City of Refuge

March 10, 2008

Numbers 35:11-12 BBE
(11) Then let certain towns be marked out as safe places to which anyone who takes the life of another in error may go in flight.
(12) In these towns you may be safe from him who has the right of punishment; so that death may not overtake the taker of life till he has been judged by the meeting of the people.


It is clear from today's readings that God wants someone who murders someone else dead. The scriptures clearly have a call for capital punishment in that respect. But there are cases where the line was not so clear cut. Yes someone died, but it was an accident. Since the surviving family members had a right to go after someone who had harmed their family members, God set up cities of refuge. When the person accidentally killed another, he could run to the city of refuge closest to him and there he could not be harmed by the deceased person's family.

Clearly God is a God of a second chance here. He wants to let people who are really innocent free. They had to pay a little for their crime. They were required to stay in the city till the High Priest died so they could not move about and conduct business the way they normally would. But a second chance is clearly shown here.

Do we give second chances to people? Do we hold grudges against people for something they said or did 10 years ago? If God has forgotten it why shouldn't we? Do we have a right to hang on to our unforgiving mentality for ever? God forgave us, and He is a God of a second chance. We should be also.


Read through the Bible in one year in Historical order
Today
Numbers 35:1-36:13
Tomorrow
Deuteronomy 1:1-2:37
http://tinyurl.com/24beby for a daily reading tool