the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
John Gossner's Treasury
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge that the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee, thither. Joshua 20:2-3. But if a man came presumptuously upon his neighbor, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die. Exodus 21:14. O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs. Song of Solomon 2:14. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. Isaiah 4:6.
The "cities of refuge" in Israel, where the slayer found safety and shelter, when the killing was done unwittingly, but which did not help the murderer who slew his neighbors intentionally and in guile, are a type of the wounds of Jesus. His wounds, like a place of refuge, are open to every sinner who honestly confesses his sins; they offer him shelter from judgment, death, devil, and hell, which as avengers pursue every sinner and threaten him with eternal destruction. He who takes refuge in the wounds of Jesus because he is weary of sin, and by conversion desires freedom from sin can not be molested: he is saved. But as the intentional murderer was not safe nor protected even in the temple itself though he should grasp the horns of the altar, but was taken, led away and turned over to the penalty he deserved: so shall neither sinner nor saint console himself with the wounds of Jesus if he do not honestly repent; if he secretly or openly love the world and sin; if he appropriate the wounds and the merit of Jesus with the mouth only and not with the heart. Such a one will be torn away from the altar of the cross, from the wounds of Jesus, which he only talks about, and cast into hell-fire together with the hypocrite. On the other hand, to all who are earnestly seeking salvation, to all zealous, conscientious souls who are deeply concerned about their salvation, the wounds of Jesus are blessed "cities of refuge," "clefts in the rock," "secret places in the stairs," where they are free and safe from the wrath, the penalty, the death, and the hell, which they have merited by their sins. There, in every heat of tribulation, in every need and affliction, they find shadow, coolness, shelter, salvation. Such a place a truly pious soul leaves no more. There, it finds eternal joy and rest, all power and complete happiness.
Other refuge have I none;
Hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, oh! leave me not alone.
Still support and comfort me
All my trust on Thee is stayed;
All my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head
With the shadow of Thy wing.
