The Cities of Refuge.The LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,
“Speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘Designate the cities of refuge (asylum), of which I spoke to you through Moses,
so that the person (manslayer) who kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall be your refuge from the blood avenger. Jos 20:1-3
INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT
INTRODUCTION
Though there are evident traces of the hand of an editing scribe, probably Ezra, there are many indications that the substance of this book was written while the events were still recent. There is therefore no good reason for doubting that the book in its original form was written by, Joshua as Jewish tradition alleges.
This book is to the Old Testament what the Acts of the Apostles is to the New. The name “Joshua” is equivalent to Jesus, and means “he shall save,” Heb_4:8. The Jericho of the early Church was Jerusalem, which they compassed through ten days of prayer as Israel compassed Jericho in seven days of marching. At Pentecost the walls of prejudice fell flat. Ananias and Sapphira were the Achan of the first days. The victories of the Church at Samaria, Antioch and elsewhere recall the conquests of Joshua. And the failure of the Church to go forward to the conquest of the nations finds a bitter parallel in the story of Israel’s apathy toward driving out the Canaanites.
Possessing the Promised Land
III. THE DISTRIBUTION AND PARTITION OF CANAAN, Joshua 13-21
4. Cities for the Levites, Jos_21:1-45
26. What was the purpose of the Cities of Refuge?
THE CITIES OF REFUGE
The LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,
“Speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘Designate the cities of refuge (asylum), of which I spoke to you through Moses,
so that the person (manslayer) who kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall be your refuge from the blood avenger. [Num_35:10]
He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city; and they shall take him into [the protection of] the city and give him a place [to stay], so that he may live among them.
If the blood avenger pursues him, they shall not hand the offender (manslayer) over to him, because he killed his neighbor unintentionally and without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand.
He shall live in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment [and if acquitted of murder he must stay there], until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days. Then the offender (manslayer) shall return to his own city and his own house from which he fled.'”
So they set apart and consecrated Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.
These were the appointed cities for all the Israelites and for the stranger sojourning (living temporarily) among them, so that whoever killed any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the blood avenger until he had stood before the congregation [for judgment].
Comments by
F.B.Meyer
On
Joshua 20:1-9
CITIES OF REFUGE
These arrangements carried out Num_35:9-34. Remember the distinction between deliberate murder and unintentional homicide. Only those who had committed the latter were eligible for refuge.
The fugitive told his story at the gate and was admitted provisionally, Jos_20:4. His case was afterward investigated by the citizens or their delegates; and if his story were found correct, he might stay till the death of the high priest. This functionary was a type of our Lord; and thus the death of each high priest pre-signified that death by which captive souls are freed and the remembrance of sin made to cease.
The cities were placed so as to be within easy access from all parts of the country. See Pro_18:10; Heb_6:18. It is an urgent question for us all, Are we within the city, the walls and bulwarks of which are salvation?
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