(Joshua 20:5, NIV) "If the avenger of blood comes in pursuit, the elders must not surrender the fugitive, because the fugitive killed their neighbor unintentionally and without malice aforethought."
The Cities of Refuge is a legal system that pays more attention to whether or not there is hatred than to the consequences of murder.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus treated our anger and swearing as severely as murder(Matthew 5:21-24). The purpose of the Cities of Refuge seems to be in a similar vein.
How can we not hate our neighbors? I believe it will be possible if God, who is love, becomes the master our hearts.
Now, I realize the commandment to worship God alone is actually His blessing to leave us from hatred and live only in love.
(Psalm 71:9, NIV) You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than me.
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