A refuge is a place to be safe in.
When the Israelites were travelling to the country God had promised to give them, God told Moses a great many things that He would have them do when they got there. These were things to make them live happily and comfortably in their new country.
One of the things that God would have them do, was to fix upon six cities, in various parts of the country, to which any one who had killed a man by accident might run, and be safe from punishment. As long as he stayed in the City of Refuge no one could harm him for what he had done, if it was really an accident that he could not help. Indeed, even if it was owing to something very careless that he had done, such as throwing a stone without looking whether it might hurt somebody, he was still to be safe there. But if, after he had run there for his life, it was found out that he had killed any one on purpose, then he was to be sent away and put to death. God Himself said that such people ought not to be allowed to live. In His own Book we read,"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man."
No comments:
Post a Comment