"Salvation is of the LORD." -Jonah 2:9

"By faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain."   - Hebrews 11:4  [KJV] The Holy Ghost hath here marked down, by His servant the apostle, in the very first offerings which we read of in the bible, the vast importance of faith; by which it most decidedly proves, that it is faith which gives efficacy to all the offerings of His creatures. Faith in what? Nay—there can be but one view of faith throughout the word of God; namely, faith in the promised Seed to bruise the serpent's head. This was the first promise which came in upon the fall. Every offering, therefore, offered unto God, unless it had an eye to this, became offensive. Cain did not offer the first-fruits of the ground with an eye of faith in Christ—hence, he was the first deist the world ever knew.     Abel, by faith, offered the firstlings of his flock with an eye to Jesus—and hence the testimony that God respected his offering. What a striking evidence is here, ray soul, of the vast ...

The Cities of Refuge (Part 1) by D.G. Miles McKee “Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer  may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares."   -Numbers 35:11 [KJV] At that time, throughout the Middle East, when a man was killed accidentally or by malice, the nearest relative, his heir, or any person related to him, could take revenge for him.   In Joshua 20:7-8, as a response to the instruction of Numbers 35:11, they appointed 6 cities (Kedesh, Shechem, Kirjatharba (Hebron), Bezer, Ramoth and Golan) as cities of refuge for the protection of those guilty of unintentionally killing someone.  Such a person could take refuge in any one of these cities and not die by the hand of the ‘avenger of blood.’ Mark this down, all these cities, in their names, point us to the sinner’s safe-haven, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the true City of Refuge . He is the preserver of all those who flee to Him for mercy (see Hebrews 6:18...