I’ve just finished reading a series of novels called The Cities of Refuge by Connilyn Cossette.
As often happens in my life, I chanced upon these novels just as I began my systematic reading of the Old Testament book of Joshua.
It’s the story of the Israelites crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land after Moses died.
The Old Testament passages describe how the Israelites honored God and then conquered the land God promised them.
Cossette’s novels gave “flesh” to the biblical stories.
What are Cities of Refuge?
While I’ve read about them in past readings of Joshua, I didn’t quite understand how they worked.
The biblical God is a God of justice and mercy.
God included a provision for unintentional crimes in the Law he gave Moses.
Particularly for murder verses manslaughter.
In Numbers 35: 9-12:
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there.
“The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.”
Numbers 35: 9-12 ESV
God ordered Joshua to set up six cities of refuge, specifically located throughout the country. This way, any “manslayer” could run to the city for justice.
Levitical priests lived in the cities. (The tribe of Levi was the only one of the twelve tribes not to receive land. Instead, they received the tribe’s tithes to live on).
They were responsible to enact justice in Kedesh, Golan, Ramoth, Shechem, Bezer, and Hebron.
Fleeing to a City of Refgue
When someone killed another person, the dead persons’ relatives could exact revenge, according to Genesis 9:6.
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
Genesis 9:6 ESV
Bible Pictures and What They Teach Us by Charles Foster, 1897
If the opportunity arose, a victim’s kin could kill the victim’s slayer on the spot, no questions asked. (They called the relative intending to slay the killer an “avenger of the blood.”)
But, that was not merciful or just. Sometimes the death was an accident.
The killer could run to a city of refuge, where the Levites kept them safe until they held a trial.
Once he heard all the evidence, the Levite judge determined the manslayer’s guilt and if execution should take place.
An innocent manslayer would recognize their culpability in the death and ask for forgiveness.
If the judge ruled the death an accident, the unintentional killer lived out his/her life in the city of refuge.
The forgiven person, however, lived with consequences.
They could never live anywhere but in the city of refuge. They could not pass beyond a designated distance outside the city walls.
these stories. Model in Israel’s Timna Park
(Wikimedia Commons)
If they left the safety “zone,” the family member could kill them without fear of judgment.
What I didn’t realize until I read Cossette’s novels, was another way for the refugee to be released.
If the High Priest of Israel dies, all sentences are commuted and the forgiven person can return to normal life in his hometown. The avenger of blood had no legal right to harm him.
According to the Lutheran Study Bible discussing Joshua 20:6:
The death of the high priest, intercessor for all Israel, evidently restored harmony and signaled the safe release of the manslayer to his former hometown.
Death of the Old Testament high priest anticipated the death of the great High Priest, Jesus Christ, whose blood makes full atonement for all.
What did that actually look like?
One of the reasons we read historical fiction is to get a sense of social life in the past.
This is where Connilyn Cossette’s four excellent novels provide insight.
Her Cities of Refuge series follows a family dynasty through different variations on the manslayer and blood avenger themes.
(The novels are historical romance, too).
The first novel, A Light on the Hill, tells the story of a woman who accidentally poisoned twin teenagers.
With the help of her family, she immediately begins running to the nearest city of refuge, with the “blood avenger” and companions on her heels.
The story helps us understand the desperation of someone who never intended harm.
Shelter of the Most High provides insight into what it means to live out a life sentence, along with your family, in a city.
Until the Mountains Fall is an Old Testament version of the Prodigal Son when a Levite’s daughter rejects a Levirate marriage with her late husband’s brother.
(The story also examines the implications of God’s provision for a childless widow).
Like Flames in the Night continues following the book of Joshua to describe what happened later. It also enables us to see life after the family can leave the city.
(I’ll add that her three novels about leaving Egypt, and the series she’s now writing about the end of Judges, are also excellent).
How do we know to trust the author?
That is always the question when reading historical fiction about events you know, or that are close to your heart.
It’s particularly true with biblical fiction.
Several times in the course of reading Cossette’s books, I checked Bible commentaries and passages to ensure what I read is what happened.
They are, however, works of fiction.
In this context, Cossette provided imagination to tell an authentic (and often heart-pounding) story. But, it all seemed to fit well into what I’ve read in the Bible.
Is it Gospel truth?
Of course not.
But, Cossette’s novels provided a widening of my understanding–and that, for me, is valuable.
We should all do our own research, anyway.
What do the cities of refuge foreshadow?
We always should be looking for the foreshadowing and parallels in the Bible.
I liked what Compelling Truth said:
Cities of refuge foreshadowed God’s plan of salvation in Jesus Christ. As we recognize our guilt, we flee to Jesus as a refuge.
As Psalm 34:22 says, “The LORD redeems the life of His servants; none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.”
Turning to God and taking refuge in Him for forgiveness of our sins is what gives us freedom from the threat of eternal death.
Second Corinthians 5:19 and 21 say, “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them… so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Jesus’s work on the cross allows us to be protected from the threat of eternal death if we take refuge in Him.
The cities of refuge in the Old Testament are a beautiful illustration of God’s desire to save those who recognize their own sin.
Compelling Truth
In the end, our city of refuge, always, is Jesus.
Thanks be to God!
Tweetables
Cities of refuge and fiction. A wonderful tool! Click to Tweet
God’s mercy: refuges in the Old Testament & New Click to Tweet
Reading Connilyn Cossette’s fiction for biblical insight. Click to Tweet
I didn’t know that about cities of refuge. How fascinating! I love learning about this kind of thing, thank you!
Love the connection to Jesus. Thank you for adding that.
I always wondered what would happen with an accidental killing happening on the final day of a high priest’s life. Would it really be safe for them to venture out? How soon? Since the Israelites were not known to obey their covenant law with strict faithfulness, was this aspect of the law respected?
Perhaps Connilyn Cossette deals with those questions. I really enjoyed the Out of Egypt series. Book One of this series is still on my TBR pile. Sound like I need to move it to the top of the stack!
Excellent question. Cossette did not answer that specific question in her four novels–but she did provide insight into what it meant to live your whole life in the city. Apparently, there was a little leeway in terms of a marked area outside the closed wall city where you could venture–no more than a set distance and your murder victim’s family could be standing just outside the area watching for you to “slip up” and go outside the boundary.
I liked this series (which was the first one I read), even better than the Out of Egypt series.
How wonderful for you! You have books to read! LOL