Tanak Foundations-Concepts in Joshua-Chapter 20

Josh 20.1-9 is a chapter that deals with the renewal of the order to appoint six cities of refuge for those who have committed manslaughter. They can flee there and have a hearing, and if they are found that it was an unintentional accident, they can stay there for protection from the avenger of blood until the death of the high priest. Psa 46.1 says the Lord is a refuge and a strength, a very present help in times of trouble. Heb 6.18-20 says that we have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope before us. This hope is an anchor to the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast. We have entered within the veil where Yeshua has entered before us. He is our high priest forever according to the course or division of Melchizedek. Yeshua is the only direct descendant of the heavenly temple in the Olam Haba.

There were six boards on the western wall of the Mishkan. Heb 6.18-20 relates to our own salvation. The Mishkan was the seventh place to seek refuge and it tells is to flee inside the veil for refuge into God’s presence. Are we guilty of manslaughter with Yeshua? The avenger of blood will take us out and sly us if we reject Yeshua deliberately. His blood is on our hands. THe person who has faith in God’s word and accepts Yeshua, even though his sin caused his death not realizing the end result, is guilty of manslaughter. So, he is allowed to stay in the place of refuge as long as the high priest lives, and Yeshua lives forever so we are safe (Heb 7.24; John 3.18). The cities of refuge are not jails or detention centers. They were environments in which the reckless person became aware that careless actions have consequences. The person was constantly under the influence of his neighbors the Levites who would observe, pray and teach others. They would see what caring for others really was. The goal was to mold a new person whose attitudes were kinder and more careful. They were the “signs” that clearly marked the way to God and the Messiah. The concept of the cities of refuge is very eschatological.

v 1…Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,

v 2…”Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘Designate the cities of refuge of which I spoke to you through Moses,

v 3…that the manslayer who kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood (next of kin).

v 4…And he shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and state his case in the hearing of the elders of that city; and they shall take him into the city to them and give him a place, so that he may dwell among them.

v 5…Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand.

v 6…And he shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment (his case is heard; if guilty he is put to death, if innocent he is delivered to a city of refuge); until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the manslayer shall return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled.

v 7…So they set apart Kedesh (sanctuary) in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali and Shechem (shoulder) in the hill country of ephraim, and KIriath-arba (city of the four), that is, Hebron (communion), in the hill country (on the west side of the Jordan).

v 8…And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they designated Bezer (ore of gold or silver) in the wilderness of the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth (heights) in Gilead from the tribe of Gad (troop), and Golan (circle) in Bashan (fertile) from the tribe of Manasseh.

v 9…These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them that whoever kills any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation (a court hearing

Posted in All Teachings, Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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