Joshua 20: The six cities of refuge.

Once all twelve tribes of Israel had received their inheritance, the Lord commanded Joshua and the Israelites to designate six cities of refuge, which were spread throughout the land on both sides of the Jordan. These cities would serve as safe havens, so that anyone who accidentally killed another person could flee to safety there. At the gate of the city, the refugee would declare his case to the city elders, and they would shelter him there until the high priest died. Then, the refugee could go back to his own city.

The six cities of refuge were evenly spaced throughout the land. In the north, Kedesh; in the center, Shechem; in the south, Kirjath Arba. Across the Jordan: Bezer, in Reuben; Ramoth, in Gad; and Golan in Manasseh. The three cities in Canaan are all said to be ‘on the mountains’, while the three cities across the Jordan are said to be ‘in the wilderness’ or ‘on the plain’.

There is a humanitarian purpose in granting safety when someone is accused of murder, a crime punishable by death. The spiritual meaning of this provision partly lies in the difference between justice and mercy. Justice has to do with the penalty of the law, while mercy recognizes that there could be more to the picture than just the intention to harm.

The Word acknowledges the place of both justice and mercy. Truth condemns, but love forgives. Ultimately, it is not we who know the real intentions of human hearts. This is something known only to the Lord, who will treat us justly, but also feel tender mercy and compassion towards us “for our low estate” (see Psalm 136:23 and Swedenborg’s work, Arcana Caelestia 6180).

In his work, True Christian Religion, Swedenborg writes: “We acquire justice the more we practice it. We practice justice the more our interaction with our neighbour is motivated by a love for justice and truth. Justice dwells in the goodness itself or the useful functions themselves that we do. The Lord says that every tree is recognized by its fruit. Surely we get to know other people well through paying attention not only to what they do but also to what outcome they want, what they are intending and why. All angels pay attention to these things, as do all wise people in our world” (see True Christian Religion 96[2]).

Innocence is the wish not to harm, and it is one of the cornerstones of heaven. We can easily begin to feel guilt when we cause harm to someone without intending to. They suffer and we suffer also. Reconciliation is needed for everyone in that kind of situation. Spiritually, these cities of refuge mean giving others and ourselves the time and space to let go of harmful feelings – which hell often plays on – and after finding refuge, allowing the Lord to bring us healing (Arcana Caelestia 9011).

There are six cities of refuge because the number ‘six’ represents all the labors of regeneration and spiritual temptation. ‘Seven’ follows after ‘six’ and refers to the Sabbath, the day of the Lord’s rest, when He has brought us through hardships into a new peace (Arcana Caelestia 8975).

The fact that the six cities of refuge were spread on both sides of the Jordan also holds a valuable spiritual meaning. Being in Canaan means that we are consciously living with a sense of the Lord’s guidance in our thinking and actions. This gives us a higher level of understanding, rather like seeing life from up on the mountain. Being across the Jordan means that we are more acutely experiencing the uncertainties of life, although we still try to do what is good because of our faith and trust in the Lord. No matter what situation we face, we need our personal cities of refuge where we meet the ‘elders’ of the city – the leading truths in the Word – who bring us in, and offer us sanctuary with the Lord (Arcana Caelestia 8578).

5826. 'You know that my wife bore me two sons' means if spiritual good is what the Church possesses, internal good and truth will exist. This is clear from the representation of Israel, who says these things about himself, as spiritual good from the natural, dealt with immediately above in 5825; from the representation of Rachel, to whom the wife who had borne him two sons refers here, as the affection for interior truth, dealt with in 3758, 3782, 3793, 3819; and from the representation of Joseph and Benjamin,' the two sons she had borne, as internal good and truth, 'Joseph' being internal good and 'Benjamin' internal truth.

[2] What is meant by internal good and truth existing if spiritual good is what the Church possesses is this: Spiritual good, which 'Israel' represents, is the good of truth, that is, truth existing in will and action. This truth or good of truth causes a person to be a Church. When truth has been implanted in his will - something he perceives to have happened from the fact that he feels an affection for truth because his intention is to live according to it - internal good and truth are present in him. When that internal good and truth are present in a person he has the Lord's kingdom within him and he is consequently the Church; and together with those who are very similar to him he constitutes the Church at large. From this it may be recognized that for the Church to be the Church spiritual good, which is the good of truth, must exist and not simply truth by itself. At the present day it is by virtue of truth alone that a Church is called the Church, and it is what marks off one Church from another. Let anyone ask himself whether truth is anything unless it has life in view. What are religious teachings without that end in view? What for example are the Ten Commandments if separated from a life led according to them? For if someone knows them and the full extent of their meaning and yet leads a life contrary to them, what use are they? Surely none at all; indeed do they not serve to condemn some people? The same is so with other religious teachings that are derived from the Word. These too, being spiritual laws, are commandments for leading a Christian life; they likewise have no use at all unless they are made a person's guide to life. Let anyone weigh up what resides with himself and discover whether he has anything there which really is anything other than what enters into the life he leads, or whether life which really is his life resides anywhere else in a person than in his will.

[3] This is the reason why the Lord has declared in the Old Testament and confirmed in the New that all the Law and all the Prophets are founded on love to God and love towards the neighbour, thus on life. They are not founded on faith apart from life, nor thus in any way at all on faith alone, nor consequently on confidence; for without charity towards the neighbour such confidence is impossible. If it seems to exist with the wicked at times when their lives are in danger or death is at hand it is a spurious or false confidence; for among such people in the next life not a trace of this confidence can be seen, however ardently they may have appeared when near to death to profess that they possessed it. But faith, no matter whether you call it confidence or else trust, does nothing for the wicked, as the Lord Himself teaches in John,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, who were born, not of blood, ¹ nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13.

[4] Those born of blood' stands for those who do violence to charity, 374, 1005, also those who render truth profane, 4735. 'Those born of the will of the flesh' stands for those governed by evils that spring from self-love and love of the world, 3813. 'Those born of the will of man' stands for those governed by utterly false notions; for 'man' (vir) means truth and in the contrary sense falsity. 'Those born of God' stands for those who have been regenerated by the Lord and are consequently governed by good. The latter are the ones who receive the Lord; they are the ones who believe in His name; and they, not the former, are the ones to whom He gives power to be sons of God. From all this it is quite evident what contribution faith alone makes to salvation.

[5] To take the matter further, if a person is to undergo regeneration and become a Church he must be led by means of truth into good, which happens when truth becomes truth existing in will and action. This truth is good and is called the good of truth. It constantly brings forth new truths, since then for the first time it is fruitful. The truth that is brought forth or made fruitful from it is what is called internal truth; and the good from which it springs is called internal good. For nothing becomes internal until it has been implanted in the will, the will being the inmost part of a person. As long as good and truth remain outside the will and solely in the understanding they are outside the person; for the understanding is outside, the will inside.

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