Thank God for the blood of Jesus, that cleanses people and the land from all sin.
In Numbers chapter 35, God gave Moses two commands for Israel when they entered the land of their inheritance. God was ‘making provision for’ (a term often used in construction, providing for future needs), looking ahead to the time when Israel took possession of the land. God’s Covenant Agreement was delayed, but could never be prevented!
God told Moses that 48 towns and surrounding land had to be provided for the Levites who served Him. Included in those towns, six were to be known as ‘Cities of Refuge’, Numbers 35:6, places where innocent people who’d shed blood could flee from those seeking revenge. My late mentor, Kjell Sjoberg from Sweden, asked the Lord that there would be Cities or places for the people of God to flee to in the Last Days.
God was seeking to prevent the defilement of Israel’s inheritance by the shedding of innocent blood. This was an important matter and it was noted four times in three different books of the Old Testament. Numbers 33; Deuteronomy 4 and 19 and Joshua 20 Three Cities had been nominated East of the Jordan River, where some of the Tribes would live. Deuteronomy 4:41-43
God was very specific about the need for the Cities to be centrally located and accessible.
2 then set aside for yourselves three cities in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess. 3 Build roads to them and divide into three parts the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that anyone who kills someone may flee there. Deuteronomy 19
Moses gave Israel further commands from the Lord regarding the future of their inheritance;
8 If the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he promised on oath to your ancestors, and gives you the whole land he promised them, 9 because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today – to love the Lord your God and to walk always in obedience to him – then you are to set aside THREE MORE CITIES. 10 Do this so that innocent blood will not be shed in your land, which the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance, and so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed. Deuteronomy 19
This was to be a lasting command for the Israelites (Numbers 35:29) and ANY ALIEN LIVING AMONG THEM. Joshua 20:9
33 ‘“Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord, DWELL AMONG THE ISRAELITES (His people).”’ Numbers 35
‘How Much More’ is this true for us today, when God’s own Spirit dwells in us and how grateful we should be that Jesus sacrifice covers our sin today. But we also need to remember that UNCONFESSED SIN IS NOT UNDER HIS BLOOD. I believe I shared before that God spoke to the late Lydia Prince and told her that TIME DOESN’T COVER SIN. Sin must be confessed for the Blood to cover it!
God bless and keep you today.