Again, let me begin by thanking you for all the prayers for
my grandson, Luke. Shortly after I finished posting my pastor’s chat Sunday morning
we received a call from Kimberly that the medical staff at the hospital found
an infection on the shunt tubing and they would be taking Luke back to the OR
to remove all the tubing that is involved in draining the excess fluid around
the brain. This of course was not good news. Luke went back to the OR in the afternoon
and went though a couple hours of surgery to remove all the infected tubing associated
with the shunt all the way down to his stomach. Temporary tubing was put in
coming directly out of his head to continue to drain this fluid. He did well
through this surgery. Edith and I drove up to Roanoke Sunday afternoon and was
able to spend some time with Luke and Kimberly in the PICU. He was resting well,
and with the pressure gone seemed to be doing fine. After the infection is
cleared, he will have another surgery, hopefully later this week, to replace
the shunts and all the tubing. Please continue to pray! Thanks again for your
continued enormous support, kind and encouraging words and of course your
prayers!
In Joshua 13-19, the twelve tribes of Israel receive their inheritance
of land from Joshua and the elders. After that was complete, in Joshua 20 the LORD
reminded Joshua about the “cities of refuge” that He had given instructions
about to Moses while the nation was still on the other side of the Jordan. God
had told Moses to have the people set aside special cities for the Levites (Numbers
35:1-5), as well as six "cities of refuge". The cities of refuge are
mentioned at least three times in Exodus 21:13, Numbers 35:6-34, and Deuteronomy
19:1-13. Now that the tribes had received their territories, Joshua could
assign these cities.
Even before the Law of Moses was given, in Genesis 9:6, God
had laid down the basic rule that those who shed blood should pay for their
crime with their own blood. "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his
blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.” This principle
was enunciated repeatedly in the Law, but God made a distinction between murder
and manslaughter (Exodus 21:12-14; Leviticus 24:17; Numbers 35:16-21; Deuteronomy
19:11-13. God had warned the Moses and the people that, "Blood defiles
the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed
on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. Therefore do not defile the land
which you inhabit" (Numbers 35:33-34).
The six "cities of refuge" were needed because
society in that day had no police force to investigate crimes. It was the
responsibility of each family to see to it that murders were avenged, but how
could they tell whether it was a case of premeditated murder or accidental
manslaughter? In the heat of anger a relative of the dead person might kill
somebody who was really innocent of a capital crime. Until there was an
investigation, there was a “city of refuge” nearby that the “manslayer” could
flee to for safety until a trial.
These cities of refuge are a beautiful picture of our
salvation in Jesus Christ, to whom we "have fled for refuge"
(Hebrews 6:18). The lost sinner, of course, is in danger of judgment because "the
wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). The avenger of blood is after him
or her! God's appointed Savior is Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12), but the sinner must
come to Him by faith in order to be saved (Matt. 11:28-30; John 6:37).
Today, if you have not yet been saved, please flee to Jesus
Christ for salvation and safety!
God bless!
