II.

THE SIX CITIES.

"And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali,
and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath-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 in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in
Bashan out of the Tribe of Manasseh. 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, and not die by
the hand of the Avenger of Blood, until he stood before the
Congregation."-JOSH. xx. 7-9.

II.

It is of these _six cities_ here mentioned, I am now going to speak. The
name of each of the six has something significantly to tell about THE
NAME OF JESUS. They are six pictures of the Saviour, hung up in the Old
Testament picture-gallery. I am going to ask you to take a journey with
me to these towns of old Palestine. Before we enter their gates, I
should like again to repeat the verse of the precious hymn placed at
the beginning of this book:--

"How sweet the NAME of _Jesus_ sounds
In a believer's ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear."

[Illustration: Kedesh]

First City--Kedesh.

If you look far north in the map of Palestine above the lake of Merom,
near the snowy peaks of mount Hermon and Lebanon, you will see where
this Refuge-city lies. Recent travellers describe its ruins as still
standing on a rocky ridge in the midst of green hills, surrounded with
the remains of forts and castles built by the Crusaders in the middle
ages. It was situated within the tribe of Naphtali, and must have been
it great town at the time when the old warrior Barak, who was born
within its walls, marched from its gates to meet Sisera in the plain
below with his nine hundred chariots of iron.

What does its name tell of Christ?

The Hebrew word KEDESH signifies "_Holy_." Jesus was "_The Holy One_."
Not one stain of sin polluted His holy human nature. Angels in heaven,
as they cast their crowns at His feet, cry, "_Holy! holy! holy_!"[12]
Devils on earth were compelled to exclaim, "_We know thee who thou art,
the_ HOLY ONE _of God_."[13] Jewish priests, as they spake of Him of old
by types, took "_a lamb without blem