Cities of refuge were important places in the Old Testament. According to the Old Testament Law, if a person killed someone, he would have to be killed (Exodus 21:12-14). The avenger of blood was tasked with chasing after the murderer until he killed him. But if anyone killed someone accidentally, he was called a manslayer, and he was innocent. To escape the avenger of blood, the manslayer could run away to a city of refuge in order to find safety. There were 6 cities of refuge in ancient Israel, and they were the only places of escape from the avenger of blood.
Like everything else in the Old Testament, the cities of refuge contain important symbolism for us today. Everything that happened to the Israelites in the Old Testament is an example to teach us spiritual lessons (1 Corinthians 10:11). The Law contains shadows that represent the work of Christ in the New Covenant (Hebrews 10:1). What do these cities of refuge represent?
Hebrews 6:18 says we have “fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.”
This NT verse is referring to the concept of the cities of refuge. It says that in a spiritual sense, all Christians have fled for refuge. This means that all Christians are like the manslayer. We are like people who killed someone accidentally, and we need to find safety, otherwise, we will be killed by the avenger of blood.
“The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). When we sinned, we brought death to ourselves. When we sinned against others or led them into sin, we brought death into their lives. Sin leads to spiritual death, which is separation from God. When we sinned, we probably didn’t try to kill someone, but death was a byproduct of our sinful action. This is what happened to Eve in the garden. She wasn’t trying to die when she ate the forbidden fruit; instead, she was trying to live forever. But she disobeyed God, and therefore, she spiritually died.
As a result of sinning and causing death, we gave a right to the avenger of blood to chase after us and kill us. Satan is like the avenger of blood. He will pursue us and try to destroy our lives because of sin, and he won’t rest until we end up in hell.
We must flee away from Satan and from the consequences of sin. Sin has terrible consequences in this life, and it causes eternal suffering in the age to come. Sin causes much trouble, pain, and heartache now, and it will lead to hell in eternity. When we gain the knowledge of God, we want to flee from the fire of hell.
Satan is the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10). He has the right to accuse us because of our sin, and he has the right to torment us, kill us, and drag us to hell. He is the destroyer.
We must flee away from Satan before he destroys us. There is a limited window within which we must flee, before he swallows us up, catches us, and destroys us. In the Old Testament, the avenger of blood was a person, usually a close relative of the person who had been killed. The manslayer may have had a hope that this avenger of blood would trip and fall, get tired or sick, or be somehow incapacitated and unable to chase after him. However, in the New Testament, our avenger of blood is an evil spirit, the devil. He will not stop until he has dragged a person into hell. Therefore, we must flee quickly from him when we have an opportunity.
We must flee to our city of refuge. The refuge is the place of safety. Christ is our place of safety. Jesus shed his blood for us, so our blood does not have to be shed. He paid for our sins so we don’t have to pay for them. Christ is our city of refuge today.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).
God is our refuge and fortress (Psalm 91:1).
He is our rock, fortress, and deliverer (Psalm 18:2).
Because of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, we can be free from the power of Satan, who is the avenger of blood.
The city of refuge not only represents Christ, it also represents a Biblical church. In the Old Testament, the cities of refuge were run by the Levites (Numbers 35:6), the priests. Today, every Christian is a priest (1 Peter 2:5), and Christians gather together in churches, which are to be the manifestation of the body of Christ upon the earth.
In the New Testament, church was seen as an essential part of each believer’s life. In fact, it was so spiritually essential that not being allowed to be a part of church was the equivalent of being delivered over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh (1 Corinthians 5:5). This punishment was inflicted by forbidding someone to break bread with the believers during church, and being kicked out of the common meal that happened during church meetings (called the love feast – Jude 12) (1 Corinthians 5:11). In the New Testament, the church meeting was a time of eating both spiritual and natural food (Acts 2:46; 20:7). To not be able to partake of Christ in his church caused great harm and opened a person up to Satanic attack. Church in those days was seen as a true city of refuge.
Today, this understanding has been lost to most Christians. Church is generally very different from how it was done in the first century. Many churches have deviated from God’s word. Spiritually sensitive Christians can sense that God does not want them to be part of such churches. This may contribute to the casual attitude people have towards church today.
Indeed, it is more spiritually healthy to be part of no church at all than to be part of an unbliblical “church.”
Although God does not want us to be part of an unbiblical church, he does expect us to be part of a Biblical church that is following the apostolic teachings of the New Testament. At least we should choose to be part of a church that is open to following those teachings and moving in the direction of becoming the spotless bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:27). If we can’t find such a church in our area, then we should seek to be joined with other believers so that we can create such a church in our locality.
A Biblical church is like a city of refuge on the earth today because it is the manifestation of the body of Christ on the earth. If we have Christ, we will seek to be part of a Biblical church.
In the Old Testament, the manslayer had to remain within the city of refuge in order to stay safe from the avenger of blood (Numbers 35:26-28). If he remained within the city of refuge, then the avenger of blood would not be able to attack him. However, if the manslayer ever left the city of refuge, the avenger of blood would gain a right to attack him.
So it is for us. We must remain within Christ in order to be safe. We must seek to be part of a Biblical church on the earth in order to be safe. We should never wander away from Christ, or forsake meeting in a Biblical church (Hebrews 10:25) for then we will become susceptible to spiritual attack from the enemy.
In the Old Testament, the roads to the cities of refuge were well marked and well maintained (Deuteronomy 19:3). These cities were accessible from all Israel, so a manslayer would be able to escape to one of these cities without hindrance.
These roads represent Jesus. Today, he is the way (John 14:6). We flee through Jesus. He is the way of our salvation and deliverance. He will lead us to the place of spiritual safety, both in him, and among his people in a Biblical church.
We are fleeing to lay hold of the hope set before us (Hebrews 6:18). We have hope of deliverance and sanctification in this life— growth in God and increasing victory over the devil. We also have hope of ultimate deliverance from all enemies: when we get our glorified bodies. In the New Jerusalem (the ultimate city of refuge), there will be no more sorrow, crying, pain, or tears.
To learn more about the powerful spiritual symbolism of the cities of refuge, we can look at the meanings of their names. In the Bible, names often have powerful symbolic spiritual meaning.
Yahweh means “I am that I am.”
Jesus means “Yahweh saves.”
Abraham means “father of a multitude.”
The names of cities in the Old Testament also have symbolic spiritual meaning.
Bethlehem means “fruitful house of bread.”
Jerusalem means “teaching of peace.”
The names of the six cities of refuge in the Old Testament have important spiritual meanings.
Kedesh means “holy place.” Jesus is our holy place. The church is the holy place and is called God’s temple (Ephesians 2:20-22). When we partake of God’s holiness, we are under his protection.
Shechem means “back or shoulder.” Jesus put us on his shoulders and brought us to a place of refuge. He put the lost sheep on his shoulders and brought it home (Luke 15:5). Jesus carries the young (Isaiah 40:11). When we are young in the Lord, we often need to be carried.
Hebron means “seat of association.” Hebron was once called Kirjath Arba, which means “the city of four giants.” This points to the fact that when the enemy is overcome, the church of God can be built. When giants are defeated, fellowship can happen. There will often be spiritual opposition to Christians coming together effectively, but when this is overcome, Christians can come together and possibly reveal a Biblical house church.
Bezer means “gold ore.” Gold represents the presence of God. When we are in Christ and in a Biblical church, we will have fresh revelations of God.
Ramoth means “heights.” When we are in Christ, we are seated in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). There we will be safe from the ravages of the enemy.
Golan means “captive.” Paul was the prisoner of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:1). This refers not only to the fact that Paul was literally in prison for Jesus, but it also refers to the fact that Paul had become a prisoner to do God’s will and follow his words. This speaks of an advanced position in God, where we are willing to do whatever he tells us to do, even if it seems dangerous or risky. Though it may not seem like it, being a captive of God in this way will keep us spiritually safe.
The cities of refuge were important places in the Old Testament where God’s people could flee to in order to find safety from the avenger of blood. In the New Testament, they represent our spiritual place of safety in Christ and in a Biblical church. May we find our place of safety in Christ and remain there.
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