ÀҾ˹éÒ˹ѧÊ×Í
PDF
ePub

diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;

19 Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from amongyou.

20 And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. 21 And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

LECTURE 338.

The equity of God's law, and of the judgment of Christ. The appointment of six cities of refuge is ordered in the book of Numbers, 35. 10. Three of them, to the east of Jordan, had already been separated. Deut. 4. 42. The command to separate the other three is here repeated. And it is signified, that yet three more might hereafter be required, in case of the people keeping the commandments of the Lord, and having their coasts accordingly enlarged by Him to the full extent of his promise to their fathers. They They are also here directed to make straight the ways or roads to the cities of refuge, and to divide the land into three portions, according to the number of these cities. And the distinction between a fatal blow, struck with malice, or without, is carefully repeated and explained. See Num. 35. 15. So watchfully did God provide lest innocent blood should be shed in the land! So plainly did He teach his people, that if it were, the guilt would rest with them! God forbid that this should be one of the many sins for which our own Christian country has to answer! God forbid that the institutions of our law, or the practices or the principles of our people, should in any degree savour of bloodguiltiness! Certainly in the making or revising of our laws we might derive much of profitable instruction, from the study of those which were revealed for the commonwealth of Israel by God. How impressive is this charge against removing a neighbour's landmark! How striking is such a law, without penalty attached, other than that which conscience would inflict on the transgressor! How considerate in behalf of the accused is this rule, that no conviction should take place without two witnesses at the least! How equitable is the punishment allotted to a false witness, that he should suffer that very penalty which he thought to have brought upon his brother; and this without mitigation, "member for member," "life for life!" Such is God's justice, even handed unto all. Such is the sentence which they who now sin against their brethren may well look for on that day, when our Lord shall fulfil his righteous words, "with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." Matth. 7. 2.

O. T. VOL. I. PART II.

X X

The people are instructed in 1 When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,

3 And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;

4 For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

5 And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.

6 And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.

7 And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her. 8 And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart.

the method of their warfare. 9 And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.

10 When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.

11 And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.

12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:

13 And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:

14 But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.

15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.

16 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:

17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:

18 That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their

gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God.

19 When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an ax against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down

(for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege :

20 Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued. LECTURE 339.

The evil consequences of refusing terms of peace.

The methods of warfare, which God here prescribes, shew plainly, that the wars intended were chastisements to be inflicted on the wicked by his own almighty hand. His people formed an army which He led Himself; and they were to trust implicitly in his guidance and protection. His priests were to exhort them in his name. And the officers commanding under Him, instead of studying to swell the numbers of the host, were to discharge, from the service of war, as many as could plead that they built a house, and not yet dedicated it, or planted a vineyard, and not yet eaten of it,or betrothed a wife, and not yet taken her; yea, and also as many as were "fearful and fainthearted," lest the hearts of their brethren should fail as well as theirs. When the army, thus reduced in numbers, but strengthened in faith, approached a city, "to fight against it;" first peace was to be offered. And if peace were accepted, it must be on these conditions, that all the people found in that city should become tributaries and servants to the Israelites. But if it would not make peace, then they must besiege it, without a doubt of God's delivering it into their hands, and without any wanton waste of such trees in the suburbs, as yielded fruit that was good for food. The city being thus sure to be taken, if they acted in obedience to the commandments of the Lord, they had then two courses to pursue; one, if it were a city "very far off" from them, in the extreme borders of their land; in which case, they were to slay the men, but to spare the women, and the children, and the spoil. Whereas in case it belonged to one of the chief nations of Canaan, whom they were especially bound to displace, then their order of procedure, against a city refusing their terms of peace, was expressed in these fearful words, "thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth." How painful it is to know, as we know from the book of Joshua, that with one exception, and that, accomplished by guile, "there was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel !" how awful to be further informed, that "it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly!" Josh. II. 19, 20. Oh may God forbid that when He offers peace through Christ to sinners, they should still prefer to be at enmity with Him! Oh may they take warning, and not provoke Him in his wrath, to give them up to a reprobate mind!

Of a man found slain, the 1 If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him:

2 Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: 3 And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; 4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley:

murderer being unknown.
to minister unto him, and to bless
in the name of the LORD; and by
their word shall every controver-
sy and every stroke be tried:
6 And all the elders of that
city, that are next unto the slain
man, shall wash their hands over
the heifer that is beheaded in the
valley:

7 And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.

8 Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.

9 So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD. LECTURE 340.

5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen

Justice and mercy consistent in the dealings of God. The impressive ceremony here enjoined was well calculated to give greater security to human life, by impressing the people with greater horror at the crime of murder. If one should be found slain, and the murderer could not be discovered, the guilt of innocent blood would be laid to the charge of the community, who were considered answerable for the life of every member thereof. In order for this blood to be forgiven them, the elders and judges are directed to measure the distances unto the cities "round about him that is slain." And the elders of that city must take an heifer, which had never yet been put to work; and must bring it to a waste place; or, as some rather interpret the words, to a stream of running water, whose bed could never have been cultivated. There they must strike off the heifer's neck, in the presence of "the priests the sons of Levi." And there they must significantly wash their hands over the heifer, and say, "Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Be merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge.'

[ocr errors]

It is not to be supposed that this heifer was offered as a sacrifice. For it was to be slain by the elders, not by the priests. And moreover no sacrifice might be offered in any other place, except

in that which God should choose, to put his name there. Rather the slaughter of the heifer was intended to signify, as an emblem, that the blood of the murderer ought to be shed, if he could by any means be found. And the ceremony was designed to give the more effect to the solemn protest, on the part of the elders, that they were unable to bring to punishment the perpetrator of the murder. Hence we may suppose that in after times Pilate derived the notion, of taking water, and washing his hands before the multitude, and saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person." Matth. 27. 24. Most gross abuse of a ceremony, designed as a safeguard to the lives of the innocent; but applied by the guilty governor, to justify himself in giving up the innocent to death! How different was its proper application! What watchfulness and diligence must it have made the rulers of the land exert, in every case of a person found slain, to bring the criminal to punishment! What horror must it have led the beholders to feel towards the crime of wilful bloodshedding! And how greatly does the peace and happiness of society depend upon the universal and strong abhorrence in which that crime is held! Let us think what would be our state, if the violent were under any less restraint from preying upon the weak; if they that watch by night for plunder, or that harbour all day long the spirit of revenge, might presume on risk of escaping, in case they dared to take their brother's life. If we call to mind how many such there are, nurtured from childhood in iniquity, restrained by no fear of God, alike ignorant of his Law and of his Gospel, we shall be the more disposed to marvel at the peaceful sleep, and unmolested possession of their goods, enjoyed by so many millions in the land; we shall be the more disposed to thank our heavenly Father for giving us the blessing of good laws on earth, and the ordinance of rulers to enforce them; "for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well!" 1 Pet. 2. 14.

It cannot fail to be observed how very frequently some statute is occurring, in the law revealed by Moses, relating to the subject of bloodshed. Except the worship of false gods and idols, there is perhaps no offence which is the subject of divine legislation so frequently as this. And it is remarkable that no small part of the chapter before the last is devoted to this humane purpose; whilst the law which occurs between the two, lays down the severe method in which the people were to make war with the inhabitants of Canaan. Here then we see mercy and justice close together. Here we learn that both are strictly consistent, in the character and dealings of the one true God. In the punishment of obstinate offenders, He spares not to destroy every thing that hath breath, in a whole city at once. And yet the innocent blood of a single man found slain is dear in his sight. May we never so presume upon his mercy, as to forget that He will judge the world in righteousness! May we never be so disheartened by the terrors of his justice, as not to be moved chiefly by his love!

« ¡è͹˹éÒ´Óà¹Ô¹¡ÒõèÍ
 »