What a beautiful picture of liberty in Christ we are shown in Numbers chapter 35 in the Bible. It is there where Moses taught the children of Israel about the six cities of refuge, where anyone who had killed a person accidentally could flee and find protection from the “avenger of blood.” The avenger of blood was a next of kin who would seek vengeance for the death of their relative. If the one who had come for refuge to the city ever strayed outside the boundaries of that city he or she could legitimately be killed by the avenger of blood. That person who had killed someone accidentally was to be confined to that city until the death of the High Priest. Then and only then could one leave the city with impunity. That deceased High Priest would be succeeded by another High Priest raised up in his place, which spoke of the coming resurrection of the Messiah after his prophesied sacrificial death in our behalf.
Who is our High Priest in the New Testament? It is Jesus the risen ascended Messiah who now intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father, who made ultimate atonement for us, as the high priest of the old covenant had done once a year entering the Holy of Holies for the children of Israel. (See Hebrews 9 and 10; in fact the Hebrews 9 v 11 truth far preceded and outweighed the 9/11 terror that so impacted our nation) Our High Priest has died on the cross and his blood placed on the mercy seat in heaven in the tabernacle not made with hands, as believers, we can come out of hiding! We are at liberty to be led of the Holy Spirit to any other location, city or place he may desire to lead us. We need not be confined by fears on a reservation of our own making, or confined within our own homes and church buildings! The whole wide world is our mission field, white for the harvest.
No avenger who seeks to get even with us or who opposes our message has the power to penetrate God’s protective hedge around us. The ultimate avenger of blood is the devil who was defeated through the death and resurrection of the Messiah, and the devil knows his days are numbered, and that defeat will be played out to the final point of HIS confinement, not ours. But in the meantime he has no legal right to harm us, as we come out of hiding blood washed, and in the power of the Holy Spirit and under His leading!
trbarlow 