Joshua 20–21

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Reader: Jeff
Teacher: Daniel Agee

Thought questions

Daniel’s map of the Land of Israel with the tribal boundaries and refuge city names in red.

How did the concept of cities of refuge carry into the Christian church?
- How does the Christian interpretation differ from what is written in the Torah?
What are some of the similarities of differences in how manslaughter cases were handled then than now?
How easy was it to get to the refuge cities (see Deuteronomy 19)?
What two requirements were put on the one suspected of manslaughter to be given sanctuary in a refuge city (see Joshua 20:6)?
What is the symbolism behind the trial before the assembly and the death of the high priest?
- Who is the "blood avenger" in a manslaughter incident?
  - Is the blood avenger following the law, the Torah?
- How does the refuge city protect the accused before the trial?
- How does the death of the high priest protect the accused even more than just being in a refuge city?
- What does the refuge city symbolize?
  - Who does King David say is his refuge?
  - Does the Year of Jubilee release the manslayer?
  - What is the connection between pleading your case at the refuge city and confessing to God?
- What does the death of the high priest symbolize?
What is the responsibility of the people in the suburbs around the city of refuge?
How does the lesson of the refuge cities relate to apostle Paul’s comments in Colossians 2:13–15 of Messiah Yeshua’s (Jesus) "having cancelled the written code … nailing it to His cross"?
How unique were refuge cities and judging intent in the ancient world?
- How is intent determined in manslaughter cases in the Torah?
Why did God wait until the land was divided among the tribes before the Levites were given cities?
- Why did the Levites not get land around Shiloh where the tabernacle was?
- Why did God put them in and around Yerushalayim (Jerusalem)?
Which two verses aren’t in chapter 21 in the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible, which was used for the King James Version?
- Where did the information in verses 35 and 36 come from?
Why did the big tribes not give many cities to the Levites and the smaller tribes gave more, as required by Moshe’s (Moses) instruction in Numbers 35:8?
- Did Yehoshua (Joshua) break the law by not dividing the cities that way?
- How did fertility of the land factor into this?
How can it be that "not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled," as mentioned in verses 41 to 43?
- Does that mean all the promises to Israel are done, as some Christian denominations teach?
  - To whom were the promises given?
  - Whose forefathers were referred to in the promises in the division of the land?
  - What about the promise of territory stretching to the Euphrates River given to Avraham (Abraham)?
- What "rest" is referred to in chapter 22 verse 44?
  - Was it truly shalom, or completeness, peace, and well-being?
  - Did the tribes stop their battles?
  - Was it the time to "beat swords into plowshares," as foretold in Isaiah 2:4?