So if any one was killed among the Children of Israel, at once "the Avenger of blood" hurried to the spot and seized the murderer, who was then examined before the priests and the judges; and witnesses were called to give evidence as to whether the prisoner had intended to kill his neighbour, so that the judges might decide whether he were guilty or not. God's law made it necessary that there should be more than one witness before a man could be condemned.
But if a death were caused by an accident, God provided a way of escape for the manslayer, and it is this way of escape that I am going to tell you about.
When the Children of Israel had wandered in the wilderness for forty years—for their murmuring and disobedience, as God had said—they came at length to the land of Canaan; and here God told Moses to divide the land among the different tribes, and instructed him to separate Six Cities in different parts of the land, three on one side of the River Jordan, and three on the other side.
These six cities were to be called "cities of refuge," and God told Moses to make good roads leading to them, so that if any one killed a man by accident or at unawares, he might flee to one of those six cities, at his utmost speed, and not lose his way in his haste; for when once there, he would be sheltered, and in safety, so that the Avenger of blood might not catch him and kill him.
You will find in the 19th chapter of Deuteronomy the wonderful directions which God gave Moses about these cities.
God said, that any one who killed his neighbour ignorantly, and had not intended to hurt him, might flee to the city of refuge, and be safe.
If a man and his neighbour went into a wood to cut down a tree, and the axe-head of one of them flew off and struck the other man, so that he died, then the manslayer as he was called could flee to one of those cities, and live! Or if a man let a stone fall upon his neighbour by accident, and it killed him, he could flee to the city of refuge, and live!
For when once there, he would be sheltered and in safety.
As soon as he entered the city of refuge, the elders of the city came forward and inquired into the circumstances which had made him fly there; and so soon as they were satisfied that the death of his neighbour was an accident, and that he was not worthy of death, they made him welcome to their city, and henceforward the city of refuge was to be his shelter.