God Provides for Clergy through Laity; Justice for the Innocent; and Death for the Convicted.

Numbers Chapter 35: Cities for the Levites and Cities of Refuge

Intro to Numbers 35:1-34

Day 94 for our social distancing – although it’s Day 101 officially since this all started – the day that W.H.O. declared a pandemic was here. We were fortunate enough to be away for that first week. All the stats globally are continuing to go in the right direction with the number of deaths versus all known cases being at 5.28%. However, some local areas, especially in the U.S. are still experiencing concern with a high number of cases being discovered. This weekend we get to see our youngest grandchildren – the first time in 13.5 weeks and we can attend church as well for the first time in the same period. We were informed today that the on-line registration for the 30% capacity attendance at our church that opened on a Tuesday closed three days later and names could only be put on a waiting list. This will repeat itself each week going forward in accordance with whatever wisdom our Premier decides to apply to churches. Yes, the world has changed.

We personally are excited that we are coming to the conclusion of our study in the Old Testament Book of Numbers. Today we look at the cities that the Levites would have reserved for them to live in since being the tribe responsible for the priestly duties of the Israelites, they weren’t entitled to any land inheritance. And the chapter also talks about the cities of Refuge that would be available for people to go to under certain circumstances which the text describes. Again, we keep in mind God’s Providence for all.  Let’s read on. There’s a lot to try and unravel here. So, let’s first get familiar with the passage. You can read it here or in your preferred version of the text.

The Passage

35 Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, ² “Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities. ³ The cities shall be theirs to live in; and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their herds and for all their beasts.

⁴ “The pasture lands of the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city ^[a]outward a thousand cubits around. ⁵ You shall also measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, with the city in the center. This shall become theirs as pasture lands for the cities.
⁶ The cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. ⁷ All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, ^[b]together with their pasture lands. ⁸ As for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger and you shall take less from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his possession which he inherits.”
⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹ then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your cities of refuge, that the manslayer who has ^[c]killed any person unintentionally may flee there. ¹² The cities shall be to you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands before the congregation for ^[d]trial. ¹³ The cities which you are to give shall be your six cities of refuge. ¹⁴ You shall give three cities across the Jordan and three cities ^[e]in the land of Canaan; they are to be cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six cities shall be for refuge for the sons of Israel, and for the alien and for the sojourner among them; that anyone who ^[f]kills a person unintentionally may flee there.
¹⁶ ‘But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁷ If he struck him down with a stone in the hand, by which he will die, and as a result he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if he struck him with a wooden object in the hand, by which he might die, and as a result he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁹ The blood avenger himself shall put the murderer to death; he shall put him to death when he meets him. ²⁰ If he pushed him of hatred, or threw something at him lying in wait and as a result he died, ²¹ or if he struck him down with his hand in enmity, and as a result he died, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death, he is a murderer; the blood avenger shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
²² ‘But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or threw something at him without lying in wait, ²³ or with any ^[g]deadly object of stone, and without seeing it dropped on him so that he died, while he was not his enemy nor seeking his injury, ²⁴ then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the blood avenger according to these ordinances. ²⁵ The congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the blood avenger, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he fled; and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.²⁶ But if the manslayer at any time goes beyond the border of his city of refuge to which he may flee, ²⁷ and the blood avenger finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the blood avenger kills the manslayer, he will not be guilty of blood ²⁸ because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return to the land of his possession.
²⁹ ‘These things shall be for a statutory ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
³⁰ ‘If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the ^[h]evidence of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.³¹ Moreover, you shall not take ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. ³² You shall not take ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to live in the land ^[i]before the death of the priest.³³ So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. ³⁴ You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the Lord am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel.’”

Footnotes

1. Numbers 35:4 Lit and outward
2. Numbers 35:7 Lit them
3. Numbers 35:11 Lit smote
4. Numbers 35:12 Lit judgment
5. Numbers 35:14 Lit you shall give in
6. Numbers 35:15 Lit smites
7. Numbers 35:23 Lit by which he may die
8. Numbers 35:30 Lit mouth
9. Numbers 35:32 Or until

Thoughts on the Passage

These instructions were given to Moses when Israel was still in the plains of Moab, on the east side of the Jordan.

The cities that the Levites were to get was to come from the inherited land that all the tribes were to get (including the ones that were to stay east of Jordan and not reside in the Promised Land). The Levite cities were to be surrounded by land for the Levite livestock. Such pastureland was to extend outward from the cities the Levites were given, and the pastures were to be of a specific size. And the exact size of those parcels of land was given by God. Our God is a God of details. Matthew Henry points out that these lands were not to be ‘farmed’ or ‘tilled’ – as Levites had to devote themselves to the things of the priesthood rather than the work involved in actual farming.

If I read verse 6 correctly, there were to be 42 cities for the Levites, plus six cities of refuge, also to be under the care of the Levites. These cities and lands came from each of the tribes’ inheritance and that has two benefits: The tribes’ personal contribution to the priesthood via their own inheritance, as well as the benefit of having the Levites and their work near them.

Larger tribes would give more land than smaller tribes, proportionally. In verse 9 we learn that the cities of refuge were to be chosen by the tribes (not the Levites).

The purpose of these cities was made clear in verses 11-15. They were for those who had killed someone unintentionally. They were to protect them from avengers until they could stand trial. Also, these cities were for the aliens and the sojourners among the Israelites. Revenge killing was a tradition of the culture from which the Israelites had come. Some argue that it was not God’s preference, as He says elsewhere in Scripture “Revenge is Mine”, but for some reason He did allow it here, as something the Israelites could hold on to from their past. That puts us in a dilemma as to what should our posture on capital punishment and other forms of penalty should be for the crime of taking a life. It is not an easy matter to resolve, especially today.

What we can point out is how fair God wanted to be even in this practice, by establishing these refuge cities. He wanted to give the charged person every chance possible to be proven innocent if he was innocent. As Chuck Smith says, God created limitations and loopholes for the innocent parties. Smith’s words describe God’s approach here at this point in His People’s history:

“So, here God deals with a cultural practice, modifying it, bringing it within borders, within limitations, providing for the innocent. And yet the murderer was in no way to be set free. They were not to actually put to death a man with one witness. There had to be at least two witnesses.”

But God had no hesitation in actually having the guilty party put to death. Let us not forget that. But today our penal system seems to think God’s way was not the right one and many want to do away with capital punishment. So, our “polluted” land remains so, as we’ll see later.

Interestingly, out of the six refuge cities, 3 were on the east side of the Jordan and three in Canaan.”

Now the rest of the chapter seems to swing back to describe what happens to real murderers. Murderers, regardless of what means they used to kill someone, were to be put to death. And it was the blood avenger of the murdered person that would do the killing of the murderer.

From verse 22 on, we have instructions as to what is to happen in some other specific cases. Accidental deaths caused by others, would subject the murderer to the congregation who would decide between the murderer and the avenger.

Verse 25 goes straight into saying that the congregation will save the murderer from the avenger (I assume in the case where the congregation decides in his favor) but cause him to live in a refuge city until the death of the existing high priest. Unless of course, he tries to escape from his city of refuge, the blood avenger is free to find him and kill him without being guilty.  Once the high priest dies, the murderer could return to his inherited land and live freely.

All these ordinances are to be kept throughout all generations.

Now verse 30 talks about putting a murderer to death but only if there is more than one witness. And there is not to be a means by which the murderer’s life can be bought off with a ransom. He has to be put to death. The same is true for anyone who escapes his city of refuge.

Wrap-up

The whole purpose of these laws was given in verse 33: “so that you don’t pollute the land in which you are”.  And I like the next part – “for blood pollutes the land and no expiation (the act of making amends or reparation for guilt or wrongdoing; atonement) can be made for the land . . . except by the blood of him who shed it.”

Is there any land in the world anymore that by this definition has not been polluted? I hardly think so. Is much of our own countries under that same form of pollution? Even the blood of him who polluted the land is not able any longer to atone for the land – only the blood of Christ can do that now if we let it.

The chapter ends with, “Don’t defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the Lord am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel.” Wow. We need to recognize that God lives among His people. And regrettably, we live in polluted lands. At the very least, we must make certain that our “hearts” – God’s true residence in lives of man now – are pure and without pollution. May it be so for you and me.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

It's Easy to say "I Am a Sinner." Much Harder to say, "This is How I have Sinned."

Telling the Truth and Keeping Promises

Leviticus 5:1-13:

¹ ‘Now if a person sins after he hears a public adjuration to testify when he is a witness, whether he has seen or otherwise known, if he does not tell it, then he will bear his guilt. 

² Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether a carcass of an unclean beast or the carcass of unclean cattle or a carcass of unclean swarming things, though it is hidden from him and he is unclean, then he will be guilty.

³ Or if he touches human uncleanness, of whatever sort his uncleanness may be with which he becomes unclean, and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it, he will be guilty. 

⁴ Or if a person swears thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, in whatever matter a man may speak thoughtlessly with an oath, and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it, he will be guilty in one of these. 

⁵ So it shall be when he becomes guilty in one of these, that he shall confess that in which he has sinned. 

⁶ He shall also bring his guilt offering to the Lord for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin.

⁷ ‘But if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring to the Lord his guilt offering for that in which he has sinned, two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. 

⁸ He shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer first that which is for the sin offering and shall nip its head at the front of its neck, but he shall not sever it. 

⁹ He shall also sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, while the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar: it is a sin offering. 

¹⁰ The second he shall then prepare as a burnt offering according to the ordinance. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed, and it will be forgiven him.

¹¹ ‘But if his means are insufficient for two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then for his offering for that which he has sinned, he shall bring the tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall not put oil on it or place incense on it, for it is a sin offering.

¹² He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar, ^[i^]with the offerings of the Lord by fire: it is a sin offering. 

¹³ So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he has ^[j^]committed from one of these, and it will be forgiven him; then the rest shall become the priest’s, like the grain offering.’”

Thoughts on the Passage

It would be prudent for us to stop here for a moment and try to get a better orientation to where we are in the book of Leviticus, as things can start to get quite complex.

Let me give you a high level perspective of the book:

·      Part One (the first 17 chapters) describe the Laws of Acceptable APPROACH to God or Sacrifice

·      Part Two (the last 17 chapters) describe the Laws of Acceptable WALK with God or Sanctification

Now let us look closer at Part One.

·      Part One

o   In chapters 1 to 3, we have described for us the Laws of Approach to God when a person is IN FELLOWSHIP

§  The Burnt Offering – 1:1 –1:17

§  The Meal Offering – 2:1–2:16

§  The Peace Offering – 3:1–3:17,   and that is followed by

o   In chapters 4:1 – 6:7, a description for us of the Laws of Approach to God when a peson is OUT OF FELLOWSHIP

§  The Sin Offering – 4:1—5:13

§  The Guilt Offering – 5:14—6:7

o   And that is then followed by a section on the laws for Administering these Five Offerings (6:8—7:38)

Right now, we are studying the highlighted portion above – The Sin Offering for when out of fellowship with God.

Chuck Smith boils guilt down to being aware or being made aware of you doing something that is wrong in God’s eyes.  And when that happens, we need to confess such sin. And a sacrifice without confession is not sufficient. God can’t deal with sin in our life as long as we do not confess it, or even if we still want to hold on to parts of it or make excuses for it.  Our confessed sin allows God to be faithful and forgive us and cleanse us from it.

Verses one to five talk about the need for confession of the sin. Then the sin offering can be offered, and it requires either a female lamb, or a kid goat. And if neither of those are affordable, then two turtle doves, or two young pigeons.

David Guzik focuses on the need for the Israelites to be truthful witnesses to what they see, with respect to others committing sin or crime. With all the FakeNews going around these days, people have lost the sense of what truth is and why it is important.

For Guzik, the text seems to indicate that it isn’t enough to merely not tell lies. God also requires His people to make the truth known. Several thoughts come to my mind when I read this.  First, while we can claim much of the Torah’s Laws are not applicable to us today, there are many principles on which those laws are based that do apply to us today. This is just one example.

Secondly, what does this principle say to us about ‘speaking up’ when we know wrong has been done?  I believe there is a role for Christians in this today – be it in the injustices that take place globally, or nationally, or locally, or in our churches, or in our families. But we do it with love.

Matthew Henry says that we need to tell the truth in such cases, even though we may fear offending a friend or possibly an enemy who may harm us. Not doing so, he says, makes us a partner with the sinner.

And thirdly, we need to be aware that the world has abandoned the idea of “telling the truth” being an absolute value. You see people lying all the time – even in court or elsewhere under oath and then getting caught and asking for forgiveness, really regretting only that they got caught.

And the text says, if we don’t tell the truth that is hidden, we ourselves bear the guilt. One commentator (Harris) says, “In Israel all the people were to be involved in seeing that justice was done. Not to witness was a sin.”  What a difference it would make to the church as a whole, and thus to the world, if we all believed that today.  So many Christians would “rather just not be involved”.  If so, there is no way of getting around it – they bear the guilt, the Bible says. And Guzik applies that to our giving witness of our own relationship with Jesus Christ.  Don’t share Him when the opportunity arises, and you risk bearing the guilt associated with that.

The cleansing associated with the sin offering was also necessary when someone in the camp became ceremoniously unclean by touching anything that was unclean (either a carcass of an unclean animal or any human uncleanness). This was particularly important before someone was to come near or to enter the court of the Tabernacle.

Verse 4 addresses something that I think should be read over and over.  Guzik says it implies that “A careless promise was still a promise before the Lord and had to be observed. If the promise was not kept it had to be atoned for by a sin offering. . .. When we are aware of our broken vows we must repent of them.” Examples include saying we will pursue more time in prayer; more prayer for others; more time in the word; more unashamed witnessing; more faithful giving; more patience with our children; more love to our spouse; and more purity in mind, word, and deed.  Time to confess.

While this may seem like it refers to promises we make to God and then break (which are done often by all of us, especially when we are going through difficult times), I believe it also applies to when we break the promises we make to others – for I do not believe God would have us treat our fellow Christians and others differently.  And surprisingly, and sadly, I have found in my long career and association with both business people and clergy, that it is the clergy that often fail miserably in this regard.  They fail to keep their promises and are many times too proud to even admit it.

Vows and promises are good and sometimes a sign that the Holy Spirit is working in us. But if not kept, they become a sin in need of confession and repentance.  Henry says this also applies to “rash swearing” or rash promises – especially a promise that would cause the promiser to break a law or to otherwise sin. By not doing so, he is discharged from the sin he would have committed, but he still needs to atone for the broken promise that he made.

Verse 5 indicates that the confession needs to happen at the time the person realizes his guilt. That’s when he confesses, meaning he agrees with God that the action taken was a sin or thus wrong.

Guzik also raises the question many of us may not have thought of before. He says, “When we see how strongly the principle of atonement by sacrifice is emphasized in the Old Testament, many people wonder why the Jewish people today no longer make sacrifice. The answer is that they believe their good works will substitute for animal sacrifice.”  Harris backs him up by saying, “Indeed, when the second temple fell, the rabbis, denied an altar in Jerusalem, came to the conclusion that gifts and prayers were as acceptable as animal sacrifice.” While that is a possibility, I would rather hear from a Jew on this issue. So, I turned to http://www.jewfaq.org/qorbanot.htm this site and found out that Guzik is on the right track. The only exception being that Orthodox Jews would like to see this practice return.

Matthew Henry adds more insights to this passage.  First that based on verses 5 and 6, the offering could not occur until the confession was made. Second, that the confession must be specific (see the end of verse 5). That is backed up in the case of Achan described later in Joshua 7:20 who said, “I have sinned against the Lord…and this is what I did.”

It is easy for someone to say, “I am a sinner.” It is much harder to say, “This is how I have sinned.”  And yet that’s what God requires of us all.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.