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Sep 19, 2022 18:30pm

The Safe House

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We watched a movie recently where a man who would stand trial for a crime needed protection from a mob of men who were trying to kill him. The FBI had several “safe houses”, as they called them, where he could stay and have a guard with him. This one in particular was in a hotel. No unauthorized guests were allowed. If someone came to the door, the agent with him wouldn’t just hand him over, he would protect him. Did you know, this level of protection for the innocent is biblical?

“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses: That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime. And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.” (Joshua 20:2-6)

Some people might wonder how you could accidentally kill someone. Well, what if you were chopping wood together and the ax head flew off the handle you were using and hit your partner in the head killing him? It wasn’t your fault, yet he was dead because of you. When his family finds out, they would come after you for revenge. Wouldn’t you want a safe place until you could share your side of the story?

That’s why God designed these cities of refuge. It wasn’t to hide the guilty, but to protect the innocent. God is just. He is righteous. And because of these things, He gives us instruction and law. The city wasn’t a place for the man to “get away with murder”. He would wait there until he could have a trial. The truth would be revealed.

As a child of God, I have been forgiven of my sins. My debt has been paid. I am no longer guilty before the almighty God. However, Satan wants to constantly accuse me. He brings up my past and reminds me of the sins I once committed. He makes me feel unworthy, defiled, and guilty. But my Lord is my city of refuge. He is the protector of the innocent. All my guilt and shame is removed because of the blood poured out by my Jesus. My savior who died for me so that my sins would be forgiven.

Are you resting in that truth today? Or are you allowing the accusations being fired at you to bring you down? If you are a child of God, if you have been saved by Jesus Christ, you are not who you used to be.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Praise the Lord today!