Refuge City Within Joshua 20:2

Neville's Inner Vision

To Neville, the verse speaks not of literal towns but of inner law. The children of Israel are states of consciousness; the cities of refuge are distinct, safe conditions you deliberately dwell in when fear or guilt would push you into reaction. The phrase 'whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses' becomes a reminder that the covenant already exists inside you: Moses is the memory of the law, and you revise that memory by choosing a sanctuary within. Appointing a refuge is an act of imagination that establishes a new surrounding atmosphere. You say to yourself, I am safe in the I AM now; I am the refuge that protects the heart from accusation. The gate closes around the mind and the sensation of condemnation dissolves, while the I AM remains constant, unshaken by outer events. When you dwell in this inner city, you behave from mercy rather than judgment, and life rearranges itself to reflect that sanctuary. The 'refuge' is not escape but a transformation of perception: a felt real home in which past stumbling blocks lose their sting.