Select some towns to be your cities of refuge. (Numbers 35:11)These closing chapters of Numbers deal with boundaries to define tribal allotments (ch. 34), boundaries to protect land from osmosing from one tribe to another (ch. 36), and boundaries to protect innocent people accused of murder (ch. 35).
People who think Old Testament laws are harsh must not realize the lengths these laws go to protect the accused. Customs often demanded the death penalty for stealing or simply injuring someone. Biblical laws introduced the concept that the punishment must fit the crime. An eye for an eye was not cruel; it was a limit placed on punishment to protect the life of the defendant.
Another example of these limits is that a person could not be executed on the witness of only one person. The biblical laws stated that testimony in a capital case must be corroborated at the very least by a second witness.
Likewise, cities of refuge were set up to protect the life of a person who accidentally killed someone. Sometimes vigilantes would hunt down and execute the offender. The problem is, the death may have been accidental, but the execution take place before the defendant got the chance to tell his side of the story.
Harsh? Maybe not as harsh as some would believe.
-
Considering Jesus' admonishment that we should have compassion on the prisoner (Mt. 25:34-40), I guess we shouldn't be surprised that same compassion would be extended to defendants prior to conviction.
I really like the concept of the city of refuge, especially in light of the fact that 'accidents happen.' We have friends who were missionaries to Papua New Guinea who talked about the revenge cycles that happened between tribes there (you killed ours, so we killed yours...oh yeah? Well, now you killed *ours* so we kill *yours* again...etc.) - Something like cities of refuge would be a big help in stopping that vicious circle.
ReplyDeleteThe no crossing lines between tribes part must have been quite frustrating to them at times, I can only imagine... Ah, the mess and misery we humans get into over material goods.