“Fight or Flight” are two inner, instinctive, first response choices in humans, according to social psychologists.  Do we stay and fight what is changing our normal daily lives and challenging our existence or do we run from it?  Fighting and flighting reveals many forms of behaviors.  We see those behaviors emerge from birth to adult. Babies want only their mothers who gave them birth to soothe them. They cry until moms hold them in their arms. Most toddlers run to their moms or dads at the first hint of something different going on around them or someone coming into their area they do not know or trust.  As we grow from children into adolescence we continue to fight or flight when surprised, perplexed, or confused at what is happening that threatens our “normal.”  Adults will sometimes fight back with physical weapons or sarcastic mental attacks on those they think will do harm to them.  OR we adult humans will flee, ignore, and deny there is even a problem. 

God knows this about us because He created us. God does not run from the problems of His created.  Instead, God creates a place of refuge for us. God also knows we need Him to be our help, strength and wisdom in times of trouble.  We have a choice, because give us choices.  Do we run to God or stand firm in our own strength to fight?  Most humans seek refuge from troubles.  But some will stand to fight back by instinct without true wisdom.  We need wisdom beyond ourselves. Who do we turn to first?

God had a plan as our “ever-present help in times of trouble” to be our city of righteous refuge where we can be safe and secure. (Psalm 46)

Numbers 35

Towns for the Levites

35 On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, the Lord said to Moses, ² “Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. And give them pasturelands around the towns. ³ Then they will have towns to live in and pasturelands for the cattle they own and all their other animals.

⁴ “The pasturelands around the towns that you give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits from the town wall. ⁵ Outside the town, measure two thousand cubits on the east side, two thousand on the south side, two thousand on the west and two thousand on the north, with the town in the center. They will have this area as pastureland for the towns.

Cities of Refuge

⁶ “Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee. In addition, give them forty-two other towns. ⁷ In all you must give the Levites forty-eight towns, together with their pasturelands. ⁸ The towns you give the Levites from the land the Israelites possess are to be given in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: Take many towns from a tribe that has many, but few from one that has few.”

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses: ¹⁰ “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, ¹¹ select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee. ¹² They will be places of refuge from the avenger, so that anyone accused of murder may not die before they stand trial before the assembly. ¹³ These six towns you give will be your cities of refuge. ¹⁴ Give three on this side of the Jordan and three in Canaan as cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites and for foreigners residing among them, so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there.

¹⁶ “‘If anyone strikes someone a fatal blow with an iron object, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death. ¹⁷ Or if anyone is holding a stone and strikes someone a fatal blow with it, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if anyone is holding a wooden object and strikes someone a fatal blow with it, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death. ¹⁹ The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death; when the avenger comes upon the murderer, the avenger shall put the murderer to death. ²⁰ If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at them intentionally so that they die ²¹ or if out of enmity one person hits another with their fist so that the other dies, that person is to be put to death; that person is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when they meet.

²² “‘But if without enmity someone suddenly pushes another or throws something at them unintentionally ²³ or, without seeing them, drops on them a stone heavy enough to kill them, and they die, then since that other person was not an enemy and no harm was intended, ²⁴ the assembly must judge between the accused and the avenger of blood according to these regulations. ²⁵ The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send the accused back to the city of refuge to which they fled. The accused must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

²⁶ “‘But if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which they fled ²⁷ and the avenger of blood finds them outside the city, the avenger of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder. ²⁸ The accused must stay in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest may they return to their own property.

²⁹ “‘This is to have the force of law for you throughout the generations to come, wherever you live.

³⁰ “‘Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.

³¹ “‘Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. They are to be put to death.

³² “‘Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow them to go back and live on their own land before the death of the high priest.

³³ “‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. ³⁴ Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites.’”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“Thou shalt not murder” was one of the Ten Commandments given by God to His People.  So, when a murder occurs whether intentionally or unintentionally, it breaks the heart of God for disobedience of the commandment.  Because of God’s love for His People, He wants no harm to be done to the innocent.  God designed His plan to resolve the issue.  The one accused flees to a city of refuge.  A trial is ordered.  Elders will be the judges who decide the outcome of the accused. Witnesses are called to testify.  No ransom can be made to “buy their way out” of this trouble.

If the elders thought the accused was guilty of murder, they would turn him over to the family and the authorities for punishment. If they concluded that he was innocent, they allowed him to stay in the city of refuge under their protection until the death of the high priest. Then he was free to return home. 

Murder was a capital crime in Israel, for which there was no ransom. God looked upon the spilled blood of innocent victims as pollution of the land that belongs to God. God values the lives of His created.  The only way the land could be cleansed was by the death of the murderer.

The writer of Hebrews ties the Old Testament Law to the One who fulfilled The Law by His sacrifice to pay for the sins of the world—even murderers!  There is nothing we have done that God will not forgive through Jesus Christ, His Son.

God’s ultimate plan for reconciliation, rebirth, resolution, and redemption is Jesus—our Refuge and our Redeemer! 

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Only Jesus was without sin.  Only Jesus can be our place to run to for forgiveness and a new life.  Only Jesus can save us from the bondage sin has on us.  Only Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, can stand in our place of the punishment we deserve.  Only Jesus was the perfect, once and for all sacrifice that pays our debt of sin forever.  Jesus was, is and always will be the only ransom price for our sins before God! 

Guilty sinners (all of us) today can flee by faith to Jesus Christ and find refuge from the judgment of God. (Hebrews 6-7) Because Jesus is the ever-living High Priest, salvation is secure forever; for “He always lives to make intercession for us”. He bore the guilty sinner’s punishment; therefore, there can be no condemnation—all because of Jesus. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…,” Romans 8:1.

Our Refuge was provided for us because God so loved us.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

Run to Him!

Lord,

I’m one of your “whoever’s” who believe you and trust you with my life. I love  you with all my heart, mind, and soul.  Thank you for reminding us of your love by revealing your plan throughout Your Word to rescue us and set us free.

In Jesus Name, Amen—Yes!