Here's a little gospel nugget God showed me from the book of Joshua this week. We are studying through the entire book in my D Group this semester. (D Group, by the way, is this awesome in-depth Scripture-centered, accountability strong, Christ-focused discipleship group model that is building disciples all over the world, and you should check it out! Mydgroup.org)
So I was reading in Joshua chapter 22, where Joshua appoints six cities of refuge throughout the land of Israel, appropriately placed, where the accidental manslayer may run for protection from the relatives who wish to avenge the death. God lays out specific guidelines for how to deal with these situations. There is a more comprehensive description of these laws in Numbers 35. Here's something interesting I noticed: after a proper trial determines that the killing was accidental, the manslayer must stay in the city of refuge until the death of the current high priest. During that time, if he steps outside the boundaries of the city of refuge, and the avenger discovers him there, the avenger may kill him and not be guilty of his blood. (Numbers 35:26-27) After all, God established a reckoning for the shedding of blood with Noah and his sons after the flood destroyed the rest of mankind. "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood by shed, for God made man in his own image." (Genesis 9:6)
Reading in Numbers, I again noticed this peculiar condition: "For he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession." (Numbers 35:28) The end of the chapter goes on to say that no one may pay a ransom for the manslayer to return home before the death of the priest, and that they must not pollute their land with blood. "...no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel."
Why then is there a reprieve for the manslayer to return home?
In the days of the Old Testament worship of God, substitutional sacrifices were made for people's sins by shedding the blood of animals. The high priest presided over the sacrifices and represented the people before God. It appears that in the case of the city of refuge, God allowed the death of the high priest, as a substitute, to satisfy Him in the place of those who had accidentally taken human life.
Now we do not live under the old laws of the city of refuge and human high priests. There is no need. Why?
"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14,16)
Jesus, our High Priest, has been a refuge for the guilty throughout the ages. His sacrifice on the cross for all mankind was foreshadowed in all the ancient sacrificial rites commanded by God to the Israelites. By Him, those who believed were commended and made righteous by faith. Without Him, there would have been no refuge for any. None of us are accidental manslayers. We have all gone astray; we are guilty of rebellion against God and worthy of death. (Isaiah 53:6)
Yet in Christ's death, He became sin for us; His blood was shed as if He were the one who had shed all the blood that was on our hands, all the blood that has polluted the earth. And by His death, the land was cleansed. Not only that, but we were cleansed, that God might once again dwell among us, and within us. We were made innocent. By the death of our High Priest, we were given refuge from the just wrath of God, the Avenger. And by His resurrection, we were made new--not merely allowed to return to land of our former possession--but a new, holy, innocent creation, possessing a new and eternal inheritance as sons and daughters of God!
"And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 5:9)
