WEARY and spent, the man ran; traversing the hot desert roads in the
daytime; and hurrying on through the night if perchance there were a
moon or stars to guide him; or else crouching in some corner behind
some rock, till daylight enabled him to hurry forward once more!
Why was the man running over the ground at his topmost speed? Was he
carrying a message, or bringing bad news, or what could it be?
No, he was hurrying to a place of safety!
But why? you may ask. Was he being pursued, or what was it?
Yes, he was being pursued by a man who was called "The Avenger of
blood."
For God's law was, that a man who had hated his neighbour and had
planned to kill him and had carried out his purpose should surely be
put to death.
So if any one was killed among the Children of Israel, at once "the
Avenger of blood" hurried to the spot and seized the murderer, who was
then examined before the priests and the judges; and witnesses were
called to give evidence as to whether the prisoner had intended to kill
his neighbour, so that the judges might decide whether he were guilty
or not. God's law made it necessary that there should be more than one
witness before a man could be condemned.
But if a death were caused by an accident, God provided a way of escape
for the manslayer, and it is this way of escape that I am going to tell
you about.
When the Children of Israel had wandered in the wilderness for forty
years—for their murmuring and disobedience, as God had said—they came
at length to the land of Canaan; and here God told Moses to divide the
land among the different tribes, and instructed him to separate Six
Cities in different parts of the land, three on one side of the River
Jordan, and three on the other side.
These six cities were to be called "cities of refuge," and God told
Moses to make good roads leading to them, so that if any one killed
a man by accident or at unawares, he might flee to one of those six
cities, at his utmost speed, and not lose his way in his haste; for
when once there, he would be sheltered, and in safety, so that the
Avenger of blood might not catch him and kill him.
You will find in the 19th chapter of Deuteronomy the wonderful
directions which God gave Moses about these cities.
God said, that any one who killed his neighbour ignorantly, and had not
intended to hurt him, might flee to the city of refuge, and be safe.
If a man and his neighbour went into a wood to cut down a tree, and the
axe-head of one of them flew off and struck the other man, so that he
died, then the manslayer as he was called could flee to one of those
cities, and live! Or if a man let a stone fall upon his neighbour by
accident, and it killed him, he could flee to the city of refuge, and
live!
[Illustration: For when once there, he would be sheltered and in
safety.]
As soon as he entered the city of refuge, the elders of the city
came forward and inquired into the circumstances which had made him
fly there; and so soon as they were satisfied that the death of his
neighbour was an accident, and that he was not worthy of death, they
made him welcome to their city, and henceforward the city of refuge was
to be his shelter.
But if any man hated his neighbour, and laid in wait for him, and rose
up against him, and smote him mortally, so that he died, and were to
flee into one of these cities, then the elders of his city should send
and fetch him from there, and deliver him unto the hand of the Avenger
of blood that he should die. These were the rules which God made.
The man who hurried to that city of refuge knew in his own heart
whether he was guilty or not; and if he knew that it was an accident
which had happened, then when he reached the city how gladly did he
pass the gate, and get safely inside!
You can imagine how he sank down breathless and faint within that
portal, and how thankful he was in his own heart that God had provided
a way of escape for him!
In this city of refuge, he must stay; nor was he free to leave it for a
single moment, till the death of the High Priest who might be living in
those days. It might be many years, or it might be only a short time;
but whether long or short there was no safety for him outside those
walls. If he ventured out, if the Avenger should meet him, he would
certainly be killed.
And it seems to me that there are one or two lessons which we may learn
from this story, which God has written for our learning.
May we not think of Jesus Christ our Saviour as our City of Refuge?
And if He is, shall we not, beneath the Sheltering Walls of His
Salvation, be at rest from all our fears?
We read, in the 6th of Hebrews: "That . . . we might have a strong
consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set
before us."
That man, running from the Avenger, wanted life!
And if we fly to Jesus Christ to get life, we find that He, Himself, is
the Way—the plainly marked, loving path to safety.
He is the Truth, for His promises are faithful.
He is the Life, for there is no eternal life apart from Him.
How tenderly He says to us: "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you Rest."
[Illustration]
XII. THE LETTER THAT WAS LAID BEFORE THE LORD,
AND THE LORD'S ANSWER
HEZEKIAH, King of Judah, did that which was right in the sight of the
Lord. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none
like him among all the Kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
Immediately after he came to the throne, he destroyed all the high
places where the people had worshipped false gods, and he broke their
images; and he followed the commandments of the Lord with all his heart.
And the Lord was with him, and he prospered in all he set his hand to.
He defeated the Philistines, and rebelled against the yoke of the King
of Assyria, and refused to serve him.
Meanwhile, however, Hoshea, who was then King of Israel, was very
much harassed by the Assyrians, and God permitted them to come into
the land of Israel and besiege Samaria for three years. They took it,
and carried numbers of captives into the land of Assyria, because His
people had transgressed His commandments.
The Assyrians, having gained these victories, turned their attention to
the land of Judah, over which the good King Hezekiah reigned, and they
fought against and took some of the fenced cities.
Then Hezekiah sent a present to the King of Assyria, hoping to bribe
him not to pursue the war any further.
To make this payment Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the
Temple of the Lord, and sent all the money that was in the Treasury.
But the riches which were known to belong to the Kings of Judah and
Israel were an immense attraction to their enemies: so that instead of
turning back, the King of Assyria sent his greatest generals with a
host of soldiers to surround Jerusalem and besiege it.
When they reached the conduit of the upper pool, which supplied water
to the city, Rabshakeh called to King Hezekiah to come out to them.
Then Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah came forward to hear what Rabshakeh
had to say.
And Rabshakeh's first words were full of pride and threatening: "Thus
saith the great King, the King of Assyria, 'What confidence is this
wherein thou trusteth? In whom dost thou trust? If ye say, "We trust in
the Lord our God," Hezekiah has broken down His altars and told Judah
they are to worship in Jerusalem!'
"Now therefore ... I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou
canst on thy part put riders upon them!"
Then Hezekiah's messengers begged Rabshakeh to speak in the Assyrian
language, and not in Hebrew, which the people understood.
But Rabshakeh was more insulting than ever; and told all who listened
to him, that it was vain for Hezekiah to say "The Lord will deliver
you!" Sennacherib had conquered other nations, and their gods had not
delivered them! And the Lord would not deliver Jerusalem out of his
hand.
But Eliakim told the people not to answer a word. Then they returned to
the king with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
Then Hezekiah rent his clothes and put on sackcloth, and went up into
the house of the Lord, and sent his messengers to Isaiah the Prophet,
saying that it was indeed a day of trouble, and surely the Lord had
heard the words of Rabshakeh.
But the Prophet Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah: "Thus saith the
Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the
servants of the King of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will send
a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his
own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land."
So Rabshakeh returned, and when he found fresh troubles in his own
land, he sent a message by letter to Hezekiah, saying they were not to
rejoice that they had escaped their enemy! For they would surely come
and fight against them another time!
Then Hezekiah received the letter and read it, and carried it up into
the House of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. And he prayed to
the Lord, and told Him it was quite true that other nations had been
defeated by the cruel King of Assyria, but they had not the Lord God
of Israel to trust in; and then he ended with these words: "O Lord
our God, I beseech Thee, save Thou us out of his hand, that all the
kingdoms of the earth may know, that Thou art the Lord God, and Thou
only!"
And then the Lord gave His long glorious answer: "Thus saith the Lord
concerning the King of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor
shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank
against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and
shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this
city, to save it, for Mine Own Sake, and for My servant David's sake."
"And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out,
and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and eighty-five
thousand men: and when they arose early in the morning they were all
dead corpses."
So Sennacherib, King of Assyria, departed and returned to Nineveh; and
as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god, his two sons
smote him and killed him.
God's words had come true.
[Illustration]
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