The Cities

Studies in Numbers

III The Finale

C The Configuration

4.The Cities, Text: 35:1-34

Title: Crime and Punishment

INTRODUCTION

Having given directions for the dividing and purifying of the Promised Land God now reveals through Moses directions for the sanctification of the land . As you will recall the descendants of Levi were not given a territory of their own like the other tribes. Instead they are spread through the tribes in cities of their own that they may exercise their religious influence far from the tabernacle and temple in Jerusalem. Other cities are dedicated for the protection of criminals, and finally all this is done to improve justice and mercy in the land. So these are our points: clerical cities, criminal cities, and correctional cities.

I CLERICAL CITIES

With the establishment of clerical cities Levitical sanctity is spread over the land, and takes the place of the dark or frivolous image-worship, at least in theory. We read in verses 1-8, On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, the Lord said to Moses, “Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. And give them pasturelands around the towns.Then they will have towns to live in and pasturelands for the cattle they own and all their other animals.“The pasturelands around the towns that you give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits4 That is, about 1,500 feet or about 450 meters from the town wall. 5Outside the town, measure two thousand cubits, That is, about 3,000 feet or about 900 meters on the east side, two thousand on the south side, two thousand on the west and two thousand on the north, with the town in the center. They will have this area as pastureland for the towns.“Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee. In addition, give them forty-two other towns. In all you must give the Levites forty-eight towns, together with their pasturelands. The towns you give the Levites from the land the Israelites possess are to be given in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: Take many towns from a tribe that has many, but few from one that has few.” Unfortunately we discover from the Bible that occasionally the Levites were unfaithful and encouraged the worship of idols. We know that even Aaron the High Priest, Moses’ brother, made a golden calf to represent Jahweh. We also know that Aaron’s two oldest sons Nadab and Abihu were killed by the Lord because of their idolatrous behavior. However the most illuminating story is in Judges about a terrible period of apostasy in Israel’s history. In Chapter 17 we read in verses 4-13, So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house. Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest. In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah, left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim. Micah asked him, “Where are you from?” “I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.” Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and priest, and I’ll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your clothes and your food.” So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.” Incredible superstition which always accompanies idolatry. In Acts 17 Paul enters the city of Athens and sees all the idols and so when he rises to preach in the Areopagus he says he has observed that the men of Athens I see that you are very superstitious. This is a little play on words by the Holy Spirit which is why in our translation, the NIV, and others we find the word “religious.” The translators of the authorized King James version used the word ‘superstitious.” Actually the Greek word literally means “fearing demons.” Now in the Athenians’ thinking this was definitely not an insult, but a compliment. To them the word demon meant a lower deity. To us, of course, it means something entirely different which is why the translators of the King James Bible said superstitious in this context. The point is that, in general, the division between clergy and laity was greatly modified by the presence of the Levites. God’s ministers were provided for and the people were instructed.

II CRIMINAL CITIES

And so we go on to learn about other cities called cities of refuge. The six of them were the Levitical cities fairly distributed. We read about these in verses 9-34, Then the Lord said to Moses,“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee. They will be places of refuge from the avenger, so that anyone accused of murder may not die before they stand trial before the assembly. These six towns you give will be your cities of refuge. Give three on this side of the Jordan and three in Canaan as cities of refuge. These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites and for foreigners residing among them, so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there.“ ‘If anyone strikes someone a fatal blow with an iron object, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death. Or if anyone is holding a stone and strikes someone a fatal blow with it, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death. Or if anyone is holding a wooden object and strikes someone a fatal blow with it, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death; when the avenger comes upon the murderer, the avenger shall put the murderer to death. If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at them intentionally so that they die or if out of enmity one person hits another with their fist so that the other dies, that person is to be put to death; that person is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when they meet.“ ‘But if without enmity someone suddenly pushes another or throws something at them unintentionally or, without seeing them, drops on them a stone heavy enough to kill them, and they die, then since that other person was not an enemy and no harm was intended, the assembly must judge between the accused and the avenger of blood according to these regulations. The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send the accused back to the city of refuge to which they fled. The accused must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.“ ‘But if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which they fled and the avenger of blood finds them outside the city, the avenger of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder. The accused must stay in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest may they return to their own property.“ ‘This is to have the force of law for you throughout the generations to come, wherever you live.“ ‘Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.“ ‘Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. They are to be put to death.“ ‘Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow them to go back and live on their own land before the death of the high priest.“ ‘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.’” I call these criminal cities because they deal with non-capital offenses as we understand them in our culture. These laws state repeatedly that killing with malice is equivalent to our first degrees murder and the punishment in the Old Testament is always death, and never refuge. This is consistently maintained. The cities of refuge are for people who follow the cultural norm of revenge at that time. We may wonder why God allows this to continue. One author states,“We may wonder that the Hebrew law, enlightened on many points, did not wholly abolish the practice of blood revenge. Justice is not the private affair of any man, even the nearest kinsman of one who has been injured.” Moses allowed divorce for several reasons, but Jesus would only allow it for unfaithfulness, and He said Moses allowed it because of the hardness of your hearts. The same principle applies here. The people of Israel were emerging from a violent pagan culture. They could not learn everything at once. The treatment of revenge homicides was also because of the hardness of their hearts. I also think it is important to note that often whole tribes of Arabs and Muslims are involved in the blood feud beginning in a single stroke, and wherever the custom prevails there is the gravest danger of wide and sanguinary strife. You plainly see that in the Islamic terrorist attacks in our own time. The enactments of our passage are intended to counteract these abuses in the time of Moses.

III CORRECTIONAL CITIES

In the light of everything in his passage we can draw certain conclusions about these commands. First these laws were not only bulwarks of justice and its enforcement, but also of grace and its dispensation, and thus glorified the holy land. Secondly, the protection found in them was not by any means absolute. Only if there appeared to be good cause for admitting a fugitive was he afforded refuge even for a time, and his trial followed as soon as possible. The laws of protection and judgment are here laid down not fully, but with some detail. No sanctuary must protect a man who had with homicidal purpose struck another. There was to be neither priestly protection, nor sanctuary, nor ransom for him. The Divine principle of justice took up the cause. Today in our society The presence of malicious intent refers to the actions taken by the murderer before the violence took place. A murder is a predetermined act of violence. A murder occurs after a thought out plan and the acquisition of specific accessories or weaponry. In contrast, manslaughter does not contain such premeditation. Manslaughter is being held responsible for killing another human being without intent or malice. Of course the person who committed the “manslaughter” was confined to the city of refuge until the high priest died. They avoided the capitol punishment but were, nevertheless, subjected to confinement. This is why in our culture the penalty for murder is life in prison or death, even though the Bible says it ought to be death, and the punishment for manslaughter can be prison for a shorter time which varies by state laws. Thirdly we learn in Joshua 20:4 the statute says that the man-slayer who fled to a sanctuary city was to state his cause before the elders, no doubt at the gate. Their preliminary decision had to be given in his favor before he could be admitted. But the real trial was by the “congregation,” Numbers 35:24, some assembly representing the tribe within whose territory the crime has been committed, or more likely a gathering of headmen of the whole nation. Further, at verse 30 it is enacted that the charge of the avenger of blood against any one must be substantiated by two witnesses at least. These provisions form the basis of a sound judicial method. And the judiciary was not ecclesiastical. When power was exercised in the name of God, the priests did not wield it, but the people. Today we have a lawless modern sanctuary city procedure throughout our country that bears no resemblance to the justice in Israel. In many cases criminal behavior is ignored and flourishes. It should immediately be abandoned before more innocent people are hurt.