| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
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| 1 The LORD also spake unto Joshua, saying, |
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| 2 Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses: |
Cities of refuge – A step in advance (of other nations) along the lines of tempering justice with mercy. R3092:3
Christ is our refuge from the demands of justice. R4079:6
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| 3 That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. |
Killeth any person – Nephesh, soul, sentient being. E334
Unawares – The trial sought to determine whether the slayer had laid in wait for his victim, hunted him, or smote him in secret; maliciously or with guile; whether there was previous enmity between the two men or hatred of the slain on the part of the slayer. R3092:5
And unwittingly – Christ is a refuge from unintentional sins only. R3093:2
From the avenger – Anyone who, even through error or accident, took a life was worthy of death under the decree, "He that sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." (Gen. 9:6) R3092:3
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| 4 And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. |
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| 5 And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime. |
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| 6 And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.
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He shall dwell – Antitypically, it is necessary that we continue to abide in Christ, that we do not put off the robe of Christ's righteousness, or we become liable again to the demands of justice, and that without mercy. R3093:4
Until the death – Thus putting a heavy penalty upon carelessness, passion, etc. R3092:6
Of the high priest – Until Christ, Head and Body, will have died. Then the new dispensation will be ushered in. R3093:4
As long as Christ continues in the priestly office, until he is able to present all the redeemed faultless before the throne of God, at the end of the Millennial reign. R4080:1
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| 7 And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjatharba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. |
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| 8 And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. |
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| 9 These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation. |
Killeth any person – Nephesh, soul, sentient being. E334
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