“The LORD also spoke to Joshua, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.’” (vv.1-3)
God now tells Joshua to fulfill what the LORD had commanded through Moses in Numbers 35 – the appointment of six cities of refuge. The purpose of the cities of refuge was to protect the slayer who kills any person accidentally or unintentionally. They were to protect someone in the case of manslaughter as opposed to murder. Such a person needed protection against the avenger of blood. The Hebrew word for this phrase is goel, and in this context means the representative from the victim’s family charged with making sure justice is carried out against the murderer of the family member.
God had a passion to make sure that murderers were punished in ancient Israel, and in that culture, the final responsibility for justice rested with the designated goel (avenger of blood) in the family. The principle for capital punishment goes back to Genesis 9:6: Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man. The state’s right to use the sword of execution is also stated in the New Testament (Romans 13:3-4). The avenger of blood would track down the murderer, and if necessary, delivered him over to the authorities for execution. This was providing the testimony of two or three eyewitnesses could confirm the guilt of the murderer according to Deuteronomy 17:6-7.
Since the avenger of blood might set himself against a person guilty of manslaughter (accidental or unintentional killing) instead of murder, the cities of refuge were established to protect the person innocent of murder. These cities of refuge (listed in ch.20) were not for Hebrews only, but for whosoever had killed any person without malice or forethought, but quite unintentionally. If some poor Gentile, sojourning among the chosen people, suddenly found himself liable to the pursuit of an avenger of blood - the gates of the refuge city were open to him. And the elders of the city were bound to give him a place that he might dwell safely and rest in peace (v.4) until justice was served (v.6).
If the accused was convicted of murder, a relative of the victim was permitted to avenge the murder by taking the life of the guilty person (v.19). Even if he was deemed innocent of malicious, intentional murder, causing a death was still a serious offense, and the offender couldn't leave the city of refuge until the death of the high priest without fearing for his life (vv. 26-28).
We may wonder at this, but God wanted to stress that all life is valuable, and there is punishment for murder and consequences even for accidents. Yet God still demonstrated His mercy by instituting protections in the legal system and by providing cities of refuge. God places tremendous value on human life. He would do anything to save a life, but He can't ignore justice to do it.
The Bible applies this picture of the city of refuge to the believer finding refuge in God on more than one occasion: Psalm 46:1: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. More than 15 other times, the Psalms speak of God as our refuge. Yet, there is a crucial distinction between the cities of refuge and our refuge in Jesus. The cities of refuge only helped the innocent, but the guilty can come to Jesus and find refuge.
The Truth: “If we confess your sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (! John 1:9)
