8. Eight cities of refuge

 Chapter 9:8 

Eight cities of refuge 

Did you know that in the Old Testament there's a law so bewildering it feels like a mistranslation? 

A rule that at first glance defies all logic? 

Picture this. 

You commit accidental manslaughter. 

The law offers you a refuge to save your life, but at a price. 

You're confined there, exiled from your own life. 

And your only hope of ever being truly free, hinges on something astonishing. 

The death of someone who has nothing to do with you, who lives miles away, and who probably doesn't even know you exist. 

But this apparent legal loophole isn't a flaw in the system. 

It is in fact one of the most stunning keys to understanding the gospel, one we often overlook. 

Picture the scene for a moment. 

You're in ancient Israel. 

You've had an argument, a mishap at work, and someone has died. 

 Now the law is unyielding, eye for eye,  life for life. 

And the dead man's family has what's known as an avenger of blood, a close relative with the legal duty to hunt you down and carry out the sentence. 

But in his wisdom, God's law provided a way out. 

Six sacred cities scattered throughout Israel. 

Hebron,  Sheckchham, Kadesh, the cities of refuge. 

Your only hope was to run. 

Run faster than ever toward the nearest city of refuge.  

If you passed through its gates before they caught up to you, the law would shield you. 

You were safe. 

Once inside the city of refuge, you presented your case to the elders. 

If they determined the killing was unintentional, you were allowed to live there. 

You were protected. 

The victim's avenger couldn't touch you. 

But here's where the story takes a disquing turn. 

You're safe, yes, but you're not free. 

You become a prisoner inside your own stronghold. Set a single foot outside the city walls and the avenger of blood can lawfully take your life. 

And the question is inevitable. 

How long will you live out the rest of your days looking over your shoulder, trapped in this gilded cage? 

The law gave an answer, the same one I hinted at at the start.

And it sounds so strange. 

Your exile would end, and you could return to your home, your land, and your family only when the high priest serving at that time died. 

The congregation shall deliver the man's layer, and he shall remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. 

Stop and think about that. 

What sense does it make? 

What connection could there be between the death of an innocent priest in the capital and the freedom of a guilty killer miles away?

At first glance, it seems to make no sense at all. It looks like an arbitrary legal quirk, but it isn't. It's the heart of the message. 

 Here's the twist that changes everything. 

The death of the high priest wasn't just a date on the calendar. 

It was an act of atonement, a payment. 

In the biblical worldview, the high priest was the supreme representative of the people before God. 

That's why his death carried such immense weight that in the eyes of divine law, it settled the blood debt caused by the fugitive. 

The death of someone of immeasurable worth set the guilty free. 

The account was paid in full. 

Sound familiar? 

Now, fast forward thousands of years. 

The stage is no longer Israel, but the whole world. 

And the guilty party, the Bible tells us, is each one of us. 

For all, have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 

Our sin, even if it isn't literal murder, has separated us from God and placed us under a death sentence. 

There is a righteous avenger, God's own law, that demands justice. 

The question then is the same. 

Where can we run? 

The book of Hebrews gives us the answer with stunning clarity. 

It says believers can hold fast to the hope set before us. 

We who have fled for refuge. 

See the connection. 

Christ is our city of refuge. 

We run to him for our lives and in him we are truly safe. 

God's justice can no longer condemn us. 

But the revelation doesn't stop there. 

Remember that strange law about the high priest. 

The letter to Hebrews tells us Jesus is not only our refuge, he is also our eternal high priest. 

And this is where all the pieces of the puzzle fall perfectly into place. 

The man's slayer in the city of refuge was set free only when the high priest died. 

And we, the refugees in Christ, when were we fully released from our guilt and condemnation and allowed to go home to the father. 

Exactly. 

When our great high priest Jesus Christ died on the cross, Jesus fulfills both roles to perfection. 

He is the city of refuge where you hide. 

And he is the high priest whose death pays your debt forever. 

That strange law in the book of Numbers wasn't a mistake. 

It was a shadow. 

A silent prophecy cast across the centuries, waiting to find its meaning and complete fulfillment at the cross of Calvary by Jesus Christ. 

Chapter 10: 9 ( Click here to continue )

Nine. The door of Noah's ark.  ...