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Bible study · Numbers 35:1-34

Numbers 35: Cities of refuge

Read Numbers 35:1-34 before you meet.

In a few lines

Six of the Levites' forty-eight cities were cities of refuge, open to Israel and to the stranger (35:6-7, 35:15). They sheltered the one who killed "without hostility" (35:22), not the murderer, and he went home only "after the death of the high priest" (35:28). Behind the whole law: blood pollutes the land, and the LORD dwells among his people (35:33-34).

The verse to carry

“You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, where I dwell; for I, the LORD, dwell among the children of Israel.’”

Numbers 35:34

To talk about

  1. 1. The law asked about intent: hatred and lying in wait on one side, "not his enemy and not seeking his harm" on the other (35:20-23). When you've been hurt by someone, how do you tell the difference between what was meant and what just happened?

  2. 2. The cities of refuge were open to Israel, to the stranger and to the foreigner (35:15). Who around you needs a safe place right now, and what could you do to be one?

  3. 3. The LORD's reason for the whole law is "I, the LORD, dwell among the children of Israel" (35:34). What would change in your week if you lived as though the LORD were living right beside you?

Prayer requests