Cities of Refuge

Joshua 20:1-9

1 Then the Lord said to Joshua: 2 “Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, 3 so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood. 4 When they flee to one of these cities, they are to stand in the entrance of the city gate and state their case before the elders of that city. Then the elders are to admit the fugitive into their city and provide a place to live among them. 5 If the avenger of blood comes in pursuit, the elders must not surrender the fugitive, because the fugitive killed their neighbor unintentionally and without malice aforethought. 6 They are to stay in that city until they have stood trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest who is serving at that time. Then they may go back to their own home in the town from which they fled.”
7 So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. 8 East of the Jordan (on the other side from Jericho) they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau in the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead in the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan in the tribe of Manasseh. 9 Any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing among them who killed someone accidentally could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.

Tenure

The tenure for elders in the amendment of Constitution has scared some people. They feared that elders would abuse their authority. Ironically, those who were scared about the tenure for elders followed the elder who abuse the office of elders. Tenure does not guarantee the absence of abuse. Does the Bible prescribe tenure for elders?
God is actually stricter to leaders. The Lord told Moses in Numbers 20:8-12, 8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.” 9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. 12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

The Israelites did not enter Canaan because of their disobedience. Moses received the same. Such is God’s strictness to leaders. In 1 Timothy 5:20, 20But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning.

Are you scared that elders may abuse their authority? Elders should be more scared that the Lord would let them be humiliated publicly. If God deems it beneficial or more appropriate, He can easily remove an abusive elder from the office.
In 1 Samuel 2:7, 7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts.
In Daniel 2:21, 21 He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others.

God may allow wickedness for short moments but He won’t leave the guilty unpunished. He would avenge of any wrongdoings, especially among believers.

1. Avenger

1 Then the Lord said to Joshua: 2 “Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, 3 so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood. 4 When they flee to one of these cities, they are to stand in the entrance of the city gate and state their case before the elders of that city. Then the elders are to admit the fugitive into their city and provide a place to live among them. 5 If the avenger of blood comes in pursuit, the elders must not surrender the fugitive, because the fugitive killed their neighbor unintentionally and without malice aforethought.

Intentional or not, family or relatives may avenge the death of their relatives.
The cities of refuge offer protection to anyone who accidentally or unintentionally kills a person. Of course, someone may raise the issue that the cities of refuge could be abused. A killer may pretend to be innocent and seek protection in the cities of refuge. The priest-in-charge of the cities of refuge might coddle or favor criminals for bribes. They might abuse their authority in favor of their relatives.

Impeachment

Park Geun-hye has become the first democratically elected South Korean president to be forced from office. The country’s constitutional court upheld a parliamentary vote to impeach her over a corruption and cronyism—which are a grave violation of law.
President Park was suspected of conspiring with her longtime friend, Choi Soon-sil. Choi used her close ties with the president to force local firms to “donate” nearly $70m which Choi allegedly used for personal gain.

There’ll always be possible abuses of office. During election, voters can’t deny that any candidate may possibly abuse the office but still vote for their candidate. In church setting, God would even allow abusive leaders to accomplish His purposes.
If God removes from office abusive presidents, would He allow abusive church leaders to thrive or flourish? If God deems it to be productive in the church, He would allow or stop abuses. God also decides when good deeds continue or stop.
It teaches in Ezekiel 17:24, 24 All the trees of the forest will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. “‘I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’”

Some homeowners love to plant evergreen trees next to their home. Evergreen trees are beautiful next to the home when they are small. Problems arise when they grew tall. Roots may destroy the house foundation. Wise homeowner would remove them.
Similarly, God decides when leaders are still useful or not useful anymore.
When the Lord instructed about the cities of refuge, the Israelites did not raise questions of possible abuses. Those who seek protection in the cities of refuge have to stand trial before the assembly. It would not be easy to fool or deceive an assembly.

2. Assembly

6 They are to stay in that city until they have stood trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest who is serving at that time. Then they may go back to their own home in the town from which they fled.7 So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. 8 East of the Jordan (on the other side from Jericho) they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau in the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead in the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan in the tribe of Manasseh. 9 Any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing among them who killed someone accidentally could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.

The cities of refuge were not exclusive to Israelites only. Foreigners could also avail of protection in the cities of refuge. Foreigners are more susceptible to unfair treatment and they may have limited or no understanding of Israel’s laws.
We are reminded in Genesis 9:6, 6Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.
Although the Israelites are God-chosen people, the Lord has no favouritism about violation of human life. The Lord cares about the welfare of the Israelites and foreigners.
To be foreigner is to be unfamiliar to a situation or environment. New employees may fell like foreigners in their place of work. First time students may feel like foreigners in their school or classroom. Immigrants may feel like foreigners in their new community or neighbourhood. Guests may feel like foreigners even in church setting.
It teaches us in Psalm 146:9, 9The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

The cities of refuge are more appreciated when one can’t find help from others. God’s design for the cities of refuge is an inspiration to foreign missions. All believers are called to join God’s mission. Some of us may have been called to short term or long term missions. Some are called to domestic mission. Some are sent out to foreign land.
God has designed where and when believers can be effective witness.
So, if God takes care of those who have accidentally done wrong things, should God not take more care if we intentionally obey Him? If God provides security for those who unintentionally violated His command, should God not provide much more care for those who intentionally do and obey what He prescribes to be done?
It says in 1 John 2:5-6, 5 But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

Many would claim God love them. Is it partial or complete? “Complete” means “perfect.” God’s love is perfect. It can only be experience when we obey Him.
To experience God’s perfect love, no other choice but to live like Jesus did. No human can repeat how Jesus lived. We know that. The term “must live” teaches us that, it is not a choice to live like Chirst—it is the only lifestyle choice that we must aim for.
Living like the way Jesus lived exhibits the work of His Spirit in our life. The more we grow closer in our relationship with Christ, the more we live a Christ-like lifestyle.

Prayerful

Christ is prayerful. He spent 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness before He commenced or started His ministry. He spent time in prayer before He faced His crucifixion. He also spent time in prayer after ministering to thousand of people.
It says in Matthew 14:21-23, 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. 22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone.

Did Jesus shake hand with the crowd before He dismissed them? Why is it that it’s not mentioned in the story? Did He ignore them? No! He gave them food. Anyone can pretend to be friendly by shaking hand with everybody. Politicians are good at it.
Shaking hand is a good cultural practice. There are appropriate moments for such. Christ spent time in prayer after a ministry. Such practice is better than cultural practices.
To live a Christ-like lifestyle, we must follow biblical practices by God’s grace more than cultural practices.

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