Jesus Is Our Refuge ♜🛡️♖ | Joshua 20 Devotional (7-Step QT)
7-Step QT Notes
1. 🙏 Quiet Time
Pause.
Take a deep breath.
Ask God to show you what true refuge looks like in Him.
2. 📅 December 17, 2025
Today’s passage reminds us:
God’s justice and love meet perfectly in Christ, our ultimate refuge.
3. ✝️ Joshua 20:1-9
The LORD commanded Joshua to appoint cities of refuge for those who kill unintentionally, so they may flee from the avenger of blood. The manslayer must present his case at the city gate, and the elders shall provide him shelter until judgment and the death of the high priest. Six cities were designated—three west of the Jordan (Kedesh, Shechem, Hebron) and three east (Bezer, Ramoth, Golan). These cities served both Israelites and foreigners, ensuring protection for anyone who killed without intent until a fair trial.
4. 📖 Key Verse
These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and for the stranger sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation (v. 9).
5. 📝 Reflection
In ancient Israel, if someone killed another person—even by accident—their life was in danger. God commanded cities of refuge to protect them until justice was served. Why? Because God cares about both justice and mercy. Taking a life is serious, but intent matters, and God provides grace.
Here’s the good news: we have a better refuge today—Jesus Christ. Unlike those cities, His refuge is built on grace, not just fairness. If God only gave us what we deserve, none of us would qualify. But through the cross, Jesus invites us to run to Him for safety, forgiveness, and rest.
Think about this: Where do you run when guilt, shame, or fear chase you? Jesus is your safe place. He’s not waiting to condemn you; He’s waiting to welcome you.
6. 💬 What does this passage speak to you today?
- Where do I need to run to Jesus for refuge today?
- What fears or failures am I carrying that He wants to cover with grace?
- How can I remind others that Jesus is their safe place too?
7. 🙏 Prayer
Lord, thank You for being my refuge when life overwhelms me.
Help me trust Your grace instead of hiding in fear.
Teach me to point others to the safety found in You.
Amen.
Scriptures
📖 1 Then the LORD said to Joshua, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, 3 that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. 4 He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them. 5 And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unknowingly, and did not hate him in the past. 6 And he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.’ ”
7 So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. 8 And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. 9 These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and for the stranger sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation (Joshua 20:1-9, ESV).
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