Cities of Refuge | Part 6

As we follow the forty-day journey Jesus and the disciples undertook after the resurrection, we recognize the importance of Jesus's appearances in these six cities of refuge. It was more than the disciples realizing they were now new creations in Christ; they were also part of a royal priesthood, a holy nation walking on the earth. Although they came from different tribes, biologically and spiritually, they were all being trained to serve as the priesthood of heaven on Earth…the priesthood of Melchizedek.

The second refuge city, I believe, that Jesus and the disciples went to was Golan in East Manasseh. Why this city? The name Golan means “a circle,” symbolizing the eternal nature of a wedding band.

Before Jesus went to the cross, He prayed this prayer to the Father, which is recorded only in John 17. 

“Father, it’s time.
Display the bright splendor of your Son
So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.
You put him in charge of everything human
So he might give real and eternal life to all in his care.
And this is the real and eternal life:
That they know you,
The one and only true God,
And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
I glorified you on earth
By completing down to the last detail
What you assigned me to do.
And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor,
The very splendor I had in your presence
Before there was a world” (John 17:1-5 Msg).

Jesus shared that eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ, in which the two are one in Spirit and body (Ephesians 4:4). This ‘knowing’ is more than intellectual unity; it is the union of spirit, soul, and body, like a married couple consummating their marriage. It is a place of intimate love, where our spirit is fully at one with the Holy Spirit, who leads and guides us in all things.

The refuge city of Kedesh proclaims that today we are sanctified, holy, and set apart, married to the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, as bone and flesh of His resurrected body in the earth. From there, we go east, establishing in the land who Jesus is (Caesarea Philippi), and the battles we face against the creatures that reside in the swamps of water in our head (Waters of Merom or Lake Huleh). Besides our name covenant with Christ, we are challenged with a python spirit and the understanding of unconditional Love in oneness with Jesus as the resurrected Christ.

“For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:27 KJV). The disciples traveled east with the RESURRECTION, consummated the marriage, and became Apostles. The lightning is the brilliance of LIGHT in the coming presence or the Parousia. “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory,” (Colossians 1:27 NKJV). 

This is a spiritual wedding between Jesus Christ as the RESURRECTION and Christ in us – Son of God and Son of Man in one new man. “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,  having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.  And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.  For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:14-18 NKJV).

The consummation of the marriage is, “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among men” (John 1:14 KJV). “God is Light, in Him there is no darkness at all,” (1 John 1:5 NKJV). “For God Who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts so as [to beam forth] the Light for the illumination of the knowledge of the majesty and glory of God [as it is manifest in the Person and is revealed] in the face of Jesus Christ (the Messiah),” (1 Corinthians 4:6 AMPC).

Now, here is a secret. There is a hidden Hebrew word in our English translations that is usually omitted. If you have a word study Bible, you can find it. It is the word “ET,” number H853 in a Hebrew dictionary. It is written as Aleph-Tav, representing the beginning and the end of the Hebrew alphabet. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord God, “He Who is and Who was and Who is to come, the Almighty (the Ruler of all),” (Revelation 1:8 AMPC). 

We first see this word in the KJV of Genesis 1:1, between the words “created” and “the.” “In the beginning God created (h853) the heaven and the earth.”  The living Hebrew letters appear with the Elohim (God) - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is a secret nugget to expand on. I’m sharing this to hopefully broaden our relationship with Christ, as He told John that He was the beginning and the end (Revelation 1:8). 

Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, is unveiled in us, a city set on a hill. “And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon to give light to it, for the glory (splendor, radiance) of God has illumined it, and the Lamb is its lamp and light” (Revelation 21:23 AMP). “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14 AMPC).

This forty-day journey with Jesus Christ, as the Life of the Resurrection, aims to unveil the unity of Christ within us during our earthly existence. It involves reclaiming the earth, which God's enemy had enslaved and held captive in bondage to the Truth of our true nature. Many Christians are not taught how to embody the manifested presence of royalty and priesthood in accordance with the Order of Melchizedek. It is seen as a calling, not an obligation. As Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 15:6, over 500 individuals heard this calling and witnessed the presence of the Resurrected Christ Jesus. Yet, after fifty days, only 120 of those called completed the transformation from discipleship to manifesting Christ in their bodies, accomplishing greater works than Jesus did before the cross. 

Things to note within ourselves on this journey with Christ to Golan is that we journey in marriage to the Lamb of God, wearing upon our hearts His name, nature, and identity of everlasting life. The joy of the Lord is not just our strength, but the power of the Holy Spirit within us, overshadowing any authority around us that is not Christ. This is the truth that has set us free from the accuser of the brethren. Working out our salvation in this journey as the resurrection life in Christ means we died, and today I live as Christ in me.

King David told his son Solomon, “Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honor, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many” (Proverbs 4:5-10).

There is a hidden meaning behind David's words. If we interpret these scriptures literally, we miss the mystic unseen realm of what the Holy Spirit is saying. The Hebrew understanding of the formation of Life begins with ten essences of God emanating from the persona of who He is: Life, Light, and Love. 

“Then he made 10 bronze water carts” (1 Kings 7:27 HCSB). This was part of the first temple built by Solomon. These water carts were mobile and used to wash and purify the sacrifices. They were not the Laver used by the priest for cleansing before entering the temple. 

As we ascend from darkness into His marvelous LIGHT, we are being cleansed in seven key areas of our body, soul, and spirit: the red zone in our sacrum, which reflects our total humanity. Moving up our spine, we encounter the orange zone of a servant's heart or warfare in our gut. From there, we rise to the yellow zone, which emphasizes our identity with Christ and the Holy Spirit's awakening within us. Next, we ascend into the green zone that influences our heart condition and the air we breathe. The throat area is a light blue zone focused on the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart. The indigo zone processes information from our senses: what we see, hear, smell, and taste. Finally, the brain's purple zone governs the entire body.  

As new creatures in Christ, we are to be transformed. “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is good, pleasing, and the perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2 HCBS). The Holy Spirit brings this transformation from power and authority in a realm above us, yet is a part of us, because we are created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27).