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]