King James Version
The Book of Numbers
Chapter 35
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Commentary
Numbers 35
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,
2 Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and ye shall give also unto the Levites suburbs for the cities round about them.
3 And
the cities shall they have to dwell in; and the suburbs of them shall
be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts.
4 And the suburbs of the cities, which ye shall give unto the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about.
5 And
ye shall measure from without 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; and the
city shall be in the midst: this shall be to them the suburbs of the cities.
6 And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites there shall be six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither: and to them ye shall add forty and two cities.
7 So all the cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty and eight cities: them shall ye give with their suburbs.
8 And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that have many ye shall give many; but from them that have few ye shall give few: every one shall give of his cities unto the Levites according to his inheritance which he inheriteth.
The Ordinance of Levites by James Suter, 1867
Before be go any further, I think it is significant to point out that God commanded that the People set aside 6 cities for the refuge of the manslayer. This is really out of the natural flow of things so far, that God would not only allow refuge for a manslayer, but that He will, from the very beginning make such provisions available for the People. Were there a lot of killings going on? God didn’t make cities of refuge for the murmuring people or the idolatrous. He made cities of refuge for the manslayer. This is something that we have had no foreknowledge of, in that there was no mention of this being an issue, nor any hint that this could become an issue.
The laws of murder
9 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan;
11 Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.
12 And
they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the
manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment.
13 And of these cities which ye shall give six cities shall ye have for refuge.
14 Ye shall give three cities on this side Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge.
15 These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither.
16 And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
17 And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
18 Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
19 The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him.
20 But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait, that he die;
21 Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him.
22 But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait,
23 Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm:
24 Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments:
25 And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger
of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his
refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of
the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil.
26 But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled;
27 And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood:
28 Because
he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of
the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall
return into the land of his possession.
29 So these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
30 Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.
31 Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.
33 So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
34 Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel.
Num 35:1-34 (KJV)
Verse 33 has the feeling of natural, or rather SUPERnatural law, and must be true of all ages, at the birth of the planet. This is not something that a revised “man-made” law can modify or make void. This is a law as such, not unlike the law of gravity. It’s not a moral code, nor is it something that can be refuted. This law did not begin when God commanded that the cities of refuge be made available. This law began when our world began. The land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
However we resort to carrying out this law, let it be known that our role in carrying out this law is completely obsolete. This law will be carried out, and even enforced without any participation on anyone’s part. This law is just as any natural or supernatural law… it comes to completion only after it has gone it’s full course.
It is significant that God made this specific chapter available to us in our time, for the furthering of our knowledge. Our knowledge is a blessing that we can more clearly understand the way in which we are expected to live, but our knowledge has a rarely spoken of disadvantage as well. The more that we know, the more we will be judged by what we know. It seemed important that God teach us about the automatic order of this law. We know now that he who is accused shall be treated with full innocence until such time that his actions be proven by the mouth of a witness. If this cannot be accomplished, the accused must remain in the city of refuge until the current high priest dies. This will cleanse the land of the defilement. This will serve as an atonement for the land, acknowledging the accused persons freedom in the land, to go outside of the city of refuge.
Do we often shed innocent blood in a symbolic way, or maybe we had sown very bad seed and the result was akin to death? Did you feel trapped, or at least a little bit hindered as to all of the choices you might be able to make? We back ourselves in corners often, and it’s always because of some less-than-life giving action we have done. The action is second in power, only to the spoken word. The power of life and death is in our speech. It is the single-most important attribute for us to dominate. We would do most good if we could completely keep our words and the attitudes of our speech completely under control. Second to that, we reap what we sow. This will be true no matter how skilled the manipulator.
I think that the cities of refuge in our time today can be compared to a person who had done something terrible, deliberately or accidentally, and had withdrawn into a state of depression. This is certainly a spiritual symbolism, even if it’s only the shadow of that which is spoken of here. It’s not just depression, either. People begin to portray about themselves the idea of who they want to be, and almost always never are or intended to be. It is to such a degree with many people that they only have vague memories of who they really are. They most often begin to accept this façade as their true identity. In this way, they can behave in accord with the person that they pretend to be. Often times this is do to an effort to gain the acceptance of others. Other times it could be from a lack of acceptance in self, or fear of others opinion of self. These two are the same.
When a person will truly accept himself, he will have no shame to weigh him down. He will not have self-doubt. He will not accept less than that which he esteems himself as worth. This is the 3rd most important attribute of the human being. We speak, we act upon, and we are worth something. These three are what God wants to make and sustain in us Holiness. These three will produce life, and that more abundantly. These are the counter-ideal to this unique law. This is the attributes of Christ.
Thursday, December 31, 2009 1:28pm
