Today's Worship: Cities of Refuge.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Joshua 16:1-3,

 

"Then the Lord said to Joshua: 'Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood.'"

 

The fairness of the Lord's sense of justice is unmistakable in his accommodation of the circumstance of a person's accidental death. In the law, the Lord told Moses that cities of refuge were to be established when the Israelites occupied the promised land. Now that Israel has taken the land, the cities are to be set up. Three on the east side of the Jordan and three on the west.

 

If someone killed a person accidentally and unintentionally, they were to flee to one of these cities of refuge where they could state their case and escape the "avenger of blood". An avenger of blood was one who was designated to avenge the death of an Israelite. If found innocent of intentional murder, the accused was to stay in the city of refuge until the death of the current high priest, and then he was able to return to his home.

 

This accommodation speaks of two qualities of the Lord to me. The first is the fairness with which the Lord assigned justice. A distinction is made between the killing of someone accidentally on the one hand and malice with forethought on the other. The second quality of the Lord that this accommodation speaks of to me is the importance of the life of a person.

 

In the law, the Lord made clear there needed to be an accounting for any death of an innocent that took place. The sixth commandment is "You shall not murder." Exodus 20:13. Numbers 35:6-34 goes into detail regarding the punishment of murderers, the testimony required to convict the guilty and the purpose of the cities of refuge. The importance of accounting for a person's death is given at the end of that chapter, "Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites." Numbers 35:33-34.

 

The importance of this sentiment of the Lord is found in a truth given to Noah and his sons by the Lord, "For your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." Genesis 9:5-6.

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com