Companion: Deep Study
A condensed companion to the full study. For each section of the expanded outline: key insights, applications, and the application questions for discussion.
Section 1 — The LORD Commands the Cities of Refuge (Joshua 20:1–2)
Key Insights
- Once the land is divided, the LORD takes the initiative and speaks again to Joshua about refuge (v. 1).
- Joshua is not a new lawgiver but carries out the word God spoke through Moses (v. 2).
- The reminder may gently rebuke Israel’s delay, or may simply mark that the proper time had come.
- God gave Israel cities of rest and cities of refuge together, because anyone might one day need to flee.
- The refuge was planned before it was needed, just as Christ was appointed our refuge before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20).
Applications
- God’s grace in Christ is His settled purpose, so we may come to Him with confidence rather than suspicion (Hebrews 4:16).
- Do not postpone obedience to commands you already know; hasten and do not delay (Psalm 119:60).
- Churches should build structures of mercy and fair hearing before a crisis arrives.
Application Questions
- Is there a clear command of God that you have acknowledged but postponed, as Israel waited to appoint the cities until the LORD reminded them?
- Do you approach God in your guilt as though His mercy must be persuaded, or as though His refuge in Christ was appointed before you ever needed it?
Section 2 — Refuge for the One Who Kills Without Intent (Joshua 20:3)
Key Insights
- The refuge is for the manslayer who kills without intent (Hebrew shegagah) and unknowingly (v. 3).
- The doubled description shuts out the willful murderer, who could be taken even from God’s altar (Exodus 21:14).
- The law measures the heart as well as the hand: where there was no hatred, there was no murder.
- Even an accident is under God’s providence, yet God’s rule does not make the manslayer a murderer (Exodus 21:13).
- Christ prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34), and became the refuge of those who shed His blood.
Applications
- Judge others as God does, distinguishing carelessness from malice (1 Corinthians 4:5).
- When you have hurt someone unintentionally, own the harm and seek reconciliation (Matthew 5:23–24).
- Caution: without intent never covers recklessness or willful negligence (Exodus 21:29).
Application Questions
- When you have hurt someone without meaning to, do you take ownership of the harm, or do you retreat into the defense that you did not intend it?
- When someone’s carelessness rather than malice has cost you, do you judge their heart as God does, or do you treat them as an enemy?
Section 3 — Heard at the Gate and Not Handed Over (Joshua 20:4–5)
Key Insights
- The refugee came openly to the gate, the town’s courtroom, and explained his case to the elders (v. 4).
- The elders received him provisionally and gave him a place before the full trial.
- They were forbidden to give up the manslayer to the avenger of blood (v. 5).
- The same law handed the willful murderer over to justice, so refuge never meant injustice (Deuteronomy 19:12).
- God gave up His own Son for us, so that those who flee to Christ will never be handed over (Romans 8:32).
Applications
- Be quick to hear and slow to judge when someone comes to you in trouble (James 1:19).
- Refuse mob justice and the spreading of unverified accusations (Proverbs 18:17).
- Warning: a church must never shield abusers or hide crimes from lawful authorities (Romans 13:4).
Application Questions
- When someone comes to you in trouble or under accusation, do you listen fully before you judge, as the elders at the gate were required to do?
- Do you trust that Christ will not hand you over to your accuser when you come to Him confessing your sin?
Section 4 — Until the Death of the High Priest (Joshua 20:6)
Key Insights
- The refugee stayed until his trial and then until the death of the high priest (v. 6).
- He was safe but not yet home, cut off from his inheritance, and no ransom could shorten his stay (Numbers 35:32).
- Release came through the death of the anointed high priest, not through the refugee’s merit or payment (Numbers 35:25).
- Whether that death was itself expiatory is debated, but the pattern of release through a priestly death is clear.
- Christ’s death “redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant” (Hebrews 9:15), and He holds His priesthood forever.
Applications
- Live as one released, not as one still confined by guilt (Romans 8:1).
- Bear the lasting consequences of forgiven sin with patient hope, not bitterness (Hebrews 12:11).
- Caution: release is not earned by time served, so the passage gives no support to purgatory or penance.
Application Questions
- Are you living as one still confined to the city, afraid to go home, or as one released by the death of our High Priest?
- How do you bear the earthly consequences of sins that God has already forgiven, with bitterness or with patient hope?
Section 5 — Six Cities Set Apart on Both Sides of the Jordan (Joshua 20:7–8)
Key Insights
- Israel set apart (Hebrew qadash, sanctified) Kedesh, Shechem and Hebron in the north, center and south (v. 7).
- Moses had already appointed Bezer, Ramoth and Golan east of the Jordan (Deuteronomy 4:41–43).
- The cities stood in hill country, visible from afar and within reach of every region (Deuteronomy 19:3).
- All six were Levitical cities, joining refuge to the teaching of God’s law.
- Christ is the holy, visible, accessible, priestly refuge the cities foreshadowed (Hebrews 7:26).
Applications
- Keep the road to Christ clear of obstacles that are ours rather than God’s (2 Corinthians 6:3).
- Let the church be a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14).
- Be willing, like Caleb yielding Hebron, to give up what is yours so others may find refuge.
Application Questions
- Is anything in your life or your church making the way to Christ harder for others to find?
- Are you willing, like Caleb, to give up something rightfully yours so that others may find refuge?
Section 6 — Refuge for Israel and the Sojourner (Joshua 20:9)
Key Insights
- The cities were designated for common use, not for one tribe alone (v. 9).
- The stranger sojourning among them received the same protection as the native Israelite (Numbers 35:15).
- The refuge held the fugitive safe until he stood before the congregation, so mercy served justice.
- Christ is a refuge for Jews and Gentiles, bringing near those who were far off (Ephesians 2:13).
- Christ surpasses the type, sheltering even the deliberately guilty who flee to Him (1 Timothy 1:15).
Applications
- Being near the city does not save; flee to Christ personally and now (2 Corinthians 6:2).
- Welcome strangers and outsiders with the gospel and practical care (Romans 15:7).
- Caution: the open gate is not universalism, because only those who enter are safe.
Application Questions
- Have you personally fled to Christ as your refuge, or are you relying on being near the city?
- Does your welcome of strangers and outsiders reflect the refuge God extended to the sojourner?
The LORD who counts every life precious opened six gates of mercy in Israel’s land, and in Jesus Christ, our holy Refuge and eternal High Priest, He has opened the one gate through which every hunted sinner may flee and, by His death, come home.
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