[Numbers 35] Cities of Refuge. In this chapter, God instructs Moses to establish cities of refuge where suspected man slayers could find protection from the avenger of blood. How does this translate to a New Testament application for the believer? We are all guilty of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The city of refuge is a type of kingdom culture as God would have it – a community of believers without accusation or judgment toward one another, extending the mercy of God to the undeserving because we are equally unworthy of the mercy God has so freely given to us.
[Num 35:1-34 KJV] 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan [near] Jericho, saying, 2 Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and ye shall give [also] unto the Levites suburbs for the cities round about them. 3 And the cities shall they have to dwell in; and the suburbs of them shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts. 4 And the suburbs of the cities, which ye shall give unto the Levites, [shall reach] from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about. 5 And ye shall measure from without the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits; and the city [shall be] in the midst: this shall be to them the suburbs of the cities. 6 And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites [there shall be] six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither: and to them ye shall add forty and two cities. 7 [So] all the cities which ye shall give to the Levites [shall be] forty and eight cities: them [shall ye give] with their suburbs. 8 And the cities which ye shall give [shall be] of the possession of the children of Israel: from [them that have] many ye shall give many; but from [them that have] few ye shall give few: every one shall give of his cities unto the Levites according to his inheritance which he inheriteth. 9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan; 11 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. 12 And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment. 13 And of these cities which ye shall give six cities shall ye have for refuge. 14 Ye shall give three cities on this side Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, [which] shall be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be a refuge, [both] for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither. 16 And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he [is] a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 17 And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he [is] a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 18 Or [if] he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he [is] a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 19 The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him. 20 But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait, that he die; 21 Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote [him] shall surely be put to death; [for] he [is] a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him. 22 But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait, 23 Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing [him] not, and cast [it] upon him, that he die, and [was] not his enemy, neither sought his harm: 24 Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments: 25 And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled; 27 And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood: 28 Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession. 29 So these [things] shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 30 Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person [to cause him] to die. 31 Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which [is] guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death. 32 And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest. 33 So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye [are]: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. 34 Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.
In this chapter, God instructs Moses to have the Levites establish six cities of refuge where an accused manslayer could flee from retribution. These cities were located throughout Israel, but they were under the administration of the Levites. The cities of refuge speak to us of Jesus, our high priest mitigating our sins in the community of the redeemed. Each of these cities tells us something about the church as the city of God and what our attitude is to be toward transgressors. Heb. 11:9,10 speaks of Abraham looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. The cities of refuge speak to us of community as God intends it in the society of the body of Christ.
The Torah names these cities as Golan, Ramoth, Bosor, Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron. We can look at the names of the cities and learn something of the forgiveness of God and the mercy of God upon us under the accusation of sin.
Golan: Rejoicing in Captivity. A suspected murderer could find safety in the city of refuge. Though we may be under the accusation of others, we can rejoice in captivity in the city of refuge, for we are safe there. This applies to all of us, for we are all guilty of the blood and body of the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for our sins.
Ramoth: Precious, High Place, a Difficult Thing. Forgiveness is difficult, but it is the high place where we find the precious grace of God’s character being produced in us.
Bosor: Remote Fortress, Silver (or Gold) ore. Silver represents redemption. Bosor speaks of redemption in process because it is named for unprocessed raw silver ore. You may not have all the facts in a situation, or the thing may not be worked out, but you can take refuge in Christ nonetheless and should give forgiveness even though you don’t know all the circumstances regarding a real or imagined offense.
Kedesh: Holy Place. You can take refuge in the holy character of God. We were all once sinners, and in many things, we have and sometimes still do offend all. Let the character of Christ in your life be a defense against the time when you will need mercy.
Shechem: Back or Shoulder (Isa. 9:5). The government is upon the shoulders of God and the Messiah. He gave His back to the smiters in our place. We let Him carry the burden of it and not we ourselves. We must allow those who have wronged us to have their refuge in Christ, not avenging ourselves but leaving all to God and His sense of justice and mercy.
Hebron: Association. The association of the saints is to be a community of tolerance, acceptance, and mercy. Our guilt is without question even when we think our hands are clean. We all bear the blood guiltiness of Christ upon ourselves because of sin. We are in that sense the company of sinners – so when we are tempted to avenge ourselves – we must give pause to reflect on our own weight of transgression, not demanding our rights but giving mercy for we wish to obtain mercy ourselves.
Notice in v. 15 that the cities of refuge were not just for a fellow Israelite. A stranger (by inference a non-Christian) could find protection in the city of refuge as well. In Islam, the Golden Rule is taught regarding how fellow Muslims are to be treated. However, if a person is an infidel, then mistreatment, even taking of life, is justified in Islam. The principle here in the scriptures is that as a believer, you are to accord the unrighteous and unbelievers the same kindness and mercy that you afford yourself or a fellow Christian. My spouse and I have experienced the lack of this in our own lives at the hands of fellow Christians. Because we didn’t meet with their approval, they felt no compunction or hesitation to assault us, attack us, come against us in very un-Christ-like ways, and laid their head down at night justified in so doing. There is in Christian culture, a viciousness explained away by religious thinking undimmed compared to Jihadist sentiments. We must look at the cities of refuge and accord total strangers, unbelievers, and offenders the same mercy we ask and hope God will show to us.
In vs. 16-23, we find different applications of justice for the varying ways in which one person might take the life of another. The implements by which a person was slain determined in a measure the punishment or lack thereof of the slayer. We can look at these and learn from them regarding our own need to forgive others. You may say well, I am not guilty of this level of sin, but remember the words of Jesus:
[1Jo 3:15 KJV] 15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
Consider what we can learn regarding the implements of murder mentioned in this part of our study in relation to finding protection in God’s city of refuge:
Iron: Iron speaks of indifference toward the suffering of others. We marginalize others and ignore what they are going through, thus increasing their suffering without any thought to our actions. This brings bloodguiltiness on our lives.
Stone: John 8:7 … he that is without sin let him cast the first stone. Self-deception about our own righteousness. Stones represent accusations and wrong judgments. In Pro. 27:19, we read, “as face answereth to face, so the heart of man answers to the heart of man.” In other words, the stone of accusation we aim at another according to scripture is an indication of our own guilt. To the degree we level blame, we establish our own culpability.
Wood: Represents flesh. We often use the excuse of human frailty to excuse mistreatment of others (“I couldn’t help myself… you don’t know what they did to me… they got on my last nerve…. ). Excusing ourselves from Christlike behavior because of fleshly weakness is no excuse according to God’s word.
We can see first that the community of the redeemed is to be no place for the accuser. Accusation, self-righteousness, resentment has no place in kingdom culture. Finger-pointing, backbiting, harassing one another, grudges and unforgiveness exclude us from the mercy of God. When you look at someone, even those who have maligned and wronged you – you must choose to see the lamb of God. To the degree you see the lamb of God rather than the wrongs and sins of others to that same degree; you experience the dividends that accrue to you because that is what God sees when He looks in your heart.
