Cities of Refuge Numbers 35

Numbers 35:11 "Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares."

(Scofield declares these cities to be a type of Christ and gives references: Psalm 46:1, 142:5,Isa4:6,Ex 21:13 Deut 19:2-9 Rom 8:1,33,34 Phil 3:9 Heb 6:18,19)

Outline:

v1 Eight and forty cities for the Levites with their suburbs and measure thereof
v6 Six of them are to be cities of refuge
v9 The laws of murder
v31 No satisfaction for murder

As I've said before I don't consider myself a scholar, but this is what this means to me.

The cities of refuge were God showing mercy. Someone who killed another would have been at the mercy of a family member who was ready to take their life immediately. The cities of refuge provided a place for the killer to run to until the congregation could gather witnesses and decide if the killing was accidental or on purpose.

The avenger could not kill the person they were after if they made it to a city of refuge, but they must remain there or else they were fair game if they left the city. I expect that happened sometimes since anyone would have wanted to go home and see their family or check on their property.

These cities were an act of mercy for these men who took a life but perhaps without malice. Nevertheless they were guilty of killing someone.

In the sense that we are all sinners, we have no recourse in life, except to run to Christ. He is our city of refuge.

Psalm 40:11 "Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me."