The Book of Numbers

Hebrew Study

Explanation

The Levites, who had no tribal land of their own, were given "cities to dwell in" scattered among all the tribes, with pasture round about. And among these, "six cities for refuge." When Israel came into the land, they were to "appoint you cities to be cities of refuge... that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares." These were havens from "the avenger" of blood, so "that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment." They were open widely: "both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them," so that "every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither." The cities were placed so that one could be reached in time, and the roads to them kept clear. God provided a real, reachable refuge where the one who had shed blood unintentionally could run and live.

Gospel Focus

The city of refuge is one of the loveliest pictures of Christ in the law. As the slayer fled to the city and was safe within its walls, so we flee to Christ from the judgment we deserve. Hebrews uses this very image of the believer: we "have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us" (Hebrews 6:18). Christ is our miqlat, the refuge that takes in and shelters all who run to Him, and "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1). Notice the marks of this refuge. It had to be fled to, urgently; safety was inside, not outside; and the roads were kept open. So salvation is found only in Christ, and we must flee to Him without delay, for it is "in Christ" that there is "now no condemnation." And the refuge was open "for the stranger, and for the sojourner," not for Israel only, a foreshadow of the gospel that welcomes every nation. Whoever you are, however you have fallen, there is a refuge, and its gates are open. Flee to Christ, lay hold of the hope set before you, and be safe within Him.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

The law drew a careful line between murder and manslaughter. If a man struck another "with an instrument of iron," or in "enmity," lying in wait, "he is a murderer," and there was no refuge for him: "the murderer shall surely be put to death." But if he struck "suddenly without enmity," by accident, the congregation judged the case, and if it was truly unintentional, they would "deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood" and "restore him to the city of his refuge." There he must stay: "he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil." As long as the high priest lived, the slayer remained in the refuge; but "after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession." His freedom was bound up with the death of the high priest. That death was his release, restoring him to his home and inheritance.

Gospel Focus

Here the picture deepens wonderfully. The slayer was set free, and restored to his inheritance, by the death of the high priest. That is a shining foreshadow of the gospel: it is by the death of our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus, that we are set free from our guilt and restored to our inheritance. The manslayer's release waited on the high priest's death, and our release waited on the death of Christ, who is both our refuge and the High Priest whose death frees us. What the high priest's death did for the slayer, the death of Jesus has done for us, and far more, for His death does not merely release the accidental sinner but redeems the guilty who flee to Him. Notice, too, the double role of the go'el: the near kinsman was both avenger and redeemer. In Christ the two meet in perfect love, for He is our Kinsman who satisfied the demand of justice for blood and became our Redeemer. The death that the law appointed for the guilty, He bore Himself, so that by His dying we might go free. Rest, then, in the refuge whose High Priest has died to set you free, and go home to the inheritance His death has won for you.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

The chapter closes on the sanctity of human life. A murderer was to be put to death only "by the mouth of witnesses," never on the word of one, and no ransom could buy off his guilt: "ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death." The reason is weighty: "blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it." The shedding of innocent blood polluted the land itself, and that pollution could be cleansed by nothing less than blood. And the ground of it all was the presence of God: "defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel." Because the holy God lived among them, the land had to be kept clean of the guilt of blood.

Gospel Focus

Two great truths close this chapter. First, the sanctity of human life. Life is sacred because man is made in the image of God, and the deliberate shedding of innocent blood is a defilement so grave that no payment can cover it. This dignity of human life, rooted in the image of God, still stands, and it calls God's people to honor and guard life as He does. Second, and most profound, is the principle that blood-guilt is cleansed only by blood: "the land cannot be cleansed... but by the blood of him that shed it." This is the deep logic of atonement, that sin against life requires the shedding of blood, "and without shedding of blood is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22). And here the gospel astonishes us. There was one guilt no ordinary blood could cleanse, and there is one blood that cleanses all: the precious blood of Jesus. He shed His own innocent blood to cleanse a world defiled by sin and bloodshed, satisfying the very justice this law upholds. The God who dwelt among Israel and required a clean land now dwells in a people cleansed by the blood of His Son. Honor the life God has made, tremble at the weight of sin, and rest in the one blood that cleanses what no other could.