How this placement of the Levites among the people typifies Christ who resides with His people and ever makes intercession for us to the Father. How dependable He is and how intimate is His priestly work for us. He knows what is going on in each of our lives, being ever-present and everywhere present. His ministry far exceeds that of the priest of Israel. They, being sinful, became corrupted with greed, pride, and puffed up. They became self-righteous and did not want to "mingle" with the unclean common folk. They added requirements to the law, amending what God decreed, and inserted traditions that led people further away for God rather than helping them draw near to God and practice service and worship to God that is according to what God has stated to be righteous. They became burdensome to the people rather than Jesus, who said to take His yoke upon us, which is easy and light. Jesus does not yoke us to enslave us, rather, He calls us to cleave to Him and live in freedom to worship God in Spirit and in Truth. He takes upon Himself our burdens and makes our hearts glad.
In this chapter, YHWH instructs Moses to tell the people to set aside cities in each of their allotments for the Levites to reside in and have room to tend their flocks outside the city walls. There will be 48 cities in all, 6 of them will be cities of refuge for oen who kills by accident can flee for safety until they have a trial.
If one outright kills someone intentionally, this is murder, and the murderer is to be put to death. God takes it seriously when one is murdered. He did when Cain murdered Abel, bit let Cain live. For the Israelites, they are to carry out this death sentence on murderers without partiality. no murderer can be "bailed out" with money, bribe, or other type of exchange to rescind the death penalty.
YHWH says that unrequited murder defiles the land. It perverts justice and leads to wanton killing. This happens every week in so many cities, think of the many young men who are gunned down in Chicago, L.A., and other big cities every week. These murders are often done by other young people. How perverted our society has become when such young people have no value for life and think nothing of taking life from another. And then there are the drug cartels who murder so readily. Let's mention all of the babies aborted without the mom or doctors blinking an eye. There is so much blood-letting happening in our streets and the blood of the innocent cries out to God as Abel's did. God knows when every life starts and ends. He cares. And He wants society to deal justly with murderers. Yet in His mercy, He makes a way here for those who kill unintentionally to be safe until proven to have done so by accident or purposefully.
The cities for the Levites puts the priests in the midst of each tribe. They are there to be available to the spiritual needs of the families abiding around their cities. The High Priest, ark, and tabernacle are in one set place, but the other priests are to be in the midst of the people. They are to be readily available
Thou shall not steal. But if you have no problem with people taking things that don't belong to them or that they didn't pay for, you should put all your stuff on the curb so the thief doesn't have to break into your dwelling to get it.
Amen. We can only look to God & trust Him to administer true justice. Even though lives can be extinguished early, whether in the womb or mature age, accompanied with the grief & anger that may be our emotion, we must ultimately leave the matter entirely with our Great Judge & know that however weak or deficient the Law might be, none will escape His dealings.
And from my own musings on this, I wonder how our law-makers, justices, & governments will stand before God, when they have failed to exact the correct punishment for the crime. When a rapist, child-molester, or murderer, for example, is eventually set free, to then commit those crimes again against other innocent people, I ask, does not the govt remain equally culpable to severe punishment by God as He also gives to the unrepentant criminal? What then is the difference between such govts & their acts, & those done by criminals? But it is somehow more convenient to us to turn a blind eye to all this, usually preferring to consider the well-being of the criminal rather than devastating effects of the crime done to innocent people. Of course, I take into account the possibility that even the Law is fallible; some being incarcerated in prison who are innocent of criminal behavior. But God does all things well & we can take comfort in Him & not in man.
I agree with you. As Christians, we are caught between a rock and a hard place.
When a convicted felon is sent to prison, they have the chance to repent and seek forgiveness. But will they?
Meanwhile, what about justice for their victims? Did their victims know Jesus? If they didn't, then they were cheated out of a chance to have salvation.
I go crazy thinking about these kinds of things. Only God knows the truth. We have to trust Him.
I agree with you, as far as governments should apply the law correctly to capital crimes; that's why they are appointed, in part for the punishment of crimes to ensure the safety of their citizens.
Yet, from a believer's perspective, the death of anyone, innocent or guilty, brings on sadness, as lives are being taken away without knowing the love of God & His forgiveness to all who repent & turn to Jesus. Time needs to be served, even some receiving the death penalty, but the eternal state of one's spirit should be uppermost in our thoughts, however grievous the crime.
And this can be a conundrum to a believer: how should we appropriate the rightness of a severe punishment given to a criminal and yet hold a tender heart towards him, for the welfare of his soul. Not an easy thing to do but for the ministry of the Holy Spirit with our spirit & mind.
I've always been in favor of the death penalty. I think the worst offenders should be permanently stopped. King Solomon saw what happens when the wicked are allowed to run rampant.
Ecclesiastes 8:11
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
We see the folly of showing mercy to rapists and murderers, or repeat offenders.
Hi Dgjot. Just looking at both the verses that use the word, 'satisfaction' ( Numbers 35:31,32), I see an entirely different meaning in Hebrew. The word is 'kopher', and its primary meaning would be, 'a payment'. However, depending on the application, it could apply to 'the price of a life', a ransom, or even a 'bribe'.
In verse 31, the meaning is that no other payment, whether monetary, goods, etc., can be received in exchange for a murderer's life - he had to pay with his life: life for life.
In verse 32, the story is of a murderer who has killed unintentionally (what we might refer today as 'manslaughter'), and then flees into one of the six allotted cities of refuge before he is caught & taken to the judge. Here he had to remain until the death of the high priest & was then free to go home if deemed innocent; though he would probably continually have to 'look over his shoulder' for the rest of his life, in case the deceased man's relatives were still looking out for revenge. Even to this man, no 'kopher' (ransom) could be paid to secure his release from this confinement in a city of refuge - he had to remain there maybe for many years.
Do you ever think about your life in these days? How close we are to losing our life faster then before. As the trees come down we will see more of God's creations die. So what does that mean? The less of God's creations our strength is harder to get. Unless you study and pray for our Heavenly Father to help us. Do not straddle the fence. Do not stop seeing day to day how God can take you away as we take His creations down. The sprays- the pollution..all killing us now slowly..or the silent virus that comes in a wink of an eye to get us. His warriors are struggling as we fight the evilness this world has become. We know now we live day to day. Never knowing without God close we would be gone in a wink of our eye. We most totally rely on our Father. Even our air we breathe. This world has turned way worse then l ever studied in 2012. Lies and deceit everywhere. Our God is our strength. Mankind our enemy. The evilness will show up right away if you have the light for strength around you to see. For everything will be exposed to you. Days going faster now-- have you noticed? Have you slowed down enough to really see the truth of our world now? Well, you should. Our life can end as fast as it began. So reach up to the Heavens always...not the world.
In 1962, I was 11. People were so fascinated with the space program that they didn't notice the old lady Atheist that caused God to be kicked out of the schools! No pledge of allegiance to the Flag of the United States; no singing America the Beautiful. Definitely no Bibles. No praying over lunch.
This is what DECADES without God has done for us. I don't need to make you a list.
Everybody and their gecko is out of the closet. How lovely for our children to be learning about sex in first grade; and I don't mean male/female.
LOOK at this nation!? There are active curses as described in Deuteronomy on this nation. The only reason we are hanging on by a hangnail is because United States blesses the Nation of Israel: the Apple of God's Eye. Mr Biden is against Israel. Which speeds up Heavens Clock. Why? Because of what is happening now all over the world. The Bible tells of 1/3 of earths population dying, in Revelation. 1/3 of our oceans are dying because of filth and dumped chemicals. Rain Forests are being burned down in South America. We're going to see more fires all over earth; floods; violent storms. This planet is on Heavens Schedule now. I feel it in my bones and some of you do too. Doesn't anyone read a balanced news source every day?
We can't just hop a plane and evangelize 3rd world countries anymore. Do we pray to God to open doors for it? Radio &Internet ministries need that money because they ARE getting through.
People see the Signs of THE TIMES we are living in NOW. Please.
Why are we commenting on flat earth and the Jews of Israel that are split now: 1/2 Jews; 1/2 Messianic Christians. We're making progress at least, because we await the completed Fulness of the Gentiles.
Can you see now what earth is going to look like with the Antichrist at the helm for the planet? Who wants to stick around for that ?!
Jeff, I believe you are referring to verse 7 also, to applying it to teaching children. I think that in any situation within the family, society & the world (both good & bad), children need to understand who God is & His Love for each one of us. And for them to understand this, they need to see its application to what may be going on. And as you know, children can be very observant & take things in quickly. They will see it in the family circle, therefore how clear & unhypocritical our lives need to be, showing them that the parents' love for the Lord is the same intense love they have for their children & this love is manifest in our behaviour & treatment of each other.
When they see or learn the 'bad' things that are happening around them, still the clear command is to "love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might". And that this is not a vague expression towards God but that knowing that men's hearts are inherently evil & God is altogether Good, our children might learn to understand why the world is the way it is, & why God is Who He is. That this Holy & Righteous God will one day save His people & judge the world for their sin. We are cast upon Him & His Mercies each day to experience His Love & Peace in a fresh way. If you're specifically referring to the pandemic & explaining this to kids, then this is one of the many sufferings that come upon us, and apart from its present severity & loss of life, it ought to make us cling more heavily upon the Lord & trust Him for our lives & to pray for those suffering. I think children will understand these Truths when explained more simply.
Guillermo, Numbers chapter 35 was God's direction to the children of Israel concerning Cities of Refuge, where a murderer, who murdered someone unintentionally, could run to one of those cities for protection & safety, until the matter was dealt with by their justice system. There were to be six cities appointed to serve those types of murderers. But those who wilfully murder someone, the justice to be served was death to the perpetrator; and this could be done even by the avenger (one who might be related to the deceased).
So, the only way for the murderer who didn't kill wilfully, could get off, was that he would live in one of those Cities of Refuge until the death of the High Priest. He couldn't even go for a walk outside the city walls in case someone came after him. After the death of the High Priest, he could return to his own city, presumably he wouldn't be sought after by an avenger. But if a person wilfully murdered, then the death sentence would be given to him.
But that was Old Testament Law & practice & by the yearly offering of Sacrifices, atonement was made for the sins of the people. However, no sacrifice in that system, could ever remove a person's sin (e.g. sin of murder) - the sacrificial system was temporary & pointed to the time when God's Sacrifice, Jesus Christ, would come to give His Life on the Cross, to give a perfect & permanent forgiveness of sin. In the OT, those under the sacrificial system, had to express faith in that shedding of blood of the animal & that faith & change of heart carried them through into death, awaiting for Christ's death & resurrection. Then those with real faith & love for God (not as the false religious leaders & faithless Jews), were also raised to Life; all others, as those today who die outside of Christ, are confined to Hades, awaiting their final fate.
Apostle Paul (when his name was Saul): had Jewish ancestry but was working for the Romans, when he assisted with the stoning of Stephen. Heaven opened to receive Stephen's soul right then. After, Paul was on his way to kill some more; Jesus Confronted him and blinded him and spoke to him; person to person on the Damascus Road. He got radically saved that day. Got his sight back a few days later.
I watch 700 club for news and see former murderers on it often. Which means: if a person comes under conviction about any sin (by the Holy Spirit); if they truly repent of all sins, past and present; turn from their wickedness and turn to Jesus for forgiveness; they can be born again.
You can't be born again and live sinfully like you once did. Jesus paid in blood for all of our sins. The new life is lived in reverence of His sacrifice. Gods call is to all the World. He loves you, sent his Son to the Cross for you. You give your life to Him and He gives His Life to you.
We must be born again. He's not ashamed of you; so in return we tell others our testimony of how we came to receive Jesus.
If you ponder on the act of murder: people do it other ways too. Gossip, slander, back biting and biting back; abortion; character assassination of children and others. It's brutal and God has to judge it.
We have to repent, confess and get that stuff covered under the Blood of Jesus as soon as it takes to get on our knees.
The Good News is that Salvation and cleansing is available to all who ask.
Many people say that Numbers 35 no longer apply to us Christians today. They say that Jesus changed all the rules about "The murderer shall be surely be put to death".
This is also the reason we live in a polluted land today, because we do not put murderers to death. The land is defiled by innocent blood of children and young people who should be alive but are dead because of murderers.
Think of it as having a full blood swap. ( transfusion). Our life, as the Bible tells us is in our Blood, but it is Defiled by sin. Jesus was without sin, whereby he was not defiled. So by giving us his blood, that he shed upon the cross of sacrifice, his pure sinless blood cleanses all who by Faith believe, Jesus is the son of God. for by grace are you saved, by faith not of works lest any boast
God told them not to defile the land with blood,and the land could not be cleansed but by the blood of him that shed it. God is still the same no one should defile the land with blood, I believe thats part of the turmoil in our society today to much blood shed!!!!
How this placement of the Levites among the people typifies Christ who resides with His people and ever makes intercession for us to the Father. How dependable He is and how intimate is His priestly work for us. He knows what is going on in each of our lives, being ever-present and everywhere present. His ministry far exceeds that of the priest of Israel. They, being sinful, became corrupted with greed, pride, and puffed up. They became self-righteous and did not want to "mingle" with the unclean common folk. They added requirements to the law, amending what God decreed, and inserted traditions that led people further away for God rather than helping them draw near to God and practice service and worship to God that is according to what God has stated to be righteous. They became burdensome to the people rather than Jesus, who said to take His yoke upon us, which is easy and light. Jesus does not yoke us to enslave us, rather, He calls us to cleave to Him and live in freedom to worship God in Spirit and in Truth. He takes upon Himself our burdens and makes our hearts glad.
If one outright kills someone intentionally, this is murder, and the murderer is to be put to death. God takes it seriously when one is murdered. He did when Cain murdered Abel, bit let Cain live. For the Israelites, they are to carry out this death sentence on murderers without partiality. no murderer can be "bailed out" with money, bribe, or other type of exchange to rescind the death penalty.
YHWH says that unrequited murder defiles the land. It perverts justice and leads to wanton killing. This happens every week in so many cities, think of the many young men who are gunned down in Chicago, L.A., and other big cities every week. These murders are often done by other young people. How perverted our society has become when such young people have no value for life and think nothing of taking life from another. And then there are the drug cartels who murder so readily. Let's mention all of the babies aborted without the mom or doctors blinking an eye. There is so much blood-letting happening in our streets and the blood of the innocent cries out to God as Abel's did. God knows when every life starts and ends. He cares. And He wants society to deal justly with murderers. Yet in His mercy, He makes a way here for those who kill unintentionally to be safe until proven to have done so by accident or purposefully.
The cities for the Levites puts the priests in the midst of each tribe. They are there to be available to the spiritual needs of the families abiding around their cities. The High Priest, ark, and tabernacle are in one set place, but the other priests are to be in the midst of the people. They are to be readily available
And from my own musings on this, I wonder how our law-makers, justices, & governments will stand before God, when they have failed to exact the correct punishment for the crime. When a rapist, child-molester, or murderer, for example, is eventually set free, to then commit those crimes again against other innocent people, I ask, does not the govt remain equally culpable to severe punishment by God as He also gives to the unrepentant criminal? What then is the difference between such govts & their acts, & those done by criminals? But it is somehow more convenient to us to turn a blind eye to all this, usually preferring to consider the well-being of the criminal rather than devastating effects of the crime done to innocent people. Of course, I take into account the possibility that even the Law is fallible; some being incarcerated in prison who are innocent of criminal behavior. But God does all things well & we can take comfort in Him & not in man.
When a convicted felon is sent to prison, they have the chance to repent and seek forgiveness. But will they?
Meanwhile, what about justice for their victims? Did their victims know Jesus? If they didn't, then they were cheated out of a chance to have salvation.
I go crazy thinking about these kinds of things. Only God knows the truth. We have to trust Him.
Yet, from a believer's perspective, the death of anyone, innocent or guilty, brings on sadness, as lives are being taken away without knowing the love of God & His forgiveness to all who repent & turn to Jesus. Time needs to be served, even some receiving the death penalty, but the eternal state of one's spirit should be uppermost in our thoughts, however grievous the crime.
And this can be a conundrum to a believer: how should we appropriate the rightness of a severe punishment given to a criminal and yet hold a tender heart towards him, for the welfare of his soul. Not an easy thing to do but for the ministry of the Holy Spirit with our spirit & mind.
Ecclesiastes 8:11
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
We see the folly of showing mercy to rapists and murderers, or repeat offenders.
be surely put to death.
bribe, pitch, ransom, satisfaction, sum of money.
Only God can redeem!
In verse 31, the meaning is that no other payment, whether monetary, goods, etc., can be received in exchange for a murderer's life - he had to pay with his life: life for life.
In verse 32, the story is of a murderer who has killed unintentionally (what we might refer today as 'manslaughter'), and then flees into one of the six allotted cities of refuge before he is caught & taken to the judge. Here he had to remain until the death of the high priest & was then free to go home if deemed innocent; though he would probably continually have to 'look over his shoulder' for the rest of his life, in case the deceased man's relatives were still looking out for revenge. Even to this man, no 'kopher' (ransom) could be paid to secure his release from this confinement in a city of refuge - he had to remain there maybe for many years.
Sins worthy of death. So we should not take pleasure in loss of life.
What does this mean? That we shouldn't feel sorry for them, or smug that they are being put to death???
This is what DECADES without God has done for us. I don't need to make you a list.
Everybody and their gecko is out of the closet. How lovely for our children to be learning about sex in first grade; and I don't mean male/female.
LOOK at this nation!? There are active curses as described in Deuteronomy on this nation. The only reason we are hanging on by a hangnail is because United States blesses the Nation of Israel: the Apple of God's Eye. Mr Biden is against Israel. Which speeds up Heavens Clock. Why? Because of what is happening now all over the world. The Bible tells of 1/3 of earths population dying, in Revelation. 1/3 of our oceans are dying because of filth and dumped chemicals. Rain Forests are being burned down in South America. We're going to see more fires all over earth; floods; violent storms. This planet is on Heavens Schedule now. I feel it in my bones and some of you do too. Doesn't anyone read a balanced news source every day?
We can't just hop a plane and evangelize 3rd world countries anymore. Do we pray to God to open doors for it? Radio &Internet ministries need that money because they ARE getting through.
People see the Signs of THE TIMES we are living in NOW. Please.
Why are we commenting on flat earth and the Jews of Israel that are split now: 1/2 Jews; 1/2 Messianic Christians. We're making progress at least, because we await the completed Fulness of the Gentiles.
Can you see now what earth is going to look like with the Antichrist at the helm for the planet? Who wants to stick around for that ?!
Be careful. Co-VID is blooming again.
When they see or learn the 'bad' things that are happening around them, still the clear command is to "love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might". And that this is not a vague expression towards God but that knowing that men's hearts are inherently evil & God is altogether Good, our children might learn to understand why the world is the way it is, & why God is Who He is. That this Holy & Righteous God will one day save His people & judge the world for their sin. We are cast upon Him & His Mercies each day to experience His Love & Peace in a fresh way. If you're specifically referring to the pandemic & explaining this to kids, then this is one of the many sufferings that come upon us, and apart from its present severity & loss of life, it ought to make us cling more heavily upon the Lord & trust Him for our lives & to pray for those suffering. I think children will understand these Truths when explained more simply.
So, the only way for the murderer who didn't kill wilfully, could get off, was that he would live in one of those Cities of Refuge until the death of the High Priest. He couldn't even go for a walk outside the city walls in case someone came after him. After the death of the High Priest, he could return to his own city, presumably he wouldn't be sought after by an avenger. But if a person wilfully murdered, then the death sentence would be given to him.
But that was Old Testament Law & practice & by the yearly offering of Sacrifices, atonement was made for the sins of the people. However, no sacrifice in that system, could ever remove a person's sin (e.g. sin of murder) - the sacrificial system was temporary & pointed to the time when God's Sacrifice, Jesus Christ, would come to give His Life on the Cross, to give a perfect & permanent forgiveness of sin. In the OT, those under the sacrificial system, had to express faith in that shedding of blood of the animal & that faith & change of heart carried them through into death, awaiting for Christ's death & resurrection. Then those with real faith & love for God (not as the false religious leaders & faithless Jews), were also raised to Life; all others, as those today who die outside of Christ, are confined to Hades, awaiting their final fate.
I watch 700 club for news and see former murderers on it often. Which means: if a person comes under conviction about any sin (by the Holy Spirit); if they truly repent of all sins, past and present; turn from their wickedness and turn to Jesus for forgiveness; they can be born again.
You can't be born again and live sinfully like you once did. Jesus paid in blood for all of our sins. The new life is lived in reverence of His sacrifice. Gods call is to all the World. He loves you, sent his Son to the Cross for you. You give your life to Him and He gives His Life to you.
We must be born again. He's not ashamed of you; so in return we tell others our testimony of how we came to receive Jesus.
If you ponder on the act of murder: people do it other ways too. Gossip, slander, back biting and biting back; abortion; character assassination of children and others. It's brutal and God has to judge it.
We have to repent, confess and get that stuff covered under the Blood of Jesus as soon as it takes to get on our knees.
The Good News is that Salvation and cleansing is available to all who ask.
I hope your question is answered.
This is also the reason we live in a polluted land today, because we do not put murderers to death. The land is defiled by innocent blood of children and young people who should be alive but are dead because of murderers.
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