March 22

Cities of Refuge
Numbers 35

The early books of the Bible are a window on a time very distant from our own.  Sometimes the conception of justice shown in those books seems primitive and harsh by comparison to our own.  We must remember that God was establishing this system not only to ensure justice but to teach Israel what was to come.  The cities of refuge are just such an example.
Shedding of blood
Central to our understanding of the cities of refuge is this.  Any time blood was shed, even accidentally, the land was considered to be defiled.  This was a great sacrilege, for the land was considered to be the land where God lived with his people.  Unsolved murders were to be atoned for by the elders.  Murders in which the murderer was known were to be avenged by the kinsman redeemer.  We are most familiar with this person as Boaz, in the story of Ruth.  The same relative was also charged with the duty of being the avenger of blood.  But what if the killer was innocent of murder?  What if it was an accident?
The cities of refuge
To deal with this, God instructed Moses to designate certain cities as cities of refuge.

• Each of these cities was a city belonging to the Levites, the priestly tribe.  Not all Levite cities were cities of refuge.
  
• Only the innocent slayer could obtain refuge there;  the elders were to hand over any murderer.
  
• Even the innocent one could not leave until the death of the High Priest.  His death was considered atonement for the blood which had been shed.