voice
Jul 28 2008, 03:59 PM
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
Luke 18:7Deuteronomy 19 - Concerning Criminal Law A. Cities of refuge to be provided.
1. (1-3) Three special cities.
When the Lord your God has cut off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, you shall separate three cities for yourself in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess. You shall prepare roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, that any manslayer may flee there.
a.
You shall separate three cities for yourself in the midst of the land: God instructed Israel to make three cities of refuge in the Promised Land, and instructed them to make them “centrally located” (
in the midst of the land).
i. There are two other important passages dealing with the cities of refuge: Numbers 35:9-28 and Joshua 20:7-8; a full understanding of the purpose and practice of the cities of refuge must be based on all of these passages.
ii. Moses had already established Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan as the cities of refuge on the east side of the Jordan River (Deuteronomy 4:41-43); this command is to establish three more cities of refuge on the west side of the Jordan.
b.
Prepare roads for yourself: The people of Israel were to make good roads to each city of refuge, so the cities would be accessible.
i. “The Jews inform us that the roads to the cities of refuge were made very broad, thirty-two cubits; and even, so that there should be no impediments in the way; and were constantly kept in good repair.” (Clarke)
2. (4-7) The purpose for the cities of refuge.
And this
is the case of the manslayer who flees there, that he may live: Whoever kills his neighbor unintentionally, not having hated him in time past; as when
a man goes to the woods with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies; he shall flee to one of these cities and live; lest the avenger of blood, while his anger is hot, pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and kill him, though he
was not deserving of death, since he had not hated the victim in time past. Therefore I command you, saying, “You shall separate three cities for yourself.”
a.
The case of the manslayer who flees there, that he may live: The cities of refuge were for the protection of the person who killed another accidentally or in self-defense. In ancient Israel, when one was killed, it was the responsibility of the
avenger of blood to make certain the murder was punished.
i. This practice was based upon a correct understanding of Genesis 9:6:
Whoever shed’s man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God, God made man.
b.
Lest the avenger of blood: The
avenger of blood was an appointed member of the family (the
goel), designated to protect the honor and lives of the family. His interest would not be in gathering evidence, but it avenging the honor of the family - so, in the case of an accidental killing, the
manslayer would need protection from the
avenger of blood.
i. The case study given illustrates the point: Two men are working together, chopping down trees, when one man takes a swing of an ax and the ax head flies off, striking the other man in the head and instantly killing him. The surviving man had good reason to believe the avenger of blood from the dead man’s family would track him down and kill him, believing the death was murder.
ii. Therefore, such a man could flee to a city of refuge - an appointed Levitical city, where he could stay, safe from the avenger of blood, until the issue was settled and he could leave the city of refuge safely.
3. (8-10) Appointment of additional cities of refuge.
Now if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you the land which He promised to give to your fathers, and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three, lest innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you
as an inheritance, and
thus guilt of bloodshed be upon you.
a.
Now if the Lord your God enlarges your territory: As Israel expanded, there were to be more cities of refuge. If a city of refuge was too far to be readily reached by the manslayer, it did him no good - the avenger of blood would overtake him before he could reach the city of refuge.
b.
Then you shall add three more cities for yourself: Ultimately, there were to be six cities of refuge; with three on each side of the Jordan River. Each of the three cities on either side would be positioned as north, central, and south.
i. Joshua 20:7-8 tells of the actual cities chosen; they fulfilled the plan of being evenly distributed perfectly.
4. (11-13) What to do with the guilty who seeks protection in the city of refuge:
your eye shall not pity him.
But if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away
the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.
a.
But if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally: We can easily imagine that those truly guilty of murder would, at some time or another, seek protection in the city of refuge. So, whenever a manslayer came to seek protection at a city of refuge,
the elders of the city were to judge his case and determine if he was truly worthy of protection.
b.
Deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood: If it was determined at this trial that the man was really guilty of murder, then he would be delivered
to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. There was no protection of the guilty within the walls of a city of refuge.
c.
Put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you: God was just as concerned that the
guilty be punished as He was that the
innocent be protected (
lest innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land, Deuteronomy 19:10).
5. The cities of refuge as a picture of Jesus.
a. The Bible applies this picture of the city of refuge to the believer finding refuge in God on more than one occasion:
i. Psalm 46:1:
God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. More than 15 other times, the Psalms speak of God as being our refuge.
ii. Hebrews 6:18: T
hat by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. b. Both Jesus and the cities of refuge are
within easy reach of the needy person; they were of no use unless someone could get to the place of refuge.
c. Both Jesus and the cities of refuge are
open to all, not just the Israelite; no one needs to fear that they would be turned away from their place of refuge in their time of need (Numbers 35:15).
d. Both Jesus and the cities of refuge became a place where the one in need would
live; you didn’t come to a city of refuge in time of need just to look around (Numbers 35:25).
e. Both Jesus and the cities of refuge are the
only alternative for the one in need; without this specific protection, they will be destroyed.
f. Both Jesus and the cities of refuge provide protection
only within their boundaries; to go outside meant death (Numbers 35:26-28).
g. With both Jesus and the cities of refuge, full freedom comes with the
death of the High Priest (Numbers 35:25).
h.
A crucial distinction: The cities of refuge only helped the
innocent; the
guilty can come to Jesus and find refuge!
B. Other legal principles.
1. (14) The principle of the landmark.
You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.
a.
You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark: God here established and supported the basic right to private property. When your neighbor has a lawful landmark, you must respect it - and are forbidden to change it as you might please.
i. This command supports an important foundation for human society: The right to personal property. God has clearly entrusted certain possessions to certain individuals, and other people or states are not permitted to take that property without due process of law.
b.
Which the men of old have set: This law also reflects an important spiritual principle: It isn’t wise to ignore what the
men of old have set when doing the work of the Lord. Many a young man, or a new man, has greatly hindered his own work by being a revolutionary - and ignoring the “landmarks” which the
men of old have set.
2. (15-20) The principle of true and false witness.
One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed,
if the witness
is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you. And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you.
a.
One witness shall not rise: One witness was never enough to establish a fact in a Biblical court of law. One needed
two or three witness to establish a matter.
i. This isn’t just because it is possible for one witness to lie without having his story corroborated. It is because one witness can be confused, or mistaken in his testimony. It is a basic measure of reliability that it must be more than a simple case of “my word against theirs.”
ii. Some have carried this principle to modern courts by saying that two independent lines of evidence can be valid “witnesses.” For example, if there were a murder which no one witnessed with their eyes, yet there was a murder weapon with clear fingerprints, and additional blood evidence each pointing to one suspect, this would be counted as two independent “witnesses.”
b.
If a false witness rises against any man to testify:
False witness was discovered by careful examination (
the judges shall make diligent inquiry) and was punished by giving the false witness the same penalty which would have gone to the man he falsely accused (
you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother).
i. At the trial of Jesus, many false witnesses rose up against him, and were demonstrated to be false witnesses by their confused and contradictory testimony (Matthew 26:59-60). The false witnesses, under Jewish law, should have been put to death, because that is the punishment they sought for Jesus.
c.
And those who remain shall hear and fear: Many modern people doubt that the punishment of others is an effective deterrent to crime; but the Bible clearly says that it is. Weak or inconsistent punishment does not deter crime, but effective punishment does.
3. (21)
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
Your eye shall not pity: life
shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
a.
Your eye shall not pity: This was an important principle for the Biblical court of law; here, connected to the punishment described for false witness, it shows that whatever evil was planned or practiced against another, a similar punishment should be brought against the false witness.
b.
Life shall be for life, eye for eye: However, retribution was always limited by the
eye for eye principle. This law was meant to be a check to our desire to revenge, not a license for revenge.
i. Our tendency is to want to do
more to the offending party than what they have done to us. But we cannot punish from a motive of revenge, only from a motive of justice.
ii. “Far from encouraging vengeance it limits vengeance and stands as a guide for a judge as he fixes a penalty suited to the crime. The principle was thus not license or vengeance, but a guarantee of justice.” (Thompson)
c.
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth: In Matthew 5:38-39, Jesus quoted this passage in His teaching on the true interpretation of the law. He does not say that the
eye for eye principle is wrong; rather, He simply condemns the use of it to make it an
obligation to exact revenge against someone who has
personally offended me.
i. Many Rabbis in Jesus’ day taught that the
eye for eye law meant you were obligated to avenge yourself of a personal insult or attack brought against you. Jesus rightly disallowed the application of this law in our personal relationships; it was a law intended to guide the judges in the law courts of Israel, not to guide our personal relationships.
ii. “Jesus’ criticism of this law (Mt. 5:38f.) arose from its use to regulate conduct between individuals. He did not reject it as a principle of justice which should operate in the courts of the land. For private relationships He proposed the ideal of brotherhood, a strong principle throughout the book of Deuteronomy. To extend the
lex talionis to this interpersonal domain was to destroy the law of God.” (Thompson)
http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0519.htm
voice
Jul 28 2008, 04:38 PM
God of Vengeance - God of Furious Wrath
A similar picture of God's vengeance and violent intervention in human affairs when Jesus comes again is found in Isaiah 34,
Draw near, O nations, to hear, and hearken, O peoples! Let the earth listen, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it. For the LORD is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host, he has doomed them, has given them over for slaughter. Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood. All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree. For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the people I have doomed. The LORD has a sword; it is sated with blood, it is gorged with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom. Wild oxen shall fall with them, and young steers with the mighty bulls. Their land shall be soaked with blood, and their soil made rich with fat. For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and her soil into brimstone; her land shall become burning pitch. Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up for ever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. But the hawk and the porcupine shall possess it, the owl and the raven shall dwell in it. He shall stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plummet of chaos over its nobles. They shall name it No Kingdom There, and all its princes shall be nothing. Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches. And wild beasts shall meet with hyenas, the satyr shall cry to his fellow; yea, there shall the night hag alight, and find for herself a resting place. There shall the owl nest and lay and hatch and gather her young in her shadow; yea, there shall the kites be gathered, each one with her mate. Seek and read from the book of the LORD: Not one of these shall be missing; none shall be without her mate. For the mouth of the LORD has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them. He has cast the lot for them, his hand has portioned it out to them with the line; they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.
A parallel passage in the New Testament shows clearly that Jesus will come again both to save (his people) and to judge and destroy his enemies,
We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, as is fitting, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be made worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering---since indeed God deems it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant rest with us to you who are afflicted, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance upon those who do not know God and upon those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They shall suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at in all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his call, and may fulfill every good resolve and work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:3-12).
The unloosed fury and wrath of a holy God shows clearly in the writings of the prophet Zephaniah,
The word of the LORD which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth," says the LORD. "I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. I will overthrow the wicked; I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth," says the LORD. "I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests; those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens; those who bow down and swear to the LORD and yet swear by Milcom; those who have turned back from following the LORD, who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him."
Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is at hand; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests. And on the day of the LORD'S sacrifice --"I will punish the officials and the king's sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire. On that day I will punish every one who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master's house with violence and fraud." "On that day," says the LORD, "a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate, a wail from the Second Quarter, a loud crash from the hills.
Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar! For all the traders are no more; all who weigh out silver are cut off. At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are thickening upon their lees, those who say in their hearts, `The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.' Their goods shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them."
The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter, the mighty man cries aloud there. A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. I will bring distress on men, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the LORD. In the fire of his jealous wrath, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full, yea, sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth. (Zephaniah 1)
Introducing the subject of soon-coming judgment on ancient Ninevah the Prophet Nahum wrote of terrible destruction on all sides, but safety and refuge for all of God's own people---in Ninevah, in Israel or elsewhere.
The LORD is a jealous God and avenging, the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger and of great might, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither, the bloom of Lebanon fades. The mountains quake before him, the hills melt; the earth is laid waste before him, the world and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken asunder by him.
The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.
But with an overflowing flood he will make a full end of his adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness. What do you plot against the LORD? He will make a full end; he will not take vengeance twice on his foes. Like entangled thorns they are consumed, like dry stubble. Did one not come out from you, who plotted evil against the LORD, and counseled villainy? Thus says the LORD, "Though they be strong and many, they will be cut off and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. And now I will break his yoke from off you and will burst your bonds asunder." The LORD has given commandment about you: "No more shall your name be perpetuated; from the house of your gods I will cut off the graven image and the molten image. I will make your grave, for you are vile."
Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace! Keep your feasts, O Judah, fulfill your vows, for never again shall the wicked come against you, he is utterly cut off. (Nahum 1:2-15)
The Cities of Refuge
Cain, who murdered his brother Abel, deserved immediate punishment for his crime, if not immediate death. He feared not only God's justice, but more than God he feared vengeance from another member of his family. To our surprise we learn in Genesis 4 that God protected Cain for the rest of his life from such familial retribution! In spite of this amazing protection, and in spite of God's offer of help and salvation, Cain apparently never took advantage of this temporary reprieve---nor did any of his descendants as far as we know. The godly respondents to the grace of God before the Flood seem to have all been in the line of Seth which led eventually to Noah. That God is reluctant and slow to judge is a one of the main themes of the Lamentations of Jeremiah.
A beautiful picture of God's longsuffering with mankind in ancient Israel is found in the provision by the Lord of six special Cities of Refuge where those who had killed someone, or were accused of killing another person, might flee for temporary safety. The fugitive could remain there until the death of the current high priest. Only those guilty of what we would call "murder in the second degree" were granted safe haven. Deliberate murder had to be punished by the death of the murderer. In this case the murderer was to be put to death by the "avenger of blood"---the nearest male relative of the deceased. (For details see Reference Notes)
In his fine study of the Cities of Refuge and related topics, Chuck Missler calls attention to the fact that the death of Jesus was in fact second degree murder. He bases this conclusion on one of the last words of Jesus on the cross, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)
Thus Jesus is the Christian's City of Refuge---and Jesus is our Great High Priest, whose death releases us from the blood-guilt of sin.
CONTINUED BELOW-
The Go-el, or Kinsman Redeemer
The Book of Ruth (see Ruth: The Romance of Redemption) is a beautiful love story found in the Old Testament in which a foreign, (gentile) woman of Moab finds a home, an inheritance, a husband---and a place in the ancestral lineage leading to Jesus the Messiah. It also tells us in practical language the role of the Kinsman Redeemer in ancient Israel. The role of this relative was to redeem lost land and property and to protect the person and inheritance of the party in need of help. (For details see also the Reference Notes)
The Hebrew go-el gives us another magnificent type of Christ as our Redeemer, for He saves us totally, whether we are Jew or Gentile.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us. For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him, according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will, we who first hoped in Christ have been destined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:8-14)
Peter the Apostle reminds us,
You know that you were ransomed (redeemed) from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake. Through him you have confidence in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (I Peter 1:18-21)
O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan's tyranny.
From depths of hell Thy people save. And give them victory o'er the grave.
O come Thou Day-spring, come and cheer Our spirits by Thine advent here;
And drive away the shades of night, And pierce the clouds and bring us light!
O come Thou Key of David come, And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high. And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel! Shall come to thee, O Israel!
(Ancient Plain Song, Hymn from 12th Century)
Safety, Refuge, and Salvation Prior to the Flood
The ark of Noah, (The Hebrew word for ark is related to the Egyptian word db't, = "coffin"), was under construction, on dry land presumably far from water, for probably 120 years. Although Noah (who Peter calls "a preacher of righteousness") sought to persuade the people of the his generation to come into the ark and so be saved, none responded,
"...when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water." (1 Peter 3:20)
The ark is a beautiful picture of salvation by grace through faith. There was no other way to be saved from destruction in that day except by coming into the God's ark of refuge. The world was warned for 120 years of impending judgment. The ark had one door in the side. Later in history Jesus said,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." (John 10:7-11).
Noah's name means "comfort" or "rest," and looks ahead to the words of Jesus,
"Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest."
The ark was likewise a coffin. Those who come into Christ by faith are identified with Him in his death, burial and resurrection. God called from within the ark inviting Noah and his family to enter in and find refuge.
Does God offer help to mankind in every generation? Definitely yes! On what basis? Always on the basis of the individual's faith (personal trust and reliance) in the living God. Does He take pleasure in destroying the creatures He has created. Definitely not,
The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
Ray C. Stedman writes concerning God's intervening judgment in human affairs,
"All through the Bible we see God's love is manifest to men and women everywhere in urging them to escape this judgment. God in love pleads with people, 'Do not go on to this end!' But ultimately he must judge those who refuse his offer of grace. He says, in effect, 'I love you and I can provide all you need. Therefore love me, and you will find the fulfillment your heart is looking for.' But many men and women say, 'No, I do not want that. I will take your gifts, I will take all the good things you provide, but I do not want you! Let me run my own life. Let me serve my own ends. Let me have my own kingdom.' To such, God ultimately says, 'All right, have it your way!'
"God has three choices: first, he can let rebellion go on forever and never judge it. In that case the terrible things that are happening on earth, all these distressing injustices, the cruelty, the anger, the hate, the malice, the sorrow, the hurt, the pain, the death that now prevails, must go on forever. God does not want that, and neither does man. Second, God can force men to obey him and control them as robots. But he will never do that because that means they cannot truly love him. Love cannot be forced. Therefore, third, the only choice God really has is that he must withdraw ultimately from those who refuse his love. He must let them have their own way forever. That results in the terrible torment of godlessness. If God is necessary to us, then to take him out of our lives is to plunge us into the most terrible sense of loneliness and abandonment that mankind can know. We have all experienced it to some small degree when we get what we want and then discover we do not want what we got! For that sense of bored emptiness to go on forever, is unspeakable torment." (Ray C. Stedman, The Time of Harvest, Discovery Paper No. 4206, March 18, 1990)
Jesus, the Avenger of Blood
If Jesus is typified by the Ark of Noah as a harbor in the year-long deluge which destroyed an entire civilization before the Flood, if Jesus is a City of Refuge for the manslayers and other sinners, if there is ultimate safety for all His children---who are "in Christ"---then what about those who are not "in Christ"---those who refuse His grace and mercy and insist on living out their natural lives on their own terms and according to their own authority? The New Testament calls such persons "lost." The Old Testament considers them the outsiders to the family and plan of God.
Being "lost" means ultimate separation from God. (See On Everlasting Destruction) But in addition it means there must be fair, and balanced, and even-handed final justice, and degrees of punishment for all those who have chosen external existence apart from God. (See The Judgment Seat of Christ)
The Avenger of Blood in ancient Israel, the nearest male relative, was responsible for protecting the property, liberty, and posterity of his next of kin, in addition to protecting their lives through the "avenging of blood." This Old Testament Type of the Avenger of Blood is also fulfilled, as might be expected, by Jesus Christ the Lord.
...God deems it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant rest with us to you who are afflicted, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance upon those who do not know God and upon those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They shall suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at in all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. (2 Thessalonians 2:6-10)
As might be expected for a "next of kin," the coming Judge, the Jew named Jesus, will be especially zealous for the maltreatment of His own people, the Jews, down through history,
I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgment with them there, on account of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations, and have divided up my land, and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a harlot, and have sold a girl for wine, and have drunk it.
"What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will requite your deed upon your own head swiftly and speedily. For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples. You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, removing them far from their own border. But now I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will requite your deed upon your own head. I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far off; for the LORD has spoken."
Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare war, stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, "I am a warrior." Hasten and come, all you nations round about, gather yourselves there.
Bring down thy warriors, O LORD.
Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the nations round about. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the wine press is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. And the LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shake.
But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel. (Joel 3:3-16)
If Jesus is the Avenger of Blood on behalf of millions of Jews who have suffered at the hands of Gentile oppressors and anti-semites, He is also the Judge of all the world.
The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. "Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. (John 5:22-29)
A final question remains in considering Jesus as the Avenger of Blood for all mankind.
Who avenges the innocent blood shed by the Savior of the World Himself?
Who is Jesus' next-of-kin responsible for Jesus' own vindication and for just retribution against the guilty on His behalf?
Surely it must be the heavenly Father of Jesus, the God of heaven and earth who gave His only-begotten, dearly-beloved son to make it possible for any one, or all, of us to be saved?
In the book of the Revelation both Jesus and God the Father are characterized as turning loose their great wrath against an unbelieving world,
When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale; the sky vanished like a scroll that is rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the generals and the rich and the strong, and every one, slave and free, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand before it?" (Revelation 6:12-17)
We have already seen in the typology of the Cities of Refuge and the Kinsman-Redeemer that all sinners, Jew or Gentile, who seek the forgiveness of God, based on the substitutionary death of Jesus, our Great High Priest---all these persons are released forever from all guilt for all their sins. So the final issue is, who among the unforgiven sinners of the world must face the final Avenger of Blood who will personally deal with the enormous problem of the bloodguilt of the shed blood of the innocent Lamb of God?
Responsibility for the death of Christ is clearly distributed throughout the world. All of us are guilty---all of us are responsible.
But when Jesus stood in trial before Pilate...
...the chief priests and the elders persuaded the people to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all said, "Let him be crucified." And he said, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified." So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves." And all the people answered, "His blood be on us and on our children!" (Matthew 27:20-25)
Accountability for sin in the eyes of God is measured in proportion to light received and the amount of revelation given. Deliberate sin is more serious than inadvertent transgression.
Furthermore Israel was instructed by Moses about the defilement of the land which shed blood would bring, especially innocent blood.
You shall not thus pollute the land in which you live; for blood pollutes the land, and no expiation can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him who shed it. You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the LORD dwell in the midst of the people of Israel." (Numbers 35:33-34)
God's judgment on the whole world is inevitable and soon to fall on everyone.
The Bible describes the final conflagration as including the most terrible of all world wars as being centered in the land of Israel. For the Jews it will be "The Time of Jacob's Trouble" spoken of by their prophets. Believing Jews will find salvation, safety and refuge (see The Coming Exile of Israel in Edom). The majority of Jews, the Bible predicts, will be destroyed in a terrible blood bath described in Revelation Chapter 14. (Most of the rest of mankind will not survive World War III either).
I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one
"like a son of man" with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his
hand. Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him
who was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap
has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." So he that was seated on the cloud
swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
Ray C. Stedman gives a vivid exposition and commentary on these terrible time,
We have to ask, who is this one seated on the cloud "like a son of man," wearing a victor's crown and holding a sickle in his hand? There can hardly be any doubt, can there? It is the Lord Jesus. He himself had told his disciples in Matthew 13, in the parable of the wheat and the weeds, when the disciples in the parable asked the Lord, "Shall we pull up these weeds?" He said to them, "No, let both grow together until the harvest, and then I will tell the harvester, 'First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, and then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'"
Then he
interpreted that parable to the disciples, saying, "The harvest is the end of the age (the seven-year period to which we have come in this book), and the harvesters are the angels." This agrees exactly with what we have here. The angels announce that the time of harvest has come, and the words of Jesus then in Matthew 13 will be literally fulfilled. Let me read them to you:
"The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear."
These are very clear words from the lips of Jesus himself. Now there is still another scene of harvest. Verse 17:
Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe." The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great
winepress of God's wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia [which is about180 miles].
Is this the same story of harvest twice-told? No. You will notice the first harvest is a harvest of wheat. It is cut with a sickle, and it is a separation of the true wheat from the false-looking wheat, the "darnel" is literally the word, the tares of the field. It looks like wheat, but it is not. The angels will separate the two. But this is clearly a grape harvest, a vintage harvest, and the vine in Scripture is always a symbol of Israel. ** The prophet Isaiah uses this symbol of Israel being brought as a vine out of Egypt and planted in a beautifully cared-for land by God himself. Psalm 80 refers to the same thing--Israel is described as a vine. At the Last Supper the Lord himself said, "I am the true vine and you are the branches," speaking of his Jewish disciples.
This is the symbol of Israel, and it is referring to the judgment of apostate Israel.
Strangely enough, most of the nation of the Jews today do not believe their own Scriptures. Many of them are atheists. Many of them have denied the Word of God and the Old Testament, or that it applies to them as a special people at all. This therefore is the judgment of apostate Israel. It is called in Jeremiah 30, "the time of Jacob's trouble." Many scriptures describe it. It will be a time of warfare once again against Israel, the time of the invasion of the nation by great armies from the north.
Palestine is overrun. This is when the woman (who is true Israel) that we saw in chapter 12 flees and hides in the desert. But apostate Israel is destroyed, and Jerusalem is sacked and partially destroyed. You can read that in Zechariah 12 through 14.
The prophet Joel describes it in vivid language. Let me give you these words from his third chapter:
Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat [which means "God judges"], for there will I sit to judge all the nations on every side. Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow--so great is their wickedness."
Obviously this is the same scene as we have here.
Notice, by the way, in verse 20, the change from a symbol to the literal meaning. Grapes are thrown into the winepress (that is a symbol), but blood pours out--that is the literal meaning of wine; that is when wine symbolizes. When we take the Lord's Supper, wine symbolizes the blood of Christ for us. Blood covers the land for 180 miles, the length of Israel, in a terrible scene of judgment...
I must leave this now for the moment, but I want to remind you that beyond these scenes of judgment, beyond these terrible descriptions of what is to come upon the earth, beyond the blood, beyond the slaughter, beyond the darkness, beyond the heartache and the sorrow and the misery, when the land is covered with blood from end to end, there is coming a new day, a wonderful day, a time that the prophets have described. Beyond the time of Jacob's trouble is the time when Israel shall blossom like a rose, and like a vine spread its branches throughout the whole of the earth, and
their Messiah will reign amidst his people over the whole world. It is really the utopia that men have dreamed of for centuries. That is what God is working toward, and that is what will eventually come to pass.
I hope you are facing your own personal relationship to these things. God is always asking, "If you know that I am the One who is necessary to your very existence, then worship me. Give yourself to me." This is the choice we all must make. (from The Time of Harvest)
O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory. The LORD has made known his victory, he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God. Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD! Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity. (Psalm 98)
CONTINUED BELOW-
Jesus as He is now
...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the working of his great might which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come; and he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:17-23)
A.W. Tozer, late prophet-pastor at Moody Bible Church in Chicago, wrote these insightful words about 50 years ago,
"The teaching of the New Testament is that now, at this very moment, there is a Man in heaven appearing in the presence of God for us. He is as certainly a man as was Adam or Moses or Paul; he is a man glorified, but his glorification did not de-humanize him. Today he is a real man, of the race of mankind, bearing our lineaments and dimensions, a visible and audible man, whom any other man would recognize instantly as one of us.
"But more than this, he is the heir of all things, Lord of all lords, head of the church, firstborn of the new creation. He is the way to God, the life of the believer, the hope of Israel, and the high priest of every true worshiper. He holds the keys of death and hell, and stands as advocate and surety for everyone who believes on him in truth. Salvation comes not by accepting the finished work, or deciding for Christ; it comes by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, the whole, living, victorious Lord who, as God and man, fought our fight and won it, accepted our debt as his own and paid it, took our sins and died under them, and rose again to set us free. This is the true Christ; nothing less will do."
The clearest description of Jesus---raised from the dead---ascended on high and now in heaven as Lord of the Universe and Great High Priest over all---is found in Revelation Chapter One. (For comments on the deep, rich symbolism in this passage see Stedman's Behind the Scenes of History:
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty... Then I [John the Apostle] turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden girdle round his breast; his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters; in his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth issued a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand upon me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. (1:8-18)
When the Lord Jesus returns to earth---and all evidence suggests this long-awaited event will be soon---it will be in a very much more dramatic way than when he came the first time as a baby born to a young Jewish virgin in Bethlehem a few miles South of Jerusalem. Jesus described his second coming in the Olivet Discourse, a final discussion with his disciples of what the future held, just before his crucifixion,
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." (Matthew 24:29-30)
Zechariah also described this same event some 500 years earlier.
For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women ravished; half of the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley; so that one half of the Mount shall withdraw northward, and the other half southward. And the valley of my mountains shall be stopped up, for the valley of the mountains shall touch the side of it; and you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD your God will come, and all the holy ones with him. (Zechariah 14:2-5).
Finally, the aged Apostle John in exile on the Island of Patmos off the coast of what is now Turkey was privileged to have been given a great vision of the return of Christ near the end of the First Century.
Then I [John] saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself. He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses. From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords. (Revelation 19:11-16)
Jesus as the Believer's Refuge
More clearly than ever the New Testament reveals there is still today a place of refuge, one unique way, and but one and only one plan of salvation,
* Enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and experience as a result, regeneration, spiritual rebirth, (John 3).
* By faith, as a result of trusting in Jesus, the believer then experiences the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, and of Christ, and of God the Father.
* By means of spiritual baptism the individual is then taken out of the world-system (and his or her identification with the fallen-world) and is placed into the Body of Christ. The true church, the Body of Christ is a living organism. (Romans 6)
* Jesus has been raised from the dead and has ascended into heaven. Joined to Christ, the believer has positionally been taken to heaven also, (Ephesians 2).
"Neither is there salvation in anyone else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)
Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. " (John 14:6)
"Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word, he will never see death...." Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." (John 8:51, 58)
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible, hid from our eyes.
How blessed, how glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, Victorious, Thy great name we praise.
Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
All praise we would render, O help us to see
Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee!
Footnotes
* For contemporary Jewish (Israeli) perceptions of what their soon-coming Messiah will be like see Modern Jewish Beliefs Concerning the Coming Messiah by Rabbi Chaim Richman. Most Orthodox Jews believe, of course, that Jesus is not their true Messiah and that he [Messiah] has yet to come for the first time.
** The rousing American Civil War Hymn, Battle Hymn of the Republic, by Julia Ward Howe (c. 1861) has inspiring lyrics, but somewhat confused theology:
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord,
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword.
His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps,
His day is marching on.
I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal.
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on."
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat,
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;
O be swift, my soul, to answer Him, be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory is His bosom that transfigures you and me;
As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free!
While God is marching on.
He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave,
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of wrong His slave --
Our God is marching on!
Chorus:
Glory! glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on!
Background Reference Notes:
AVENGER. The RSV translation of the Hebrew participial forms of ga-al and naqam, and the Greek substantive ekdikas. Go'el is rendered by "avenger" only in the expression go'el haddam, "the avenger of blood." In Nu. 35:12 "blood" is omitted in the MT but found in the LXX and other versions. The go'el was the protector or defender of his family's interests. As the nearest male relative he was responsible for protecting the property (Lev. 25:25-34), liberty (vv. 35-54), and posterity (Ruth 4:5, 10; Dt. 25:5-10) of his next of kin, in addition to protecting their lives through the avenging of blood (Nu. 35:9-28; Dt. 19:4-10; Josh. 20:1-9 2 S. 4:7. 11).
The legislation giving the go'el both the right and responsibility to avenge his kinsman's blood distinguished two types of criminal bloodshed, "murder" and "manslaughter," both expressed by the same Hebrew word rasah, found in the sixth commandment (cf. Ex. 20:13). Whereas in the case of "murder" the go'el killed the offender (Nu. 35:19, 21; Dt. 19:12), in the case of "manslaughter" he could do so only if the offender left the assigned city of refuge prior to the death of the high priest (Nu. 35:12, 24f., 27; Dt. 19:6; Josh. 20:3, 5, 9). The human avenger of blood is used as a figure of Yahweh's role as go'el for His people in passages such as Isa. 49:26. The custom of avenging blood has not been limited to the ancient Hebrews.
In ancient times it was practiced by, among other nations, the Greeks; and in present times has been attested among the Arabians, Persians, and other Oriental peoples. In contrast to ga'al, naqam is the Hebrew equivalent of the Eng. "avenge" in the sense of "exact satisfaction for a wrong by punishing the wrongdoer." It occurs twice in the Psalms (Ps. 8:2 [MT 3]) and 44:16 [MT 17]) in connection with Israel's enemies as a hithpael (intensive reflexive) participle meaning "they that avenge themselves." Perhaps the poet is implying a contrast to Israel, who has Yahweh as his avenger. In Ps. 99:8 the qal participial form is used to denote Yahweh's vengeance against the misdeeds of His servants.
The Gk. E'kdikos describing the Lord (I Thess. 4:6) means "one who satisfies justice," i.e., by punishing the evildoer (cf. Rom. 13:4). (ISBE, 1979, Wm. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI). By Bruce K. Waltke
Scofield Reference Bible Notes: 1. (Isaiah 59 20) Redemption, kinsman type, Summary: The Rock or kinsman-redeemer, is a beautiful type of Christ. (1) The kinsman redemption was of persons and an inheritance (Lev.25:25,48; Gal.4:5; Eph. 1:7,11, 14). (2) The redeemer must be a kinsman (Lev. 25:48-49; Ruth 3:12-13, see v. 9, note; Gal.4:4; Heb 2:14-15). (3) The redeemer must be able to redeem (Ruth 4:4-6; Jer.50:34; Jn.10:11,18). (4) Redemption is effected by the goel paying the just demand in full (Lev.25:27; Gal.3:13; 1 Pet.1:18-19)... 2. (Isaiah 59:20) The time when the "Redeemer shall come to Zion" is fixed, relatively, by Rom. 11-23-29, as following the completion of the Church. This is also the order of the great dispensational passage, Acts 15:14-17. In both, the return of the Lord to Zion follows the outcalling of the Church. 2. (Isaiah 59:20:49)
The kinsman-redeemer. The word goel is used to indicate the redeemer---the one pays. The case of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 2:1; 3:10-18; 4:1-10) perfectly illustrates this beautiful type of Christ. Cities of Refuge: ( Numbers 35:6) Here in vv. 6, 9-28 the general command is given to set aside six cities of refuge, three on each side of the Jordan River (v. 14). In Dt. 4:41-43, Moses sets aside three cities east of the Jordan (Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan, v. 43) prior to the conquest of Canaan. Joshua 20 records the law of the cities of refuge and tells of the assignment by Joshua of three cities west of the river (Kedesh, Shechem, and Kiriath-arba, v. 7). Here, too, reassignment of the three cities on the other side of the Jordan is recorded (v. 8). The law of the cities of refuge is recounted in detail in Dt. 19:1-13, and they are alluded to in Ex. 21:13. The cities of refuge are illustrative of Christ sheltering the sinner from judgment (Rom. 8:1, 33-34; Heb. 6:17-20; cp. Ps. 46:1; 142:5).
REFUGE, CITIES OF [Heb. 'are hammiqlat]. Certain of the LEVlTICAL CITIES (Nu. 35:6-34, Josh. 21:13, 21, 27 32, 38;1 Ch. 6:57, 67 [MT 42, 52]) that were set apart to serve as places of asylum for the accidental manslayer; mentioned principally in Nu. 35:9-34; and Josh. 20:1-9 (cf. Ex. 21:12-14; Dt. 4:41-43;19:1-10). According to Josh. 20:7f., the six cities designated for this purpose in Joshua's lifetime were Kedesh, Shechem, Kiriath-arba (Hebron), Bezer, Ramoth-gilead, and Golan. After each tribe had been assigned its territorial allotment (Josh. 13-19), Joshua, at the command of God, designated the cities of refuge. They were fairly evenly distributed throughout Israel. West of the Jordan were Kedesh (Tell Qades), about 24 km. (15 mi.) N of the Sea of Galilee in the land of Naphtali; Shechem (Tell Balatah), 32 km. (20 mi.) W of the Jordan in the range called the hills of Ephraim (tribe of Ephraim); and Hebron (el-Khalil), about 30 km. (19 mi.) S of Jerusalem (tribe of Judah). East of the Jordan were Bezer (Umm el-'Amad'.) 13 km. (8 mi) NE of Medeba (tribe of Reuben); Ramoth-gilead (Tell Ramath), 40 km. (25 mi.) ESE of the Sea of Galilee (tribe of Gad); and Golan (Sahem el-Jolan?) in the highlands 32 km. (20 mi.) E of the Sea of Galilee (tribe of Manasseh).
Many peoples of the ancient Near East maintained certain places as asylums for fugitives accused of crimes; once the fugitive was within the sanctuary he could not be apprehended or punished, whether guilty or innocent. Israel also had places of asylum, but in the strict laws of the Pentateuch (cf. esp. Ex. 21:23-25) murder had to be punished by the death of the murderer (vv. 12, 14; Nu. 35:16 21). One who intentionally killed another person was to be put to death by the "avenger of blood" the nearest male relative of the deceased. Such retribution could not be negated by the payment of "blood money" to the relatives of the deceased in compensation for the murder (v. 31). A distinction was made, however, between the person who killed someone accidentally and the one who did so willfully. The cities of refuge were established for unintentional manslayers. To prevent the "avenger of blood" from taking vengeance upon the accused before the nature of the homicide could be established, the Israelites were commanded to give every assistance to the fugitive in his flight to one of the designated Cities (v. 25). Roads to these cities were to be properly maintained and signposted, and the location of each city was such that none was more than one day's journey from any point in the land of Israel (Dt. 19:3 cf. v. 6).
Apparently the altar of Yahweh was a place of asylum even before the establishment of the cities of refuge (Ex. 21:13f.). Cities were needed, however, as permanent places of refuge. In later times it appears that the fugitive was permitted to grasp the horns of the altar, and if the homicide was accidental he was granted safe passage to the nearest city of refuge (cf. I K. 1:50; 2:28-30). According to Nu. 35:24 the manslayer was then judged by the "congregation"; i.e., he was returned, under a protective escort provided by the city, to the place from which he came, and tribal elders unrelated to either the deceased or the accused were to set up an investigative tribunal to establish the nature of the homicide.
The intentional murderer was to be delivered into the hands of the "avenger of blood," even from the altar itself (Ex. 21:14; cf. I K. 2:28-34), but if the death was accidental, the accused was to be returned to one of the cities of refuge (Nu. 35:25). The manslayer had to reside in that city until the natural death of the high priest (v. 28; it is unclear whether this refers to the leading priest of Israel or merely of the city), which was possibly viewed as expiation for the accidental death (cf. T.B. Makkoth llb). If the manslayer went beyond the city's boundary before the high priest's death, the avenger of blood could kill him without being guilty of murder(vv.26f). This system was designed to avoid the possibility of an endless "blood feud" between families after someone was killed. It was only during the united kingdom period that all six cities were under Israelite control. Only Shechem and Hebron had continuous Hebrew control until their destruction in 722 and 587 B.C. respectively. (ISBE, 1979, Wm. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI). By S. G. DECLAISSE-WALFORD.
REDEEMER; REDEMPTION
I. In the OT: The main OT terms associated with redemption include Heb. ga'al ("redeem," "act as kinsman"), pada ("buy [off], ransom," "redeem"), and their cognates. Both terms occur frequently; hence the evidence bearing upon their meaning is copious.
Although both verbs may be used in the sense of deliverance without any necessary reference to the mode (cf. for ga'al, Gen. 48:16; for padha, 1 K. 1:29; Isa. 29:22), yet each, pervasively, has the differentiated meaning "release, by the payment or a price" or "buy back". In Exodus and Leviticus this meaning becomes patent.
One aspect of redempt
