Deuteronomy 19
Three refuge citiesverses 1-3
When the LORD your God has cut off the nations
whose land the LORD your God give you
and you succeed them – and dwell in their cities
and in their houses
You shall separate THREE CITIES for you in the midst of your land
which the LORD your God give you to possess it
You shall prepare you a way – and divide the coasts of your land
which the LORD your God give you to inherit – into three parts
that every slayer may flee thither
Unintentional killing of another personverses 4-10
And this is the case of the slayer – which shall flee thither – that he may live
Whoso kills his neighbor ignorantly – whom he hated not in time past
As when a man goes into the wood with his neighbor to hew wood
and his hand fetch a stroke with a ax to cut down the tree
and the head slips from the helve
and lights upon his neighbor – that he die
he shall flee to one of those cities and live
Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer – while his heart is hot
and overtake him – because the way is long – and slay him
Whereas he was not worthy of death
inasmuch as he hated him not in time past
Wherefore I command you – saying
You shall separate three cities for you
And if the LORD your God enlarge your coast
as HE has sworn to your fathers
and give you all the land which HE promised
to give to your fathers
IF you shall keep all these commandments to do them
which I command you this day – to love the LORD your God
to walk ever in HIS ways
THEN shall you add three cities more for you – beside these three
that innocent blood be not shed in your land
which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance
and so blood be on you
Intentional killingverses 11-13
But if any man hate his neighbor – and lie in wait for him
and rise up against him – and smite him mortally that he die
and flee into one of these cities
THEN the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence
and deliver him into 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
Never steal another’s propertyverse 14
You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark
which they of old time have set in your inheritance
which you shall inherit in the land that the
LORD your God give you to possess it
Never convict on testimony of one personverse 15
One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity – or for any sin
in any sin that he sins – at the mouth of two witnesses
or at the mouth of three witnesses
shall the matter be established
Dealing with false witnessesverses 16-21
IF a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which
is wrong
THEN both the men – between whom the controversy is
shall stand before the LORD – before the priests and the judges
which shall be in those days
And the judges shall make diligent inquisition – and behold
IF the witness be a false witness
and has testified falsely against his brother
THEN shall you do unto him
as he had thought to have done to his brother
so shall you put the evil away from among you
AND those which remain shall hear – and fear
and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you
And your eye shall not pity – but life shall go for life – eye for eye
tooth for tooth – hand for hand – foot for foot
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 3 You shall prepare you a way, and divide the coasts of your land, which the LORD your God gives you to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither. (7523 “slayer” [ratsach] means murderer, kill, slay, premeditated, strike down, to cause to die, usually intentionally or knowingly)
DEVOTION: The LORD had set up a court system for the children of Israel. HE was now setting out the places for the courts to be set up. HE wanted each refuge city to be available to those who were innocently accused of murder.
HE wanted anyone accused of a crime to be able to flee to a safe place for a proper court appearance. The main individual HE was concerned about was someone who killed someone innocently.
In those days a relative could kill someone who killed another relative without a trial. If the relative could catch the one who killed his relative he would be able to kill him right away without a trial.
This is something that the LORD didn’t want to happen because some people were not being killed on purpose. Accidents happen.
Even the one who killed someone accidently had to stay in the refuge city until the high priest died. If he left the city too soon the avenger or relative could be waiting outside the city to kill him and would not be charged.
Our system today is one where the individual is put in prison and if the state has capital punishment then that individual who killed someone on purpose would be executed. If it doesn’t have this system they could be in prison for a short time or a long time.
One of the reasons the LORD set up capital punishment was to cause those who thought about it to hear what was happening and fear trying to get away with premeditated murder.
Jesus described some of our comments about an individual in the same way as murdering them. We have to watch our words about others.
CHALLENGE: Our tongues can really hurt some individuals we don’t like. Christians should not try to hurt others with their tongue.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 9 If you shall keep all these commandments to do them, which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to walk ever in HIS ways; then shall you add three cities more for you, beside these three (1980 “walk” [halak] means to live or behave in a specified manner, to go, to behave, to lead, to take with one, proceed, move, or cause to walk)
DEVOTION: As the nation of Israel grew it was to add three more refuge cities for a place for those who killed someone accidently could run. The nation had a responsibility to all of those who were in danger of death to have a safe place to run to for a proper trial.
The nation had some requirements to keep as well as the individuals had to keep. The nation had to love the LORD. It is easy to say but hard to prove. How would you know if a nation really loved the LORD? How would the LORD know? HE could check their hearts from heaven and know but we have to look at society and see if we would judge it a land that honored the LORD with all of their dealings with people within the nation.
Moses added that the LORD wanted to see them walk in HIS ways. This would mean that they regularly obeyed HIS commandments. Not just some people but the nation as a whole.
When there were times of disobedience the LORD would send judgment and the people could ask the LORD to forgive them and HE could restore them to a place of favor with HIM until the next time they stopped walking according to HIS commandments.
This can be true today even for any nation in our world. Some are followers of Jesus Christ and some are not. Those that are followers of Jesus Christ could have a national revival and the LORD could bless them again.
It is more likely that there could be sections of the country that could have a revival and the LORD would bless that section. Wouldn’t it be great if there would be a revival in areas where Biblical churches got together and prayed for revival even today
The Bible is giving us instructions in this area that state that the LORD will honor those who honor HIM.
CHALLENGE: Are we honoring the LORD today in your area?
: 15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. (6965 “established” [quwm] means to be shown to be valid, to come to fruition, to endure, to stay fixed, or stand.)
DEVOTION: The LORD set specific rules regarding someone who commits any sin that requires a court of law. HE wanted to be sure that someone couldn’t be accused of something by just one person who might have a reason to hurt another person. HE wanted there to be justice done in all cases.
So any time someone was taken to court or in this case in front of a group of men who were leaders in the community he or she could get a fair trial. This was established before the children of Israel entered their inheritance from the LORD.
So we have a standard set in the Old Testament regarding the guilt or innocence of anyone who was accused of a crime. Most of the time it dealt with murder of another person but it also dealt with lesser crimes.
We need to make sure that we don’t proclaim someone guilt of something unless there is more than one witness. This means that the lawyer for the man or women even today should make sure that there is more than one witness to the crime. If this is not done there could be an innocent man or woman put in jail for something they didn’t commit.
CHALLENGE: God’s standards are always just.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 18 And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother (1875 “inquisition” [darash] means tread, frequent, diligently, question, search, seek or pursuit)
DEVOTION: Moses is instructing the people regarding legal matters. He discusses the difference between innocent death by the hand of a friend and pre-meditated death at the hand of an enemy. The judges have to determine which is which. There were to be cities of refuge for those who committed innocent death. Those who committed pre-meditated murder were to be killed by the avenger of blood which was usually a family member.
Next he covers how someone can be declared guilty of something. There had to be at least two or three witnesses. And if the witnesses agreed than the individual could be judged properly.
However, Moses knew that there would be false witnesses. He warned that if it was found that someone gave false testimony, they would have to suffer the consequences they wanted the innocent person to suffer. So, both the accuser and the false witness were given the penalty.
There are people who tell the truth. There are people who lie. The problem with most of us is that we sometimes can’t tell the difference in the way they present the facts. There are many people who enjoy seeing others suffer. There are many people who want to get even for a wrong that was committed against them by another person. Some will lie to get that person in trouble.
The judges of Israel were to check out what everyone says to see if it was the truth. They were not to accuse someone unless they had two or three witnesses.
If they search out a matter and find that the person is a false witness, that person was to receive the sentence of the person they were accusing. This way the land didn’t support false witnesses. They went to jail in the place of the person they falsely accused.
This needs to be the case today in the world today. Christians should NEVER say something false about anyone. Christians need to watch their mouth. Our society is not to condone lying. At present it seems too.
Revenge is something that the LORD is in control of in our world. We are not to get even with people who hurt us. We are not to bear false witness against someone we don’t like.
CHALLENGE: Speak the truth. Don’t spread falsehood against someone. We need to judge only on the evidence and by more than one person.
: 21 And your eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. (2347 “pity” [chuwc] means have compassion, spare, be troubled about, or show mercy)
DEVOTION: Once all the evidence is in and the witnesses have told the truth there needs to be a judgment by the judge. At this time period the priests were the judges. They were to live in refuge cities and those who were accused of crimes were to be judged according to the crime.
The greatest crime was murder of someone that an individual had lied in wait for because they hated them. If someone had killed someone because of their hatred for them they were to be given the punishment of death.
In those days there would be family members who would pursue the murderer and once the judgment was given, they would be able to kill the individual who killed one of their relatives.
Other crimes of lesser degree were judged by the priests as well. If a slave had an eye put out by an owner the slave was set free. There would not be an eye put out for an eye.
This verse was trying to get across that the LORD wanted the punishment to fit the crime. The only full punishment was the death of someone who had killed someone they had hated in the past.
Today our system only seems to work most of the time for those who have the money to hire a good lawyer. There are some politics involved in some cases as well. The court system today is not the same as the one set up by the LORD.
It used to be that people would have to swear on the Bible to tell the truth but now things have changed. Many times, people will even say that truth is what they say it is not what it really is.
There is a book written that has the title “No place for truth” and it seems to help us understand that we are living in a time frame that truth is relative. That is not what the Bible teaches. Truth is still truth and we need to realize that one day the LORD is going to judge each individual and it will be on the basis of genuine truth.
Sometimes even in Christian circles we can judge someone before we know the truth about what has taken place.
CHALLENGE: Make sure you have all the FACTS before you judge someone. Remember that God is going to make the final judgment for each of us.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Commandmentsverse 9
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD (Jehovah)verses 1-3, 8-10, 14, 17
God (Elohim)verses 1-3, 8-10, 14
LORD thy God verses 1-3, 8-10, 14
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Nationsverse 1
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Slayerverses 3, 4
Killverses 4, 11
Hateverses 4, 6, 11
Lie in waitverse 11
Guilty of innocent bloodverse 13
Remove landmarkverse 14
Iniquityverse 15
Sinverse 15
False witnessverses 16, 18-20
Testified falselyverse 18
Wrongverse 16
Evilverse 19, 20
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Inheritverses 1-3, 10, 14
Promisesverse 8
Keep the commandmentsverse 9
Love the LORDverse 9
Walk in HIS waysverse 9
Two witnesses necessaryverse 15
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Conquer the Promised Landverse 1
Refuge cites (three cities)verses 2-10
Add three more when bigger
Elders of these cities judge
Neighborverses 3, 11
Kill ignorantlyverses 4, 5, 10
Not worthy of deathverse 6
Avengerverses 6, 12
Israelverse 13
More than one witnessverse 15
two or three witnesses necessary
Priests and judgesverses 17, 18, 20
diligent inquisition
false witness
hear and fear
False witnesses dealt withverses 18-20
Life for lifeverse 21
Eye for eyeverse 21
Tooth for toothverse 21
Hand for handverse 21
Foot for footverse 21
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Dieverse 12
DONATIONS:
Remember that all donations to Small Church Ministries are greatly appreciated. The treasurer will send a receipt, at the end of the year unless otherwise requested. Please be sure to make check out to “Small Church Ministries.” The address for the treasurer is P.O. Box 604, East Amherst, New York 14051. A second way to give to the ministry is through PayPal on the website: www.smallchurchministries.org Also if you can support this ministry through your local church please use that method. Thank you.
QUOTES regarding passage
19:20–21 To guard against a tendency to recoil from carrying out the prescribed penalty, Moses issued an oft-repeated warning, Show no pity” (cf. Deut 7:16; 13:9; Isa 13:18; Ezek 7:4; 20:17). Heinous crimes called for equally stern response, one elaborated here and elsewhere (cf. Exod 21:23–25; Lev 24:19–20) as a measure for measure of lex talionis application of justice. Whether this was to be administered literally or could be addressed by the payment of fines or other compensation is not clear in all cases. Numbers 35:31 seems to suggest that ransom (kōper, i.e., “the price of a life”) could sometimes be paid as a substitute for one’s life but never in a case of murder. On the other hand, Exod 22:21 prescribes a fine (ʿōneš) in certain kinds of physical assault, thus opening up the possibility that they could otherwise be levied in lieu of corporal punishment. (Merrill, E. H. (1994). Deuteronomy (Vol. 4, pp. 280–281). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers)
This principle is often misunderstood. 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 licence or vengeance, but a guarantee of justice. (Thompson, J. A. (1974). Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 5, p. 239). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
19:21 eye for eye. This principle of legal justice (called lex talionis, “law of retaliation”) was given to encourage appropriate punishment of a criminal in cases where there might be a tendency to be either too lenient or too strict (see notes on Ex 21:23, 24; Lv 24:20). Jesus confronted the Jews of His day for taking this law out of the courts and using it for purposes of personal vengeance (cf. Mt 5:38–42). (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Dt 19:21). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
No GOD BUT GOD by Os Guinness & John Seel
So long as the gospel remains the gospel and the church the church, and so long as the church is in need of reformation, the world of mission, and one last person of salvation, there will always be a future for evangelicals – those who seek to define themselves and their lives by the gospel of Jesus Christ. (p. 13)
True Christian love will not discriminate against the poor.
INSIGHT
“Birds of a feather flock together.” Trite as that may sound, it’s one of the fundamental laws of social interaction. We are more at home with those who are like us than with those who are not. There is nothing wrong with this tendency. It is built-in and there is little value in denying it. But if that tendency prompts us to act unlovingly, the action is wrong. A tendency cannot be avoided; unloving actions can. James specifically warns us about discriminating against the poor, though it is also wrong to discriminate against anyone because of wealth, creed, race, age, or national origin. The royal law is to love your neighbor as yourself regardless of who the neighbor is. (Quiet Walk)
“No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.” Those words from Phillips Brooks’ much-loved hymn “O Little Town of Bethlehem” point to the very heart of Christmas. Jesus came into our broken world to rescue us from our sin and give all who would put their faith in Him a new and vital relationship with God.
In a letter to a friend decades after he wrote the hymn, Brooks poignantly described the outcome of this relationship in his own life: “I cannot tell you how personal this grows to me. He is here. He knows me and I know Him. It is no figure of speech. It is the realest thing in the world, and every day makes it realer. And one wonders with delight what it will grow to as the years go on.”
Brooks’ calm assurance of God’s presence in his life reflects one of the names of Jesus prophesied by Isaiah: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). The gospel of Matthew gives us the meaning of the Hebrew name Immanuel: “God with us” (1:23).
God drew near to us through Jesus so we could know Him personally and be with Him forever. His loving presence with us is the greatest gift of all. (By James Banks, Our Daily Bread)
THREE FRUITS OF REBIRTH
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 1 John 5:1
The first fruit of the rebirth is that I believe that “Jesus is the Christ.” And obviously, believing that is not something intellectual or something I only do with my mind. If I believe, I commit my whole life to Him. If I believe, I know I am delivered because Christ has done that for me. I see that apart from Him I am lost and undone and doomed. This is a profound action; it is a commitment; it is a banking of one’s everything upon that fact.
The second fruit of rebirth is love for God. John’s way of putting it is: “every one that loveth him that begat…” Christians see that they are hell-deserving sinners and that they would have arrived in hell were it not for His great love in sending His Son. They realize the love of God for them, and therefore they love God; they realize they owe everything to Him. It seems to me that this again is one of those fundamental things about Christian men and women.
However good a life they may be living now as saints, they still feel that they are hell-deserving sinners in and of themselves, and that they owe everything to the grace of God; it is God’s love alone that has made them what they are. They lose their sense of fear and a sense of enmity against God and are filled with a sense of profound gratitude to Him.
And the final thing is, of course, that we love our brethren—“Every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” We look at other believers, and we see in them the same disposition as in ourselves. We realize that they owe everything to the grace of God, just as we do. We realize that in spite of their sinfulness God sent His Son to die for them, exactly as He did for us; and we are aware of this bond. Though there are many things about them we do not like, we say, “That is my brother, my sister.”
A Thought to Ponder: We realize that in spite of their sinfulness God sent His Son to die for them, exactly as He did for us.
(From Life I God, pp. 19-20, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones).
“Forever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” (Psalm 119:89)
Most who read the Bible regularly are probably familiar with these sweeping statements from the Scriptures.
- “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).
- “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18).
- “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).
- “But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (1 Peter 1:25).
On this foundation, the psalmist made additional promises to his Lord in this stanza (Psalm 119:89-96). He noted the affliction that almost took his life (v. 92) and the wicked who tried to destroy him (v. 95), common enough occurrences among the godly. But in spite of the troubles in life, this godly man knew that the evidence abounds for God’s faithfulness throughout the earth (vv. 90-91).
God’s 77 rhetorical questions to Job (Job 38–41) centered on the evidence of His control and care for the universe. These prompted the psalmist to reiterate his commitment to a firm familiarity with God’s precepts and a continual effort to seek them (Psalm 119:93-94).
He knew that the wicked would continue trying to destroy, and that human affairs limit the possibility of perfection. But the godly man would understand God’s testimonies, since they are sufficient to apply to all situations (v. 96).
(HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)
Visit our Facebook page for Small Church Ministries – please invite others to join us on Facebook. Thank you. Look for the logo from the devotionals.