"He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die." - Exodus 21:12-15

Justice and Mercy. We usually think of these as polar opposites, but pause and consider- sometimes it is right and just to be merciful, and sometimes right and just to withhold clemency. This week we will see that the stern and imposing law is both just and merciful!

In the book of Genesis ( Genesis 4:1-24 ) Cain smites Abel so that he dies. The first murder! His actions were deserving of death, yet he was the first recipient of divine mercy in that he was permitted to live by God, who did not take his life. Yet the law of God was written in the hearts of the other sons of Adam . Yes there were others - because you will note that the Bible does not say exactly when the Cain/Abel incident takes place. We assume it is immediately after Adam and Eve were chased out of the garden but the Bible itself is silent on the aspect of its timing. Another clue to this is found in the fact that Cain is apprehensive that though God has spared him, he will be punished by others! "And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him." Therefore there were clearly children and grandchildren of Adam/Abel living at that time that Cain was afraid would take vengeance on him. He knew what his punishment should have been! The effect of this mercy? Metropolis(Cities), Music, Metallurgy and more Murder. ( Read the Genesis account for details on what happened to him and the types of kids he had! )

We have already addressed the origin and reason for capital punishment in our discussion on the 6th commandment in our earlier posts. ( Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. - Gen : 9:6 ) This was said by God to Noah after the flood. Killing a man is destroying the image of God!

But what if it is an accident?

Our heart and mind tells us that we should not find fault with one who is innocent of any ill intent... but our emotions want restitution and closure. Grief makes us want to strike out and strike down the one who was the instrument of taking our loved one from us. An eye for an eye, tooth for tooth we will say, and demand the blood of the accused!

It is truly amazing that we read of the provision of " sanctuary cities" ( a loaded term nowadays!!! ) where such a person could find refuge from those that sought his life in such a circumstance. The Law beautifully elaborates this in the book of Deuteronomy.

" When the Lord your God cuts off the nations, whose land the Lord your God gives you, and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and in their houses, you shall set aside three cities for yourself in the midst of your land, which the Lord your God gives you to possess. You shall prepare the roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the Lord your God will give you as a possession, so that any manslayer may flee there.

“Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live: when he kills his friend unintentionally, not hating him previously—as when a man goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips off the handle and strikes his friend so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live;

otherwise the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in the heat of his anger, and overtake him, because the way is long,

and take his life, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated him previously. “Therefore, I command you, saying, ‘You shall set aside three cities for yourself.’“If the Lord your God enlarges your territory, just as He has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which He promised to give your fathers— if you carefully observe all this commandment which I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in His ways always—

then you shall add three more cities for yourself, besides these three.“So innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, and bloodguiltiness be on you."

But if there is a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes him so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities,then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.“You shall not pity him, but you shall purge the blood of the innocent from Israel, that it may go well with you.

- Deut 19:1-13

Observe the heart of God! Not only acquitting the innocent , but also tenderly making sure that the road to safety is not too long ! If Israels borders were enlarged, additional cities of refuge were to be provisioned so that they would be within easy reach! The example itself is so beautiful in that it opens with two friends going to work together ... clearly illustrating the innocence and grief of even the party by whose hand death comes. In the text with which we opened this post it says - " God delivers him into his hand " ... much to think about here folks!

God is the one who calls us home ... We often mourn what we call "senseless tragedies" but no tragedy is senseless. God is clearly saying that HE is the arbiter of our life span here on earth and may elect to bring us home even through the acts of a loved one!

Note also that these cities were no places of refuge for the wicked nor did the altar provide sanctuary for the willful commission of murder. This is the enemy at work... killing someone ( and we will go out on a theological limb here ) AGAINST GOD's will! For justification of this statement I will only cite the Lord's Prayer that our Fathers will be done on earth as it is in Heaven - meaning that not everything done here is in accordance with the desire of God.

Now before everyone gets up in arms about this, I am making a distinction between Gods sovereign and efficacious will - which always prevails, and His permissive will - where ( for example ) His will ( expressed in the Law of the 6th commandment) is for us not to commit murder, but He allows ( /does not prevent ) us to go against it. It is the reason evil exists for a time, and His saints are permitted to be martyred. This is a bigger discussion than we have room to go into now, but suffice it to say, even the existence of evil results in the ultimate glorification of God and its presence is temporary ( from an eternal perspective ). Read the " Plan of God" post pinned to this page for a perspective on this topic.

There is no mercy for the wicked who willfully transgress Gods Law.

The city of refuge is also a beautiful picture of Christ. In Joshua 20:6 we read "He shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the manslayer shall return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled." The city is a type of Christ into whom we flee from our enemy, and Christ is the high priest whose death gives us back our freedom!

In practical terms , this prescribed a "cooling off" period , where after a number of years in exile, the one accused of manslaughter could come back to his home and family, as the heat of the passions would have cooled so that the courts could render a ruling without worrying about the safety of the accused.

Justice and mercy, grace to the righteous and punishment for the wicked. Our God is wise, tender, loving, terrible, awesome in His judgements and His statutes! David and Moses were forgiven this sin, and Christ's work provides the road to refuge for those who have taken a life. Nothing is beyond His infinite grace, but it is linked to confession, repentance and a forever changed walk of life!

Hallelujah!!