Blueprint for the Home - Making the Home a Refuge

Josh 20:1-2, 7-8

The Lord also spoke to Joshua, saying, ² "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,

³ that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood'"

⁷ So they appointed Kedesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in the mountains of Judah.

⁸ And on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh

6 specific cities designated as Refuge Cities

When a person made a mistake, they could run to a Refuge City

Find protection & recovery from mistakes

Refuge:  secure, safe shelter inside & protection from the outside

A retreat, a haven

These cities & their requirements serve as a Blueprint for building a Home-Refuge

Shechem:  shoulder – government  Is 9:6

Submission to God’s government brings order & safety to the family

• Wives: Invest as much inwardly as you do on your hair & clothes
• Husbands: Give honor & strive to understanding

to respect, hold in high regard, esteem, set a value on, to prize, glory

Using God’s Blueprint will produce God’s Power

Kirjiath-arba or Hebron:  communion, fellowship, alliance – team

Eccl 4:9-12

Two are better than one, because they can help each other succeed. 

¹⁰ If one falls down, the other can help him up.

But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.

But how can one keep warm alone?

¹² Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Promise – to Family, too:  Matt 18:20.

Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there

Ps 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is to dwell together in unity!

3 For there the Lord commanded the blessing

Kedesh:  sanctuary: a place set apart, or consecrated for a sacred use

• A Place of Immunity – Grace, not judgement or condemnation – Safe  
• A Place of Recovery: to get life together

Ps 73:17. Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end.

• Perspective & Balance 

Bezer:  munitions – where you keep the equipment & ammunition

Restore & Reload

     Prepare for battles

Ramoth:  high places

Encouragement & praise

     Gifts we give each other in the home

Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.  Prov 16:24

Let no corrupt (rotten) communication proceed out of your mouth,

but that which is good to the use of edifying (building up),

that it may minister grace unto the hearers.  Eph 4:29 KJV

Encourage one another daily.  Heb 3:13

Golan:  rejoicing

The atmosphere of the home

A merry heart does good like medicine: but a broken spirit dries the bones.  Prov 17:22

Prov 24:3-4

By wisdom a house is built,

and through understanding it is established;

4 through knowledge its rooms are filled

with rare and beautiful treasures.

Couples Covenant

I covenant to strive to make our home a Refuge & a Shelter

To establish it according to God’s pattern and order

So that we can have God’s power.

I covenant that we will be on the same team, in unity

So that God will be in our midst

I covenant to provide you a place of sanctuary, a safe place of recovery

So that you can be restored, then reload for the next set of challenges

Forgive me for any words that were rotten and did not minister grace

I will try to remember to encourage you every day

I covenant to work to make ours a happy home

So that you can have a happy heart

Please help me to do so, God