City of Refuge

A person who has killed someone accidentally fleeing from the avenger of blood.

The law of the city of refuge was a system of the Old Testament times to allow those who killed someone accidentally to flee from the avengers and save their lives. The sinners imprisoned in the city of refuge were able to return to their home when the anointed high priest died. This is a shadow teaching us about our souls. Through the law of the city of refuge, we can get the answers to the questions, “Where did the human soul come? Where will it go?” and understand the important principles for the salvation of our souls.

The City of Refuge of the Old Testament

Purpose

The city of refuge was established for those who killed people accidentally to escape from the avengers of blood. According to the Old Testament law, murderers had to pay for their sins with their own lives, and the family members or relatives of murder victims could kill the murderers. In the case of a person accused of murder, he was kept safe in the city of refuge and stood trial before the assembly to be decided whether he was intentional or unintentional.

Then the LORD said to Moses: . . . “ ‘. . . select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee. They will be places of refuge from the avenger, so that a person accused of murder may not die before he stands trial before the assembly.’ ”

Numbers 35:9–12

Locations

Locations of Cities of Refuge

The cities of refuge were located in six cities in Israel—three cities on the east side of the Jordan River (Bezer, Ramoth in Gilead, Golan in Bashan) and three cities on the west side of the river (Kedesh in Galilee, Shechem, Hebron). Each city of refuge was within a distance of about 30 km (18.6 miles), which could be reached from anywhere in Israel within a day. It was to prevent fugitives from being killed while fleeing to the city of refuge.

Features

Those who committed murder could flee to the city of refuge to protect their lives, but not all of them were protected. One who was found to have intentionally killed someone was put to death even if he or she entered the city of refuge. On the contrary, one who was found through trial to have killed someone accidently was able to return to the city of refuge where he or she had fled to and stay there for a set period of time. Their stay lasted until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. If the high priest died soon, it meant that they were released soon and return to their home. If he died late, it meant that they were able to return to their home that much later.

“ ‘But if without hostility someone suddenly shoves another or throws something at him unintentionally or, without seeing him, drops a stone on him that could kill him, and he dies, then since he was not his enemy and he did not intend to harm him, the assembly must judge between him and the avenger of blood according to these regulations. The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled. He must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. But if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he has fled and the avenger of blood finds him outside the city, the avenger of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder. The accused must stay in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest may he return to his own property.’ ”

Numbers 35:22–28

The only way for those confined in the city of refuge to return to their home was through the death of the high priest. Until the death of the high priest, the murderers could not go back to their own land even if they paid a ransom.

The Reality of the Law of City of Refuge

The Old Testament law is a shadow of the good things that are coming in the New Testament. The law of the city of refuge from the Old Testament is also a shadow and a prophecy of the matter of the human soul.

Originally, Human Beings Are Sinners

Apostle Paul said that there is no one righteous on this earth. The sinners who committed sins deserving of death and fled to the city of refuge, represent mankind. To help us realize this fact, Jesus taught us as follows:

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. . . . For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 9:12–13

Jesus came from heaven to the earth to seek and save the lost. Since Jesus said that He came to seek the lost and that He came to call sinners, we can understand that all humans on this earth are sinners who were lost by sinning in heaven.
In the books of Ezekiel and Isaiah, there are examples that show our previous lives and our sins that caused us to be expelled from heaven. The history of Adam and Eve being expelled from Eden for violating God’s law not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a copy showing that humans, who were angels in heaven, were expelled from heaven for having committed such sins.

Jesus the High Priest

The Bible prophesied that the Most Holy would be anointed.

“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.”

Daniel 9:24

It is written when the Most Holy is anointed, the transgressions will be over and sin will be put to an end. This means that the Most Holy God will appear as the Anointed One for the forgiveness of sins of mankind. It is Jesus Christ who came to this earth 2,000 years ago according to this prophecy.

Although he [Jesus] was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 5:8–10

Jesus came as the anointed high priest. The high priest, who was anointed holy in the city of refuge, is a prophecy about Jesus who came to the earth to save mankind, sinners.

Earth, the City of Refuge

The sinners of the city of refuge are set free through the death of the high priest and return to their home. The Bible also tells us about our home where we will return through the death of Jesus the High Priest.

If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.

Hebrews 11:14–16

The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote that the country where the forefathers of faith longed to return is the heavenly country. This suggests that the fundamental home country that human beings should long for is heaven, not this earth, and that the earth is the city of refuge for sinners.

How to Return to Heavenly Country

In the Old Testament times, sinners confined in the city of refuge were able to return to their home only after the anointed high priest died. Likewise, humans who live on the earth, the spiritual city of refuge, can return to their heavenly home by the death of Jesus the High Priest. This is why Apostles Peter and Paul wrote that we could receive the forgiveness of sins through the death of Christ, that is, the blood of Christ’s sacrifice. For the sinners of the city of refuge, receiving the forgiveness of sins means that they can go back to their home. In the Old Testament times, sinners in the city of refuge could not return to their home without the death (sacrifice) of the high priest. In the same way, there is no other way for us to go back to the heavenly country unless we receive the sacrificial blood of Christ the High Priest. Jesus taught us the way to receive His sacrifice. It is to keep the Passover of the new covenant.

So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. . . . While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Matthew 26:17–28

Jesus came to the earth as the high priest in the order of Melchizedek. Just as Melchizedek gave blessings through bread and wine, Jesus promised the forgiveness of sins to mankind through the bread and wine of the new covenant. Therefore, we cannot participate in the blood of Christ simply by thinking that we believe in Jesus. By keeping the Passover of the new covenant, we can return to our heavenly country through the sacrifice of Christ the High Priest.

See also

• The Spiritual Home and Heavenly Mother
• New Covenant Passover