"These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation."
Joshua 20:9
The idea here about protecting people who killed others accidentally is interesting. It sounds like they were doing it specifically to give time for some kind of trial before someone took it into their own hands. Making a space where mercy could temper justice perhaps, which is what the atonement is about... giving us some space between sin and judgement so that we can change, improve, learn to be different people and make different choices. So often we get into ruts in our lives and we try to solve the same problems in the same way, and fail over and over again... or just give up.
With God though, we have the time and space needed, and the assistance of God in changing not just our actions, but our hearts. He helps us to think about things differently... perhaps like these people, who had a city to flee to which gave them a new context for their lives and maybe a new way to think about who they were.
Today, let's be slow to wrath, and be willing to hear people out before we judge them... but also let's remember that we need this sort of new perspective sometimes too, in order to change and not keep making the same mistakes. Let's step away from our sins and learn to do better in the time allotted to us before judgement.
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