The sixth commandment

Numbers 35.9-15

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge. You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.”

God knows the sinful tendencies of our hearts. He knows that the law of sin works powerfully within us to draw us away from the path of righteousness, quench the Spirit, and override the living and active Word of God in our souls. He knows also that sin is a part of every facet of our lives and can break in even when we don’t intend it to remind us of the sad legacy of our first parents’ disobedience. This was true for ancient Israel, and it remains true for us. There will always be sin in our midst, always be death, and always be people against whom revenged should be enacted – at least, as the offended see it.

These cities of refuge were not quite prisons, but we can see an analogy in them, to a point. However, whereas prisons today are meant to protect the innocent from the guilty, the cities of refuge were meant to protect those guilty of a lesser transgression from those who might do them harm. Confinement to a city of refuge until the death of the high priest was a recognition that a wrong had been committed, whether through neglect or simple accident, and that some measures needed to be taken to restore a sense of justice. He who had, even unwillingly, taken the life of another had to “forfeit” after a fashion, his own life and freedom, if only for a time.

Such a measure of grace was designed to placate the survivors of the deceased, acknowledge the guilt, such as it was, of the offender, and keep peace and order within the society. To the extent that the American system of criminal justice strives for such ends, we may regard it as being not out of accord with the Law of God.

This series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.