“…to be cities of refuge…”
In whom can we find refuge when the hurricanes of life blow against our wounded soul? Our only refuge is Jesus. Money runs out; alcohol knocks us out; and medicines can only drug us out. Even our friends and family desert many of us amid our time of trouble. Nothing and no one can help us, except Jesus.
The cities of refuge in the days of the Old Testament are a very vivid picture of Jesus, our refuge. In those cities, unintentional killers could find a hiding place. They were protected as long as they remained inside the city or they could return home after the death of the high priest.
I imagine that some slayers would have to wait quite a long time for the high priest to die. Meanwhile they could not go back home, lest the “avenger of blood” would capture and execute them. What a relief it must have been for them to receive the “good news” of the high priest’s death!
Christ is our eternal and immortal High Priest. He died once and for all, but God raised him from the dead and now he lives forever. Therefore he has become our eternal refuge.
Jesus is for us what the ark was for Noah. He protects us just as the blood of the lintel did for the sons of Israel, and He is the Shepherd that delivers us from the roaring lion.
Without Jesus we would be defenseless little sheep lost and confused. If you have problems today, come to Jesus and you will find a refuge in him, because Jesus is our Friend.
A. G.
