TCN's Biblical Journey Feb 12th

Today's reading is Numbers 34-36 & Deuteronomy 1-2

Numbers 35

I have often noted that people look at the Old Testament Law as being overly harsh. In the New Testament, the religious leaders had in fact added quite a number of new regulations to what God intended. So much so that almost no one could even come close to obeying them. However, in its day the Law, was one of the most revolutionary methods of organizing a society. It offered methods to resolve debts, gave opportunities for the poor to survive, and had a way to reset wealth (the year of Jubilee). There was the religious side, which called for those who refused to serve God to be cast out of the nation or put to death (this is the area most have trouble with today) but considering they were supposed to represent God's people it was understandable (a church member who is a reprobate or an atheist is just as out of place, though we wouldn't kill them we would remove them from the membership roles). However, today I want to look at one of God's unique methods of justice, the cities of refuge.

The city of refuge offers a place for those who had accidentally killed a person to go and receive protection. There were several scattered across the nation giving the accused a greater chance of being saved. The city was a place of safety from the family who lost their loved one. The congregation would judge the case and if they found the person had committed a murder then the person was killed, but if not the person was not put to death. The one caveat was the person had to stay in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest.

One can try to guess, why an innocent person had to stay in the city and not be allowed to go home. However, my own guess is there was a two-fold reason. The first is for the family who realizes that the person did commit murder but there wasn't enough evidence to convict the person. This would give the family a sense of justice. The second is to acknowledge that human life is worth something, and even a life taken accidentally cost society. There is a price which society pays when a human is lost before its time. In other situations, God required even accidental losses be reimbursed but how do you do that in the case of human life? The answer is what He did, requiring they stay in the city of refuge. There is a feeling of fairness about it, though I will have to admit if you were the person having to live out possible the rest of your life there, it may not seem so. However, at that place, you did have freedom and you couldn't be killed. 

I think it shows the justice and if I could use the term fairness of God. It's something to think about.