“But if the manslayer at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he fled, and the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood…” Numbers 35:26-27

When God spoke to Moses, in Numbers 35, He said that the Levites should be given “cities that would serve as a refuge”, so that a murderer who mistakenly killed a person would be kept there. This murderer would await a fair trial there, lest he be killed in an act of vengeance by the “avenger of blood”.

These cities had exact measurements around them, and I saw myself in this murderer…

One day, we arrived at the church as “murderers”, for the injustices of sin which was in us. The devil is the avenger, thirsty for souls and blood. However, the High Priest, the One who lives in the city for the refugee sinner, the Lord Jesus, rescued us and paid an incalculable price for all eternity.

Today, the Holy Spirit is our guide, precisely to keep us within the city borders which protect us.

It is my choice to remain in this “city of refuge” every day, because if I come out of it, I know exactly who is waiting for me!

There is no greater blessing than to live in this city of refuge, the Kingdom of God here on earth, and still be able to serve in it, which is the work of God.

We will always be considered a “murderer” because it was the sin that dwells in us that made the Lord Jesus go to the cross. If we leave this refuge, then, we will “once again crucify” the One to whom we owe a debt, that is unpayable in this life and in the one to come.

I will only be protected as long as I live within the limits given by God Himself: discipline, fear and the first love. If I stray outside these limits, I will be the one to blame for having let myself be found by the avenger. Then, he will only do what he has always done since he fell from heaven: he will kill, steal and destroy.

Natalina Batista