Tag Archives: Refuge

Chapter-a-Day

Refuge and Restoration

1 Comment

Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.
Nehemiah 8:9 (NIV)

I don’t like to be confined into a row of chairs during worship. I like to stretch out and move. Wendy is the same way. During worship among our local gathering of Jesus’ followers, we will stand in the back. Sometimes, this means that individuals entering or walking by will stop to talk. So it was one morning when I turned to find a man weeping.

“I’m drunk,” he said, though he didn’t need to say it. He reeked of it.

I smiled and nodded.

“But you’re here,” I answered. “I’m glad you are.”

He didn’t need rejection. He was drowning in rejection. He needed a refuge. How much faith did it take to walk into a worship service drunk?

My new friend had it rough. The road of life had led him to some dark and difficult places. He’d make a lot of foolish choices. He’d been raised in faith, but he walked away and chose to forget. Then, he found himself needing refuge from his fears, his failings, and his addictions. He stumbled into a worship service.

I think today’s chapter needs to be viewed in a much larger context. The Hebrew people had spent over a century living in exile. Even after 70 years, when the first exiles returned, they had largely forgotten the faith of their fathers. Reading was uncommon, and copies of the Books of Moses were rare. They were just walking life’s journey without faith or guidance. By the time Nehemiah arrived and rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, it had been more like 140 years since the exile began.

Now the walls are built. The gates are hung. For the first time in five generations the Hebrew people are together. They finally have refuge inside the city of their ancestors. The priest pulls out the Books of Moses and begins to read the Great Story from the beginning. Most of them are hearing the Story for the first time. They hear of God’s creation, His promises to Abraham, His provision for Jacob and the tribes, His deliverance of their ancestors from slavery in Egypt, His calling and covenant to be His people and what that meant.

There in the refuge of their home city, the people not only listen, but they hear God calling them home spiritually. He calls them to return to becoming the people, His children, that they were meant to be.

They begin to weep. This is all taking place by the Water Gate. The God who divides the deep and creates the universe. The God who divides the waters of the Red Sea to save them from their enemies. The God who divides the waters of the Jordan to usher them into His Promised Land. The God who washes, waters, bathes, cleanses, and renews.

Nehemiah reminds them that God is calling them out of the weeping of repentance and into the joy of restored relationship. For the first time in hundreds of years, since the time of Joshua, the people celebrate God’s prescribed festival of the tabernacles.

Both physically and spiritually, they have come back home.

Over the past year or so I’ve read a number of stories from people who have wandered home to faith. The stories follow a common theme. As young people they walked away from the faith in which they were raised. They were too intelligent to believe all that nonsense. They got educated, had careers, and wandered life’s road. But something happened along the way in the craziness of a world that has become increasingly unhinged. Drunk on fear and futility, they found themselves stumbling back home where they found a refuge, and where Life began to be restored within.

Just like Nehemiah and the Hebrews in today’s chapter. The restoration of the walls and gates led to a very different restoration. There is something spiritually universal in this story and in the experience of returning to the refuge of God’s grace and forgiveness, and finding there restoration of Life and Spirit.

In the quiet this morning, the words of an old hymn whisper in my soul:

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, 
calling for you and for me; 
see, on the portals he’s waiting and watching, 
watching for you and for me.
Come home, come home; 
you who are weary come home; 
earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, 
calling, O sinner, come home!

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Promotional graphic for Tom Vander Well's Wayfarer blog and podcast, featuring icons of various podcast platforms with a photo of Tom Vander Well.
These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
An orange square icon featuring a stylized white open book symbol in the center, accompanied by a text underneath that reads 'Bible Gateway'.
Chapter-a-Day

Cities of Refuge

Leave a comment

“The accused must stay in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest may they return to their own property.”
Numbers 35:28 (NIV)

Our city of Pella here on the Iowa prairie has an incredible history. It was created by a Dutch pastor and his congregation who were fleeing religious persecution from the state church in the Netherlands. It was named Pella after an ancient city called Pella that was a “city of refuge” and to which early Christians fled from persecution and an impending war in Jerusalem between the Jews and Romans.

In today’s chapter, God commands Moses to create six evenly distributed towns throughout the Promised Land where the tribe of Levi would settle. Remember, the Levites were responsible for maintaining God’s traveling tent temple and the overseeing the entire on-going sacrificial system. God was their inheritance, not a plot of land. Nevertheless, they needed a place to live, so six cities were created for the Levites and God designated them “cities of refuge.”

In the entire history and development of human civilization, today’s chapter stands as a critical and revolutionary step forward. Other ancient cultures had largely undeveloped policies regarding sanctuary for the accused. God didn’t invent the idea of sanctuary out of thin air in today’s chapter, but He transformed a scattered, uneven practice into a theologically rich, justice-mercy structure that was unique to Israel and transformed the principles and policies of human justice.

There were six cities evenly distributed. The cities were Levite towns, meaning that the accused was under the protection of the priests and both mercy and justice were viewed directly as coming from God’s appointed representatives. The accused could not leave the walls of the city of refuge until the death of the high priest, so fleeing from an avenger was not just a blank check of forgiveness. There were boundaries to which the accused must adhere. There was also a very clear system that God put in place that required witnesses and a form of due process. Humanity had never seen anything like it.

Cities of refuge became a part of the human landscape and they have had a ripple effect throughout history. The early Jesus Movement largely survived and flourished because of a prophecy in which Christians were instructed to flee to ancient Pella. Had they stayed in Jerusalem, they may have been wiped out when the Romans destroyed the temple and city in 70 A.D.

In the 1800s, H.P. Scholte realized that there was little or no future for his largely poor, uneducated, and lower-class congregation members. He and his flock had no freedom of religion. He had already been imprisoned for obeying his conscience and defying the king who was head of the state controlled church. Scholte saw America for what it was, a land of opportunity where he and his followers were free worship however they wanted and where poor uneducated farmers might make a life for themselves and their descendants that would have been impossible in the Netherlands. So, he dreamed, designed, and built a new city of refuge on the Iowa prairie and named it after the ancient city that saved and launched the success of the Jesus Movement.

In the quiet this morning, as I meditate on the chapter and the history of cities of refuge, there are three things stirring in my soul:

God as Refuge: In both Jewish and Christian traditions, God carves out spaces of mercy in the midst of justice. This life journey contains moments where guilt—intentional or accidental—feels like a crushing weight. In today’s chapter God whispers: there is a place to run, and a God who receives you.

Boundaries of Grace: The city walls of the Levite towns remind me that refuge comes with boundaries. Forgiveness and safety are not license; they invite us to dwell in a different rhythm of life until God’s appointed time of release.

Death that Brings Freedom: For both Jew and Christian, the death of the High Priest as part of the system is key. It’s a reminder that death itself—Christ’s, and one day my own—is not an end but the doorway to freedom.

Grace often blooms most vividly when something old dies and something new begins.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Promotional graphic for Tom Vander Well's Wayfarer blog and podcast, featuring icons of various podcast platforms with a photo of Tom Vander Well.
These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Logo of Bible Gateway, featuring an open book icon and the brand name.
Chapter-a-Day

Cults and Contrast

Leave a comment

Cults and Contrast (CaD Gal 6) – Wayfarer

Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.
Galatians 6:4-5 (NIV)

I have been sick for the past several days with a nasty case of Step throat. So, I’ve been spending a lot of time on the couch in front of the television binging different things. Among them, I’ve been watching documentaries about various cults and cultish leaders. Some of these cultish systems spring from Christian belief systems. Some spring out of Mormon belief systems. Some spring up out of personal growth, self-improvement, and empowerment systems.

What I’ve found fascinating as these stories unfold are the similarities between all of them. There’s always a person or small group of people at the top of the cultic system who benefit from the system in ego, power, and money. Followers are often isolated and are not allowed to socialize with others outside the system. All of these systems also demand strict obedience to the leaders and the system itself. Disobedience or disloyalty to the leaders or the system results in being cast out, humiliated, or scapegoated. Because of this, many cultish systems have vast networks of members spying on one another and reporting on others to the leaders.

In today’s final chapter of Paul’s letter to believers in Galatia, Paul is still thinking about the Judean Judaisers who had traveled through Galatia telling the non-Jewish Gentile believers that they must get circumcised and become Jews before they can be followers of Jesus. Paul offers two more insights into their motivation for demanding this.

First, is the increasing amount of persecution against Jesus’ followers. Paul hints that they are trying to avoid persecution by insisting that the Jesus Movement is simply a Jewish sect. They are not motivated by what’s best for the Galatian believers or the Jesus Movement in general. They are trying to cover their own rear ends and avoid persecution.

The other motivation these false teachers have is pride. They want to go back to Judea and boast among the Jewish believers that they converted the Gentile believers to Judaism. Paul’s having none of it.

Paul encourages the Galatian believers to worry about themselves and their individual consciences. Once again envy is lurking in the background. The Judeans may secretly be envious of the freedom the non-Jewish believers have to ignore the law. Conversely, their message is one rooted in wanting these non-Jewish believers to be envious of the Jews and the fact that the Jesus Movement started within Judaism. Paul encourages everyone to stay in their own lane and forget about comparing themselves to one another.

In the quiet this morning, I appreciate the contrast between Paul and the Judaisers. Paul is strong in urging the Galatian believers to reject the demands of the Judaisers, but ultimately he places the responsibility back on each individual Galatian believer to follow God’s Spirit and their own conscience. There are no demands, threats, or intimidation. If an individual falls into sin, Paul encourages “gentle restoration.”

I have mentioned many times that along my journey I’ve found myself in fundamentalist systems that demonstrate all of the elements of cultish behavior. Our own local gathering of Jesus’ followers spent the last year defining our mission and values. I like them. In part, I like them because they stand in stark contrast to what I’ve seen in unhealthy fundamentalist and cultish belief systems.

Mission
Every one, every day, helping one another experience life-giving freedom in Jesus.

Values
Progress over Perfection
Refuge over Rejection
Many over Me

As I meditate on it, it seems to me that Paul has exemplified all of these in his letter to the Galatians.

Have a great weekend, my friend!

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Refuge Within

1 Comment

Refuge Within (CaD Ps 46) – Wayfarer

God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1 (NRSVCE)

It seems strange in today’s world, but when I was a kid we walked to school and we would walk home. There were safety patrol members standing at the busy corners to make sure kids didn’t walk across the street when the sign said “don’t walk.” It was a sea of childhood humanity flooding out of the school and making a daily pilgrimage home.

Once you were off school grounds, of course, there was no adult supervision. It’s amazing how quickly we learned that there was safety in numbers, and since I had older siblings I had the advantage of knowing a bunch of kids older than me. I could tag along and feel the relative safety of being with a “big kid.”

The real goal, however, was home. There was a certain sense of safety once I got to my own block. That was my territory. I was known there. I experienced real safety, however, once I was inside my house. Any fear of bullies or anxiety of potential trouble melted away. I was safe at home.

Today’s chapter, Psalm 46, is a song that celebrated refuge. For the ancient Hebrews, home base was the walled city of Jerusalem. The temple was there on Mount Zion. For the Hebrews, God was there in His temple. Their warrior-king was there in his palace. Troubles may rage, but they celebrated the safety they felt being safely in the place God resided. For those who remember growing up singing the great hymns, today’s psalm was the inspiration for Martin Luther’s A Mighty Fortress is Our God.

As I have written about on numerous occasions, Jesus changed the entire spiritual landscape. He made it clear that God’s “temple” was not a bricks-and-mortar edifice. When I open my heart and life and invite Jesus in, God’s Spirit indwells me. The temple is me.

How radically that changes the metaphor of refuge. Refuge is no longer without. Refuge is within. Writing to the followers of Jesus in Phillipi, Paul explained that God’s peace, which is beyond human comprehension, guards my heart and guards my mind. Though troubles may surround me on all sides, I may find a peace within sourced not in me, but the Spirit in me.

In the quiet this morning, I’m taking comfort in that.

Very early in the Jesus Movement, believers began a ritual of “passing the Peace.” They would say to one another “the peace of Christ be with you.” It was a tangible way of reminding one another of this spiritual intangible of God’s refuge within.

In this world, we have lots of troubles. Jesus told us to expect it, and not to worry about it because He overcame the world. The beginning of another work week. Here we go.

The peace of Christ be with you, my friend.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Ancient Vengeance Cloaked in Modern Technology

1 Comment

“Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee.”
Numbers 35:6 (NIV)

Last night as Wendy and I sat on the couch she expressed grief and frustration over a pattern of behavior we’ve been observing on social media. It is quite common for the discourse on Facebook and Twitter and online forums to sink into petty jabs, unnecessary name calling, and a general spirit of anger, hatred, and conflict. And this, we routinely notice, from many whom we love and who eagerly claim to be followers of Jesus.

For the past month or two my chapter-a-day journey through the book of Numbers has taken me back to an ancient times. I’ve been mulling over the lives and times of Moses and the Hebrew tribes. It was, without a doubt, a very bloody and ugly period of human society. Ancient tribal societies lived in a time without laws, law enforcement agents, and a system of justice. It was a time of blood feuds, vengeance and “an eye-for-an-eye” free-for-all of individual retribution.

I can’t help but think of the stories we know like The Godfather in which warring families get embroiled in ever escalating acts of violence and murder against one another. The Tataglia family attempts to kill but only wounds Vito Corleone. Vito’s son, Sonny, actually kills Bruno Tataglia in retribution. But, that’s not enough. Michael Corleone also kills the man who orchestrated the plot and the Police Captain who protects him. But that’s not enough. Everyone goes to the mattresses. But that’s not enough. Michael eventually kills the heads of all the other mafia families to protect himself from retribution. The violence and vengeance never ends.

As Sean Connery famously quips in The Untouchables, “He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue!”

What Wendy was observing last night is an example of the old saying “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” We’re still embroiling ourselves in petty, ever escalating feuds between political, religious, and social clans. Now, however, we do it from a safe distance and use words as our weapons. Somehow, we believe that this is better on the grading curve of human society. Name calling on Facebook isn’t as barbaric as literally sticking a knife in someone’s back. Or is it?

I’m reminded in the quiet this morning of Jesus words:

“For the mouth speaks [and the hand types] what the heart is full of.  A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

In today’s chapter, God through Moses is leading a radical step forward in human history. It is a formalized system of justice. The priestly clan of the Levites are scattered to live among all the other tribes. Within those tribes the priestly Levites create “cities of refuge” to which murderers and those who commit manslaughter may flee. The priests gave sanctuary so that a trial, complete with witnesses, could be conducted and a just verdict could be rendered. The accused was required to stay under the protection of priest in the city of refuge. But get this: If the High Priest died, a period of amnesty was unleashed. The accused were free. Any blood feud or vendetta of vengeance was to end.

What great foreshadowing God gives in today’s chapter for what He is going to do on a cosmic spiritual scale in the Great Story. Jesus, High Priest (Heb 6:20) in the mysterious order of Melchizedek, comes to live among us like the priests sent to live among the tribes. [cue: Silent Night] To Jesus we may flee for refuge with all the accusation, guilt, condemnation and social vengeance nipping at our heels. When Jesus, the High Priest, dies then amnesty reigns. Forgiveness and grace (literally, favor we don’t deserve and didn’t earn) are poured out to the accused and condemned. Prisoners are freed. Vengeance ends.

Wait, there’s more. Those of us who follow Jesus are called “a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9). Spiritually, I become a Levite of our time. I’m a priest in the order of Jesus. I am to be a person and place where “others” (even those of other tribes I don’t particularly like) may flee to find protection, understanding, kindness, mercy, grace, compassion, and justice.

So, I have to ask myself: When I allow myself to get stirred up  and let that f*ing, clueless, ignorant, MORON on Facebook know just what a #*&%-eating, #@)#-faced, #)@(#* they are… am I extending the royal, priestly rites handed down to me by Jesus? Am I being marked by the Spirit of protection, forgiveness, grace, mercy, and compassion that I claim to have received from Jesus, my High Priest? Am I fulfilling my calling to be part of that royal priesthood? Or, am I perpetuating a deep, very entrenched human part of me that is given to bloody, feudal vengeance cloaked in 21st century technology?

Ugh.

Lord, have mercy on me. Help me lay down my weaponized words; My vengeance which I try to costume as “justice” and “righteousness.” Make me a refuge for “others” – all “others.”

Chapter-a-Day, Uncategorized

City of Refuge

3 Comments

“Say to the Israelites, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses….'”
Joshua 20:2 (NRSV)

“City of refuge” was an ancient legal concept in which those accused of manslaughter could flee and find refuge from the family of the deceased who might seek revenge for the death. The “city of refuge” had a legal obligation to hear out the person fleeing and, if they decided that the person’s story was honest and worthy, to protect that person until an official hearing could be established.

Over the centuries, the term “city of refuge” expanded in meaning. Many who fled persecution of various kinds would call their new home a “city of refuge.”

Wendy and I live in a small Iowa town that was settled by a few hundred Dutch immigrants in 1847. They were led by their pastor, H.P. Scholte, who was an amazing mix of theologian, businessman, lawyer, artist, and visionary. He and his followers fled Holland because the state church of the Netherlands had imprisoned Scholte for not towing their doctrinal line. Scholte and a group of his faithful followers pooled their resources, purchased land from the United States in the new state of Iowa, and created a town from Scholte’s vision. He had the town completely mapped out and zoned before the group even arrived. Scholte gave his new town the name Pella, after a “city of refuge” in the country of Jordan where early followers of Jesus fled Jewish and Roman persecution. Pella, Scholte said, would be a “city of refuge” for the fleeing Hollanders.

To this day, our little town of Pella continues to hang on to the “city of refuge” moniker that was given to us by our town’s founder. Long ago the residents of Pella forgave native Holland for its persecution.  We now embrace our Dutch heritage to a fault. Scholte’s resentment towards the Netherlands also tempered later in life. He even sought to return to his native land as an ambassador of the U.S. (it never came to be). Still, residents of Pella find refuge of a sort in our little town. It is common for children raised in Pella to return and raise their families here. Life in Pella is relatively quiet. The pace is slow compared to most places, and the residents still cling to values that other places seem to have abandoned. And, we have great food and a Tulip Time Festival every May (Join us May 5-7!).

Today I’m thinking about the concept of refuge. Today’s chapter speaks of refuge from revenge in ancient legal terms. Still, the broader concept has equal merit. We all need a place, or places, where we can find refuge. We all need shelter from life’s storms.

Chapter-a-Day

The Rock that is Higher than I

1 Comment

from Stylelab via Flickr

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 61

Lead me to the rock
    that is higher than I
Psalm 61:2b (ESV)

Some days, our only safe refuge from that which overwhelms us is a place we cannot reach on our own. It is a rock fortress, a castle, a tower of strength not made by hands. It is a place of God’s Spirit. We find it only by seeking after the One who can lift us there.

Related articles
Tom's Photos, Wayfarer's Journal

My Life: A Photo Abecedarius

2 Comments

L is for Lake.

Rainy Lake, MN is where my family spent our two weeks of summer vacation every year from the time I was five until I was in high school.

Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri is where my parents bought their retirement getaway and where our girls spent their summers growing up. When my folks were ready to retire the retirement getaway, Wendy and I chose to buy it and keep it in the family. It continues to be our refuge, our retreat, our place of rest.

 

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 28

Leave a comment

The Lord gives his people strength.
    He is a safe fortress for his anointed king.
Psalm 28:8 (NLT)

When I was a kid, my grandfather was fond of saying that he was “King of this castle!” Usually, it was said in jest at the dining room table as he pounded his fist and asserted his authority (before being reminded that he had his wife’s permission to say so). Still, our jests are often rooted in deeper truths and I observed throughout my childhood that my grandfather’s home was, in fact, his castle. It was the place he found refuge. He loved being at home.

From the time we are young, we have a natural affinity for building forts, fortresses, and tree houses. I can remember constructing fortresses made of mattresses and pillows, blankets and tables, and the ever present snow of an Iowa winter. Forts are a place of imaginative play. They are a safe place, a protective place, and place away from outside threat where we can rest and re-create.

I believe that adults are more like children than we care to admit. As we get older we still need our forts and places of refuge. My office here at home is my fortress. It is here that I find quiet each morning to converse with God, meditate on His Message, and write my blog posts. It is here that I imagine and read and write. I’m blessed to get to work here, too. It is my safe place, and when I am gone on the road or at the lake for extended periods of time, I find myself missing it.

Today, I’m thinking about the safety and security I feel in my little 12′ x 12′ fort each morning. I’m grateful to have a physical place of refuge; to be “King of this Castle” (and to have my wife’s permission to say so). I’m considerate this morning of the fact that God’s ever-presence is a place of refuge no matter where I find myself; no matter what the circumstance.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 144

1 Comment

The Playhouse. Blessed be God, my mountain, who trains me to fight fair and well. He's the bedrock on which I stand, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight, The high crag where I run for dear life, while he lays my enemies low. (Psalm 144:1-2, The Message)

I just returned from spending the weekend at the lake with a friend. It was a guys weekend, and I had the blessed experience of watching my friend melt before my eyes as he slowly decompressed. The tightness and intensity of his daily battle gave way to the peaceful effects of water, wind and wave. His eyelids grew heavy with weariness. His body relaxed. Stress yielded to healing slumber.

Our family's playhouse at the lake has always been a place of refuge. A quiet waystation, well behind the battle line of daily life, where weary individuals can find safety, rest and healing. I get to experience it regularly myself, and it's cool to share it with others in need.

As I read the lyrics to David's song, I was struck by his line "the high crag where I run for dear life." I thanked God for a place of retreat to which I, my family, and my friends, can run. A place to feel God's healing presence away from life's daily battle.

 

Facebook readers: spacing and formatting problems occur when this post is imported from the original blog post.