Intro: [upbeat music] Welcome to the Spoken Gospel Podcast. Spoken Gospel is a nonprofit dedicated to the idea that every part of the Bible, Old Testament and New, is about Jesus, and this podcast is our experiment to publicly test that belief. Every episode, hosts David Bowden and Seth Stewart work through a biblical text to see how it helps us see and savor Jesus. Let's jump in. [upbeat music]
David: Well, welcome everyone to the Spoken Gospel Podcast. Thank you so much for joining us. Seth, how are you?
Seth: Excellent, as always.
David: You're excellent.
Seth: I've also been wondering recently how you got into the same rhythm of saying the same thing every time-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... when we open the podcast. Like-
David: I don't know where it started.
Seth: I don't know where it started either.
David: But I, I, I've known it's a rhythm for a long time now.
Seth: Right.
David: Um, I like it. I-
Seth: "Hello, everyone. Welcome to Spoken Gospel Podcast."
David: Yeah, and then I ask how you're doing.
Seth: It's, it's like a new thing.
David: It's a, it's a tee up because you always have an interesting tidbit.
Seth: [laughs] I try to.
David: Whether, whether it's, like, a strange way to describe the story we're about to experience-
Seth: Mm
David: ... or some s- traumatizing scar from your childhood.
Seth: Yeah.
David: [laughs]
Seth: Nobody can forget the Gibeah Night podcast. [laughs]
David: No. No. I actually went and re-listened-
Seth: [laughs]
David: ... to that opening recently-
Seth: [laughs]
David: ... 'cause it made me laugh so hard. [laughs]
Seth: [laughs]
David: Oh. Uh-
Seth: That was on the, the Sun Stands Still podcast, if you missed it.
David: Yeah. Yes. It was a great one.
Seth: [laughs]
David: It was a really good one. But today we're looking at-
Seth: Okay
David: ... uh, we're wrapping up the land allotments that we looked at last time. Israel has won all the key decisive battles in the Book of Joshua so far and, um, now Joshua has been doling out land allotments to the tribes. And we have looked at all those land allotments in the last episode, but now today there are two remaining things that God told Moses to do with the land that have yet to be enacted by Joshua, and those are the cities of refuge and where are the Levites supposed to live, because-
Seth: Yeah, we got 11 tribes of land handed out so far-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... but not the Levites-
David: Right
Seth: ... and not the, uh, cities of refuge.
David: Right.
Seth: So before we even get to there, we should just say, actually, the Levites back in Exodus and Numbers were never supposed to own land.
David: Right. Well, they were told that they will not own land because the Lord is their inheritance.
Seth: That's, that's exactly right.
David: Yeah.
Seth: So instead of getting, um, farms and-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... trees that reproduce and s- secure some sort of, like, stability for their family down the line-
David: Economic stability, yeah
Seth: ... the Lord will provide that for them.
David: That's right.
Seth: And they would be sustained by the faithfulness of Israel who come to sacrifice to the Lord.
David: Right.
Seth: And the Lord will provide faithfulness in the land and therefore, uh, provision for the Levites.
David: Right. The way it was supposed to work was you would have the Israelite people bringing their sacrifices to the tabernacle that the priests worked in, and when they brought a lamb to sacrifice, the, depending on what type of sacrifice it was, some of that meat or, uh, wool or anything might come back to the sacrificer, but a lot of it, God had ordained to come to the priest as their portion.
Seth: Mm-hmm.
David: And so they would eat it, you know, like, uh, give it to their family, have a big party with it. Like, that was the way that the priests were supposed to be cared for, was not by necessarily raising their own crops and everything, but by working the tabernacle and kind of being the butcher that takes some of the, the meat.
Seth: Yep.
David: Yeah.
Seth: That's kind of exactly right. And-
David: Kind of exactly?
Seth: Uh, kind of exactly right.
David: [laughs]
Seth: That's my roundabout way of saying yes, but not too, like, putting my foot down too hard.
David: You didn't wanna get real excited.
Seth: I didn't wanna get real excited about-
David: It's kind of exactly.
Seth: Kind of exactly.
David: Yeah.
Seth: It's like a couple few.
David: Yeah. A couple few. [laughs]
Seth: [laughs]
David: Or as, as a British friend of mine says, "It's twice as long as half the length."
Seth: I say that too.
David: Do you?
Seth: I do.
David: Yeah, it's 'cause you grew up overseas.
Seth: Ah.
David: Yeah.
Seth: I didn't know that was a British thing.
David: I don't know.
Seth: Oh.
David: I've ne- I never heard it-
Seth: Oh
David: ... until I was over there. Um, anyway.
Seth: Anyway. [laughs]
David: [laughs]
Seth: Uh, the other thing to think about that is, then, is the reason this is necessary is because before this moment, they were wandering the wilderness.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: So nobody had any land.
David: Right.
Seth: So how do you not allow the Levites to own land when nobody owns land?
David: Yeah.
Seth: They're a wandering tribe in a wandering nation in the desert, so this is the first time it's been made clear that the-
David: They have to live somewhere
Seth: They have to live somewhere.
David: Yeah.
Seth: And so the idea is, well, God has given the land to Israel as a gift.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: Now Israel is giving back to God a gift of their land.
David: Right. They're tithing it.
Seth: They're tithing the land-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... and the tithe of their land goes to the Levites.
David: That's right.
Seth: That's exact-
David: Yes
Seth: ... and that's what's happening.
David: In the same, in the same way they're supposed to give an offering of their crops and of their livestock and of their money, now they're giving an offering out of their land.
Seth: Yep, and it says it, it says it explicitly-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... in Joshua 21:3. "So by the command of the Lord, the people of Israel gave to the Levites the following cities and pasture lands out of their inheritance." So God gives them the, their inheritance like he promised, and then Israel gives back to God what God has requested of them.
David: That's right.
Seth: That's, and that's what's happening.
David: Yep.
Seth: It's-
David: So-
Seth: And it's the fulfillment of the promise.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: Like, it's God has faithfully given them all the land, like it said in Joshua 13, uh, or Joshua 11.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: Uh, and Israel is faithfully obeying all the commandments of the Lord.
David: Right.
Seth: So it's, it's a picture of, like, the completion of the narrative of the, what the Torah told us to expect, God fulfilling his promises and Israel being obedient to him.
David: Right, uh, which is why you'll read, when, when you read chapter 21, you'll see, um, different tribes mentioned, and the, then, like, there's this parcel of land that comes out of the tribe of Judah or out of the tribe-
Seth: Mm-hmm
David: ... of Simeon or out of the tribe of Naphtali. It's them giving their, uh, part of their tribal inheritance that they just got a few chapters ago. Now they're giving it to the Levites. Yep.
Seth: That's exactly right.
David: Okay.
Seth: So but before we even get to the Levites-
David: Yep
Seth: ... we have this whole thing about cities of refuge-
David: Yes
Seth: ... which we've talked about multiple times before.
David: We have.
Seth: I'm pretty sure in the Exodus 21 podcast, the Numbers 35 podcast-
David: Uh-huh
Seth: ... and the Deuter- Deuteronomy 4 podcast.
David: It is crazy how often cities of refuge come up in the Torah and then now again in Joshua, and how I never heard about it-
Seth: I know
David: ... growing up in church.
Seth: I know. Well, it's bec- and I think that's culturally.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Like we have such a strong system of courts-
David: Mm
Seth: ... that we don't fear personal vengeance.
David: Oh, right.
Seth: So like mob justice or tribal justice would have ruled the day if a court system wasn't in place.
David: Mm.
Seth: I think I've shared the example before when I was in Kenya in some, like, some of the, the villages out-
David: Mm
Seth: ... in kind of the middle of nowhere and how it was really common if you... Like, the, like, the... I was told the common, um, punishment for stealing a cow or e- even being suspected of stealing a cow was to be burned alive-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... in a stack of tires.
David: Oh my gosh.
Seth: And this was common enough that whenever it happened near the road that we normally went to these villages, we just took a different road because they didn't want us to see it, but nobody was surprised by it except for us.
David: Mm.
Seth: So the idea of personal vengeance or justice being meted out by the community or by a select few of people, or in this case the avenger of blood-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... was really, really common. Uh, so you need some kinda system like this if that's not gonna rule the day.
David: Right.
Seth: So this is a way in which for justice to be enacted, not by the hands of men or women who are just angry, or communities that are angry, or individuals that are angry, but by God himself and the priest that he set up.
David: Right. So the situation Seth's describing here is that y- y- you have a person who accidentally commits a murder.
Seth: Manslaughter.
David: Or accidentally kills slo- someone.
Seth: Yeah.
David: Right? So like-
Seth: Running somebody over in your car is not... It doesn't have to be intentional.
David: It doesn't have to be intentional manslaughter.
Seth: Yeah.
David: You know?
Seth: The example that's given, I think it's in Exodus.
David: The ax handle or the ax.
Seth: The ax handle.
David: Yeah.
Seth: You're swinging your ax and the ax just fall- flies off.
David: The ax head flies off the handle.
Seth: And then it hits somebody in the head and-
David: Right
Seth: ... kills them.
David: It's an accident.
Seth: It's an accident.
David: Yeah. But you do that, and that person's brother, or, uh, if you kill someone's wife with that-
Seth: Mm
David: ... their husband is going to be extremely angry-
Seth: Mm-hmm
David: ... with you, even though it's not really... It wasn't on purpose, for one. You know, it's als- like, but it is your fault, you know?
Seth: Right.
David: You're the one who swung the ax or didn't have the, a, a good ax so it-
Seth: Yeah
David: ... flew off. And so they're going to want to enact justice against you. And so that person who is angry at you for killing their wife or whomever-
Seth: A relative
David: ... is called the avenger of blood.
Seth: Yeah. It was normally a relative-
David: Mm
Seth: ... like a kinsman to you.
David: Yep.
Seth: So if I was killed, if you killed me, it would be my brother Ethan. He'd come back down from Philadelphia-
David: Yep
Seth: ... and he'd be hunting you.
David: Right.
Seth: That, that's, that's-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... the [laughs] kind of the way it works.
David: That's right. And so what the cities of refuge, um, allowed the manslayer to do was to flee to this city, explain to the elders of that city-
Seth: Mm
David: ... uh, the situation, uh, explain that they are actually innocent of manslaughter, intentional manslaughter, and they would-
Seth: Which is called murder
David: ... which is called murder.
Seth: Murder, murder is intent-
David: Yeah.
Seth: Intentional manslaughter is murder.
David: Right.
Seth: Manslaughter is unintentional killing.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Yeah, yeah.
David: Uh, and that city would refuge him.
Seth: Yes.
David: They would keep him safe from the avenger of blood. Um, and he would have to stay in that city of refuge until the-
Seth: High priest
David: ... the high priest died.
Seth: And then he was allowed to go back to his home.
David: Right.
Seth: So there's a couple layers that I wanna add to that.
David: Okay.
Seth: So there's this layer of justice that we just talked about.
David: Uh-huh.
Seth: So it's like, man, you killed somebody. Even though it was an accident, like, justice needs to be done. Like, recompense needs to be made.
David: That's right.
Seth: So if you are convicted of manslaughter now, you can either pay damages to the family. So, like, that's pretty common.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: Like, if you, if you kill a husband, uh, somebody's husband, you can be liable for, you know, a million dollars to pay for the, not just the loss of life, but to pr- provide-
David: The loss of income
Seth: ... the loss of income for that family for a certain period of time.
David: Emotional trauma.
Seth: Emotional trauma, or you could go to prison if you're unable to pay, or as, like, the just penalty for breaking a law. You did- didn't stop at the stop sign.
David: Right.
Seth: It was an accident, but you broke the law and it caused a loss of life.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: So, like, we understand the justice aspect of that pretty well.
David: Yep.
Seth: But there's another aspect that's happening here. It's, it's the purity of the land.
David: Yes.
Seth: Uh, so we've talked about the idea of the purity of the land. But if you rewind and go back and read Exodus 21, Numbers 35, and Deuteronomy 4, when you, when blood is spilled in the land-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... when there's an unintentional or an intentional murder, or [laughs] unintentional killing-
David: Mm
Seth: ... a manslaughter or a murder-
David: Yep
Seth: ... the land itself in some way-
David: Is stained
Seth: ... is stained.
David: Yeah.
Seth: And so there needs to be, like, a cleansing of the land itself.
David: Yep.
Seth: And so the avenger of blood isn't just looking for personal justice all the time, although that's part of it. He's also the rightful way in which, uh, the land could be cleansed.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: A life for a life, that's how the land is cleansed.
David: That's right.
Seth: Uh, a, the life of an animal for the life of a human is a, like, a common category already set up.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: But eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life-
David: Right
Seth: ... is also the category the law sets up. So if somebody takes a life intentionally or unintentionally, that life, in a sense, is now forfeit.
David: Mm.
Seth: And the avenger of blood was supposed to come and ex- purify the land by killing the one, by exacting justice on the one who did it, and then-
David: So what you're saying is it's not only mob justice, it's not only like-
Seth: It's not a private-
David: ... I'm angry-
Seth: Mm-hmm
David: ... therefore you need to die, and the cities of refuge were there as a way to protect people from angry brothers.
Seth: That's exactly right.
David: It was also the avenger of blood is a holy role-
Seth: That's right
David: ... where someone's representing the justice of God against the stain on the land caused by killing or murder.
Seth: Yes. And what's interesting about that is, like, if, to whatever extent that it is a holy role, they're not allowed to exercise it.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: So that, that good role, the, the desire to clean up the land can actually be only executed by the death of the priest-
David: Mm
Seth: ... which is what you just talked about.
David: Right.
Seth: So the idea is this manslayer goes to... Because the other option is the community stones the man for murder.
David: Uh-huh.
Seth: Like, there is like-
David: Right.
Seth: You don't need to go to the city of refuge-
David: Yep
Seth: ... if you're... You can't go to the city of refuge if you're a murderer.
David: Yeah.
Seth: And if you are a murderer, the community can actually, can, can kill you.
David: Mm.
Seth: Capital punishment-
David: Right
Seth: ... for that crime. And a life for a life, the land is cleansed.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: But in this particular case, when somebody is innocent of intentionally killing somebody, but guilty of the loss of life, um-A hu- another human being
David: Yeah
Seth: As in, like, th- the avenger of blood cannot make the land clean, the priest must.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: So I just wanted to add that, like, layer to it.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Uh, 'cause I think that's interesting, um, and I think it sets up our categories for Jesus well, too.
David: Yes.
Seth: Um-
David: Yeah, it really does. One other color to throw on this whole thing that I think is interesting is if you remember at the end of our last podcast, we talked about how chapter nin- uh, 18 and 19, chapters 18 and 19, they talk about the seven remaining tribes and the land allotted to them, and we talked about that as new creation and, like, God is rebuilding Eden, and here's the, the, the land being allotted to the tribes. God's gonna dwell with His people. Here we go. It's Eden. And yet inside Eden, there's death still. Like, the first thing we hear about after this new Eden expansion project is there's still death, and that's a problem. And so, like, you know, and, like, that was the main problem that came up in Eden itself was death is what separated God from man.
Seth: As close as to the Eden project as we, as it looks like we are with God-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... fulfilling His promises and everyone being obedient to His commands, there's still a fundamental problem-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... with, uh, this new Eden, and that's death still exists.
David: Right. So in order for Eden to really exist, we need a refuge from death.
Seth: That's right.
David: So I just think it's setting up some big theological categories, too.
Seth: And that's even hinted at in the number of cities of refuge. So we're told that there's six cities of refuge-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... just like, uh, Exodus 21 and Deuteronomy 4, they are said to set up. But in Numbers 3f- uh, sorry, no, in Deuteronomy 4, so in Exodus 21, Numbers 35, there's six cities of refuge.
David: Okay, yeah.
Seth: Three on the east, o- on one side of the Jordan, three on the other. But in, uh, Deuteronomy 19, it says that as they take over the lands-
David: Oh, they should add three more?
Seth: They should add three more.
David: That's right.
Seth: So there should actually be nine cities of refuge total.
David: Okay.
Seth: So the fact that only six are mentioned here is also an indication that not all is right in the new Eden.
David: Mm.
Seth: Not only is there death, but the fullest extent of God's kingdom under Joshua hasn't been realized yet.
David: Yeah.
Seth: So, like, not everything is right here-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... uh, in this new picture of Eden.
David: Yeah, that makes sense.
Seth: Um-
David: Which goes back to what we have talked about already, about the tension of the already and the not yet of-
Seth: Mm-hmm
David: ... they've been given the land, but it's not quite all theirs yet. That kinda leans into all that tension.
Seth: Yes.
David: Right.
Seth: So-
David: Okay. So let's... Uh, so one, one thing I wanna... Before we jump to the Gospel here with the high priest and the cities of refuge, which we have to do, um, I, I, I just have this-
Seth: Which we get to do, David.
David: We, we get to do.
Seth: We get to do, David.
David: I meant, like, we m- like, the text compels me.
Seth: Yes.
David: I must do this.
Seth: You must.
David: Um, i- is that there, there, there-
Seth: The perfect man, nothing from duty.
David: That's right. [laughs]
Seth: C.S. Lewis. [laughs]
David: Don't C.S. Lewis me.
Seth: [laughs]
David: Uh, uh, what, what I was gonna say was that, like, there is an, a concept here that's being illustrated that, um, a lot of modern people have trouble with, and that is, um, vicarious atonement here. Like, there is that the priest didn't accidentally kill anybody, and yet when he dies, somehow that person's killing is absolved. You know, but the priest didn't do anything wrong.
Seth: Mm-hmm.
David: How, why does his death fix the problem?
Seth: Well, I think... Yeah, that's a great question.
David: Yeah.
Seth: And I think in this particular example, well, one, he's complicit in the protection of a manslayer. So the, the p- the high priest's, like, listens to his court case-
David: Uh-huh
Seth: ... and then provides him protection within his city until he dies.
David: Oh.
Seth: So he-
David: And then, and then all the people that he's protected during his life that he has now become complicit in housing-
Seth: Mm-hmm
David: ... he's racked up all their, quote-unquote, "guilt," all the-
Seth: That's right
David: ... stains on the land, and then when he dies, his blood pays for all those who have come under his protection.
Seth: That's exactly right.
David: I don't see Jesus in that at all.
Seth: [laughs]
David: [laughs]
Seth: It's, it's really... I, I don't even think I put all those pieces together until, until we just-
David: It's beautiful
Seth: ... talked it out here.
David: Yeah.
Seth: But, like, yeah, that's right. Like, Jesus becomes complicit in our sins by-
David: Mm, because he's housing us
Seth: ... because he's housing us. He's, like, he, like, the, he has chosen to cover us with his feathers if we seek refuge in him-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... just like David says. Like, run to the city of refuge. You're my strong tower. You are my fortress, whatever.
David: Yeah.
Seth: If we seek refuge in Jesus, he becomes our city of refuge.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: He implicates himself in our sin by protecting us from the avenger of blood-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... that should come against our, not just our murder.
David: That's right.
Seth: Like, some of us have committed manslaughter.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: Some of us have done that.
David: Yep.
Seth: And I, I would not be surprised if people in our podcast who've, like, accidentally hit somebody with a car. Like, we've been in car accidents before-
David: Right
Seth: ... and, like, had serious injury done to people around us, and that was their, their fault, not ours.
David: Right.
Seth: But still, like-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... that's a common enough scenario.
David: Yeah.
Seth: People live with that guilt, live with that hanging over their head. But besides that, we're also told the wages of all sin is death.
David: That's right.
Seth: The, the avenger of death is coming for anyone who has not loved God-
David: Mm
Seth: ... and not kept His commandments.
David: That's right.
Seth: But when we seek refuge in Jesus as our city-
David: Mm
Seth: ... He com- makes Himself complicit in our sin by protecting us from that death.
David: Yeah.
Seth: And then when He dies, we get to go free again.
David: Yeah. He, he, like... It's kinda like those situations in movies where it's like, "Well, if you want them, you're gonna have to go through me."
Seth: Yes, yes.
David: And he's like, "Okay, I'll go through you." You know? And, like, [laughs] that's what Jesus does. Man, that's really interesting.
Seth: Yeah.
David: We can hide in Jesus, like, our new city of refuge, and when we do, um, we, the, we take the first step toward living in Eden because Eden is a place without death.
Seth: Mm-hmm.
David: It's a place where we're free from death, you know, and so, like, it's a place of life.
Seth: Well-
David: And so when, when we hide in refuge in Jesus, we li- we get to live as if we have life now.
Seth: Yeah. It's not just nine cities of refuge.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: The world is a refuge. [laughs]
David: Right.
Seth: Like, like, He-
David: The world has a refuge
Seth: ... the world has a refuge in Christ.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: Like, there is no place-
David: Mm
Seth: That you have to flee to-
David: Right
Seth: ... in order to escape the avenger of death.
David: Right.
Seth: You turn to Jesus.
David: Yep.
Seth: And you have been atoned for, you've been forgiven. Like, a life for a life has already been paid.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Death does not need to come to you.
David: Which is a cool picture to think about as Israel should have taken over more and more land, and as they took over more and more land, they should have added more pockets of these cities of refuge, right?
Seth: Mm-hmm.
David: Um, so that as they cover the whole Earth, there are cities of refuge all over the world so that more justice could be done, more grace could be given, more lives could be saved. You know, the high priest's death would atone for more and more people-
Seth: Yeah
David: ... as the, as the cities of refuge multiply. Um, but that didn't happen, you know. Uh, but what's amazing about the Great Commission, what's amazing about the Kingdom of God, the gospel going out, is that there is no pocket in the world, you know, no nation-
Seth: Yeah
David: ... no geopolitical region that does not have access to Jesus as their-
Seth: Yeah
David: ... city of refuge.
Seth: Every time we proclaim the gospel, we establish a new city of refuge.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Every time we tell people about the good news of Jesus, that He's, that He'd become complicit in our sin to protect us from the avenger of blood, that is a new city of refuge for k- people to come and take shelter in.
David: Yeah. And the more and more people who come under His protection, uh, the more and more people are saved at the death of the high priest, which happened on the cross of Jesus. [gentle music]
Seth: Okay. So the Levites-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... are now given their land. And the one thing-
David: Yes
Seth: ... that I remember about reading this passage, not only three weeks ago, but also this morning-
David: Pasturelands
Seth: ... pasturelands.
David: Pasturelands. [laughs]
Seth: And their pasturelands, and that pasturelands. So Israel is giving back to the Lord, uh, several of their own cities within their own tribal allotments-
David: Right
Seth: ... along with the pasturelands around that c-
David: Pasturelands
Seth: ... [laughs] around the city. So one, the reason the pasturelands are even mentioned is, well, one, in Numbers 35:3-4, it specifically mentions the pasturelands.
David: Pasturelands. [laughs] God.
Seth: [laughs]
David: I'm just preparing people to read.
Seth: Yeah. Uh, those pasturelands, they're coming up.
David: [laughs] They're coming up.
Seth: So God's fulfilling His promises.
David: Yes.
Seth: And Israel's being obedient-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... in exactly the way they were supposed to.
David: That's right.
Seth: But the function of the pasturelands, I'm assuming, is that that's where the priests take care of the flocks that would eventually be used as sacrifices, so that when people travel from their villages or their hamlets to that town where the priest lives, they can purchase one of those animals and offer it as a sacrifice to the Lord.
David: Yeah.
Seth: I think that's about right.
David: Yep. Uh, and, uh, yeah, and, uh, I think you could- you should also remember, like, a- another, like, translation of this word pasturelands. It's like a green belt.
Seth: Okay.
David: And so there's this image that, uh, some of the law, um, laws around these pasturelands sets up earlier are, are you have the, the cities, which are like, kind of picture like a walled city-
Seth: Mm-hmm
David: ... where everyone l- and everyone lives inside of it-
Seth: Mm-hmm
David: ... including the Levites-
Seth: Yep
David: ... who are assigned to that city. But then around th- that wall is a green belt, and that's where all the livestock graze. And it's this picture, uh, of the atoning sacrifices of Israel, uh, that, that would be found-
Seth: Mm
David: ... in the animals surrounding the people of Israel in, in forming, like, a protective shield.
Seth: So when they would walk into one of the Levite cities to offer their sacrifice, they'd actually have to walk through a field of living sacrifices.
David: That's right. They are living sacrifices.
Seth: They're living sacrifices, so they know that going in.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: Like th- like a l- there's, like, this liturgical repeated element, like w- as you walk into the city of refuge, you're w- watching the living sacrifices that are about to be sacrificed. That's really interesting.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Old Baptist churches used to have their cemeteries-
David: Oh
Seth: ... placed in front of-
David: Right
Seth: ... their church doors, so that when you walked into the church, you would be going down into death and up to the cross-
David: Mm
Seth: ... at the, at the, the back of the auditorium.
David: Yeah.
Seth: And then when you leave the church, you leave the cross, go through death, and out into the world-
David: [laughs]
Seth: ... with new life.
David: That's-
Seth: I was like, what a beautiful picture.
David: That's good.
Seth: And that's actually exactly what's happening right here.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: It's like a picture of how their sins will be atoned for on the way in, and on the way out, it's a reminder of how they should live-
David: Mm
Seth: ... in the rest of the world, as living sacrifices-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... as people who have been bought with the price of the blood of a lamb or a goat, and who are to act as if a great act of mercy and grace has been-
David: Mm
Seth: ... given to them.
David: That's cool. That's really cool. Uh, another thing to think about here, it, like, like with the cities of refuge coming right after all the Eden imagery with the seven tribes, uh, the cities of refuge were a rescue from death. In the same way, the l- the living sacrifices living in the pasturelands, the green belts, um, were also a way that Israel escaped death. And so right after Eden, you have two provisions saving them from the curse of death, which was the th- the plague against Eden. So I just think it's interesting.
Seth: That is interesting.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Yeah. Uh, so anyway, I mean, and that's kind of all you get there. That's, that's the city, that's the Levite pastureland ending moment. Uh, that's what's happening here. And then at the very end, we get another, um, uh, emphasis on obedience and God's faithfulness.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: "And the Lord gave them rest on every side, just that He has promised to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands." Now, we already talked a little bit about how back in Joshua 13:1, the whole idea is like not all the enemies have been given over yet.
David: Right.
Seth: So what's happening here, bro?
David: Well, it goes back to some of the, the Levite cities. So some of the cities given to the Levites were Canaanite cities that Israel actually never possessed. And so this is less of a real list and more of an ideal list. And so in the same way that-Uh, Joshua gave-
Seth: Yes
David: ... the Israelites allotments that said like, "Hey, go take this city." It didn't mean the city was theirs already. It meant that there were, uh, inhabitants that still needed to be dri- driven out in those areas the same way... The same thing's happening here. There's a tension.
Seth: There's a tens- the point is God has already been completely faithful-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... to route every enemy so far, therefore God will continue to be faithful as long as Israel is obedient.
David: Right.
Seth: Not one of God's promises has failed yet.
David: Yep.
Seth: There's no reason to e- expect that they would, provided Israel is blameless so, but since we know the end of the story-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... and we know that in the next coming chapters Joshua even said Israel will not be able to do this.
David: Right.
Seth: It also kind of functions as like a really kind of like ironic rebuke.
David: Mm.
Seth: It's like none of all the enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one word of the good promise that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed. All had come to pass. And they had.
David: Mm.
Seth: And they would continue, but it's ironic because in God blessing them with all this stuff, it actually leads to their own downfall.
David: Mm.
Seth: It's like it's kind of a... It works both ways.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Um, it's a reaffirmation that God is completely faithful, and so far Israel has been faithful, but as we'll soon find out, it's also a kind of an indictment. God has been totally faithful to them, yet they will not be faithful to God in the same way.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Um, but for now, though, the, the picture that we get in these passages is that the cities of refuge have been set up for justice-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... and purity to reign in the land. You have the cities of the Levites that offer pictures of the sacrifice back at Eden, but also living symbols of how they will be atoned for and they should live in the land.
David: Yep.
Seth: And we expect Eden.
David: Yes.
Seth: We ex- we should expect Eden.
David: Yeah.
Seth: And as we kinda like already hinted at, like with that idea of the Baptist Church, it's like there's a sense like when we come to churches, when we come to Jesus, we go in with death around us.
David: Mm.
Seth: We walk through the blood of Jesus Christ every time we eat His blood and drink His flesh, just like the Levites would-
David: Right
Seth: ... eat, eat, eat His blood and drink His blood.
David: [laughs]
Seth: Coagulated blood, you know, like in the-
David: Oh, yeah. Yummy
Seth: ... you like the, the-
David: Mm.
Seth: Yep. You've never tried that, like pho?
David: Oh, no. I-
Seth: It's good
David: ... I've had black pudding.
Seth: Black pudding, yeah.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Black pudding. You can eat blood is the point.
David: Anyway, you're not supposed to.
Seth: Not according to the Bible. [laughs]
David: [laughs]
Seth: Uh, so anyway, the point is-
David: Yes
Seth: ... like when we come to church, we kind of relive these same metaphors. Like we come to church, we taste the body and blood of Jesus-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... as a remembrance for what it cost us to receive salvation, and then we are sent out from the cross, from life, into the world to live as living sacrifices to Him.
David: Right.
Seth: Which is what Romans 12 says.
David: Yeah. And I think, like, it's really important to see, too, that the reason why, uh, we, we can es- i- it, um, expect life in the midst of death, in a, in a land of death. The reason why we can expect the Garden of Eden to return in a land and in a world that looks nothing like it is because all of God's promises come to pass.
Seth: Mm-hmm.
David: It's because of this, like, promise that we get at the end of 21, and it's really, um, it, it's, it's like the... It's the last summation of a huge section of Joshua. It's, it's one of the most important parts of the book, and, um, it's the statement that everything came to pass just as God promised it would. And I think there is something about the character of God that is being evidenced by all these land allotments, all these victories, the cities of refuge being built, the, the land given to the Levites, that e- all of this is stuff that Moses, um, was first promised before they entered the land.
Seth: Mm-hmm.
David: And, like, that's gonna be repeated again and again and again throughout these chapters, and that is to highlight the, this thing in the character of God that is His trustworthiness and His consistency, the way that He makes promises and keeps promises. And I think, like, th- there's something about the reliability of the word of God that, um, I think we need to meditate on because I, I just... I think it's an antidote for a lot of things. It's an antidote for legalism because if, like, God says like, "I've made you righteous in Christ," you know? And we're like, "Mm, but have you?"
Seth: Don't I have to keep-
David: [laughs]
Seth: ... doing good things-
David: Right
Seth: ... keep making sacrifices, keep cutting my own skin to make you like me?
David: Exactly.
Seth: Does that have to keep happening?
David: It's like, no, like what... Everything God promises, He brings to pass. And, um, He... And, and one of the things He's promised is that He has built us a city of refuge. He has provided pasturelands of provision for us in the body and blood of His Son, Jesus. And, like, the good news is we can trust the covenant-keeping, promise-making, promise-keeping God who gave us Jesus-
Seth: Yeah
David: ... that when we put our trust in Him, we are safe in the city of refuge. The high priest has died for our sins. We are surrounded by acres and acres of provision that will never run out, like-
Seth: Yeah, in Jesus, God is completely faithful.
David: Yeah.
Seth: All God's promises are yes and amen in Jesus.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Every, like, so here we have, like, really concrete ways in which the land promises are fulfilled in Israel.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: In Jesus, not only are these promises fulfilled, Jesus says it Himself, [laughs] but also, like, the ones that aren't fulfilled yet, like the desire for new hearts that are-
David: Mm
Seth: ... transformed and that love Him. Like, in Jesus, all the promises of God to give us the land, to transform our hearts, to be with us, to have His presence dwelling inside of us and not just in a tabernacle somewhere-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... come true. And when we look at the cross, we can remember that.
David: Mm.
Seth: We can look at that and say, "That is the word of God manifest. That's the word of the Lord completely fulfilled and demonstrated."
David: Yeah.
Seth: We can, like... We don't need to go to a, a city established with a wall and acres of land. We can point back in history and see the cross and the empty tomb as this is evidence that the word of God does not fail and that God is completely faithful.
David: Mm. Yeah. That's so good.
Seth: And then even though in the same way here, it also becomes like an ironic rebuke of-
David: Mm
Seth: ... those who don't trust in Him. It's in the same way here, like-God provided everything. He's defeated all the enemies-
David: Oh
Seth: ... provided everything for us, forgiveness of our sins, atonement, justice for those of us who accidentally commit wrongs and still people will choose to reject-
David: Mm
Seth: ... the God who is this faithful by going their own way and choosing to define good and evil for themselves and eat from the wrong tree.
David: Yeah.
Seth: The cro- just in the same way God's faithfulness becomes a rebuke of Israel's sinfulness, the cross of Jesus can become the same thing for us. If Jesus has done this for us, what does it mean to reject the God who's defeated all of our enemies?
David: Mm.
Seth: What does it mean to reject the God who'd provide a way of justice for us when we've made accidents? What does it mean for us to reject the God who pr- provides forgiveness when we do intentional wrongs?
David: Right.
Seth: Like, it's serious.
David: Yeah.
Seth: It's a, an incredibly ironic rebuke-
David: Mm
Seth: ... but it's also like, it's also... Yeah.
David: It goes both ways.
Seth: It goes both ways. [laughs]
David: [laughs] I said earlier.
Seth: It goes both ways.
David: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, man. Uh, okay, one last thing I wanna bring up that I just want us to meditate on is the Levites were told that the Lord would be their inheritance, and that promise is not voided when they are given a inheritance among the people and given pasture lands-
Seth: Mm
David: ... you know, around them.
Seth: Right.
David: They are provided for through that offering, you know-
Seth: Of the land, yeah
David: ... of the land given from God.
Seth: Yeah, the same way that they ate by the offerings of the people-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... like the lambs that people offered the Lord.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: Their, the offering of the land was the same thing.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Yeah, yeah.
David: So it's just, like, an interesting thing to think about. Um, I, I feel like we have a kinship as Christians with the priests here because we too are called sojourners and strangers, like in the New Testament, that we, um, are in this world, but of this world kind of thing, where it seems like we don't... Our, our final patch of land is not here, but in the new heavens and the new Earth. And, a- and, and yet we are given parcels of land in the middle of cities that aren't ours, and we are provided for by the hand of God, who is our inheritance in the middle of cities that aren't ours.
Seth: Mm.
David: And I just, I'm like, I just think it's an interesting worldview to, that the New Testament continues to think of ourselves as a, a royal priesthood, which we're called-
Seth: Mm-hmm
David: ... that has been, um, put in land that is not ours as a gift of God and are given provision through paychecks or whatever your job is-
Seth: Right
David: ... in order to serve the community around you.
Seth: Mm-hmm.
David: Is like, I think this is a beautiful picture of the holy calling-
Seth: Yeah
David: ... of a Christian.
Seth: Yeah. I think that, I think you're exact- exactly right.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Like, your homes are the cities of the Levites.
David: Mm.
Seth: Like, in really real ways. They should be pl- places that people walk in and they s- they see and experience the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ, and they le- leave being reminded-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... and hopeful and convicted by the way in which you sacrificially served them the way that the Lord sacrificially serves you.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Like, that's, that's exactly right. Like, it's a, it's, uh... There is an, an ethic of mission and living in the, the, the, the Levites' towns-
David: Mm
Seth: ... that still applies today and is only made more explicit by the fact that now it's not just nations giving up land or tribes giving up land.
David: Mm.
Seth: It's, like, God giving up his own Son.
David: Right.
Seth: It's like if it's tru- was true here, it's even more true now.
David: Yeah.
Seth: We have better reasons to offer forgiveness, mercy, compassion with people who are different from us around our table than-
David: Mm
Seth: ... even the Israelites did.
David: Right.
Seth: And we should be more convicting, more compelling, more winsome than even they were to the surrounding cultures.
David: Yeah, and I think that can feel overwhelming, um, until you realize that the motivating factor and the thing that caused the Levites to do their job well or should've caused the Levites to do their job well here, uh, was their free provision given to them by the Lord. Like, everything they had was a gift. All of it was an offering given from the people by God to them.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And it's like when you start to view your home and neighborhood and family and paycheck and, like, your, your church home, everything-
Seth: Everything
David: ... as a piece of this world that God has ransomed for you and given to you as a free gift to, that you didn't earn-
Seth: Right
David: ... but just to be enjoyed and used to sustain you-
Seth: And shared
David: ... and shared, like, it, it changes your relationship with the world around you.
Seth: Right. Like, I often... No, no, I, I bought my home. I-
David: Uh-huh
Seth: ... bought my home.
David: Uh-huh.
Seth: Or I rent my home, or-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... I am the one who made the money that provided this home.
David: Yeah. It's my car.
Seth: It's my car.
David: Yeah.
Seth: No, it was given to you-
David: Yep
Seth: ... by God.
David: Yep.
Seth: All things come from his hand. So how does that transform the way that you [laughs] like-
David: Yeah. But, no, I worked at my job to, to... It's like, who gave you the job?
Seth: Right.
David: Who, who gave the Levites their job?
Seth: God did.
David: God did. Like-
Seth: Yeah
David: ... it's all a gift.
Seth: Even like, I think even, like, we d- we treat the hours of, like, you know, 6:00 to 10:00 PM-
David: As our time
Seth: ... as our time.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: No, we worked all day, and we deserve this break before-
David: We work again
Seth: ... before we work again. Oh. Well, what if your work was a gift-
David: Mm
Seth: ... and what if that four hours is a gift, and both of those are supposed to be leveraged by the God who graciously provides everything you need in either of those moments? And if you need rest and relaxation, we can trust that that'll be provided for us-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... in Jesus by obeying his commands of generosity and service, not by neglecting them so we have a little bit more downtime to watch Netflix.
David: Yeah.
Seth: And that's, like-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... that's kinda the hard, the hard line there. It's like, man, I think I'd be better served by just spending more time doing nothing-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... than by serving more people. And, like, I don't wanna make it into some equation.
David: No.
Seth: There is, like, downtime's a good thing.
David: Yep.
Seth: Enjoying Netflix is a good, is another good gift of God.
David: Yep.
Seth: But not always.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Sometimes, we're, we're called to be living sacrifices, too.
David: Right. I just think it's like when we don't know that our downtime is a gift. We can always hold onto it with a tight fist.
Seth: Mm-hmm.
David: And we can say, "I won't let anything interrupt that downtime," right?
Seth: Right.
David: Because it's mine and I earned it and I need to use it. And it's like, what if you viewed 6:00 to 10:00 as a gift, then it's like, could you enjoy one hour of it and do something else with the other three? You know?
Seth: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
David: Like, I, I... It just changes our relationship. And anyway, and-
Seth: And then you're free-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... to spend all four hours doing nothing.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Or all four hours doing-
David: Or all four hours doing something. Yeah. [laughs]
Yeah. It's like-
David: Exactly. So anyway, and what that does is that c- that, that makes us, um, salt and light in the world. That makes us the priests in the middle of Israel, and in the same way that Israel was spread out, uh, four tribes into 12 different cities, totaling 48 cities in all, you know, they are-
Seth: Times four
David: ... they, they are spread out i- into the, in, into these different places. We too, as, as salt and light, are being thrown out into the world by God to just be non-anxious presences, [laughs] you know-
Seth: Yeah
David: ... to the world, where we just live differently because we did not earn anything that we had. Instead, it was all given to us. Anyway, I just think it's an interesting thing to reflect on.
Seth: Yeah.
David: Especially as Christians who have been freely given everything in Christ.
Seth: Amen.
David: Uh, it just changes the way we, we live. Yeah.
Seth: I agree.
David: So anyway, uh-
Seth: That's the land allotments.
David: That's not, that's-
Seth: That's the end of land allotments
David: ... that's the end of the land allotment section. And, uh-
Seth: Next week we'll finish up the book of Joshua.
David: Yeah, is that right?
Seth: That's right.
David: Oh, my goodness. Yeah, we have a funny story of a misunderstanding at a river.
Seth: Mm.
David: Uh, which-
Seth: Reminds me of the time I had a misunderstanding at a river.
David: Oh, I, I really hope that's true.
Seth: [laughs]
David: And I can hear a story.
Seth: I really, I don't know if I have a misunderstanding-
David: You'll have to dig into that
Seth: ... at a, at a river story.
David: Uh, and then we'll hear Joshua's farewell speech, and we'll be done with Joshua.
Seth: Yeah.
David: So thank you guys for joining us, and we will see you next week.
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