Manslayers in the City of Refuge

Numbers 35-36

Psalm 103

Proverbs 11

Jeremiah 28

John 5

He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities (Psalm 103:10).

Sometime in 2009, I started watching movies about the Bible regularly in an attempt to soak up the Word a little more to embed it in my thoughts. The first was the Passion, then Jesus, (inspirationalfilms.com) which is the Gospel according to Luke. I really enjoyed some in the Visual Bible series including Acts and the Gospel According to John and Matthew. I just noticed the Matthew DVD was 1st copyrighted in 1973, but I’ve thought of that one as the 80′s Jesus because the actor seems kind of Miami Vice to me. A confident “we can work this out” smile is almost always on his face although his ease among his disciples might reflect the brotherly love of the 70s more. Maybe I just don’t really remember the 70s and 80s cultural differences that well, but my favorite is the 2003 The Gospel of John (which I think of as the 90s Jesus). One of the best scenes is Jesus cleansing the temple. (I posted a couple of pictures and a link to a youtube clip on my post on John 2 from earlier this week.) Today’s reading has another of my favorite scenes of that movie, where Jesus tells the priests the scriptures point to Him. Jesus’ frustration reminds me that He is looking at and speaking to those who will bring Him to the cross; He knows he must be crucified for the salvation of all people, but He calls to them in love for the sake of all readers and hearers of the Word: “I say these things so that you may be saved” (John 5:34).

In John 5, after Jesus healed a man who couldn’t walk, the people accused him of breaking the Sabbath and became even more irate when Jesus referred to God as His Father. Jesus tells them plainly the the Son does what He sees the Father doing and likewise, a Father is honored when His Son is honored (John 5:19-23). Jesus reminds them He has witnesses to support Him in both the scripture and in the Father’s works through Him. He is not standing alone making claims in His own name. “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him” (John 5:43).

In Jeremiah, after one king of Judah is taken to Babylon with his family, another sits on the throne, Zedekiah. A false prophet, Hananiah, rushes in to declare Jerusalem’s forthcoming return to grace: “Thus says the LORD: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon” (~Jeremiah 28:2-3). Jeremiah’s response is to say what happens will show whose words are from the Lord. Later, at the Lord’s instruction Jeremiah tells Hananiah, “the LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. Therefore thus says the LORD..’This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the LORD’” (Jeremiah 28:15-16). Hananiah dies the same year, but King Zedekiah never accepts Jeremiah’s prophecy. When the Babylonians return, he flees the city but is taken captive and after he sees his family slaughtered, his eyes are gouged out and he is led away (Jeremiah 39).

Proverbs 11:2 reads, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” Zedekiah made his way to the throne and though he continued to speak to Jeremiah, he sought only lies to support his lust for authority and honor from men. Jesus asks the people who fret about breaking the Sabbath, “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” (John 5:44). The glory that comes from God was seen in the man He healed who had been an invalid for 38 years. Despite the fullfillment of Jeremiah’s previous word on the Babylonians and the death of Hananiah, Zedekiah clung to the honor he received from people scratching and biting to get their own seat of honor. Jesus says to those whose pride is in teaching the law, “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!” (John 5:39). Our instinct is to knit all our facts into a security blanket, but God wants us to reach to Him. “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him” (Psalm 103:11). Jesus tells them plainly their loyalty to Moses is false: “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” (John 5:46-47)

Moses, at the Lord’s command, instructed the people to set up cities of refuge for manslayers awaiting trial (Numbers 35:12). The statute details several murder scenarios such as being pushed out of hatred or struck with an iron object or a stone tool that could cause death (Numbers 35:16-21). “But if he..hurled anything on him without lying in wait or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he..did not seek his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood” (Numbers 35:22-24). Men guilty of accidental deaths will live in their city of refuge until the high priest dies. Other if..thens further define the statute until the Lord says, it’s the blood: “You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made..except by the blood of the one who shed it” (Numbers 35:33).

By Jeremiah’s time, long before Jesus, the land is well polluted such that the priests’ intention to kill Jesus without a strong case is an acceptable solution. Like Zedekiah prefering Hananiah’s prophecy, they believe what doesn’t disrupt their way of life. Jesus tells them, “whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). But who can understand eternal life without the grace of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit? Even the disciples mourned Jesus’ death and doubted His resurrection. After Moses explained the murder laws, the Lord speaks through him, “You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the LORD dwell in the midst of the people of Israel” (Numbers 35:34). In what environment can we know the presence of the Lord, the holy fire of God? We see His presence in miracles like the healing of an invalid, the deliverance from addiction, the blessing of children, and the love of a faithful spouse. King David writes in Psalm 103, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives..iniquity..heals..diseases..redeems your life from the pit..who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy” (v2-3). Is there not suffiecient love and mercy in your life to know Jesus is alive? Don’t look for joy and life from Hananiah. Leave the city of refuge! We have a new High Priest! Jesus said, Get up and walk, and at once the man was healed (John 5:8). We too can break free from pride in the burden of the law, our avenger. Ask Jesus for forgiveness and receive the blessing of the Holy Spirit. Watch 2003 The Gospel of John and soak up some Word. “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!” (Psalm 103:1).

Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. (John 5:25)