Cities of Refuge

Session 2:The Cities will Become Desolate

I.Reviewing Who Desolates Cities:

To review a major point from last session we want to keep in mind as we study the judgments of God today that His judgments aren’t a sudden lapse of self control nor are they primarily about God being mad. As we addressed in the introduction to this series the judgments of God are actually His escalated efforts to get the lost to repent and to call out to His people to obey, to walk with Him, and to remain in covenant with Him. Lets also remember that a main objective of this series is to identify the need for cities of refuge, which requires that we rightly comprehend the difficulty that is coming so that we can appreciate the need for places where there will be refuge.

  1. Creator of Disasters:

We identified that both past disasters as well as the ones that are coming have been /are created by a God who has an established track record of carefully crafted judgments.

“I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things (Is. 45:7).”

  1. World’s Worst Hour:

The This session looks at the particulars of what judgments are prophesied in the last days and the sort of global impact those judgments will have on the Earth.

“For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again (Mt. 24:21).”

  1. Progressively Unfolding Nightmare:

The difficulties described in the Word that pertain to the last days do not all unfold at once, not even all within the last 7 years; they will increase in number and intensity over time. Things like war, persecution natural disasters will cause serious problems in the decade(s) leading up to the Great Tribulation.

“The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed (Da. 9:26).”

“When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations (Mk. 13:7-10).”

II.Promise to Judge the Whole Earth:

The Bible promises some really severe events and trends that God promises to send upon the Earth. The judgments will serve to purge the whole world and will be the prophesied most disruptive time in human history.

  1. Still Future Realities:

There are many who seek to reduce or discount these difficulties to something far less severe and more manageable. Others do away with any impact on our lives entirely by saying that the judgments have all been historically fulfilled. But there is some serious error with both of these approaches. There is a very simple and consistent process to determine where such prophecies stand regarding their fulfillment. When the details of a Bible prophecy have not yet been fulfilled 100% and literally in history we can be guaranteed that means these things will still find their literal fulfillment in the future. Most of these prophecies are all aimed at the same time frame; the last days and they describe global judgment realities.

  1. Greatly Escalated Difficulties:

Isaiah saw a grim picture of the future during his time; a dire picture that has not yet come to be realized. Look below at what the prophet saw; where things are going to escalate to.

“The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered...The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the exalted of the earth languish. The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth's inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left…The ruined city lies desolate; the entrance to every house is barred…all joy turns to gloom, all gaiety is banished from the earth. The city is left in ruins, its gate is battered to pieces. So will it be on the earth and among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest (Is. 24:4-13).”

  1. Limited Areas Left Unaffected:

There is enough information in the scriptures that leaves room for there to be some limited number of places where the destruction is not felt with near the severity as other places (proving this point is one of the primary goals of this series). These are the cities of refuge or pockets of mercy that we are focusing on this series. God’s merciful exemption of judgment on certain areas will have little to do with the geography of a place and everything to do with the spiritual preparation that has been made there. This will be the subject of several future sessions and is brought up now because these territories will probably only account for far less than 1% of the Earth’s geography in total. This means that perhaps 99% of the inhabitable land will experience the fullness of what is presented in Isaiah’s account above (Is. 24:4-13). In essence the whole world will be completely laid waste while a relative number of neighborhoods will remain standing as everything around them crumbles.

  1. America is Not Exempt:

In all of human history there have only been two nations that were founded in covenant with God; where the governmental leaders established the nation as one that would follow and obey God. Therefore these two nations, Israel and America, have a unique place before God with regard to evoke God’s blessings and His curses. We are no longer a Christian nation with any sort of assurance that God will protect us from Himself, in fact it’s just the opposite; we want to be clear that the Bible repeatedly states that when people do as our nation is doing He promises to bring judgment to correct it and to captivate the hearts of that people. The issue of sin and judgment is not limited to America by any means, but it is very important that we grasp the magnitude of the problem as it relates to us as well as the rest of the nations.

III.Populated Regions Left Devastated:

Now that we have the end in mind let’s actually begin to look at some of the types of judgments that are coming. We are talking aboutwide scale devastation that will leave most of the Earth in shambles(Ps. 46:8; Is. 6:11, 10:7, 13:9, 12, 24:1-6, 10, 12, 34:2, 54:3; Je. 25:33, 30:11, 46:28; Ez. 29:9, 12, 30:7, 32:15, 35:3, 7, 15, 37:33-36; Mi. 5:11, 14, 7:13; Na. 3:3; Ob. 1:9, 18; Zph. 1:3, 18, 2:5, 3:6, 8; Zch. 7:14, 9:5, 12:9; Mt. 24:22, 2Pe. 2:10; Re. 16:19). Most of the infrastructure that makes up our modern society will be destroyed. Much of the national, economic and social systems we are accustomed to currently will be totally inoperative due to the impact of the coming disasters. This section is not meant to be an exhaustive list of the areas of life that will be affected but merely to give us a glimpse of some of things that we can be sure will be impacted to get us thinking about the great need there will be for places of refuge.

  1. The Cities will Need to be Rebuilt:

The most noteworthy aspect of the desolations is how many references there are to the cities of the Earth being destroyed and left in ruin for a prolonged period of time (Ps. 69:35, 102:16, 147:2; Is. 6:11-12, 44:26, 45:13, 54:3, 58:12, 60:10, 61:4-6, 65:21; Je. 30:18, 33:7; Ez. 36:10, 33, 36-38; Am. 9:14; Mi. 7:12; Ac: 3:21; Re. 16:19).

“Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”And he answered: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant,until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken (Is. 6:11-12).”

  1. Transportation:

We need to image the Earth in light of how these verses relate to the condition of roads, bridges and transportation in general.

“Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come and see what the Lord has done,the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease(because global war will have been a constant reality for many years) to the ends of the earth (Ps. 46:6-9).”

  1. Utilities:

The day of the Lord is described as Him making the land desolate, this will be the wiping clean entire regions of whatever previously may have stood there. Global desolation means the disruption orcomplete destruction of power lines, water pipes, cell phone towers, internet capacities, etc.

“See, the day of the Lord is coming —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—to make the land desolateand destroy the sinners within it (Is. 13:9).”

  1. Food Related Systems:

Current delivery systems will be nearly non-existent in the aftermath of all the war and destruction that comes along with the judgments. Crops and cattle will have been destroyed and with them the equipment that helps make all the processes run smoothly.

“the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant…the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged (Is. 6:11).”

  1. Economics:

The complete destruction that is promised will encompass nearly every area of life and at various degrees in the process. The banking system will not escape this fate as banking building are destroyed and online access which is necessary for transfers, account management as well as buying and selling will be down or in some cases permanently inoperative due to the circumstances.

  1. Homes will Need to be Rebuilt:

The Lord makes the point to tell us in multiple places that the destruction will hit as close as the homes we live in. Houses will be destroyed during the various judgments and so they will have to be rebuilt in the next age along with everything else(Is. 58:11-12, 65:21-22; Je. 30:18; Ez. 28:26).

“The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame…Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations;you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings(Is. 58:11-12).”

  1. Some Regions will Permanentlybe Left Desolate:

There are a number of specific earthly cities and even regions that will never be inhabitedagain ever again after the desolations that will overtaken them in the last days. The permanence of their destruction is a judgment in itself and not as a result of the difficulty of their repair. They will stand as an everlasting reminder of the sin, which they embodied.

  1. Babylon (Is. 13:20, Je. 25:12, 50:49, 51:26, 37, 62; Ez. 35:9).
  2. Tyre (Ez. 26:14, 21).
  3. Moab (Zph. 2:9).
  4. Ammon (Zph. 2:9).
  5. Edom(Is. 34:9-11; Ez. 35:9; Je. 49:13; Jo. 3:19; Ob. 1:9-10; Ma. 1:3-5).
  6. Hazor (Je. 49:33).
  7. Other places as well(Is. 25:2).

IV.Earth’s Topography Will be Drastically Altered:

Not only the but also the face of the Earth itself will be left a desolate mess with the physical topography greatly altered by the intensity of the seismic activity (Ps. 18:15, 97:5; Is. 2:2, 19:5, 40:3-4, 42:15-16, 43:20, 44:3, 49:11, 54:10; Ez. 17:22-24; Jo. 3:18; Mi. 1:3-4, 4:1; Zch. 13:1, 14:4, 8, 10; Re. 6:14, 16:20).

  1. Mountains Leveled:

The scriptures say that the mountains will be leveled and shifted greatly during the last days of this age (Jb. 9:5; Ps. 46:2, 49:11, 54:10, 97:5; Is. 42:15, Ez. 38:20; Mi. 1:4; Hb. 3:6, 10; Na. 1:5; Re. 16:20).

“Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging (Ps. 46:2-3).”

  1. Islands Removed:

As unthinkable as it is there are a handful for verses that tell us that the islands will disappear in the wake of the storms, earthquakes and other shifts that the Lord will bring.

“Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found (Re. 16:20).”

  1. Valleys Filled In:

It also tells us that valley regions will be raised up. To understand the impact of this we want to think about the Grande Canyon and vast low level valleys being no more but being raised up to level ground with the geography around them.

“Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain (Is. 40:4).”

  1. Rivers and Seas Drying Up:

Water is the sustaining grace of life, it is a significant source of supply and transportation so to learn that the Lord will dry up all the rivers as well as some of the seas is quite disturbing because of how negatively that will impact life (Ps. 18:15; Is. 11:15, 19:5, 24:4, 42:15, 43:2, 50:2; Je. 51:36; Na. 1:4; Zch. 10:11; Re. 12:16, 16:12).

“For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant…I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools (Is. 42:14-15).”

“His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and dries it up; he makes all the rivers run dry (Na. 1:3-4).”

V.Covenanted Judgments for Disobedience:

In the Book of Deuteronomy (chapter 28) God made it clear to His covenant people that they were responsible to walk according to His ways. He promised them on oath that if they did not obey His commands that He would send devastations upon their nation. It would be good for us to keep in mind that if God is willing to deal with His covenant people in this way then it is all the more within His capacity to unleash plagues on cities and nations that have no concern for His ways.

“However, if you do not obey the LORD your God…all these curses will come upon you and overtake you (Dt. 28:15)”

“If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law…and do not revere…the LORD your God— the LORD will send…plagues on you and your descendants (Dt. 28:58)”

  1. The Judgments of Revelation:

In the Book of Revelation and other end time passages we see something very interesting, these same exact judgments will be released across the whole Earth being applied to all the peoples of the world and not to Israel only. This means that the issue of obedience to God’s commands is a universal expectation; the focus of this section is to see these judgments as God’s covenantal response for disobedience. To accomplish this we will do a judgment comparison between the judgments promised for disobedience in Deuteronomy and the coming global judgments that are found in Revelation.

  1. Not Limited to the Great Tribulation:

It is important that we understand that these types of disasters are not limited to the last three and a half years of the Tribulation; they are types of things that God claims responsibility for. We should expect to see these types of things released where disobedient to God is rampant. Perhaps whenever they are released pre-Tribulation timeframe they will manifest in lesser measure than what we see prophesied in the Book of Revelation, but to be certain judgments similar in nature to some of these are already visible in the Earth now.

  1. Famine & Economic Crisis:

Famine striking at any wide scale level greatly impacts the economy in negative ways because so much of all goods that are sold are dependant on rain for growth, fuel and nourishment. This is why this is such a powerful and strategic judgment that God uses.

  1. Deuteronomy 28 promise:

“You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country…the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks…The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. The LORD will plague you…with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed (Dt. 28:16-24).”

“You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it. You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off…Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land (Dt. 28:38-42).”

  1. End time judgment promised:

“When the Lamb opened the third seal…there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard…a voice…saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages (Re. 6:4-6)”