Numbers 35
The Lord had spoken regarding the tribes that would have
an inheritance east of the Jordan. He had also given instructions
about the inheritance for those tribes that would settle in Canaan,
and had provided men who would help with the distribution of this
gift from God. But one tribe was not mentioned, the tribe of Levi.
The Lord was the inheritance of the tribe of Levi, for
they would have a share in the various tithes and offerings of the
rest of the people of Israel according to His Law. Yet they would
need places to live and pasturelands for their cattle.
After settling the broad outlines of the inheritance for
all the other tribes, God spoke to Moses about the cities for the
Levites. He also provided places of mercy in the land to which people
might flee for refuge.
The cities and pasturelands for the Levites were to come
out of the inheritance of the other tribes. The Lord specified the
number of cities and the dimensions of the pasturelands. He also gave
the principle to the people that more cities for Levites would come
from the larger tribes, and fewer cities would come from the smaller
tribes.
The cities of refuge, three to the east of the Jordan
and three in Canaan, would also be among the cities given to the
Levites. The Lord specified here the procedures for mercy and justice
for these cities, making a distinction between involuntary
manslaughter and murder.
Even in the case of involuntary killing, the close
relative of the deceased might be moved to seek some punishment as a
result of an unfortunate death, and he would become an avenger of
blood against an Israelite. The congregations of the cities of refuge
would have to sort out these facts.
These cities were not to become a safe haven for those
who had committed vicious murders according to prior evil intentions.
Murderers were to face the death penalty. But those who were guilty
of manslaughter would be protected by the Levites who judged in such
cases.
The only place of safety for the manslayer was within a
city of refuge. If he left that city he might be killed by the
avenger of blood. He needed to stay in that city until the passage of
some time, until the death of the high priest.
Judgments of this kind were to be based on an open
hearing of the facts, and no one was to be put to death on the
testimony of only one witness. There was no provision for release for
a guilty murderer. That person had to be put to death, or the land
would become polluted in God's eyes. This was the Lord's system of
justice concerning the cities of refuge under the care of the
Levites.
The Levites were to be dedicated servants of the Lord,
attending to the matters of the tabernacle and the Law. They did not
have the same kind of life or inheritance that others in Israel would
have. The Lord provided for His servants then, and the King of the
church, Jesus Christ, commands us to provide for His church today.
Christ and His church have become a city of refuge, not
only for those guilty of manslaughter, but for all who are weary and
weighed down with burdens that they cannot bear. Even the wretched
murderer may find eternal peace in Christ, though the judges of the
realms of this world should rightly bring an accounting against those
who take the lives of others.
But there is a permanent place of refuge for the vilest
offender who truly believes. In that place we have a High Priest who
never dies, but who always lives to make intercession for us. Our
King and Priest has made perfect peace for us with God, and we are
counted as beloved members of the divine household through Him.
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