everyone welcome to steadfast Baptist Church you can find your seats turn in
your hymnals to song number 173 if did me song 173 if did me 173
father thank you for this day thank you for all the opportunities to go out soul
please bless those souls that were saved today thank you for steadfast Baptist
Church the man of God preached a great sermon today in Jesus name I pray second
song turn to song number 335 Jesus goes with me 35 Jesus goes with me 335 if
Jesus goes with me here we go he's singing out real loud together come to
steadfast Baptist Church thank you for being here this evening this time we're
gonna go through our bulletins if you don't have one go ahead and raise your
hand and an usher will bring you a copy have there on the front our verse of the
week this is the grace week for Psalm chapter 58 so this is the last week for
you to be able to quote this whole chapter and if you do that by Saturday
Saturday is the last day of this week to be able to do that on Sunday you will
get a prize we'll have a couple of nice King James Bibles for girls and for guys
and also some gift cards as well so make sure to try to memorize this chapter
this week on the inside we have our service times on the left there Sunday
morning at 1030 a.m. our Spanish service at 430 p.m. look like a pretty good
Spanish service crowd this evening so that was encouraging to see for sure
also our Sunday evening service at 530 p.m. and our Wednesday evening Bible
studies every Wednesday at 7 o'clock p.m. also is listed our churchwide soul
winning times that meet here at the building there and our regional times
meet at various locations at various times so be sure to get with one of
those respective leaders if you are interested we also have our stats for
the month of September for salvations and baptisms as well as our year-to-date
stats and on the right there is our prayer section we have our expecting
ladies list make sure to keep all those ladies in your prayers definitely a lot
to be praying for right now and also just our weekly prayer list listed there
if you have anything that you'd like to add please send that into the email let
us know if it's a public or a private prayer it's a public prayer we'll be
happy to put that in the bulletin for you guys on the back real quickly we
have our upcoming events September 23rd is our fall swap miss Natasha Zermeno is
leading that if you have any questions you can go ahead and speak with her but
if you have anything of value at home that you want to bring please do bring
that or if you just want to check out what other people are bringing and want
to take something home please do that as well
mr. Manos baby shower is going to be at or I'm sorry on September 30th from 9 a.m.
I'm sorry from 12 30 p.m. to 2 30 p.m. at the church building and you could RSVP
to miss Lauren Millstead for that October 1st is our neighborhood barbecue
where we just are inviting everyone to come to church for that evening and
we're gonna have some guys helping out barbecuing hamburgers and hot dogs that
we just want to serve the community to after and it's a great chance to get to
know people and also to preach the gospel October 12th through the 15th is
our fire breathing Baptist fellowship like I mentioned this morning if you're
interested in more details on that or what the itinerary is gonna be for that
week we do have some printouts on that front table that have a detailed
explanation of everything that's going on during that conference we have a lot
of events planned so it should be a really fun time coming up just in a
couple weeks October 31st is our Texas chili cookoff if you don't know the
rules for that by now then anything I say is pointless because you don't
listen to the announcements anyways no she can we all know the rules for that
right no beans November 4th is our Abilene Texas
soul-winning marathon that's our next soul-winning marathon we're doing we're
giving West Texas a little bit of love this time I've never been out there never
soul did any soul winning out there so looking forward to see how receptive
Abilene is if you're going to that please do sign up on the sign-up sheet
at the front there that is pretty much it for announcements let's go ahead and
go to psalm 148 psalm 148 psalm 148
so being passed around please turn in your bibles to numbers chapter 35 chapter
35 chapter 35 the bible reads the lord spake unto moses in the plains
of moab by jordan nair jericho saying command the children of israel that they
give unto the levites the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in and
you shall give also unto the levite suburbs for the cities round about them
and the cities shall they have to dwell in and the suburbs of them shall be for
their cattle and for their goods and for all their beasts and the suburbs of the
cities which he shall give unto the levite shall reach from the wall of the
city and outward a thousand cubits round about and he shall measure from without
the city on the east side two thousand cubits and on the south side two thousand
cubits and on the west side two thousand cubits and on the north side two thousand
cubits. And the city shall be in the midst. This shall be to them the
suburbs of the cities. And among the cities which he shall give unto the
Levites there shall be six cities for refuge which he shall appoint for the
manslayer that he may flee thither. And to them he shall add forty and two
cities. So all the cities which he shall give to the Levites shall be forty and
eight cities. Them shall he give with their suburbs. And the cities which he
shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel. From them that
have many you shall give many, but from them that have few you shall give few.
Every one shall give of his cities unto the Levites according to his inheritance
which he inheriteth. And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Speak unto the children
of Israel, and say unto them, When ye become over into the land of Canaan, then
ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the slayer may
flee thither which killeth any person at unawares. And they shall be unto you
cities for refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer die not until he stand
before the congregation in judgment. And of these cities which ye shall give, six
cities shall ye have for refuge. Ye shall give three cities on this side,
Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be
cities of refuge. These six cities shall be a refuge both for the children of
Israel and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that
every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither. And if ye
smite him with an instrument of iron so that he die, he is a murderer. The murder
shall surely be put to death. And if ye smite him with a throwing of stone,
wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer. The murder shall surely be put
to death. And if ye smite him with a hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and
he die, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. The
revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer. When he meeteth him, he shall
slay him. But if he thrust him of hatred or hurl at him by laying of weight, that
he die, or an enemy, enmity, smite him with his hand that he die, he that smote
him shall surely be put to death. For he is a murderer. The revenger of blood shall
slay the murderer when he meeteth him. But if he thrust him suddenly without
enmity, or have cast upon him anything without laying of weight, or with any
stone, or with a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die,
and was not his enemy, neither saw his harm, then the congregation shall judge
between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments, and
the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger
of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge,
whether he was fled, and he shall abide in it under the death of the high priest,
which was anointed with the holy oil. But if the slayer shall at any time come
without the border of the city of his refuge, whether he fled, and the revenger
of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger
of blood kill the slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, because he should have
remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest. But after
the death of the high priest, the slayer shall return into the land of his
possession. So these things shall be for a statue of judgment unto you throughout
your generations and all your dwellings. Whoso killeth any person, the murder shall
be put to death by the mouth of witnesses. But one witness shall not
testify against any person that caused him to die. Moreover, you shall take no
satisfaction for the life of a murderer which is guilty of death, but he shall
surely be put to death. And he shall take no satisfaction for him that has fled to
the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land until
the death of the high priest. So he shall not pollute the land wherein ye are. For
blood it defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is
shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. Defile not therefore the
land which he shall inhabit wherein I dwell. For I the Lord dwell among the
children of Israel. Let us pray. Father thank you for this great chapter and we
just thank you for brother Ben and his family. I pray that you the power of the
Holy Spirit will rest upon him tonight and that you would help him to expound on
this chapter. Lord help us to take away something new and help us to apply
ourselves tonight and renew our hearts and our minds and we just pray that you
would bring pastor Shelley and his family safe home to us and we ask these
things in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. I want to start by thanking pastor Shelley for
the opportunity to fill in for him this evening and I look forward to him coming
back on Wednesday night continuing our Roman series. Numbers chapter 35 will
start in verse number 9 where the Bible read and the Lord spake unto Moses
saying speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them when you become over
Jordan into the land of Canaan then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of
refuge for you that the slayer may flee thither which killeth any person at
unawares and they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger that
the man slayer die not until he stand before the congregation in judgment so
ancient Israel had in the land certain cities of refuge these are cities that
are designated as a place for a man slayer to go and be protected from what
the Bible refers to as the avenger of blood now the individual who gets a
chance to utilize these cities of refuge is someone who committed what we would
say in our modern times manslaughter or it was some sort of incidental or
accidental rather killing that they didn't mean to do it's not like they
slayed a man purposefully it wasn't like they orchestrated a premeditated assault
or murder they didn't commit murder against an innocent person but this
individual who gets a chance to use the city of refuge committed manslaughter
like we would say in our modern times an accidental killing and in verse oh one
other thing I wanted to mention before we move on is that the cities of refuge
they give us an insight into God's morality and what I mean by that is it
shows you just how much God values balancing the scales of justice God
wanted very clearly in the scripture we see this in multiple places to balance
the scales of justice to make sure that innocent blood was atoned for in some
way this is why the phrase is used life for life and I'll get into that in just
a few moments but this system it was not for all crimes this is not prison either
people get confused this is not prison it's not describing prison it's for a
specific scenario in which someone accidentally kills another person and
they get a chance to receive physical salvation a sanctuary refuge in specific
cities that are outlined for Israel let's look at verse 18 here in Numbers
chapter 35 in verse 18 where the Bible read or if he smite him with an hand
weapon of wood wherewith he may die and he die he is a murderer the murderer
shall surely be put to death the revenger of blood himself shall slay the
murderer when he meeteth him he shall slay him here we have a case where it's
obvious that this was intentional and what's the consequence for an
intentional killing murder the avenger of blood meets him and takes care of the
problem he legally slays the murderer and you have life being given for life the
innocent blood is atone for if you will or there's life for life here in the
land there is no blood guiltiness placed upon the land and that's so important
God and his nation did not want innocent blood to go without to be killed to be
slain without ramifications and I wish that the United States was like this
today I think of what's going on in America and the innocent blood being
shed every single day whether it's a more quote traditional form of murder one
person slaying another or what's going on in the abortion factories across this
country there's a lot of innocent blood being slain in America and nothing is
being done about it so like I said when you we look at this system it teaches us
about the moral precepts that God advocates for which is that if innocent
blood will be shed if it's going to be shed in his nation something is going to
be done about it and in verse 18 and 19 what I read for you there there's an
avenger of blood there's a revenger of blood that's another word that the Bible
uses to describe this now I would surmise that it's probably a family
member or for a friend or maybe it's someone who obviously is heavily
motivated to act as an avenger of blood I don't believe the text tells us
explicitly but I would surmise I would theorize that it could be someone who at
the very least is heavily motivated to execute vengeance and play this role now
if one of my close friends or family members was slain I would appreciate a
system that allows me to act as an avenger of blood and allows me to then
take that murderer's life in a life-for-life system let's look at verse
20 it says but if he thrust him of hatred or hurl at him by lying of weight
that he die or an em then he smite him with his hand that he die he that smote
him shall surely be put to death for he is a murderer the revenger of blood shall
slay the murderer when he meeteth him so again premeditated murder an outpouring
of hatred on another person I mean I don't know how much more hatred you have
to demonstrate than taking another person's life and in that case the
avenger of blood now is deputized to take care of that and to slay the
murderer verse 31 let's skip down to verse 31 in other words murder is a
capital crime in God's chosen nation of Israel murder is a capital offense it is
a capital crime verse 31 in this chapter it says moreover you shall take no
satisfaction for the life of a murderer which is guilty of death but he shall be
surely put to death so in the case of a murderer who's guilty of taking someone
else's life a premeditated a calculated killing the Bible saying hey don't take
satisfaction for that so what does that mean it's saying you can't if you're
guilty of this horrible crime this capital offense you can't buy your way
out of it it's not like well I can just pay a fee or some kind of you know
monetary compensation to get away with it without losing my life that would be a
corrupt system and we see this happening where judges are bribed and things of
that nature the Bible is saying no satisfaction that person must be put to
death no questions asked that's what he's saying can't buy his way the
individual guilty the person who's guilty of murder cannot buy his way or
her way out of that predicament you shall take no satisfaction for the
murderer it's not like you can just give compensation to get out of that
situation all right no compensation is acceptable let's head over to
Deuteronomy chapter 19 now what are the quintessential chapters about the cities
of refuge Deuteronomy chapter 19 is the chapter we're going to look at next what
are the quintessential chapters dealing with this concept well you have the
chapter that brother Nick just read for us there numbers 35 you have Deuteronomy
19 that we're gonna look at next you also have Joshua 20 that we'll be
looking at later on in the sermon and so these are the places if you want to
study this for yourself those are the chapters you can go to to figure out
what God says about this and look don't just let this go through one ear and out
the other just because it's Old Testament you know the new the neo-evangelical
mentality that says the Old Testament doesn't matter is complete garbage we
can take lessons from the Old Testament we can see what God's morality is we can
learn about his character and we can also learn spiritual truths about
essential doctrine from the Old Testament now Deuteronomy chapter 19 it
goes into some more things it says in verse 11 but if any man hate his
neighbor and lie and wait for him and rise up against him and smite him
mortally that he die and fleeth into one of these cities then the elders of his
city shall send and fetch him thence and deliver him into the hand of the
avenger of blood that he die so to clear the land of guilt a murderer should be
put to death now if someone were to do an intent were to commit an intentional
killing and then tries to flee to the city of refuge that person would not be
allowed to use the city of refuge for protection because they committed murder
they intentionally in a premeditated fashion took another person's life what
would happen then is the person would be delivered to the avenger of blood they
don't meet the qualifications for the city of refuge some people they think
that the debt because this is the death penalty that we're talking about and
some people they think well the death penalty is not humane they'll make that
argument which is not biblical and here's what they'll say they'll say
here's what I'd rather have let's instead lock people in a box or lock
people in a cage and throw away the key until they die now tell me how that's
better it's like well I don't believe in the death penalty I think we should just
lock people in cages that's not what the Bible says that's not what the Bible
says and it doesn't make you a more moral person if that's what you believe
now where do we derive our doctrine where do we derive our morality from a
standard that goes beyond humanity that's right no matter what our opinion
is and that's the Word of God so I really just want to make it clear I
believe in the death penalty that's all I really wanted to say there Deuteronomy
chapter 19 so to utilize the cities of refuge there's a condition that has to be
met and I wanted to start off with this to make sure no one's confused the
condition is in order for you to gain access to a city of refuge you must have
killed somebody by mistake or unintentionally verse 13 it says
Deuteronomy 19 in verse 13 this is talking about somebody who did an
intentional committed intentional killing murder thine eye shall not pity
him but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel that it may
go well with thee what are we seeing here just how zealous God is for putting
away blood guiltiness the guilt of innocent blood from Israel he wanted to
make sure that the nation that he was ruling over didn't just allow innocent
people to die without any ramifications whatsoever this is why he makes it so
clear and he says in fact that I shall not pity it's really a shame that so
many so-called Christians out there apparently are a lot more loving than
the God they claim to worship because he said that I shall not pity didn't he
let's look at verse 4 skip up to the beginning of the chapter if you would and
verse number 4 so let's talk about an unintentional killing you didn't mean to
take this person out you didn't mean to kill this person perhaps you were a
little bit negligent whatever the case may be but it wasn't something that you
planned verse number four addresses this it says and this is the case of the
slayer which shall flee thither that he may live who so killeth his neighbor
ignorantly whom he hated not in time past as when a man goeth into the wood
with his neighbor to hew wood and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to
cut down the tree and the head slippeth from the health and lighteth upon his
neighbor that he died he shall flee unto one of those cities and live. If you're
using a tool to hew wood and for whatever reason it ends up killing
another person you didn't mean to do that and so what happens is you now have
the right to flee to and utilize the city of refuge to be protected from who
the Avenger of Blood because the Avenger of Blood wants to execute vengeance
that's why he's called the Avenger of Blood and he's coming after the person
who killed an innocent man or woman and so if you want to evade the Avenger of
Blood your option is to flee to the city of refuge where you will receive
protection this is not premeditated what we read here in Deuteronomy 19 in the
beginning of the chapter it's not premeditated it wasn't a deliberate act
right here this was a mistake so what should happen well flee to the city of
refuge so that you're not slain by the revenger of blood God put in place a
system for such a person so that they don't die they get a second lease on
life if you will let's head back over to numbers chapter 35 numbers chapter 35 and
we'll read about another case of inadvertent killing I just want to lay
the bedrock down about this concept first and then I'll give you the title of
the sermon don't worry and we'll talk about some spiritual truths associated
with the moral precepts described in numbers 35 and Deuteronomy 19 and Joshua
chapter 20 as well but for now let's look at numbers chapter 35 let's see
what God says about this system in verse 22 he says but if he thrust him
suddenly numbers 35 verse 22 but if he thrust him suddenly without enmity or
have cast upon him anything without laying of weight or with any stone or
with a man may die seeing him not and cast it upon him that he died and was
not his enemy neither sought him harm so again you kind of have arguably some
negligence here but it's an accidental killing he's cast upon him the victim if
you will this was not a calculated killing so now what well there's no
other option in this circumstance although there might have been some
negligence arguably in this circumstance what the killer now has to do is
immediately flee to a city of refuge to procure protection from the revenger of
blood Joshua 20 you don't have to turn there it says this it talks about the
manslayer and says that the manslayer shall stand at the entering of the gate
of the city and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city
so these cities of refuge which by the way also are an area where the Levites
live an individual can go there a person who committed manslaughter or an
unintentional killing can go there plead their case and if everything checks out
they're allowed access they gain access to that city not prison like I said this
is not prison a person who flees to the city of refuge they can build a life for
themselves there they can go they can get a job they can live their life
amongst the Levites and they can continue until a certain point which
we'll get to later. Numbers 35 it says in verse 24, "Then the congregation," so the man slayer flees,
declares his cause, relays what happened. He enters in, look what it says in verse 24, "Then the
congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments,
and the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the
congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge." So what are we seeing here? The congregation
basically adjudicates between the slayer who unintentionally killed someone, the man slayer,
and the avenger of blood, and if everything checks out that individual, he has access to the city of
refuge, and he's safe in the city of refuge, and cannot be killed by the avenger of blood in the
city of refuge. Hopefully this is making sense to you. I'm just trying to make sure that we
hammer this to start. Now I want to get my buddy Alex up here, come on up, and Ethan Urbanik. We're
going to do a little demonstration. Go ahead and stand right here to the right of the pulpit.
Stand right here. We'll do the sign later. Stand right here. Okay. So these two guys, stand next to
him. These two guys are in the nation of Israel. Now he is a stranger, right, of Chinese descent,
so he's not, he's not like a native person of Israel, and he's native, all right. Now,
Ethan and Alex, they're going soul-winning in the nation of Israel, and as they're going soul-winning,
picture this, Ethan trips over a rock or a stick and accidentally clips Alex here. Alex then, in
just horrible luck, or maybe God really wanted to take him out, I don't know, but my point is,
in horrible luck, Alex gets clipped, he falls and somehow falls off a cliff and dies.
You're now dead. Go ahead and sit down. I'll bring you back up in a minute, but just sit down for now.
Alright, so Ethan just did an accidental killing here. He didn't mean to slay my buddy Alex. He
didn't. That was a total accident. It's not like he hated him. They were going soul-winning together
in Israel. They didn't have any feud. They didn't have any bad blood between each other
at all. It was an accident. It was unintentional. He didn't mean to do it. So what does Ethan need
to do now though? Because there's an avenger of blood coming for him, and that's me. And I love
my brother Alex. And you know what? I want to take Ethan out. This sounds bad, Ryan. I hope you're
okay with me saying this. But this parable, alright? I want to take him out for what he just did
to Alex. I have hot blood and I want to avenge the innocent blood in Israel. So here's what
Ethan has to do. Ethan, why don't you go ahead and stand right here. Ethan now has entered,
we're pretending folks, alright? He's entered the city of refuge. To my left of the pulpit is the
city of refuge. To my right is just the rest of the land. So he's now entered the city of refuge.
And now Ethan, did you mean to kill Alex or was it an accident? It was an accident, right? He's
going to declare his cause to the congregation. Do you guys believe that it was an accident?
All right, thank you. Thanks for playing along. Some bozos are like, "No!" So you're just ruining
the whole thing. Anyway, so you believe him, right? It was an accident. So he declared his cause.
You believe him. So now Ethan, he has access to the city of refuge. Now as the avenger of blood,
I cannot touch him. I can't do anything to him. He's in the city of refuge. He has safety. If,
hypothetically, I violated that and took him out, then you know what? My blood would be on my head.
At that point, I would be a murderer. At that point, I would need to be put to death for taking
innocent blood, for shedding innocent blood. Ethan is safe as long as he's right here in the city
of refuge. You kids, I'm sure you've played tag before. And when I was a kid, I don't know how
kids do it in 2023. But when I was a kid, there was something called base. And when you're in
base, when you're at base, you're touching base, whatever the case may be, nobody can tag you. You
have immunity, right? And in that case, you cannot be tagged. Well, Ethan cannot be tagged right now.
He's in the city of refuge. Nobody can touch him legally. And he has safety from the Avenger of
Blood. The Avenger of Blood cannot do anything to hurt him. And he will be, he has to stay here
if he wants protection until the death of the High Priest. The death of the High Priest enables Ethan
to leave the city of refuge without the threat of the Avenger of Blood killing him. Because at that
point, the death has been atoned for. All right? And I'll get into more detail on that. But Ethan
can get a job. He can live. He can provide. And he's very advanced. He's a young man and he's
getting a job already. You know what I mean? This is a great... Ethan, you know, he's doing some great
things here in the city of refuge. He's amongst the Levites. But here's the thing. He can leave
whenever he wants, even before the death of the High Priest. Ethan can wander anywhere he wants to,
hypothetically. And if he did, if he left the city of refuge before the death of the High Priest,
well guess what? The Avenger of Blood now actually has the legal authority to slay him. So he has to
stay exactly where he's at until the death of the High Priest. He has to stay where he's at. If he
takes a jog someplace outside the city or he goes and sojourns somewhere else, he's putting himself
at risk of getting, excuse me, of getting slain by the Avenger of Blood. Does that make sense?
All right, you can go and sit down. Thank you. So where are these cities? We'll talk about that.
I made a chart here that I thought might be useful of my homeland. All right, maybe it's somewhere up
here. I don't know. But anyway, so here are the 12 tribes, and I'll get Alex up here in a second.
You can stay down. But you have the pink dots representing the cities of refuge. All right,
so this is the nation of Israel, what it looked like during this time here, Numbers chapter 35,
Deuteronomy 19, etc. So we'll get back to this, but let's look at Numbers 35 verse 26. Numbers 35
verse 26, "But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge,
whether he was fled, and the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his
refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood." So this is what I
described, that if Ethan were to leave the city of refuge at any time and be slain, well the avenger
of blood actually had the right to do that because the slayer left the protected zone that he was
supposed to be in. This is similar, you see similar concepts in the Bible to this. Think of in First
Kings when Solomon warned Shimei, "Don't leave Jerusalem, don't pass over the brook Chidron,
or you're done." And he did anyway to chase some servants. Think of the fall of Jericho. What did
the spies say to the house of Rahab? They said, "Look, if any of you leave your home at any time
during our takeover, then you know what? Their blood's on their own head. They shouldn't have
left the house. But if for whatever reason they die while abiding in their own home,
then you know what? That blood is on our head. We're guilty." So sort of a similar concept there.
But here's the whole point of the sermon. There are several parallels between what I just described
for you and the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so the title of my sermon is "The Cities of Refuge
in Light of the Gospel." The cities of refuge in light of the gospel. I want to demonstrate
how certain elements of the cities of refuge are analogous to or symbolize very important
aspects of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Turn if you would to Joshua chapter 20.
Joshua chapter 20. And first I want to call your attention to the accessibility of the cities. The
accessibility of the cities of refuge. And we'll read in Joshua chapter 20 starting in verse 7.
Joshua chapter 20 starting in verse number 7. It says there in Joshua 20 verse 7 and they appointed
Kadesh and Galilee in Mount Nephtali and Shechem in Mount Ephraim and Kedroth Arba which is Hebron in
the mountain of Judah and on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward. They assigned Bezer in the
wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben and Ramoth and Gilead out of the tribe of Gad
and Golan and Baishan out of the tribe of Manasseh. Alex if you don't mind go ahead and come back up
here he has been resurrected folks and Alex is going to hold this painting right side up right
and just stand right here if you would so everybody can see it okay I made this as a visual aid don't
freak out if something small is inaccurate all right somebody's gonna be like well I don't know
this river should have been a little bit thicker or something it's like calm down just a visual aid
okay but we see that these cities of refuge are located in the nation of Israel obviously
and they're spread out evenly distributed Kadesh and Nephtali which constitutes
the northern part of the land right over here this region you have Shechem and Mount Ephraim
which covers the central portion of the nation of Israel sort of in the west Manasseh area you have
Kebron in Judah which covers the southern region of the nation of Israel where the tribe of Judah
was allotted their land then you have Bezer which is Reuben's territory of course you have
the Jordan River and you had two and a half tribes that preferred to stay on the east of the Jordan
River this was more suitable land for them they didn't cross over and so these tribes right here
you have a nation I'm sorry you have a city of refuge located in the northern part of the allotment
belonging to the tribe of Reuben you also have a city of refuge in Gads territory which is located
right here symbolized by this pink dot and then finally in the northern portion of the land
located to the east of the Jordan River is this city of refuge right here in the northern section
of east Manasseh is what I feel like we can call it so what's the point these cities are evenly
distributed you notice how they cover the entire land allotment they're evenly distributed right
here you don't have to travel very far to reach a city of refuge they're evenly distributed the
bible says in verse 9 Joshua 20 in verse 9 these were the cities appointed for all the children of
israel and for the stranger that sojourneth among them that whosoever killeth any person at
unawares might flee thither notice this and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he
stood before the congregation so if you're someone who accidentally killed another person you have
the ability to travel to a city of refuge which is in your region you don't have to travel very far
to get to one and you can get there before the avenger of blood gets to you first that's the
reason why these cities are evenly distributed in the nation of israel if the slayer hypothetically
had to travel a great distance to get to a city of refuge then the avenger of blood can take him out
before that person reaches the city and it renders the entire system useless so the idea is god wants
to give the manslayer an opportunity to flee an opportunity to run before getting slain so basically
a slayer is always within a reasonable proximity of a city of refuge you can you can sit down you're
good thank you alex is a good helper isn't he i kill him then i tell him to come back up it's like
so hopefully this was useful for you and just sort of visualizing here it is for those of you on this
side of the church just sort of visualizing the land and and how everything was laid out so let's
turn if you would to roman's chapter 10 roman's chapter 10 the way these cities were strategically
placed made it so that they were within reach no matter where you dwelt in the nation of israel
basically enabling the slayer to reach one of these cities and be safeguarded from the avenger
without having to travel a great distance now what is this picture for us in the new testament
when you read your bible and you're going through from old testament to new testament you have to
understand there's nothing incidental accidental or coincidental in the bible and that's why even
the so-called drier chapters that maybe don't have all the action that you're looking for can still be
very intriguing because what you ought to do and what a mature christian does is look for spiritual
pictures where there's a spiritual picture associated with the allotment of the cities of refuge and i
want to show you what that is the cities of refuge were accessible that's why they were located
strategically in areas within a close proximity of pretty much all the tribes of israel the cities
of refuge were accessible well guess what the gospel is accessible look at roman's chapter 10
if you would roman's chapter 10 the cities of refuge were accessible the gospel is accessible
roman's 10 it says in verse 6 but the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise say not in
thine heart who shall ascend into heaven that is to bring christ down from above or who shall descend
into the deep that is to bring up christ again from the dead but what sayeth it the word is nigh thee
even in thy mouth and in thy heart that is the word of faith which we preach that if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the lord jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that god has raised him
from the dead thou shalt be saved what's he saying he's making a comparison to what moses had already
talked about through the inspiration of the holy spirit that the commandments of god are not
unobtainable you don't have to travel up to heaven to get it and similarly in romans chapter 10 what
he's describing is that salvation the knowledge of salvation the knowledge of how to get to heaven
it's not something you have to travel a great distance to procure you don't have to go all the
way up to heaven to know how to get to heaven and you certainly don't have to go to the deep
to know how to get to heaven he in fact says the word is nigh thee just as sure as those
cities of refuge were always near a manslayer who needed one in the same way paul says to his
audience the word is nigh thee and he goes as far as to say hey it's even in your heart it's in your
heart now how could that be possible because i don't think the audience is speaking to is saved
so how is this possible for the knowledge of salvation to be in someone's heart and yet they're
not saved yet and i'll tell you how it's called an intellectual ascent to the gospel an intellectual
ascent to jesus and yet not placing 100 of your faith in jesus that's the difference i believe
the parable of the sower actually gives us an explanation about this where you have the knowledge
in someone's heart and yet they're not saved it says and i'll just quote this for you those by
the wayside are they that here then come at the devil and take it away the word out of their hearts
lest they should believe and be saved what does this look like imagine you give the gospel to
someone they intellectually assent to the truth of the gospel yeah that is what the bible says
but i don't believe it they don't want to call on the name of the lord well that knowledge is now in
their heart yet they're at a tremendous risk and what is that risk of satan taking away the word
that was in their heart lest they should believe and in the same way these manslayers in the old
testament they have the cities of refuge in their vicinity but if they don't actually enter they run
the risk of the avenger of blood killing them before they can enter in the same way somebody
who has the knowledge of the gospel but isn't believing on the gospel believing on the lord
jesus christ runs the risk of dying and going to hell before they get a chance to finally make a
decision which is why if you're not 100 sure that you're saved and you're sitting in the room
tonight go talk to someone as soon as the sermon is over and get that straightened out lest satan
take that knowledge you have and make it so that you end up not believing and you die and you go
to hell nobody wants that to be their predicament so he's saying to his audience hey look the
righteousness of faith it's not unobtainable and in the same way the cities of refuge they weren't
unobtainable people can enter them they didn't have to travel a long distance you know long
distance travel not required to enter the city of refuge and in the same way long distance travel
it's not required to figure out how to be saved how to go to heaven in many cases people are having
soul winners knock on their door and bringing the gospel to them it's right there you just need to
actually enter the city to get physical salvation in the same way the gospel for many people it's
right there they just have to actually believe on jesus christ they just have to actually
receive it they have to receive it let's go back to deuteronomy chapter 19 if you would deuteronomy
chapter 19 you know in many ways the knowledge of jesus and who he is it's ubiquitous around the
world i don't buy into this idea that there's some sort of jungle man or jungle boy or something like
that who's never heard of christ don't think and if it does exist hypothetically and that person dies
well they're going to end up going to hell so that underscores the importance of missions and
reaching people and things of that nature but i believe an unsafe person has a minister by whom
that person can get saved and if they seek the lord and they ask for truth and they want to know
sincerely how to go to heaven i believe god will send them someone to teach them how to go to heaven
so what do we have next well the cities of refuge they were the manslayers only legal means of
avoiding death the only legal means of avoiding death were the cities of refuge look at verse
three deuteronomy 19 and verse three thou shalt prepare thee away and divide the coasts of thy
land which the lord thy god giveth thee to inherit into three parts that every slayer may flee thither
and this is the case of the slayer which shall flee thither that he may live whoso killeth his
neighbor ignorantly whom he hated not in time past there was a way prepared for the slayer to flee
and if you fall under the category of someone living in israel at this time who committed
manslaughter you didn't mean to kill someone you have one legal sanctioned option go flee to the
city of refuge go procure refuge that's your option that's what god has dispensed to you
go to one of the cities of refuge now turn if you would to axe chapter four axe chapter four
just as these people the manslayers one legal option to avoid the avenger of blood the gospel
is the only means to escape or to avoid spiritual death it's the one option that a sinner has
to avoid spiritual death you say well what about the law that'll lead to inevitable failure they
won't be able to they can't keep the law nobody can keep the law you say well couldn't they try
sure they'll try they'll fail and they'll end up in hell there shall no flesh be justified by the
law the bible couldn't be more clear about that and so those who attempt to be justified by the law
will fail in the same way a manslayer who decides you know what forget about the city of refuge i'll
just hang out outside of it regardless of what i did that person i believe will also inevitably
fail i think the avenger of blood will end up meeting him and taking him out so in the same way
if you don't want to do it god's way you're going to fail if you don't want to get physical salvation
through the cities of refuge the way god outlined it you're going to be slain and if you don't want
to be saved spiritually the way god outlined it you're going to be slain spiritually you're going
to end up in hell you will not be saved acts chapter 4 it says in verse 12 acts chapter 4 in
verse 12 neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved there's one name under heaven whereby we are saved the bible
is saying in acts chapter 4 this is the most basic doctrine i could possibly talk about here in this
sermon which is what one option for you as a sinner to get to heaven it's through the lord
jesus christ that is the only means of salvation that is the only hope for sinners and is the reason
why we go with a tear in the eye to knock on their door and give them the good news of the gospel
that's their only hope that is their only hope jesus himself reiterated this truth when he said
i am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me but by me he says so he
speaks to the exclusive method of salvation dispensed by christ it's through him it's through jesus
there's no other way you won't make it to heaven any other way there's one sanctioned way to evade
physical death in israel if you're a manslayer get into the city of refuge and there's one
way to avoid spiritual death as a sinner believe on the lord jesus christ believe in the gospel
unfortunately though there have been false prophets out there who have disputed this very basic
fundamental truth of the bible they have they're out there some are still alive some are dead
here's one that's dead billy graham he said this that's what god is doing today he's calling people
out of the world for his name whether they come from the muslim world or the buddhist world or
the christian world or the non-believing world they are members of the body of christ because
they're called of god they may not even know the name of jesus but they know in their heart that
they need something that they don't have and they turn to the only light that they have and i think
they are saved and they are going to be with us in heaven direct quotes from your hero billy graham
that's your hero right there seriously is that what we read in act chapter four is that what we
what i quoted for you in john chapter 14 is that the truth reiterated in scripture over and over
and over again no that's not at all what the bible teaches he says i think they're saved they turn to
whatever light they have wicked liar why would he lie about this to tickle the ears of a great
multitude for filthy lucre's sake this is the most hateful thing you could possibly say to someone
is to downplay or even completely contradict the necessity of jesus for salvation hey if you're
a manslayer you better get to the city of refuge or else the avenger of blood when he meets you
will take you out and in the same way if you're a sinner if you're not saved you've got one
option believe the gospel there's nothing more merciful than that jesus provided you with a way
the free gift of salvation take it or leave it and if you leave it john 336 says hey the wrath of god
abideth on him let's move on here let's go back to joshua chapter 20 the cities of refuge provided
security the cities of refuge provided security and in joshua 20 in verse four we see this outlined
joshua 20 and verse four it says and when he that doth flee under one of those cities shall stand at
the entering of the gate of the city and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of
that city they shall take him into the city under them and give him a place that he may dwell among
them the elders of that city they hear the cause of the manslayer and since he meets the conditions
necessary to enter the city of refuge he is given access to it look at verse 5 and if the avenger of
blood pursue after him then they shall not watch this they shall not deliver the slayer up into his
hand because he smote his neighbor unwittingly and hated him not before time so a manslayer who meets
the conditions to enter the city of refuge cannot be delivered to the manslayer from the city of
refuge that's illegal they wouldn't do that he has security he receives a sanctuary to abide in and
he's received security he's received physical salvation he will not be delivered up from that
city to be slain by the avenger of blood that's what the bible is teaching and it says explicitly
they shall not deliver the slayer up will not be delivered to the avenger of blood so what's my
point the cities of refuge they provided physical salvation the gospel provides spiritual salvation
but it's eternal it's eternal what do i mean by that you can't lose your salvation and it's so
funny people want to debate one saved always saved do you realize the definition what does what a
saved mean to you it has a d at the end debate over the debate is done there's a d at the end
you lose the bible wins first corinthians 15 tells us moreover brethren i declare unto you the
gospel which i preached unto you which also ye have received and wherein ye stand by which also
ye are saved that's how we are slave so the the slayer he's delivered from physical death by the
cities of refuge just as believers delivered from spiritual death by the gospel itself now look at
john chapter 6 john chapter 6 salvation implicates it is a done deal it's not something you have to
work a lifetime to obtain and it's not something you have to worry about losing it is a done deal
once you have eternal life eternal life lasts forever which means you cannot lose it john 6 verse
37 it says in john 6 verse 37 all that the father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me
i will in no wise cast out what's christ saying here he will never cast out a believer he will
never cause someone to lose their salvation they cannot be cast out in the same way when a manslayer
flees to the city of refuge they can't be cast out from that city of refuge despite
meeting the qualifications to enter they cannot be cast out from the city of refuge and delivered
to the avenger of blood and the avenger of blood you could argue pictures god himself and the wrath
that he pours out for the unsafe turn to hebrew six if you would hebrews chapter six they shall
not the bible says cast out the slayer into the hand of the avenger and in the same way jesus said
although the father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me i will in no wise cast out
we see a picture of eternal security is my point through the system outlined the cities of refuge
now hebrew 6 talks about the nature of god's promises and it says in verse 17 we're in god
hebrew 6 17 we're in god willing more abundantly to show under the heirs of promise the immutability
of his counsel confirmed it by an oath the word immutability it means that it doesn't change it
cannot be changed verse 18 that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for god to lie
we might have a strong consolation and watch this part who have fled for refuge isn't that what the
whole sermon is about who have fled for refuge guess what if you're saved you have fled for
refuge spiritually so what is this whole thing talking about what's the point of the bible
telling us about the cities of refuge to teach us a very important lesson about many different
things one of them being salvation and it says who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope
set before us what are the two immutable things described in hebrews chapter number six well first
of all that god swore the promises you find in scripture and second god cannot lie he cannot lie
which is why when we go out soul winning and we explain eternal security to people
we make sure to hammer in god can't lie when he says you're saved he means it when he says
eternal life he means it he's never going to take it away from you in hope of eternal life
which god that cannot lie promised before the world began he swore that bible says who have
fled for refuge losing your salvation that would be the equivalent of someone in the old testament
being delivered out of the city of refuge a manslayer being delivered out of the city
of refuge for no reason and just tossed to the avenger of blood in spite of the promise made to
him the promise of security was made to him hey you enter this city you will not be slain hey god
promised eternal life you will not be spiritually slain you're not going to go to hell you're not
going to die experience death spiritually in hell that has been paid for it's done it's finished
look at numbers 35 again numbers chapter 35 i realize we're kind of flipping back and forth
to it but it's a bible study what do you want me to tell you numbers chapter 35 the cities of
refuge here's an important point the cities of refuge were available for both the israelite
and the stranger the cities of refuge were available for both the israelite and the stranger
god's not a respecter of persons is the point i'm trying to make these weren't just for like
a specific tribe god didn't allot this cities of refuge for just specific for a specific tribe
or ethnicity it was for everyone look at verse 15 numbers 35 and verse 15 the bible says these
six cities shall be a refuge both for the children of israel and for the stranger and for the sojourner
again the children of israel and the stranger and the sojourner among them that everyone that
killeth any person unawares may flee thither remember how i said alex in the illustration
wasn't from the land he was a stranger a sojourner well my point is obviously he died so i guess that
doesn't necessarily fit what i'm trying to say but my point is a stranger can access the cities of
refuge just like anyone else both an israelite and a stranger can utilize the cities of refuge
how does this compare to the gospel well the cities of refuge are for all people
the gospel is for all people this is why the bible says in romans chapter 1 for i am not ashamed of
the gospel of christ for it is the power of god unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the
jew first and also to the greek it's not based on your ethnicity god doesn't care what color you are
i shouldn't have to explain that god does not care what color you are romans chapter 10 you
don't have to turn there i'll quote this for you it says for there is no difference between the
jew and the greek for the same lord overall is rich unto all that call upon him no difference
between jew and greek regarding salvation god doesn't favor one over the other and in the same
way there's no difference between the jew and the greek when it comes to the cities of refuge
both can utilize it whether they're a foreigner or not let's look at numbers 35 again numbers chapter
three i think you might still be there but if not turn back over to numbers 35 so whosoever jew or
greek can place their faith in the gospel and that leads me to my final point the city of refuge
system provides an atonement it provides an atonement look what it says in verse 25
numbers 35 and verse 25 and the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the
revenger of blood and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge whether he
was fled notice and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest which was anointed with
the holy oil the holy oil is symbolic of the holy spirit and the high priest here is he's ordained
to engage in several different practices regarding the temple of god and the worship of god back
under the old testament but the city of refuge essentially is a safeguarded area for a manslayer
that he has to stay in until the death of the high priest after that point guess what a manslayer
can now leave the city of refuge with no consequences with no risk associated with leaving
with no ramifications and if he's killed after that point well then the avenger of blood would
be guilty of slaying an innocent person so once that high priest dies the person who's in the
city of refuge or the people in the city of refuge can leave freely without having to worry about it
why because that death the innocent blood that they shed has been atoned for by the high priest
that death has been atoned for by the high priest in joshua 20 you don't have to turn there it
reiterates this and it says he shall dwell in that city until he stand before the congregation for
judgment and until the death of the high priest until the death of the high priest that shall be
in those days then shall the slayer return and come under his own city and under his own house
under the city from whence he fled so a manslayer when they take another person's life accidentally
they leave everything behind and they move to a city of refuge after the death of the high priest
they can go back to where they came from without any risk without any consequence this is sort of
like a punishment because you have to leave everything start brand new in the city of refuge
but once that high priest dies well guess what that innocent blood that was shed by the manslayer
it's a tone it's a tone for and now the manslayer can go back to where they came from let's look at
romans chapter five romans chapter five the high priest pictures jesus the bible says so also christ
glorified not himself to be made and high priest jesus christ didn't glorify himself to be exalted
into that position but rather that came from god the father and just as sure as the high priest was
anointed with the holy oil the bible says about christ that god giveth not the spirit by measure
unto him so you see that parallel but in addition to that just as sure as the death of the high priest
atone for the innocent blood shed by the manslayer in the same way it's the death of jesus christ
that atones for sinners that atones for sinners the death of the high priest atones for manslayers
that entered the city of refuge and the death of jesus atones for sinners roman's five it says in
verse 11 roman's five in verse 11 and not only so but we also join god through our lord jesus christ
by whom we have now received the atonement the death the burial the resurrection of jesus christ
that purchased our salvation but he did that for all of mankind the atonement is available for all
of mankind it is available for all and it was that death that enables us that death that burial
that resurrection that enables us to go to heaven one day not because of our own righteousness not
because we atone for our own sins but rather because jesus atoned for our sins on our behalf
that manslayer who decides not to enter the city of refuge they have to well meet the avenger of
blood and die so that the scales of justice are balanced but you know what's a lot better than
staying out of the city of refuge than rejecting that way of physical salvation is actually
entering it in the same way it's a heck of a lot better to accept the free gift of salvation the
atonement though of the lord jesus christ so the scales of justice are sort of balanced by the death
of the high priest which enables that innocent blood to be atoned for just as the death of christ
our high priest it atoned for the sinner let's look at hebrews chapter 9 and we're almost done
hebrews chapter 9 it says in verse 26 hebrews chapter 9 and verse 26 it says in verse 26 hebrews
9 verse 26 for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world but now once in
the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself that put away
your blood guiltiness you sinned against god and it was the sacrifice of himself the bible referring
to jesus that paid for your sins and he obtained eternal redemption for us now here's what i think
is an essential point remember how i talked about how the cities of refuge they weren't limited to
just israelites they were for all people foreign stranger or a native person well guess what if
everyone can utilize the city of refuge and enter in there and get security and have their
sin in a sense atoned for by the high priest what does that tell you it tells you the high priest's
atonement it's not limited it's not limited to just an israelite and in the same way the atonement
of the lord jesus christ for sinners it's not limited to the elect there's this false doctrine
out there that comes from calvinism it's called limited atonement the idea that jesus he only died
for the chosen people of god who god chose to be saved you know just arbitrarily without their
free will playing any part whatsoever this is a perverted doctrine and limited atonement is the
achilles heel of calvinism it is very easy to debunk and just as sure as this high priest
well his atonement it counts no matter where you come from jesus his death his atonement it counts
for all people the thing is you have to actually receive it you have to actually enter spiritually
the city of refuge you have to receive it spiritually by believing the gospel but the bible
says in first john chapter 2 and he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only
but also for the sins of the whole world it also says who will have all men to be saved all men it
says all means all jeff bourbon all means all james white all means all who will have all men
to be saved and so we see that his atonement is not limited it was made for everyone they just have
to actually receive it so that it applies to them but it was made for everyone go to psalm 62 and
will be done psalm chapter 62 and will be done so what did i say i say the cities of refuge i said
the cities of refuge were accessible and in the same way the gospel is accessible i said the cities
of refuge they were the only legal means of avoiding the avenger of blood just as the gospel
is the only means of avoiding spiritual death i said the cities of refuge provided physical salvation
and the gospel obviously provides spiritual salvation i said the cities of refuge they're not
limited by ethnicity and in the same way the gospel is not limited by ethnicity i also ended
by talking about how the cities of refuge they provide an atonement just as the death of jesus
christ provides an atonement for sinners psalm 62 is the last place we're going to go to and
we'll wrap it up i just want to make a quick application for us and then we'll go home psalm
62 it says in verse 7 psalm 62 verse 7 says and god is my salvation and my glory the rock of my
strength and my refuge is in god trust in him at all times ye people pour out your heart before him
god is a refuge for us we've been talking about spiritual truths over the course of this sermon
we've been talking mostly about spiritual salvation the importance of spiritual salvation pictures of
spiritual salvation fleeing for refuge in the context of spiritual salvation but here we see
i believe an exhortation for us to trust in flee for refuge to and abide in and rely on god for
physical salvation as well and it's unfortunate but a lot of christians they had enough faith to
flee for refuge to procure spiritual salvation to get and obtain spiritual salvation but apparently
not enough faith to go to god to get physical salvation instead of fleeing to god as our
refuge like the bible is talking about here in psalm chapter number 62 where are they fleeing
for refuge today they're fleeing to the republican party aren't they they're fleeing to donald j
trump who they think will single-handedly save america not gonna happen they're fleeing to fox
news they're fleeing to their favorite radio talk show host they're fleeing to sean hannity
the lame fake conservative they're fleeing to all these different carnal sources for refuge
instead of fleeing to the very same source that gave them the spiritual refuge they were looking
for that gave them the spiritual salvation that they enjoy every single day instead of fleeing to
that source to that god the lord jesus christ instead of fleeing to the very same man who gave
them eternal life they're fleeing to this world and they're looking for refuge from this world
they're looking for refuge from places and people that cannot offer them an effective refuge they
can't do it and you know as america continues to descend further and further into degeneracy
and it it becomes the complete opposite of everything that made it great and becomes the
complete opposite of everything that put it on the map to begin with and just becomes more and more
satanic by the day let us be the people out there let us be a remnant let us be a light shining bright
in the darkness that says hey no matter what happens no matter how badly this world this nation
is burning around me no matter what civil unrest is coming in the future no matter what the globalists
have in mind next to try and take us out or afflict us or persecute us no matter what it is that is in
store for us coming in the very near future we are going to flee for refuge not to the political
establishment not to a bunch of people who don't want anything to do with us anyway but rather to
god let us be a people who choose that for our physical salvation let us be a people who trust
in the lord no matter what danger is coming no matter what danger is imminent let us be a people
who flee for refuge the very same place the very same person who gave us the spiritual refuge we
enjoy right now you say well man it's getting scary out there i realize that but god is a refuge for
us god is a refuge for us you trusted him to get saved spiritually how could you trust him with
your flesh how would you trust him to get to be saved physically from the harm that's coming our
way let us flee for refuge also for physical salvation as well that's what i really wanted
to hammer and apply here a lesson i think all of us can learn from this message let's bow our heads
now and pray father in heaven we thank you so much lord for the truths that are outlined the
spiritual pictures that are outlined in your word and i just pray lord that you help us we we fled
for you to get spiritual salvation relying on the gospel for that but help us lord to flee for
refuge in many other ways as well and trust you with our lives and not all the other influences
out there that are competing with you for our attention for our trust for our faith we love
you in jesus name i pray amen sorry about that uh turn into your uh hymnals to song number 411
hold the fort or 11 hold the fort or 11 hold the fort signal is gone