What do you think it would be like to live in one of the cities of refuge? What do you think it would be like to go to jail?
Once you made it to the city, you could run inside and be safe. Yes! But the danger wasn’t over yet. Guilty murderers would run to the cities of refuge as well. The cities of refuge had judges who would hold a trial. The judge would have to hear what really happened (Num. 35:12, 24).
If it was determined that you were guilty of murder, the judge would kick you out of the city of refuge! There wouldn’t be a safe place for you anywhere in the entire country. The family of the one you murdered would continue to look for you. You would never be safe.
If you had killed someone by accident, then you could stay in the city. You were safe, but you were in a kind of jail. If you left the city, then the family of the one you murdered could kill you. Only in the city of refuge would you be safe. Like in our story of accidentally killing someone on the farm with the pitchfork, you would not be guilty of murder. But you would be guilty of being careless, and you would have to live in the city of refuge to be safe. There was protection inside the city but not outside the city (Num. 35:26–27).
The city of refuge was a little like jail, because you couldn’t leave. However, it was nicer than going to jail. It was a safe place. Pastors [Levites], not prison guards, were in charge, and they ran things well. It wasn’t a place of punishment. You could have your own place to live and raise your own food. Visitors could come to see you and spend time with you. It was a great place to live, safe and secure, until your time in the city was up. But how long would you have to stay?
You would have to stay in the city of refuge until the high priest died. Maybe the high priest was very young and healthy, and you would have to stay there for thirty years or more. Ugh! But it was also possible that the high priest was extremely sick when you entered, and he died soon afterward. In that case, you might only have to stay for a week. It didn’t matter when you came in, everyone in the cities of refuge would leave together when the high priest died. The day after the high priest died, all the cities would be empty, except for the pastors [Levites] who worked and lived there. Wow, it would be a ghost town!
God had Joshua create the cities of refuge to make a safe place for people who did wrong accidentally. If they did wrong on purpose, they wouldn’t be able to stay in the city. If it was an accident, the city was a safe place for them.
Jesus is a safe place for all who have done wrong and are sorry for it. The road to Jesus is always wide, flat, and smooth, and it goes straight up to his home—heaven. Whenever we pray, he hears us. If we know Jesus and have done wrong, we need to run to him. He is our refuge. Jesus paid the price for our sin; he took our punishment so we don’t have to pay it ourselves. Our judge, God the Father, will find us not guilty, because Jesus paid the punishment for our sin. Prayer never breaks down. The Bible has signs that tell us Jesus is our refuge, so we never have to be lost. Follow the signs to Jesus!
Remember: You’ve Got His Word on It
This I declare of the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I am trusting him. Psalm 91:2
But to the poor, O LORD, you are a refuge from the storm. To the needy in distress, you are a shelter from the rain and the heat. Isaiah 25:4
God cannot lie when he takes an oath or makes a promise. These two things can never be changed. Those of us who have taken refuge in him hold on to the confidence we have been given. Hebrews 6:18 GOD’S WORD
A highway will be there, a roadway. It will be called the Holy Road. Sinners won’t travel on it. It will be for those who walk on it. Godless fools won’t wander {onto it}. Isaiah 35:8 GOD’S WORD
Jesus answered him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 GOD’S WORD
Scripture Passage: Judges 4–5
So What? Jesus never leaves you alone!
For Parents: [Anything in brackets]
Do you remember what the cities of refuge were? [They were cities you could run to if you accidentally killed someone. No one could harm you once you were in the city. After you arrived in the city, there would be a trial. If the judges decided the killing was an accident, you could remain in the city in safety.]
In the Book of Judges, chapters four and five, the Bible tells us the Israelites were sinning again. They had forgotten God. As a result, God let Jabin, the king of Canaan, rule over the Israelites. Jabin was a wicked king with nine hundred iron chariots. Do you know what a chariot is? [You can describe it as a cart looking a little like Santa’s sleigh but with wheels instead of skis on the bottom. One or two pairs of horses would race the iron chariots into battle, where the person in the cart could shoot the enemy with his bow.] Having nine hundred chariots at that time would be like having nine hundred tanks today. Jabin had an extremely powerful army!
This big army of chariots made King Jabin proud, and he was cruel to the Israelites for twenty years. He appointed a commander named Sisera, who was the cruelest of them all. The people in Israel began to wonder why God was letting this happen to them. It took twenty years before they realized they were being treated cruelly because they had forgotten God. God allowed this to happen to bring them back to him. Jabin, Sisera, and their warriors had power only because God allowed them to have power. When the Israelites realized this, they began to pray. They told God they were sorry for their sins, and asked him to forgive them for how they had been living. Then they asked God to take away Sisera and his evil army of chariots. And God answered.
If some bullies were coming after you, who would you want to show up to protect you? Why did you choose that person? How would you like a woman named “Honeybee” to come to protect you?
Deborah is a Hebrew name. In English, it means “Honeybee.” Honeybee was a prophet, a judge, and a leader in Israel. People went to her to settle arguments. They respected her because she listened to God and did what he said.
When the people prayed to God to protect them from Sisera and his nine hundred chariots, God talked to Honeybee. Honeybee sent for a man named Barak. She told Barak, “I want you to get an army together to meet Sisera in battle at Mount Tabor.” Honeybee probably knew that no one would follow a woman named Honeybee to battle, so she needed Barak’s help. Honeybee was smart. Mount Tabor is thirteen hundred feet high. The chariots couldn’t run up and down a mountain. The trees, rocks, riverbeds, and steep mountainside would stop the chariots. It would be a little like trying to drive your family minivan at an Olympic skateboard competition. It just wouldn’t work!
Barak was the general of the army. But he was afraid. Nine hundred chariots with eighteen hundred horses running after you