Jesus, Your City of Refuge

Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

Luke 23:34, KJV

There is a teaching on the cities of refuge from the Old Testament that I believe will encourage you to take the Lord as your refuge and protector and run to Him.

The Lord told Joshua that when the children of Israel entered the land of Canaan, they were to designate KK[ˋdɛzɪg͵net]; DJ[ˋdezigneit]. 美式. vt. 標出；表明；指定；把……定名為，稱呼[（+as）][O9]. adj. 指定的，選定的 six cities of refuge. Back in those days, if someone unintentionally killed a person, the closest relative of the deceased had the legal right to avenge him. However, in His mercy, God appointed six cities and said, “Anyone who kills another person accidentally and unintentionally can run to one of these cities; they will be places of refuge from relatives seeking revenge for the person who was killed” (Josh. 20:3, NLT).

The cities of refuge were designed for people who had committed unintentional manslaughter, not for those who had carried out premeditated homicide. Deuteronomy 19 explains this, stating: “If someone kills another person unintentionally, without previous hostility…the slayer may flee to one of the cities of refuge to live in safety” (vv. 4–5, NLT).

The six cities of refuge are also a beautiful picture of our Lord Jesus, hidden for us to unveil. They are shadows that point to the substance—our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, He is concealed. In the New Testament, He is revealed.

At the cross, our Lord Jesus put all our sins, including the sin of crucifying Him, under the category of “unintentional” when He prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34, KJV). He was not just referring to Israel or the Romans; all our sins nailed Jesus to the cross. He chose the nails and offered us complete forgiveness. Can you see how good and merciful our God is?

Today, if you call upon the name of Jesus, you are qualified to run to Him and take Him as your city of refuge. Jesus is your city of refuge, and when you run to Him for refuge, the one seeking revenge (a picture of the devil) no longer has power over you. My friend, we were all sinners and the wages of sin is death (see Rom. 6:23). Before the cross, the devil had the legal right to put a death sentence over your head because of your sins. But the good news of the gospel is that Jesus took that death sentence at the cross, and in Christ we can receive His forgiveness and His protection. Hallelujah!

耶穌，你的避難城

耶穌說，父啊，赦免他們；因為他們不知道自己在做什麼。

路加福音 23:34，英王欽定本

我相信舊約中關於逃城的教導會鼓勵你接受主作為你的避難所和保護者，並奔向祂。

耶和華告訴約書亞，當以色列人進入迦南地時，他們要指定六座逃城。當年，如果有人無意中殺了人，死者的最親近的親屬有合法的權利為他報仇。然而，神因著憐憫，指定了六座城，並說：“凡不慎誤殺人的，可以跑到其中一座城；他們將成為親戚為被殺者報仇的避難所”（約書亞記 20:3，NLT）。

避難城是為無意殺人罪的人設計的，而不是為那些有預謀的殺人罪的人設計的。申命記 19 解釋了這一點，並指出：“如果有人無意中殺死了另一個人，沒有先前的敵意……殺人者可能會逃到其中一個逃城安全地生活”（vv. 4-5，NLT）。

六座逃城也是我們主耶穌的一幅美麗圖畫，隱藏起來讓我們揭開。它們是指向實體的影子——我們的主和救主耶穌基督。在舊約中，祂是隱藏的。在新約中，祂被啟示出來。

在十字架上，我們的主耶穌把我們所有的罪，包括將他釘在十字架上的罪，都歸為“無意”的範疇，他禱告說：“父啊，赦免他們；因為他們所做的，他們不曉得”（路加福音 23:34，KJV）。他不只是指以色列或羅馬人。我們所有的罪孽都將耶穌釘在了十字架上。他選擇了釘子並給予我們完全的寬恕。你能看出我們的神是多麼的良善和憐憫嗎？

今天，如果你呼求耶穌的名，你就有資格奔向祂，並以祂為你的避難城。耶穌是你的避難城，當你跑到他那裡尋求避難時，那個尋求報復的人（魔鬼的圖片）就不再對你有權力了。我的朋友，我們都是罪人，罪的工價就是死亡（見羅馬書 6:23）。在十字架之前，魔鬼有權因你的罪而對你判處死刑。但福音的好消息是，耶穌在十字架上接受了死刑判決，在基督裡我們可以得到他的寬恕和保護。哈利路亞！