Hebrews 6:17-18a
"Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, (and He) confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie (God cannot lie) we might have a strong consolation,…:"
In other words, we can rest on these promises. I think for us today, the world is in a turmoil like I don’t think it has ever been before. When I watch the evening news or late-night news my it’s the Philippines, it’s Indonesia, it’s China, it’s Taiwan, it’s India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Israel - you just go all around the globe and it’s conflagration on conflagration or on the local level its murder and mayhem. Never have I seen it, at least in my lifetime, so completely global. All this is but due to one thing the desire of self will even expressed within a nation and through that nation of people matters not the nations religious form.
Now we know everything else is "global," and so, are the problems. Now, the secular world out there doesn’t have an answer for it. All they do is worry and lose sleep and wonder whether there’s going to be another Enron debacle tomorrow. Well, we could care less, because you see, we haven’t got all our money tied up in earthly stocks - we as believers have got ours put up in Heaven. And it’s from there that we look for all of our final returns. For we count all things earthy as nothing of value because it is only temporal or temporary and is reduces to nothing by the using or by allowing it to sit idle.
But, here we have it that since God cannot lie, He has given us all these promises that, yes, all the turmoil of the world has to happen. That doesn’t surprise me, and I hope it doesn’t surprise you. Because out of all this you see, the world is just getting set. The stage is getting prepared for the coming of the anti-Christ. Though he's been here shortly after Christ's return, when he was kicked out of Heaven. For our Lord said that He had sen Satan kicked out and fall to the earth, I believe “like a bolt of lightning” was the expression the Lord Himself used. And oh, he’s going to bring in a pseudo peace, he’s going to bring in what they normally think the Messiah would bring and so we know all these things are coming. He is said to have taken up religion as an angle of light and that his minions or evil spirits as ministers of that light. So when we see or hear of the supernatural, mystical, even the workings of Jesus being done who could be at the root? Here's another thought what about the so called prosperity, or the name it and claim it or even the sign and wonders gospels that are out there running rampant these days are they all of God or the lawless one? We know about the new age, and the occult but where there's so much lawlessness in the world my question is who's at its root? And now, finish the verse, and so we are like those: "...who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:"
When I saw that word refuge, as I was preparing this, I thought of the Cities of Refuge in Israel’s history. Let’s go back to Joshua chapter 20. Here Joshua has now taken up the reins of leadership and Israel is moving into the Promised Land. And all the laws of civility are being laid upon the nation. How to get along with our neighbors as well as all the spiritual ramifications of the Levitical Law. But, in the midst of all their civil law was a unique one. And that was that Israel was to establish three cities of refuge on both sides of the Jordan Valley. Three between the Jordan the Mediterranean and three others between Jordan and the land to the east and around the east side of Galilee. Now these three cities of refuge then were just exactly that. They were a place where a person could flee and be totally protected in a unique circumstance.
Joshua 20:1-3a
"The Lord also spake unto Joshua, saying, 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 unaware and unwittingly…"
In other words, he has no idea. I use the example, there used to be a lot of hedgerows, I’m sure in Europe and the Middle East. And I can just picture this farmer cleaning the rocks off of his field. Because after all, Israel has their share of rocks. And I can just see him cleaning the rocks off of his field and he probably just threw them over a hedgerow to get them off his field. And one of them happened to hit a passer-by on the head and killed him.
Well, he had no intentions of killing anybody. Never even entered his mind. But, the fact remained that he had killed someone. So now what could he do? He could run to one of those cities of refuge, lest some avenger come and take advantage of him and kill him. Now that’s the picture. Not anybody with any malice. No premeditation but he has without any knowledge of his own killed someone unawares. Alright so that this person in verse 3 could do what?
Joshua 20:3b
"…may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood."
So it goes on to say that he can be there in total safety. No one can come into that city of refuge and try to arrest him, or deal with him or anything else. The only thing is, of course, he’s not going to get off all that easy - he has to stay in that city of refuge until the high priest of that present day dies. Then, as soon as the high priest dies, he is free to go back to his own farm or whatever. Now, let’s drop down to verse 6 so you see where I’m coming from:
Joshua 20:6
"And he shall dwell in that city, (the city of refuge) 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 into his own city, unto his own house, and unto the city from whence he fled."
Now, that was refuge in a time of distinct need. That’s the first thing I think of when I see that word. Now come back with me to Hebrews again. So here we have that blessed hope that we, too, have been able to "flee to the refuge" that is the Lord Christ Jesus, who has been made available, and we have entered into the refuge with our trusting His faithfulness. Alright, and then again, reading verse 18, so as we flee to that place of refuge:
Hebrews 6:18b
"…to lay hold upon the hope (there’s that word again, faith, hope and love. And now) set before us:"
Oh, what is it? The promises of God! I just told a young man earlier, "He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us." Regardless of what may happen, He is always there and He will never leave us. Alright, and this hope then becomes:
Hebrews 6:19a
"Which hope we have as an anchor or the soul…."
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