The City of Refuge that Saves My Field within Jesus Christ (Numbers 35:1-15)
Today we will share the grace of God with Numbers 35. Until Numbers 34 we were talking about dividing the land of Cannan for different tribes. And each of the tribe raised a representative leader. When the Israelite people were living in Egypt, they did not have the grace of God, and they didn’t even seek God’s grace. They were so seized by this idea that I just have to live diligently, I just have to work hard, and that’s how the world right now works too.
Everyone says “I am enough, I can do whatever I want to do”. This is actually the forces of darkness that are seizing the thoughts and hearts of people invisibly. And then here people run into spiritual problems that are beyond our control. Spiritual problems are beyond our control. Spiritual problem is what you call when Satan controls you and brings disasters. But people don’t believe that because it’s invisible. So this strange concept for the blood of the lamb is how they escape.
How can we escape from the suffering of mankind with the blood of the lamb? We have to solve the suffering of mankind ourselves, or we should go to the hospital. That’s the way we learned in the world, people think we have to go to a psychologist to receive counseling. How is applying the blood going to help us? How is believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross going to help me from this? The people who don’t believe in these words, will be seized, but the people who understand these words will receive God’s grace.
If you’re able to believe in something that’s invisible, it means you received God’s grace. And when the Israelites exodus from Egypt, it means they escaped from all suffering. Once you’ve been liberated from your past, you shouldn’t live the same way. Now, we should live according to the word of God, following the power of God. That was the land of Cannan God promised to Abraham.
And until last week we were talking about how they divided the land of Canaan for each tribe. They divided up the regions in Canaan according to their own tribes. Is God a real estate agent? Why is God telling them to move lands? Is God telling you to go to the land he promised you because there’s no other land? If land is all we need we can do that with the power of man. But that’s not just any land. The land of Canaan is where the Messiah, Jesus Christ will be born. People talk about whether you live here or there, but what’s important is, “Does this land have God’s plan?” That’s why God told them to go to Canaan.
Once the Israelites are in Canaan, God is dividing the tribes for the region they will live but what about the Levites? God doesn’t divide the land for the Levites, then should the Levites live in midair? That’s Numbers 35, that God is telling us today.
In Numbers 35:1-2, it says, “The LORD commanded Moses,” God said to Moses, Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess,” and not only the towns but also give them pasturelands so the Levites can raise their flocks. This is different from when they were wandering around the wilderness. Now, they’re in the very expensive land of Canaan, so where should the Levites stay? Where should over 200,000 people remain within the designated land? That’s not what he’s saying. He’s saying that every tribe should give up a portion of their land nearby so the Levites can live nearby. If the tribe is big, then give them more land; if the tribe is small, then give up less land.
In Numbers 35:3, it says, “Then they will have these towns to live in and the pasturelands for their cattle.” Then Numbers 35:4 specifies the dimensions of the land each tribe should give. In Numbers 35:6, of the 48 towns to be given to the Levites, six of those towns shall be cities of refuge. This is where someone who has accidentally killed someone may flee.
And in verse 8 it says “tribes that have a lot of people receive more land, so give more to the Levites, and smaller tribes have been given less land, so give less to the Levites.” When God creates the cities of refuge, He places three on the west side of the Jordan and three on the east side. Then, all the other towns and pasturelands will be used for the places for the Levites to live. These towns will be close to the other 12 tribes, because the Levites must worship and teach other tribes pertaining to the Word of God.
In the wilderness, the Israelites were centered on the Tabernacle where the Levites ran everything. Now, in the land of Canaan, the land is so expansive that the Israelites have to live, scattered among the Israelites. From these areas, the Levites are spiritually influenced in saving the rest of Israel.
Starting from Numbers 35:9-10, it talks about the cities of refuge, but what is that? There was a law in biblical times that if someone killed someone else, they must be put to death. Back then, the laws were not so complicated as they are now, they were very simple: so if the murderer killed someone, they would have to die, too. However, in a situation where someone kills someone else accidentally without meaning to, there’s a city of refuge to protect this person from being stoned by everyone else.
So, if a person accidentally killed someone else, they would have to quickly go to a city of refuge so they can stand trial before someone kills them. The reason God set up the city of refuge is so that somebody who killed somebody accidentally will not be murdered unjustly before they are sentenced as innocent, and that’s why God says in Numbers 35:34-35, “do not pollute or defile the land I live in with unnecessary spilling of blood” because God is living with the Israelites in the land of Canaan. God is inside the Tabernacle and the ark of the covenant. That represents the modern day church.
The church is the shadow of Heaven where the throne of God resides. Even during the age of the tabernacle, God was residing with the Israelites through the Ark of the Covenant, but God is invisible. Even though God is invisible, He absolutely exists, and yes, it’s true that God can exist anywhere, but God is with us in the area of worship. In the Old Testament, it was the Tabernacle, and in the New Testament, it’s the church where we worship.
How is God with us? God comes upon us with His Word. So, if we come to worship and don’t receive God’s Word, then we haven’t received God’s grace. As evidence that God is with us, He gives us His Word because God is His Word and that Word of God has to come into me in order for the blessings of the throne of heaven to be within me. Jesus Christ is still doing the ministry of salvation, He’s still saving people right now and confirming salvation. Every time we worship, we should have this assurance and thankfulness for salvation.
Every time we worship, we confirm that all of our problems have been finished on the cross, and it’s not enough to just know this with your brain– God’s grace must be upon us. Every time we worship, the Holy Spirit’s power comes upon us, and that’s why every time we worship, every time we pray, God works upon us in power. This is how the Holy Triune God is seated at the throne of heaven and works upon us while we worship, and that’s the blessing of worship.
But when the Israelites used their worship just to focus on tradition, the forms, and the law, they lost the blessings of the throne of heaven. For us, every time we get married, we worship; when we die, we worship; when we move or get a new job, we worship; why? Because the blessing of the throne of heaven must come upon us. You need to know what worship is.
In the New Testament, Jesus says to worship in spirit and in truth, why? There’s no need to drag animals to sacrifice. Now, the way we worship is in spirit and in truth so the blessing of the throne of heaven comes upon us. In the Old Testament, they talked about the city of refuge and about these laws, but in the New Testament, Jesus Christ completed everything, so right now, we don’t have cities of refuge and we don’t have the Tabernacle anymore, and now, all the meaning that was here is contained within Christ.
All the High Priests remain within the cities of refuge. When the High Priest dies, all the refugees leave the city because if the High Priest dies, there is another High Priest. But nowadays, Jesus Christ is the true High Priest, so what is this all representing? It’s talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, within Jesus Christ, the cities of refuge and worship are all contained.
Now, instead of just the Levites, all the believers have the spiritual meaning of being a royal priesthood. In other words, now everyone can play the role of the city of refuge because God has made us into His temple. Yes, there is the stream of people who go full time towards working in the church. However, all these positions like the High Priest and the positions of Catholicism have been broken down, because now, Christ is inside of me. I’m now playing the role of the royal priesthood. Now, inside of me is the authority to save other people from their sin, Satan, and hell.
The city of refuge means protection. If you just go into the city of refuge, there’s peace. For us, today, what is the meaning of the city of refuge? It is a place where, if we unintentionally kill or hurt someone else, we may be protected. Everybody lives their lives stuck in spiritual problems, even though no one, not even the schools, teach this. We live our lives like this without even realizing it. You are the city of refuge who can save those people.
First and foremost, I myself must become the city of refuge by remaining within Jesus Christ. First and foremost, I must become that refuge by remaining within Jesus Christ, because even I myself, I’m deceived and attacked by Satan every time I forget about God’s covenant. So, first and foremost, I must seek refuge within the refuge of Jesus Christ. Inside of Jesus Christ, Satan and disasters can never enter. No matter where you try to run, you cannot escape from Satan and disasters. Even if you move from here to there, Satan and demons follow you around. Even if you move from this country to another country, demons follow you around, and that’s why you must remain within the city of refuge, Christ.
If you don’t believe in that, there’s no need to go to church. If it’s just about the law and tradition and the forms, then why would you go? There’s no need to do that. You do all those things so you can enjoy the blessing of Christ within them. So, I myself have to enjoy the city of refuge within Jesus Christ.
Spiritual problems are beyond my control; spiritual problems come down through the family line. Everything my father experienced is happening to me. The mother’s exact experiences go down to the father. The spiritual problems of the mom and dad go down to the children because the spiritual things are transmitted exactly, and when you keep going down the family line, it goes all the way to Adam and Eve. The spiritual problem Adam and Eve had, being separated from God and being seized by Satan has gone down to me. I don’t want to be depressed, but I’m always depressed. There’s nothing for me to be afraid of, but I get panic attacks while I’m alone. It’s possible that people may try drugs, but I fall into drugs and have no choice but to keep doing drugs.
Christ has finished these problems. Where do these problems come from? It didn’t come because you were doing something wrong morally and ethically, if that’s the problem, you can just act better, that’s something you can change with education. But this is a problem that you cannot change with education; it cannot be changed no matter how hard people try. Because Satan is working, I cannot change it, and that’s why I must remain within Christ.
People go to church but they don’t understand what these words mean, so they keep crumbling. The issue is not whether you’re inside the church building or not; this is just a building. Sitting in worship is not the issue. Am I spiritually within Christ? If we’re not spiritually within Christ, we can worship for decades and still have spiritual problems.
First, I must enjoy the city of refuge within Christ and second, your family must become a city of refuge. Even if there’s one person who knows this fact in the family, the entire family will be a city of refuge. We hear it so much but we don’t really know, and that’s why our family is like a battlefield. Because Satan is deceiving the entire family by making both sides fight against each other, but there’s not a single person who knows this, either.
Two people get married without knowing each other’s spiritual problems, then all these problems keep coming out unbeknownst to them. We marry this person, thinking they will be okay to marry but now we have twice as many problems, and later on, we’ll say, “I don’t want to be with them anymore.” It’s hard enough to live by myself, but now we have twice as many problems, I don’t want that. So I’ll say, ‘Our personalities are too different, let’s separate.” Whether you live with someone else or separately, it’s still a problem. If someone who does not know how to be in Christ gets married, they will have twice as many problems.
First and foremost, I should be happy. I need to have true joy and happiness within Christ. Jesus Christ allowed us to have true joy and happiness on the cross, but someone who doesn’t have that and gets married thinking that will make them happy, their suffering will double. Jesus Christ completed everything on the cross, so we and our family must remain within Christ. That’s how all these unintentional problems that are invisible to our eyes will be broken.
Everybody has this, and if you don’t know this, you’ll always be taken in by it. It may sound like I’m threatening you, but it’s not a threat; it’s just the facts. No matter how hard you try, if you don’t have God’s grace, you cannot know spiritual things. Your family should be a city of refuge. If a child is born into a family, they should have spiritual rest and peace. What happens if we don’t enjoy spiritual peace in the house? That’s why all the kids want to leave the house. Even if they leave the family, it’s not much better outside. That’s why your church must become a mission home.
It’s not about doing something great, it’s about becoming the city of refuge, the city of rest. I myself must become a city of rest. “If I meet this person, I’m strangely drawn to them.” That’s how it should be. Of course, because you are enjoying Jesus Christ inside of you, people should be drawn to you. “I can do all things in Christ who gives me strength.”
There are so many things that don’t work out when we meet people, first of all, people are exhausting, but what shouldn’t work out? If it’s according to God’s will, everything is possible. People are always nitpicking about things unnecessarily. You should feel that it’s easy to communicate with someone. If I’m not able to enjoy this peace in myself, I’m going to be so oppressed by law. I’m going to lock myself within this oppressive law. Our spirit doesn’t gain peace. We think we have to lock ourselves up with the law in order to make ourselves better people, and that’s what comes out to other people, we judge ourselves based on this law.
The church should become the city of refuge. The church is not a place where you come to work. The church is also not a place where you’re trying to achieve your own egoistic accomplishments. You receive God’s grace and then do the work of the Lord. There are about three people who signed up six or eight times to serve the church lunch. Who cares if you sign up ten or thirty times? If you do the work of the Lord, you should be happy. But if you think of it as the work you’re doing in the world, you’ll start to question, “Why should I do this seven times?” I hope you will enjoy the work you do for the church like doing it for the Lord. What you’re doing for the other person is actually doing it for the Lord and for your benefit. Everybody in the world works for themselves, but we work for the Lord.
How do you do things for the Lord? Whatever you do for the young student or the person in need is what you do for the Lord, so you just give as you have. There’s no need to talk about it because you’re doing it in front of the Lord, and the Lord rewards you. “If I do more here, then God is going to bless my business?” It’s like you’re investing or playing the lotto. “If I do the Lord’s work a lot, then maybe God will bless my kids.” Successful people in the world don’t even think about that.
It’s not about this world, it’s about the kingdom of heaven. God already knows, so you serve without making any noise. Even when you help other people, you don’t have to make any noise about it. If you keep exalting your own goodness, you’ve already received your reward on earth so there’s no reward for you in heaven, so it’s best if you don’t allow others to know. If it gets revealed, that’s fine because the Lord already knows, what I’m saying is that when I come to church, it should be like the city of refuge.
If someone is spiritually weaker, we allow them to lie down. If someone has received more grace, they can serve in accordance to the amount of grace they’ve received, but we must never lose hold of worship. We receive strength and grace from worship, and we do God’s work with that grace. So, the church should become a city of refuge. When new believers come, they should feel spiritual rest here; it’s already hard enough in the world.
First and foremost, when they come, you should be able to feed them. Even Jesus, when He met with His disciples, He fed them first, so it means we should make things with abundance. Instead of spending so much in the world to try to exalt your own name, spend it in the church, I see in my neighborhood that parents will go all-out for their children’s birthdays. Instead of spending so much money on things like that, spend it on the Lord. These kids spend money they don’t even have to go on vacations, and then when parents send their kids off, they’ll sell their possessions to send them abroad. Do it for the Lord, do you understand?
A person needs to know what is most important.. The person who is weakest in the church is most important because that’s where God is most interested. I should be interested in what God is interested in. What happens if I’m interested in things that God isn’t interested in? We should be interested in the people who are weakest and most vulnerable, then we serve them through prayers, the Word of God, and material possessions, and that’s how they come to life.
You don’t have to worry about people who are already doing well. You don’t have to concern yourself with people who are doing well already, no need to meddle with them. You should go to the one who is not doing well and help them to rise up. That’s how people will come to church, they receive healing, and come to life. Then when you go out into your field, your field should be a city of refuge. When you work, you shouldn’t just be working, it should be a city of refuge. So, make it so that anyone who comes to your job will come to life.
If you’re working just to work, that’s irrelevant to God. However, if you’re working to save people and to be a city of refuge, that’s what God desires. God isn’t interested in your job. You may be interested in your job, but God is not interested in your job. Jesus Christ did not die on the cross for your job. The people who are separated from God are better at business, just like Cain, but God’s business and my business should be aligned. God’s interest is not in my business, but it’s within the people who are connected to my business. When my interest is aligned with God’s interest, that’s when God’s work takes place.
When we have business missions on Saturday, it means you have to be healed of your business. Someone may think, “I already know all the messages,” but there’s a difference between knowing with your brain and having it rooted in your heart, there’s a difference between knowing it in your brain and having it be your nature. If your business’s second nature is to save people, then you don’t have to go to these Saturday training. Then that person can train other people, but until that point, we need to receive training ourselves.
If people say they don’t have time, do you really want to try living while having no time? It’s not going to work out according to your plans. If God makes it so that you really don’t have time, then you really won’t have any time. There’s a lot of time if you’re in the hospital 24 hours a day. If you’re unemployed, you’ll have a lot of time to do 24 hours. Training is when you receive training in your actual, present-day reality.
Then, what takes place? The real training is changing your priorities. “I don’t have time, so maybe I can make some time here.” Even if that person goes to training, they’re not receiving training. If God determines the time, then I let go of everything of mine and I go to training,” so it’s only possible for someone to receive training if their priorities change. If someone does everything they want to do and say, “Oh, if I have time left over, I’ll go into training,” that person cannot receive training because their priorities are wrong.
So, there’s no need to force yourself to do something legalistically. You just do things according to the grace God gives you, until that point, just come on Sundays because we have training on Sundays as well. That’s all you have to do, because the Word of God doesn’t change depending on what day you come.
However, when God gives us the training and guides us forward with His Word, it’s because the grace he prepared is so much greater. Think about it, if this church is the city of refuge, then your field is also the city of refuge. Your field needs the city of refuge where people who are spiritually suffering may come and receive salvation. Otherwise, what do you think will happen? It means the economy of darkness will go into that business; that’s what this means.
Paul’s logic is, either you proclaim the gospel or the harm will befall you. If I don’t proclaim this gospel, then harm will befall me, so it’s rightful that we should proclaim the gospel. If I don’t have the grace to proclaim this gospel, then I will be at a loss because that means that I’m losing hold of the gospel and I’m only chasing after the world, so of course, I’m going to be hurt.
For all the students, may your schools be a city of refuge. This is possible for students because it’s done by faith. You’re a city of refuge because God is with you by faith, that means it is possible for students, even preschoolers, because we’re not doing anything. You’re a city of refuge and when people come to you, you can just tell them about Christ. It’s possible for anyone so it doesn’t matter how young you are. No matter what field you’re in, you should be saving people. There’s a lot of church buildings in America but there aren’t enough people in the field to save people. There are a lot of Christians who give offering to churches, but not a lot of people who can save people in the fields.
Then, what do you think is happening? Yes, we’re thankful for giving offering as well, because through that, missions and temple construction are taking place, but who is going to save those souls in your field? God has entrusted your business and field to you, and God has attached these people through your business so you can save them spiritually; you are the city of refuge who saves those people.
That’s the New Year’s message, to save myself, my church, and my field, and if you want to include one more, that’s your family because your family is you. For the parents, their children is part of them. Save them with Christ, save them with the blessing of the throne of heaven. Until the remnants and the businesspeople who know that arise, until they arise, the field will keep on crumbling, “Isn’t it enough to go to church on Sundays?” That’s not what it means. You may have received salvation, but your field is dying.
The businessperson who will be the city of refuge where God is interested in. That’s what we call the 70 disciples. All the disciples used in the Bible were like this, they would sell clothes they made to proclaim the gospel. Lydia was a seller of scarlet silk, so as she sold her fabric, she proclaimed the gospel, and all of this stream is within the church.
It’s not all the same. There are people who stand in the line of the covenant. Everyone has their own time schedule but such people exist. The stream of the covenant must be my stream, and that’s how the Bible and I will be aligned. It doesn’t matter if someone has read the Bible 100 or 200 times and they know so much if it isn’t aligned with their life at all.
There were 7 remnants who were used in the Bible, and their stream had to be the same in my life. If the field of my life is not actually aligned with the 7 remnants of the Bible, then it’s just Bible study, it’s not really in my life. Because Jesus Christ has finished all problems on the cross, inside of Jesus Christ is your refuge, your rest, salvation, and the solution to all spiritual problems. Because it’s spiritual, we enjoy it through prayer. And we can evangelize to other people transcending time and space through prayer.
So when you meet this person and it’s God’s time schedule for them, you can shine the light of Christ to them, so we’re not saying to do anything; it is simply to enjoy being in Christ and praying to save all the people you think of, those who are related to you, because whenever you pray, the spiritual walls are being broken down. You have all the people you meet in your school and job, and when God gives them problems, that’s your opportunity to give them answers.
On Tuesday, my daughter went to school and she said you had to bring in a COVID test result. We went to a school to get one of those rapid tests, and there was a long line for the test. I went there for my daughter, right? You guys go to your jobs to make money because you have to work to make money. That’s how you’re going to eat and survive. My kid has to get tested for COVID to go to school, but you have to have another motive, too.
What does God want? So, I walked around the school, and it took me about 5,000 steps, and I try to walk 10,000 every day. I went there for my daughter, but I actually went to that school to evangelize, and I’m sure some people may say, “How is walking around a school campus evangelizing?” That’s someone who doesn’t understand what it means to transcend time and space.
As I was walking around the school, I was praying, then without a doubt, God answers prayer. I don’t know His time schedule. But no matter what, I came here for what seemed like a worldly purpose, but it was for evangelism, because, why would I go to that school if it weren’t for my daughter? If you just designate, “Let’s go evangelize here,” that’s just once in awhile, but you guys live your everyday lives. It seems like you’re living an everyday life, but God is interested in spiritual things.
Until you have that nature. That’s what we call the imprint, root, nature of evangelism, then that person evangelizes wherever they go. If someone goes into a region for the first time, they have to lay down the prayer background there. Then, no matter what, as evidence that your prayers break down Satan’s kingdom, the evidence will come in God’s time schedule. God is constantly interested in saving souls, but I’m only interested in getting a COVID test, so that’s why I don’t recognize the spiritual things, it’s the same thing with your spiritual field, Yes, you need to go there and make money, but for someone whose spiritual eyes are opened, they’re evangelizing everyday and as time passes, they’ll receive answers as Joseph received because the spiritual things influence us.
The throne of heaven is moving, and the kingdom of Satan is being broken down, and then the life movement takes place. Someone who’s able to do this, a church officer who does this, a remnant who does this, everywhere they go, they change everything. So, that’s not something we work really hard for; it happens according to God’s time schedule. May you enjoy this blessing.
Prayer
Let’s pray together holding onto the Word God gave us. “God, may I be the spiritual city of refuge within Jesus Chirst, my church, my family, and my fields to save lives.”
One more prayer topic. I have to remain within the line of enjoying and testifying of this covenant, and even when you do business, you should do business with people who are like this. If you make a partnership with someone who isn’t like that, your life will be in vain because you can ultimately not win over the forces of darkness. So, if possible, just wait and only do things if you’re sure of the covenant. Let’s pray for our fields and our missions fields.
God, we thank You. Allow Sylvia to enjoy the gospel like the city of refuge. Please give her the grace to be able to save many people in her field and in DC. We pray that You will give the blessing of Christ in exactly the same way to her boyfriend. Please give him the blessing of the city of refuge so that they may be used to save Mongolia and the 237 nations of the world.
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 who desire to save themselves, their field, and the church within Jesus Christ, upon their families and businesses and studies, be with us from now until forevermore always, amen.