There are certain areas that are to be set aside for
particular reasons in the land. First,
the Levites are to have their own towns.
They have been taken from the people as a tithe to the Lord so each
tribe is to tithe a portion of their land to these men so that they will have
some economic independence and will be among each of the tribes, not all
clustered in Jerusalem. The second set
aside of land is the establishment of cities of refuge where someone who is a
manslayer, not a murderer, may seek refuge.
Refuge from whom? The kin of a
slain person had a legal right to avenge the death of their relative who was
killed. These cities were places an
accidental manslayer could be safe from the avenger. Lastly, we get the death penalty for those
who murder. The law reinforces how
precious life is and if anyone willingly and willfully takes a life the penalty
is clearly death. This makes me
uncomfortable because it is a big issue to enforce this penalty. The law requires several witnesses before it
can be done and we have very little evidence historically that such penalties
were carried out very often. I also tend
to think back to Cain and the Lord's mercy on him for murdering his brother and
I have to try and reconcile these two things with one another. All in all, I think it best that we be
extremely careful in these matters rather than allowing blood lust to overtake
us.
The woes pronounced on the scribes and Pharisees are based
on their observance of the law. They are
straining at gnats and swallowing camels.
Their attention is to the wrong things, the easy things in some ways
because they are all performance-based, easily measured things. They have their priorities all wrong and
their values are not God's values. God's
values are things like justice and mercy and the leaders are instead focused on
their tithing of their spices. The
question is whether God is interested in these things primarily or
secondarily. Formation of character and
becoming like Him in large ways needs to be first rather than second. I know and have known people all my life who
don't drink alcohol, their language never includes curse words or the word
hate, but who are filled with envy and hatred, who are judgmental and
unloving. We must not emulate their
examples.
Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. We know that because He rose again from the
dead, even death, the final enemy, cannot separate us from God. Knowing we have nothing to fear and that He
is our refuge and strength, can we not then live with courage and faith? He has conquered all enemies though we do not
yet see them under His feet, In this
life we will have enemies, we may suffer persecution for His Name's sake as He
promised, but the victory is won. What
He has done is of incalculable, because it is eternal, benefit. We have a land of promise that will have no
need of cities of refuge or the death penalty.
We can know God's priorities and values by looking at the man dying on
the cross. We are called to take up our
own crosses and follow Him and that requires faith.
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