He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die. And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death. And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death. And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed: If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.-Exodus 21:12-19***Among the Israelites, intentional killers were to be killed. Anyone responsible for an accidental death was to get to 1 of the 6 cities of refuge, according to the will of the Lord God. The Lord God told Moses that the 6 cities were to be within the land inherited by the Levites, Israelites descended from the tribe of Levi, the birth tribe of Moses and his older siblings Aaron and Miriam. Sometime after the tribe of Reuben and the tribe of Gad asked to be given land on the same side of the Jordan River whereupon the Israelites had wandered for 40 years during their journey with Moses, Aaron and Miriam to Canaan, the Promised Land, Moses set apart 3 cities of refuge. Bezer was in the territory of the Reubenites. Ramoth in Gilead was in the territory of the Gadites. Half of the tribe of Manasseh joined the Reubenites and Gadites in their request for land, and Moses appointed Golan in Bashan in the territory of the Mannasites as a city of refuge. Shortly thereafter, 120-year-old Moses went upon Mount Nebo. The Lord God showed Moses the Promised Land, and Moses died and was divinely buried. Joshua, Moses' successor, led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham (Abram the Hebrew), and to Isaac, the only child born to Abraham and his wife Sarah (Sarai), and to Jacob (Israel), the youngest fraternal twin son born to Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and to their descendants. After much of the Promised Land was conquered, and each of the remaining tribes received their portion of land, the Lord God commanded Joshua to tell the Israelites to appoint 3 cities of refuge. Thus, Kedesh in Galilee, in land inherited by the tribe of Naphtali, and Shechem in Mount Ephraim, in land inherited by the tribe of Ephraim (the birth tribe of Joshua), and Kirjath Arba (Hebron) in land inherited by the tribe of Judah were cities of refuge. Over 1,300 years after the cities of refuge were established, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was born. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. Approximately 30 years after Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by Mary's relative John the Baptist. Jesus having prayed, the heavens tearing open, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and lit upon Jesus. The Lord God in heaven audibly acknowledged his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert wilderness. Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights and was tempted. Afterwards, Jesus was tended to by angels, and Jesus went to the area near John the Baptist, and John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world. In Galilee, Jesus told specific Israelite men to follow him, and Jesus began to preach, teach and perform miracles among the Israelites, the treasured and chosen people of the Lord God.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, 32:1-42, 34:16-35:34, Deuteronomy 4:1-49, 19:1-21, 31-34:12, Joshua, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26
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