"Here is an example of the purpose of these cities, If a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to chop wood and the axe head flies off the handle and kills the man's neighbor, he may flee to one of these cities and be safe." Deuteronomy 19:4-5 (TLB)
Throughout the Bible, we are told God Is a God of Justice. In other words, Jehovah brings the guilty to punishment, to be dealt with according to the Law of Moses. But as a God of Justice, the Father is also concerned with the innocent, too, and thus has set down procedures to assure that someone falsely accused of a crime may flee to a place of safety.
As Israel is being formed, God orders the construction of three Cities of Refuge. Those accused of Murder, who actually were innocent in causing it, could escape the anger of the town and family of the deceased man by making it to one of those city of refuge. They were to be easy to find, not too far apart, and with good roads.
Once there, the innocent man was under the protection of the city elders. If, however, the man had intentionally killed someone, when the elders of his home city sent for him, he was to be returned to face the crime he committed. So much of what we think of as modern day laws are actually very ancient, established by God Himself, thousands of years ago. We actually see the first rules of extradition being put into place, with the city elders serving as "Judges" and ruling on the status of a man accused of a crime, and whether to return him to the village he left for punishment.
Justice was so important to Yahweh that He ordered more cities to be added as the boundaries of Israel expanded and grew. God clearly was on the side of protecting the innocent just as much as Jehovah sought the guilty. Tomorrow we will read A God of Justice Part II: Helping Neighbors.
Copyright 2007 Timothy E. Davis