prayer, we’ll have the benediction, church prayer, and personal prayer.
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, working, guidance, and communion of the Holy Spirit, be upon all the heads of all the people of God, the multiethnics, and the remnants who desire to be the city of refuge, holding onto the cross of Jesus Christ, be with us from now until forevermore always, amen.