Produced by Heiko Evermann, Marcia Brooks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from scans of public domain works at the University of Michigan's Making of America collection.) THE CITIES OF REFUGE. [Illustration: The Man-Slayer] THE CITIES OF REFUGE: OR, The Name of Jesus. A SUNDAY BOOK FOR THE YOUNG. BY REV. JOHN R. MACDUFF, D.D., AUTHOR OF "MORNING AND NIGHT WATCHES," "MEMORIES OF BETHANY," "MIND AND WORDS OF JESUS," ETC., ETC. "How sweet the NAME of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear! It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear." NEW YORK: ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, No. 530 BROADWAY. 1865. MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, This little book contains, with a few additions, the substance of what was spoken one Sabbath to a number of hearers of your own age. It may serve to recall to those that listened to it, and to unfold to those who did not, some simple and well-known, but precious gospel truths. May He whose NAME it is designed to exalt, bless you in reading it, and enable you from the heart to repeat as your own happy experience, the well-known verse of the beautiful hymn I have put on the title-page. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan; then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you."--NUM. xxxv. 9-11. I. When travelling lately through the Simplon--one of the great Alpine passes leading from Switzerland into Italy--I observed, close by the roadside, at regular distances, a number of plain, square buildings. On these (sometimes over the doorway, sometimes on the side) were inscribed the words--"REFUGE No. 1," "REFUGE No. 2," "REFUGE No. 3," &c. I think there were twenty altogether. I was told, on inquiry, they were intended as shelters for any hapless travellers who might be overtaken by the sudden storms which so often sweep down from the snow-white mountains bounding the prospect. These "_Refuges_," at the time I saw them, were empty, for it was in the beginning of summer, when everything, even in that elevated region, was looking bright and green. The Alpine rhododendron was flushing, with its pink blossom, the mountain sides; or growing up, along with the lovely blue gentian, close by stray patches of winter's snow which were still filling the ridges and hollows in the higher parts of the pass. Seldom at this season are travellers exposed to any peril from an Alpine storm. It is different, however, in winter or spring, when the avalanches come tumbling from the heights, or the snow is drifting in huge masses over that wonderful Road. Many shivering wayfarers have fled with thankful hearts into these shelters. Some have been carried thither, in a state of insensibility, by unknown benefactors, and on gradually awaking to consciousness, have blessed the kind hearts and hands which have saved them from certain death, and are now ministering to their necessities. By others, alas! they have been reached too late. Rescued from the snows of the mountain, they have been conveyed to them only to die. As I passed those Alpine "Retreats," I could not help being reminded of the wonderful _Cities of Refuge_ which God graciously provided of old in Palestine for the unfortunate manslayer. It sometimes happened, in the land of Canaan, as in our own country, that a Hebrew, without any evil purpose, would cause the death of a brother Hebrew. He did not intend to inflict any injury; it was the result only of unhappy accident. But, nevertheless, to show God's detestation of the shedding of blood, he was liable, by the Levitical law, to be killed by the Avenger, or "Goel,"--the person nearest related to the murdered man. If he wished to escape with his life, his only chance of safety was to flee to one of these Refuge-cities. It mattered not what his age, or name, or station in life was. He might be young or old, prince or noble, priest or prophet, he was exposed every moment to death, unless he availed himself of the offered shelter. There was no time for delay, he must betake himself to instant flight. To linger might be to perish. Do you not think with pity of the unhappy fugitive, obliged thus suddenly to leave his home and all he most loved on earth? If at the time he caused the death, he was working in his vineyard, the pruning-hook must be left to rust on the branch. If he was ploughing with his yoke of oxen, they must be left lowing in the furrow. If he was busied in his harvest-field, the sheaves must be left unbound, and the reapers receive their wages from another's hands. If he was returning home fatigued at evening after the toils of the day, and longing for grateful repose, he dare give no "sleep to his eyes, nor slumber to his eye-lids." His child may be lying pining in sickness at his cottage, but it may endanger him to return to clasp that and his other little ones in his embrace, and bid them a fond farewell. He may have no time to alter his raiment or take even his scrip or pilgrim-staff. The Avenger of blood may be in the adjoining street, or in the dwelling hard by. Another hour may be fatal;--"Skin for skin, all that a man hath will he give for his life."[1] Off he speeds in breathless haste--now along the level road--now up the steep ascent--with his breast heaving, and drops of perspiration standing on his brow. Friends may meet him, but with a wave of the hand, and shouting "Goel! Goel!" he rushes on with fleet footstep. Parched with thirst in the hot noonday, he turns a longing eye on the ripe grapes that are hanging in purple clusters on the wayside, or on the water trickling down the narrow ravine. But he dare not pause. Knowing full well that the Avenger is in close pursuit, he hurries on with unabated ardor. Happy sight, when he sees at last, on some mountain slope, the longed-for shelter! Happy, when, weary and footsore, covered with dust, the portals of the city close him in. A few moments before, had he been overtaken on the mountain-top by his pursuer, he might have been heard to cry out, in the bitterness of despair, "Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?" Now, safe within the secure shelter, he can rejoicingly exclaim, even with the Avenger standing close by, "O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end."[2] These _Cities of Refuge_ form one of the Old Testament PICTURES of the sinner, and of the coming gospel salvation. This was the way God took to teach the Jewish people great gospel truths. Just as we know that youthful readers like a story-book all the better when it has got pictures in it; so God taught the early church, when it was in a state of "_childhood_," by means of similar _pictures_ or _types_; and the present was one of them. It represented, and still represents, the sinner who has broken the Divine law as pursued by an avenger: JUSTICE following with drawn sword, exclaiming, "_The soul that sinneth it must die._"[3] "_Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not escape unpunished._"[4] This is a picture, too, which applies to every one without exception, rich and poor, parent and child, master and servant; "for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."[5] But a glorious CITY, "_salvation_ its walls and bulwarks," opens its gates. The sinner is exhorted to "escape thither;" to "linger not in all the plain;" to "flee for his life, lest he be consumed."[6] That city is _Jesus_, the sinner's Refuge and the sinner's Friend. Once within its walls, no enemy can touch him,--no sword can terrify him. He can triumphantly exclaim, "Who shall separate me from the love of Christ?"[7] Dear young friends, it is because I know this City of Refuge is open for the youngest of _you_, that I now write these pages. I love to read about a group of little ones who, eighteen hundred years ago, were gathered round its gates, asking admission; and when others, with unkind words, were sending them away, He who held the gates in His hand, "_who openeth and no man shutteth_,"[8] said, "_Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven._"[9] It is because I believe and know that many as young as _you_ have obeyed the Saviour's invitation, and have already entered this happy City, that I ask you to come and hear while I speak to you about it. I believe and know that many such have learned to feel that they are sinners, and that they need a Saviour. They have been taught by God's own Word and Spirit that they have broken His holy law, and have thereby exposed themselves to eternal death. But they are now safe within the Gospel Shelter. The "enemy" is "stilled." The "avenger" has sheathed his sword. I think I can hear their youthful voices, as they march through the streets of the City, singing, "_Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest_ STILL _the enemy and the_ AVENGER."[10] "_Blessed be the Lord; for He hath showed me His marvellous kindness in_ A STRONG CITY."[11] II. THE SIX CITIES. "And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. And on the other side Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the Tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities appointed for all the Children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever Killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the Avenger of Blood, until he stood before the Congregation."-JOSH. xx. 7-9. II. It is of these _six cities_ here mentioned, I am now going to speak. The name of each of the six has something significantly to tell about THE NAME OF JESUS. They are six pictures of the Saviour, hung up in the Old Testament picture-gallery. I am going to ask you to take a journey with me to these towns of old Palestine. Before we enter their gates, I should like again to repeat the verse of the precious hymn placed at the beginning of this book:-- "How sweet the NAME of _Jesus_ sounds In a believer's ear! It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, And drives away his fear." [Illustration: Kedesh] First City--Kedesh. If you look far north in the map of Palestine above the lake of Merom, near the snowy peaks of mount Hermon and Lebanon, you will see where this Refuge-city lies. Recent travellers describe its ruins as still standing on a rocky ridge in the midst of green hills, surrounded with the remains of forts and castles built by the Crusaders in the middle ages. It was situated within the tribe of Naphtali, and must have been it great town at the time when the old warrior Barak, who was born within its walls, marched from its gates to meet Sisera in the plain below with his nine hundred chariots of iron. What does its name tell of Christ? The Hebrew word KEDESH signifies "_Holy_." Jesus was "_The Holy One_." Not one stain of sin polluted His holy human nature. Angels in heaven, as they cast their crowns at His feet, cry, "_Holy! holy! holy_!"[12] Devils on earth were compelled to exclaim, "_We know thee who thou art, the_ HOLY ONE _of God_."[13] Jewish priests, as they spake of Him of old by types, took "_a lamb without blemish_."[14] Jewish prophets, as they spake of Him in their predictions, called Him "_The Righteous_ (_or_ HOLY) _Branch_."[15] Apostles, as they wrote about Him, said "_He was_ HOLY, _harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners_."[16] When He was Himself on earth, He could challenge His bitterest foes, "_Which of you convinceth me of sin?_"[17] And when He came down, soon after His ascension, from His throne in the skies, we find Him proclaiming as His name, "_He that is_ HOLY, _He that is True_!"[18] Reader, remember this. Jesus never could have saved you unless He had been "glorious in holiness." If He had had one sin in Him, you and I must have been lost for ever. Just as one leak in Noah's ark of old would have sunk it, so one leak of sin in Jesus, the true Ark, would have plunged us all in the depths of eternal despair. Let us, then, love often to walk round the walls of KEDESH, and think of _our_ "City of Refuge" as "_The_ HOLY _Child Jesus_."[19] And when you ponder _His_ holiness, seek to be holy, as _He_ was. How He hated sin! How He loved to do His heavenly Father's will! How gentle, and good, and kind He was to all! He never was angry, or passionate, or revengeful. When a youth, at His early home in Nazareth, "He increased in favour with God and man."[20] Be _like_ Jesus in His _holiness_! Let _KEDESH_ be a word written on your young hearts! Whenever you are in trouble or difficulty, or temptation, always ask, "How would the HOLY JESUS have acted here?" Turn the words of your well-known hymn into a prayer. While you say-- "I love the NAME of Jesus, Immanuel, Christ the Lord; Like fragrance on the breezes, His _name_ abroad is pour'd;"-- seek also to add-- "I long to be _like_ Jesus, Meek, lowly, loving, mild; I long to be _like_ Jesus, The Father's HOLY Child!" [Illustration: Shechem] Second City--Shechem. Shechem was situated at the extremity of a valley among the hills of Ephraim. The famous mountains of Ebal and Gerizim rose on either side, from the slopes of which the blessings and the curses of the law were proclaimed in the ears of assembled Israel. If Jerusalem was the greatest and the grandest of the cities of Palestine, Shechem was perhaps the most beautiful. It is still spoken of by travellers as one of the loveliest spots in the Holy Land, with its orchards of olive, fig, and pomegranate, and its flocks of singing-birds, which have made the inhabitants give to the graceful slope on which it looks down, the name of the "Musical Valley." I don't know if the streets in the olden time resembled what they are now. The following is the recent description of a traveller familiar with them:--"The streets are narrow and vaulted over, and in the winter time it is difficult to pass along many of them on account of brooks, which rush over the pavement with deafening roar.... It has mulberry, orange, pomegranate, and other trees mingled in with the houses, whose odoriferous flowers load the air with delicious perfume during the months of April and May."[21] You do not require to be told that _Shechem_ is a very ancient city, and that many interesting events in sacred story took place in connexion with it. The earliest mention made of it is when the patriarch Abraham slept under its oaks, (the Terebinths of Moreh,) when he came to Canaan from distant Chaldea, and erected his first altar under their shade;[22] and one of the last Bible notices regarding it, is in connexion with the woman of Samaria, when Jesus sat with her at "the well of Sychar," and spoke to her of the better fountain, "springing up to everlasting life."[23] What does the name SHECHEM tell of Christ? It is a word which means "SHOULDER." Jesus, our Refuge, bore a guilty world upon His shoulder. The ancients had a fabled Atlas, who was supposed to carry the earth on his shoulders. Jesus Christ is the true ATLAS. "_Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows!_"[24] All the sins of all His people Jesus bore for ever away. Think of that heavy load which bowed Him down to the ground in the garden of Gethsemane, and caused drops of blood to fall from His brow! No other one _but_ Jesus could have carried such an awful load and burden as this. No angel or archangel could have done so. Jesus, being God, was alone "able to save unto the uttermost."[25] He is the only "sure foundation" that could sustain all the building.[26] With any other, it would have fallen into a mass of ruins. But I love not only to visit the old city of _Shechem_, and to think of Jesus bearing the guilt of His people on His _shoulders_, but I like to think of Him as the true SHECHEM _now_. He is our _Shechem_ at God's right hand. "The government is upon His SHOULDER."[27] The Church and the world are upheld by Him. Believers--the poorest, the weakest, the humblest--are on the _shoulders_ of Jesus. He is bearing the weight of them all; loving them all, attending to them all, interceding for them all. All that befalls me, Jesus orders. Food and raiment, health and strength, friends and home, are gifts from Him. Every tear I shed, He knows it, He appoints it. If he sends me sorrow and trial, I will go and enter the gates of this city SHECHEM, and remember, "_Jesus_ (Jesus, who died for me) bears me on his _shoulder_!" Moses speaks of God conducting the children of Israel through the wilderness of old as a kind father carries on his shoulder his weak and weary child. "_Thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son._"[28] And David says in an hour of trouble, "_I am poor and needy, yet the Lord_ (lit) _carries_ me on his heart."[29] I like to look at that New Testament picture--Jesus, the good Shepherd, carrying a bleating sheep or lamb back on His shoulder to the fold. That poor wanderer had gone astray on the dark mountains; but the great and gracious Shepherd had gone after it "until He found it; and when He _had_ found it, _He laid it on His SHOULDERS, rejoicing_."[30] Young reader, what _perfect_ security and safety you have in Jesus, and in His Gospel City! Far, far more so than the manslayer had of old in his. I daresay, even although he was delivered from the Avenger, the Hebrew refugee could not help at times dreading lest the other might come upon him secretly. I daresay, at night, on his lonely couch, he would sometimes dream of the Goel stealing beside his pillow, and he would start from his unquiet sleep at the scaring vision. Not so in the case of those who have fled to the "Gospel Refuge." They can say in sweet confidence, "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; because thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety."[31] He who is their "_Keeper_" says of them, "_They shall never perish; neither shall any pluck them out of my hand._"[32] [Illustration: Hebron] Third City--Hebron. Hebron is the most ancient of all the cities of Canaan. It was as old, if not older, than Damascus, and was built seven years before Zoar in Egypt. After wandering about from place to place in the land of promise, pitching their tents and altars, it was here the patriarchs had, for the first time, a settled home. We need not wonder at their selection of the old Canaanite city, on the peaceful slope of the southern hills, nestling amid olive-groves and terebinths, and looking down on one of the most fertile valleys in Palestine, with its orchards and corn-fields. On its eastern height is the spot which gives it to this day perhaps its most sacred interest--the cave of Machpelah, where the dust of the patriarchs has reposed for four thousand years. It must have been outside its walls that the angels appeared to Abraham, when he was seated at his tent door. The adjoining height is pointed out as the place from which the patriarch saw the smoke of burning Sodom rising from its own deep valley. It was in Hebron David was anointed king over Israel. It was amid its vineyards and mountain-slopes that John the Baptist grew up as a little boy, before he appeared in the wilderness of Judea, to tell of One mightier than he, "whose shoe-latchet" he was "not worthy to unloose."[33] What does the name HEBRON tell of Christ? In Hebrew it means "_fellowship_," "_society_," "_friendship_." JESUS has brought guilty man into fellowship with God. On account of sin we had forfeited this fellowship. We had made God not our friend, but our enemy. We were cut off from communion with all that is holy and happy. Angels, in their errands of mercy through the universe, passed by our world; they could hold no intercourse with those who had rebelled against their Creator. Can none bridge this wide gulf which separates between earth and heaven? Can no ladder be let down by which happy angels can descend once more on their visits of love, and fallen man once more be raised up to hold "fellowship" with God and holy creatures? JESUS is the true HEBRON--the true ladder of Jacob let down from heaven and reaching to earth. Jesus has "reconciled things on earth and things in heaven,"[34] He hath "raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places."[35] We who were once "afar off" have been "brought nigh by the blood of Christ."[36] I trust many who read this will love often to visit in thought the old city of the patriarchs, and to dwell on its name and meaning, "_fellowship_." Think of what _you_ would have been without Jesus, your Hebron-City of Refuge,--a poor outcast in creation, an alien from all that is holy and happy. But by Jesus all is changed. God is your Father--Christ is your elder Brother. In Him, God loves you,--angels visit you,--the Holy Spirit teaches you,--heaven is open for you. You are enrolled as a citizen of the great _Hebron_ above--"the city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Christ has made you to be members of the great heavenly family; so that the little child who loves Jesus, is brother or sister to the archangel before the throne! You may be deprived of human friendship and fellowship. The brother or sister, the father or mother, or friend you once dearly loved, may be laid in some earthly Machpelah--some silent grave. But rejoice! nothing can separate you from a better friend and more lasting fellowship. Though all earthly joys were to perish, you can always rush within the gates of that mighty Hebron of refuge, and say, "_Truly our_ 'FELLOWSHIP' _is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ_." "Earthly friends may pain and grieve me, One day kind, the next they leave me; But this Friend can ne'er deceive me-- Oh, how He loves!" [Illustration: Bezer] Fourth City--Bezer. BEZER was situated beyond the Jordan, in the tribe of Reuben. Although its precise site has not been discovered, we may infer that it was perched on one of the many rocky heights among the mountains of _Abarim_,--perhaps a spur of the great mount Nebo, from whose summit Moses was permitted, before death, to get a view of the Land of Promise. The northern portion of the waters of the Dead Sea would be seen from it, and the pastoral mountains of Judah in the distance. From its name, as well as from its being a border town, and subject to attack from the warlike tribe of Moab, Bezer would probably be strongly fortified,--similar, perhaps, in this respect to the towns in the neighbourhood, with which the Israelites were so struck on their first approach to Canaan, with "their walls great and high, reaching to heaven." What does the name BEZER tell of Christ? It literally means "_stronghold_," or Rock. Jesus is the believer's BEZER. The sinner is in danger everywhere else, but in Jesus he is safe. He is invited to "turn to the STRONGHOLD" as a "prisoner of hope," and once within its gates, "though an host encamp against him," he need "fear no evil." What a mighty force _does_ encamp against him! There is _God's Holy Law_, with all its terrible threatenings and curses. But sheltered in the true BEZER he can triumphantly say, "It is God that justifieth: who is he that condemneth?"[37] There is _Satan_, with his artful wiles and countless temptations. He was once a bright angel himself. He knows what holiness and happiness are. But being now a wicked spirit, he would make others as wicked and unhappy as himself. He is spoken of in the Bible as "a strong man armed."[38] But Jesus is "stronger" than this strong man. If you have fled for refuge to this great gospel _Bezer_, seated within its secure bulwarks you can joyfully exclaim, "_I will say of the Lord, He is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whose I will put my trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower._"[39] There is your own _Wicked Heart_, with its sinful thoughts, and vain imaginations, and deep corruptions--for a man's worst foes are often those of his own household. One of these heart-foes will tempt you to tell a lie; another to swear; another to be dishonest; another to be selfish; another to be passionate; another to be unkind. But He that is _for_ you, is greater than they that are _against_ you. Safer than in any earthly castle, you can take up your warrior-song, "_The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe._"[40] There are the _Trials and Sorrows and Distresses of this world_,--those things that cause sad hearts and tearful eyes. But that blessed Saviour--your Rock and Stronghold--"knows your sorrows," for He felt them. He marks your tears, for He shed the same himself. Fleeing to this true BEZER in the time of affliction, you can dry your tears and sing, "_God also will be a refuge for the distressed, a refuge in the time of trouble; and they that know thy name shall put their trust in thee._"[41] And there is _Death_, the last enemy of all. But even over this King of terrors and Terror of kings, you can shout in triumph from your Divine shelter, "_O death, where is thy sting?... Thanks be to God, who giveth me the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ._"[42] And Jesus is a Stronghold for _all_. I have already spoken of the little children of old rushing to its gates,--infants smiling fearless in the Saviour's arms. He combines the majesty of Deity with the tenderness of man. If He had been the great God alone, you might have been awed at the thought of going to Him. But what says the prophet Isaiah of this true BEZER?--"_A MAN shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest._"[43] He Himself says in another scripture, "_I will turn mine hand upon the little ones._"[44] In one of the great strongholds that were besieged in our last Indian rebellion, the Christian mothers were wont to hush their infants asleep by singing, "_God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble._" My young friends, "_as one whom his mother comforteth_," so is God willing to "_comfort you_;" and here is His word of comfort: "_The Lord is good, a STRONGHOLD in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him._"[45] In the old Cities of Refuge no weapons of any kind were allowed to be made. Those who possessed them had to surrender them. This is true in a nobler and better sense regarding the Gospel Stronghold. There can be no deadly weapons forged there. Their edge is blunted: "_There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus._"[46] Satan's armoury has been plundered; the "Stronger than he" has "_taken from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divided the spoil_."[47] I have said that the word BEZER means "_Rock_" as well as "stronghold." "_Trust in the Lord for ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength_," or, (marginal reading,) "THE ROCK OF AGES."[48] May you not well say, with your eye on this glorious "Refuge"-- "Dear NAME, the ROCK on which I build, My shield and _hiding-place_; My never-failing treasury, fill'd With boundless stores of grace!" "ROCK of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee!" [Illustration: Ramoth] Fifth City--Ramoth. RAMOTH was situated in Gilead, within the tribe of Gad, and somewhere near the banks of the brook Jabbok, where, you know, Jacob wrestled in prayer with the angel. It must have occupied a commanding position among the beautifully-wooded glens of Gilead, and, like Bezer, been strongly fortified. We infer this latter from the many sieges it had undergone. Being not only, like the other, a border town of Palestine, but situated in the direct route taken by the invading Syrian armies, it must have been constantly exposed to hostile attacks. You can think of Ramoth, then, among the hills and slopes on the other side of the Jordan, with their forests of native oak, which the famous "_bulls_ of Bashan" (herds of wild cattle) roamed at large; while more peaceful flocks browsed on the meadows which fringed the mountain-streams. What does the name RAMOTH tell us regarding Christ? _Ramoth_ literally means EXALTATION. Jesus is the true _Ramoth_; He is "_exalted_ to be a Prince and a Saviour!" He was once lowly, despised, rejected, crucified, slain. He compares Himself to a poor outcast and exile amid these forests of Gilead: "_Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion._"[49] But having been exalted on the cross as a _suffering_ Saviour, He is now exalted on the throne as a _glorious_ King. "_God hath highly_ EXALTED _Him_;"[50]--angels exalt Him--seraphs adore Him--saints praise Him--the Church on earth magnifies Him--the Church redeemed in heaven will magnify and exalt Him for ever and ever! Young reader, delight often to walk around the walls of _Ramoth_, and think of Jesus "exalted at God's right hand." He is there pleading your cause. Though exalted, He has not forgotten the lowliest or humblest of His people. He is the Greatest of all Beings, but He is the Kindest of all too. The first time after His exaltation when He came down to earth to speak to the aged apostle John, John wondered if the glories of heaven had altered His love and tenderness. He remembered how often before he used to lean on His bosom. When he looked, however, _now_, upon the glorious Being that stood before him in His lustrous garment, with "His eyes like a flame of fire," "he fell down at His feet like one dead." But the same gentle hand touched him, the same gentle voice he was wont to hear so often in past years, said to him, "Fear not!" How sweet for us to think that we have _exalted_ on the highest throne of the universe an unchanged and unchanging Saviour, an ever-living, never-dying Friend. "Though now ascended up on high, He bends on earth a brother's eye." JESUS is exalted in heaven, and exalted by all the glorious family of heaven. But, alas! there is one place where He is often _not_ exalted, but rather cast down, and that is the human heart. That heart has been too truly compared to the inn of Bethlehem, where there was room for every guest but the Lord of glory! Ye of tender years, whom Christ loved so much on earth--whom He fondled in His arms of mercy; see that it is not so with you. "My son," He says, "give me thine heart." See that He is enthroned there as Lord of all. Exalt Him in everything: in your thoughts, in your words, in your deeds. Welcome Him, as the children of the temple welcomed Him to Jerusalem of old. Take up their song, and sing, "_Hosannah to the Son of David! hosannah in the highest!_" "When, His salvation bringing, To Zion Jesus came, The children follow'd singing Hosanna to His name. Nor was the Lord offended That children joined the throng; But smiled that they attended, And loved to hear their song. "And since the Lord retaineth His love for children still, Though now as King He reigneth On Zion's heavenly hill; We'll humbly come before Him To celebrate His praise, And while His saints adore Him, Our youthful voices raise." [Illustration: Golan] Sixth City--Golan. GOLAN was situated in Bashan, in the tribe of Manasseh, among the pastoral hills north of the lake of Gennesaret. It formed the most northerly Refuge-Sanctuary on the east side of Jordan, as Kedesh did on the west; but there are no particular events connected with it in Bible story. What does the name of this last City of Refuge tell us regarding _Jesus_? _Golan_ literally signifies _Joy_. Jesus is truly the _Golan_ of His people; they may have many others, but He is their "chief joy!" Well may they call Him GOLAN; for not one joy could have ever visited them had it not been for _Him_. The world would have been to them, from first to last, a "valley of Baca," (weeping,) had not Jesus died for their sins, and saved their souls. Well might the angel say, when he came to the plains of Bethlehem to announce the Saviour's birth, "_Behold, I bring you good tidings of_ GREAT JOY!" There is not one step the Christian takes but Jesus is GOLAN to him--"joy." He is straying, a lost sheep on the dark mountains, in search of peace: Jesus meets him, and says, "_Your sins are all forgiven you_;"--he is joyful at _that_. He is wandering a prodigal from his Father's house: Jesus brings him to his lost home, and calls him His own child; and he is joyful at _that_. He has to travel a long and dreary journey ere he reaches his true home in heaven: Jesus gives him His arm to lean upon; and he "goes on his way _rejoicing_." He has many fiery trials to try him: Jesus tells him not to think these "strange," but rather to "_rejoice_," inasmuch as He is "partaker with him in his sufferings."[51] He has, at last, to walk through the dark Valley: Jesus meets him there, and supports him there. He sees "the King in His beauty," and the land that is yet "afar off;" and, believing, "_he rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory_."[52] When Jesus beholds him from His throne in judgment, what are to be His blessed words of welcome? "_Enter ye into the_ JOY _of your Lord_."[53] And when, as a ransomed one, he enters the streets of the New Jerusalem, at whose feet is it that he is to cast, through all eternity, his crown? "In thy presence," O Saviour God, is "fullness of JOY!" Young reader, love often to gaze on the walls of this City of Refuge. The sacred writer, in giving the list of these six cities, seems to have kept it to the last because it is a happy word, and speaks of the happy prospects of all those that love the Lord Jesus. Believe me, there is no true _joy_ but in God. The joy of the wicked is like that of a noisy stream--noisy because it is shallow. The joy, on the other hand, which Jesus gives, is like a great river,--deep, calm, ever-flowing, overflowing;--not full in winter and dry in summer, but full, and clear, and refreshing all the year long. It may be always truly said of Jesus, the great Gospel Refuge, and of those who have fled to Him, what was said of old about Samaria, "There was great JOY in that CITY."[54] It was the object of all that Christ did and said on earth to give you this joy. "_These things have I spoken unto you_," says He, "_that my_ JOY _might remain in you, and that your_ JOY _might be full_."[55] Love Him now, and serve Him now and follow Him now, that you may come at last to the true Golan, in His glorious presence above, and "REJOICE _evermore_!" "Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I'll sing Thy power to save, When this poor lisping, stammering tongue Lies silent in the grave. "Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared, Unworthy though I be, For me a blood-bought, free reward, A golden harp for me! "'Tis strung, and tuned, for endless years, And form'd, by power divine, To sound in God the Father's ears No other NAME but Thine!" III. THE GOSPEL REFUGE. "We have a strong consolation who have fled for Refuge."--HEB. vi. 18. III. And now, my young friends, we have finished the survey of our picture-gallery. We have wandered among these six cities in the old land of promise. I shall repeat their names once more, that you may remember them. KEDESH, _Holiness._ SHECHEM, _Shoulder._ HEBRON, _Fellowship._ BEZER, _Stronghold._ RAMOTH, _Exaltation._ GOLAN, _Joy._ What a complete Saviour! In Him "all fullness dwells." In the case of some of these Hebrew cities, "not one stone has been left upon another that has not been thrown down." Owls are screaming amid their ruins, and jackals prowling for their prey. But not so with HIM of whom they were types. _Jesus_ ever lives! He never changes. Time and decay cannot crumble the walls of the Gospel Refuge. He is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever."[56] I want, in this last chapter, to say one or two additional things to you about the Cities of Refuge. Let me ask you to give me your earnest attention. The _first_ thing I wish you to remember is, _that all the preciousness of that_ NAME _of Jesus, and all the security of the Gospel_ REFUGE, _is derived from the merits of His death for you upon the cross_. This is the truth of all truths, and one, too, strikingly taught in these olden types. If you read the Bible account, you will find that the manslayer had his liberty restored to him _upon the death of the High Priest_.[57] When the tidings of the decease of this great Head of the Jewish nation reached these refuge towns, I daresay many of their citizens would be heard, with wailing cry, mourning the loss of God's faithful servant. But the intelligence was very different to the captive Hebrew. It brought him joyful news! For that event enabled him to go forth from his banishment, and to terminate years of painful separation from all he loved on earth. The avenger could no longer injure him. He could return, happy and secure, to the comforts of his long-lost home. So, dear reader, it is the _death_ of _your_ great High Priest that has purchased your release from spiritual captivity. The law can no longer hold you. Justice can no longer threaten you. You can go forth with the glorious liberty of a child of God, saying, "_Who_ is he that condemneth?--_It is Christ that died._"[58] You can picture to yourselves, on the death of the Jewish High Priest, the Hebrew captive going forth from the city, within whose gloomy walls he had long been enclosed. You can picture him, with merry heart, making the valleys through which he hurried to his native dwelling, echo with songs of joy! And shall not _you_, with happier heart and voice, sing this song as you journey on to your heavenly home, and see it gleaming in the distance, on the other side of Jordan-- "When from the dust of death I rise, To take my mansion in the skies, This all my hope--this all my plea, That _Jesus lived and died for me_!" The _second_ thing I want to say to you is, that _God has made the gospel City of Refuge easy of access, and has filled it with rich provision._ He made the way as plain as possible to the manslayer of old. The cities themselves were generally on a height, so as to be seen at a far distance. The roads leading to them were carefully kept. They were broader than others in Palestine, (sixteen yards wide.) The Jewish magistrates and judges went once every year to inspect them, and to order repairs. Where streams occurred, there were bridges thrown across. Where there were angles or by-roads, posts with "_Refuge_" on them were set up; and as there were no bridges across Jordan, three of the cities were placed, as I have already mentioned, on one side of the river, and three on the other; so that all might easily get at them, and none might have any excuse for not fleeing. The nearest city could always be reached by the manslayer in half a day. Moreover, we are informed there were ample stores of provisions laid up in them. They were supplied with wells of water, and Levites were placed in turn as porters or gatekeepers, to be ready to welcome every fugitive into these homes of safety. So God has done everything for _you_, to make the Gospel Refuge accessible. Your parents and ministers--your Bibles and churches and good books--are all, just like these refuge signals, pointing away from the cross-roads and by-roads of human reason, and human error, and self-righteousness, to the Lord Jesus Christ, and saying, "Flee! flee! flee for refuge to lay _hold_ on the hope set before you!" _Jesus_, too, the true Gospel Refuge, is full of rich provision. "Ye are complete in Him." He, as the true Joseph, gives forth out of the storehouses in His "treasure-cities," to all His needy people. What are some of these provisions? There is pardon--peace--justification--adoption--sanctification,--strength for the hour of weakness,--grace for the hour of temptation,--and the good hope of everlasting life for the hour of death. No wonder that he says to every poor sinner seeking admission within these gates, "_I am the bread of life: he that cometh unto me shall never hunger._"[59] As in the cities of Canaan, so in this glorious Gospel-City of which they were types, there is a Well of living water. What is this? It is the Holy Spirit. He is often in Scripture compared to water. "_If any man thirst_," said Jesus, "_let him come unto me, and drink. This spake he of the Spirit_."[60] This all-glorious well-spring, moreover, is not like those of the Palestine cities, which were sometimes dried up in seasons of drought, but "springing up unto everlasting life." Angels, too, are the porters,--the blessed warders that keep the gates of this Gospel-City. "_Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who are heirs of salvation?_"[61] They love to watch by these gates, and to welcome every wanderer. How gladly they give the word, "_Open ye the gates, that the righteous_ (those made righteous through the righteousness of Jesus) _may enter in_!"[62] It is delightful, moreover, to think, that just as the Jewish cities were easily got at from all parts of Palestine, so from all parts of the world, may people go to the Greater and more Glorious Gospel Refuge. Poor Pagan of the far East! cast away your idols; the gates of the Gospel-City stand ready to welcome _you_. Indian of the far West! cast aside your warrior spear and your offerings of blood, and flee to the portals of mercy and to the blood which cleanseth from all sin. Laplander of the far North, amid your polar snows! Negro of Africa, amid your burning sands! rush to the provided shelter. There is salvation there for _you_. "The same Lord is rich to ALL that call upon Him." Happy prospect!--the time will come when the whole world will be found singing together the same song and uttering the same prayer, "_Open unto us the gates of righteousness, that we may enter into them, and praise the Lord!_"[63] Will none of my young friends rejoice if they are able, by aiding the cause of missions abroad, to help putting this "new song" into the lips of those who are still "wandering in the wilderness in a solitary way, and have NO CITY to dwell in?"[64] * * * * * The _third_ thing I want to say to you is, that _no_ OTHER _Refuge will do but_ JESUS. I would like you to take as your motto the simple and beautiful words which a Sabbath scholar, I knew well about, lately gone to glory, wrote to his minister. "I am sure I may be very thankful to God for His great mercy toward me.... _I must just keep in mind that there is one Refuge to flee to, and that is Jesus._" There are many other refuges people try to take shelter in. They think they will be as safe in them as in the ONE of God's providing; but these will never stand in that day which will try every refuge of what sort it is. I have seen some making their _own goodness_ their refuge-city. They imagined they were not so bad as others. They trusted in the falling Siloam-tower of their own righteousness! I have seen some making _God's goodness_ their refuge-city. They said to themselves, "God is kind. He surely will not deal hardly with sinners at last. Justice, the avenger, will not surely always pursue with her flaming sword. The love of God will surely get the better of his justice." Don't let Satan deceive you. There are many of _his_ refuges which _appear_ to be safe enough, but on which God has written "_Refuges of lies_." There were many other towns in Canaan of old which _appeared_ to be as good and as safe as those I have been speaking of. But no city could afford shelter to the manslayer, excepting one of the six God had specially appointed. What would have happened if the fugitive of old, in fleeing from the avenger, had said to himself, "What is the use of my going so far away as to Hebron or Golan? I would rather flee to a nearer place. I will go to Jericho, the old city of palm-trees; or to Bethlehem, in the hills of Judah; or, better still, I will go to Jerusalem, the capital of the nation, where the temple of Zion is, and the palace of the King. Surely I shall be safer far within its lofty walls and bulwarks than in one of these little cities of the Levites. Is it not said that '_God is known in all her Palaces for a Refuge?_'" If he had done so, he would undoubtedly have perished. Neither King nor Priest, nor Golden gate nor Beautiful gate, nor wall nor bulwark, could have saved him from the avenger's sword. The refuge-towns appointed in the olden time may have been "the least amid the cities of Judah." But they were God's selection, God's ordering, and that was enough. In them, and in them only, was the manslayer safe from the avenger of blood. And so it is with our Gospel Refuge. "_Neither is there salvation in any other._" Rejecting Jesus, we are lost for ever. All other refuges, however good or great or strong they may _appear_ to be, will prove only Babel-towers, that will fall on the poor builders, and crush them in their ruins. When God told the children of Israel to sprinkle their lintels and door-posts with blood, they might have been foolish enough to say, "No; we shall do better. We shall not be content with doing so trifling a thing; we shall rather build up great walls around our houses, so that the destroying angel may not get in." Do you think, if they had done so, their first-born would have been saved? No; there would have been death in every such household; these high walls would have proved useless. Nothing but the red mark on the doorway of the dwelling would be of any avail in warding off the fell stroke. So it is with the sinner. All the walls which pride, and self-righteousness, and good works can rear, will do nothing to keep out the sword of avenging Justice. But _the sprinkled blood of covenant mercy will_; for "_the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth_ (and alone
{'title': 'The Cities of Refuge: or, The Name of Jesus by John R. Macduff', 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}