[Question]

Today, I went to church, and they were having a presentation festival. They were presenting and listening to each other's presentations. During the presentations, I heard something about the refuge city and the earth, and I have some questions about that. They said this earth is a refuge city and that we are manslayers. Is that correct? They said that since we have committed great sins worthy of death, we are sinners, and to receive forgiveness, we must observe the Passover. They said that the one who established the Passover is Ahn Sahng-hong. How could he establish the Passover if he is not God? They also said that the only place on earth where God's true truth is being kept is in the Church of God. They said the Holy Spirit is either God's gift or Ahn Sahng-hong himself. Is that correct? Watching people memorizing the presentation materials for the festival, I didn't see any happiness. It felt like they were being brainwashed, repeating the same content under the excuse of the presentation festival.

[Answer]

When looking at the concept of the refuge city from a broad perspective, we cannot say that the Church of God's claims are entirely wrong. According to the Bible, the people on this earth are fallen angels from heaven, and the earth is where they were cast out. Through God's salvation, people living on earth will eventually return to heaven, so the earth can be seen as a type of refuge city. However, there is a great secret and prophecy hidden in the concept of the refuge city that the Church of God doesn't understand.

In the Old Testament, the refuge cities were established—three on the east side of the Jordan River and three in the land of Canaan (Israel). The Jordan River served as a boundary between Israel and the Gentiles.

[Numbers 35:14] "You shall set aside three cities on this side of the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge."

The law is a shadow of the things to come, not the real form, as the Bible says. The refuge city, like the law, is a part of God's plan for salvation. The refuge city in the law represents Zion, which is God's temple, as mentioned in Jeremiah 4:5. The three refuge cities in the land of Canaan symbolize three salvations for physical Israel, which corresponds to three temple buildings: the first temple built by Solomon (around 950 BC), the second temple rebuilt by Nehemiah after the Babylonian destruction (around 480 BC), and the third, built after the desecration by Antiochus IV (around 167 BC). The Maccabees restored the temple, which is now commemorated by the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

The Bible records that whenever the temple was destroyed, God commanded people to gather at the temple, but this was not a physical gathering—it symbolized the spiritual message to turn away from evil and do good. As God said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments," people who have forsaken God do not keep His commandments. Therefore, the call to flee to Zion in the Bible means to forsake evil and do good. People who follow God's word have already entered the refuge city.

Additionally, the three refuge cities on the west of the Jordan (Gentile land) symbolize the three temples that will be built from Jesus' time to the end of the world: the first built by Jesus after His resurrection when He gave the Holy Spirit to the apostles, the second through the Protestant Reformation (symbolized by the Reformers who opposed the Catholic Church), and the third, to be built in the last days, symbolized by the two witnesses in Revelation 11.

Thus, the three refuge cities on the east and in Canaan have historical connections as follows:

1. The construction of Solomon's Temple = The construction of the apostolic temple.
2. The rebuilding of the temple by Nehemiah after Babylon = The Reformation's temple built by the Reformers against Catholicism.
3. The rebuilding of the temple by the Maccabees after Antiochus IV desecrated it = The final temple built in the last days by the two witnesses.

God will distinguish between the righteous (those who have killed accidentally) and the wicked (those who killed deliberately) among those in the refuge cities. The Church of God claims that this distinction is based on observing the Passover. However, the Bible shows that those who performed acts of charity—feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, and visiting the imprisoned—are the ones who are saved. Therefore, the claim that one must observe the Passover to receive forgiveness and go to heaven is an unfounded, false teaching.