Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1895-09-12
NUMBER 3
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON XI, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, SEPT. IS.

Text of the Lesson, Joshua k. I-9-Men-
ory Verse, o Golden Text, Heb. Vi,
Is-coDmentary by the Rev. d. M.
stearns.
/. The Lord also spake unto Joshua,
saying. There was a time when God
spake to men face to face as with Adam,
Abraham, Moses and Joshua He after
ward spoke through the prophets but He
lat spoke through His Son, our Lord
sesus Christ Heb. !, h y. Even His com
munications to Abraham and the others
were through the Son, for, No man hath
seen God at any time, the only Begotten
Son who j. III the bosom Of the Father, He
hath declared Him. John !, 1s) Whether
through the prophets or His Son II was al
ways by the Spirit, and the same Holy
Spirit now speaks to US in His word q
Pet II III III Pet. !, 21; John xvi, 13; I
John ii, 27)
2. Speak to the children Of Israel, say
ing, Appoint out for you cities Of refuge
whereof l spakc unto you by the hand Of
Moses. The commands concerning the
'cities of refuge" arc found in Ex xxi
13; Mum. xxzv, 11-l5, and Deut. xix,
2-9 Our lesson is the fourth reference to
them, and the number four is suggestive
Of completeness concerning Gods dealings
with the earth The four gospels, the
four faces of the cherubiin, the four cor
ners Of the earth-all suggest Gods pur-
poses Of grace in Christ Jesus for the whole
earth.
3 THAT the slayer that killeth any per
son unawares and unwittingly may fee
thitheri and they shall be your refuge from
the avenger Of blood F" The word "mIglat''
here translated refuge" is "A word which
is used only Of the cities of refuge. 1t is
from root which signifies to receive
and makes u think Of Him of whom Ii il
said, This man rcceiveth sinners" The
cities Of refuge were only for the innocent
who had killed accidentally and without
malice the Lord Jesus is a Saviour and a
refuge for the guilty. and Vet the cities Of
refuge We're Gods way Of saving those who
otherwise would have perishcd
A. They shall take him into the city
unto them and give him place that he
may dwell among them" His dwelling
among them calls to mind another word
which il translated "rrfuge" only once.
1t is in the passage, The eternal God i
thy refuge (Deut. xxxiii, 27), and is in
the Ninetieth and Ninety first Psalms and
elsewhere translated dwelling place and
''habitation. When We have fed to Je-
sus, our refuge, He becomes our dwelling
place, and we may abide III Him"
) "And if the aycngcr of blood pursue
after him, then they shall not deliver the
slayer up into bis hand The way to the
city was prepared CDcut. xix, 3.) and ey-
erything made plain and easy for the
unwilling slayer as possible. but be had to
fee to the city and flee for his life lest the
avenger should OvurtasU him. There l. at
ways danger Of the sinner being cut 0fE
in bis sins Then there l. nO possibility of
redemption, for it is written Because
there is wrath. beware lest He take thee
away with His stroke Then great ran
som cannot deliver thee tIob xKxvi, 1S).
God H. not willing that any should Per
lsh, and IIe has made every possible provi-
sion for every sinner who will come, so
that the guilt is either upon the sinner
who has heard and will not come, or upon
those who, knowing ~ the refuge, have
not informed those who know i'll
9. And lie shall dwell Ill that city IN
til he stand before the congregation for
Judgment, and until the death Of the high
priest that shall be in those days" His
liberty depended upon The death Of the
high priest Our High Priest has died and
risen from the death and is alive forever
more Because He ever liycth He is able
to save everm0re all who come unto God
by Him None who ever come tO Him will
be east ont, and because He lives all who
come to Him shall live also tIohn vi, 81;
xiv, l9) We have only to abide in Him,
live unto Him and rejoice in Him who
has made us free.
7. And they appointed kcdesh I'D Gali-
Tee i'll Noun Naphtali, and Shechem In
Mount Ephraiin and Kiriath-arba, which
is Hebron in the mountain of Judah"
There were three cities on each side Of
Jordan Three j. suggestive of the Trini-
ty and uf resurrection. and these names
are all suggestive Of Him who reveals the
Father by the Spirit, and by Ills death and
resurrection becomes "A refuge for us. ks
desh means holiness and Naphtaii means
wrestling He brrnmts our holiness when
we yield To lIis wresrlinrs and art willing
to acknowledge no good thing in Us She
chem is shoulder, and Ephraim Is fruitful
1t is only when we cease from our wres-
things against Him and rrst quiet On His
shoulder that He can make H. fruitful
Kirjath-arba u the city of Arlla, OF of
four. Hebron is a company, or fellowship,
and Judah is praise. Resting from our
wrestling in Him who is our holiness we
become fruitful through fellowship with
the Father and tho on by the spirit and
are thus praise unto God 1t an comes
through coming unto and abiding in Him
who is our only refuge
8 Bezer, out Of the tribe Of Reuben;
Ramoth, out w tile tribe III Cad, and o.
41-.. n,
were the three on the east on Jordan ana
are also very suggestive Of Him. Bezer
signifies strong, and also gold or silver,
something precious. Reuben L. 'see
SON There II no rcal strength ur wealth
or preciousness apart from the Son In
whom dwelleth all the fullness Of the God
head bodily (Sce Prov iii. Il, 10; Pet.
ii. z; Is;l. xii. 2; xl, 39l. Ramoth is height
or exaltation. and Cad l. troop or com
pany This makes Ill think of the host Of
exalted ones who have lled for refuge to
lay hold upon the hope set before them.
Redeemed by His precious blood they are
now BY faith scaled with Him i'll the heay-
enIies-in due time shall be actually with
Him, spirit. soul ana body ana shall come
with Him among the armies Of heaven.
GOlan is a circle or joy or rejoicing, and
completed and W. become manifCstly
part OF Him from whom our new life bc-
gan, then viii onr ioy hc full ana We shall
forget all our miscrics and remember them
as waters TINT pass away tJob xi, l6).
Then shall We zee that AN the suiferings IF
this present time are nnt worthy t0 be
compared with the glory that shall ~ Is
veslled from viii ls)
@ These were the cities appointed for
all the children of Israel and for the strzln-
ger that sojuurneth among them The
benefit was f0r all, .Irw nr gentle 1t was
for "whos0eyrrN kilcth any person at nm
awares that ho might not perish. Consider
the whosoevcrs Of John iii l6: iv, l3; xi.
20; Acts x, 43; Rom. X. li | John v, 4;
Rey- xii, III What \ responsibility rests
upon all whn know ot ihis refuge fnr i'm
ners tU make Him known to all as speedily
as possible
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