Numbers 33:1-49 - The Dwelling Of The Faithful: The Redeemer: The Sanctity Of Life

I. THE PROVISION WHICH GOD MAKES FOR HIS OWN , AND THEIR DISPERSION ;

II. THE REFUGE SET BEFORE HIM THAT IS GUILTY OF BLOOD ;

III. THE SANCTITY OF LIFE .

I. In the regulations made for the habitation of the Levites and their cattle we have some sort of precedent for religious endowments; but this precedent loses all value in argument when we consider that the old dispensation was essentially temporal, which ours is not; moreover, the Levites do not correspond to the clergy, but rather to the inner circle of the faithful, who are more emphatically the "salt of the earth." Consider, therefore, as to the habitation of the Levites—

1 . That it was the will of God to disperse them as widely as possible throughout Israel—a thing which might have been looked upon as a punishment to them ( Genesis 49:7 ), but was really for the common good. Even so it is his will that his own, who are more especially his own, should be scattered far and wide among the mass of imperfect or nominal Christians; not gathered together in one corner of Christendom, but everywhere found as the few among the many. And note that this is the very law of "salt," which must be scattered and diffused to exercise its antiseptic functions.

2 . That the Levites, although dispersed, yet lived in communities, and this no doubt that they might set forth the life of holiness according to the law. Even so there is, beside the law of dispersion, a counter-law of aggregation for "the spiritual," which makes mightily for holiness. For Christianity is a life, and life is complex, and therefore can only be lived by many who agree. There should be centers of high religious influence everywhere, but those centers should be strong.

3 . That the allotments of the Levites, though Sufficient, were far from being extensive, on any understanding of the text. Even so, for those who would be an example to Christ's flock, sufficiency is the rule, and nothing more ( 1 Timothy 6:8 ). God does not design poverty for his own ( Luke 12:31 ), unless voluntarily embraced ( Luke 12:33 ), but assuredly not wealth ( Luke 6:24 ).

4 . That the object aimed at in the allotment of their cities was to give each tribe, and even each tribesman, a personal and local interest in the Levites. Even so it is the will of God that those who specially follow after him should be identified as strongly as possible with those around them, in order that these may love and reverence them. Every Christian land has its "saints," by whom it is the more edified in that it feels them to be specially its own.

Consider also, mystically—

1 . That the Levitical cities numbered forty-eight, i.e; 12 x 4—the first being the symbol of the universal (apostolic—see Revelation 21:14 ) Church, the second of the whole earth ( Matthew 8:11 ; Revelation 21:13 ), the whole signifying diffusion throughout the world. Even so the religious life is universal in all parts of the Church of God, even in those which seem to us most remote.

2 . That the enclosures round the Levitical cities measured the same every way—lay foursquare as far as possible. Even so it is the ideal of the religious life that it be not one-sided, or unequal, but attain its full-development in all directions; if not it must be starved to some extent.

II. The law of refuge from the goel is one of the most striking, and yet difficult, of the foreshadowings of the gospel. It is complicated, in the spiritual interpretation, by the fact that Christ is the Victim with whose blood our hands are stained, and our only Refuge, while he is also typified as Redeemer by the goel, and as Messiah by the anointed priest. Consider, however—

1 . That the law presupposed and provided for a state of blood-guiltiness, which brought after it the sentence of death ( Genesis 9:6 ). Even so the gospel presupposes that all have sinned, and have become guilty of the death of Christ, who died for our sins, and have incurred the sentence of eternal death. David said, "Deliver me from blood-guiltiness" ( Psalms 51:14 ), but he had already incurred it ( 2 Samuel 12:9 ); and so have we (cf. Hebrews 6:6 ; Hebrews 10:29 ).

2 . That it provided for such blood-guiltiness as was unwittingly incurred. Even so Christ's excuse for us is that we "know not what we do" ( Luke 23:24 ), and our hope is that we have not willfully and deliberately preferred sin as such ( Acts 3:17 ; 1 Timothy 1:13 ).

3 . That it presupposed that the avenger was on foot to take the life of the manslayer. Even so the gospel testifies by its very offers of mercy that the Divine justice is surely gone forth with the edict of death against every soul that hath sinned, and that it is a mere matter of time when that justice shall overtake the sinner ( Genesis 3:3 ; Ezekiel 18:4 ; Romans 3:9 , Romans 3:19 , &c.;).

4 . That it pleased God to open a door of safety to the fugitive without staying the avenger. For the mission of the goel was very needful for that age, and yet it was the will of God to spare the unwitting homicide. Even so it has pleased God in a wonderful manner to provide a refuge for the sinner without compromising the Divine justice. The wrath of God against sin and the necessary punishment of sin are declared by the very means which bring salvation to the sinner ( Romans 3:26 , &c.;).

5 . That this refuge was so distributed in six cities, three on each side Jordan, that it was everywhere accessible. Even so the sinner's refuge in Jesus Christ is everywhere and by all accessible, if they will without delay flee into it ( Hebrews 6:18 , &c.;). And note that whereas almost all other religious privilege and promise was concentrated at Jerusalem, this refuge was distributed to all quarters of Jewish settlement, intimating that salvation in Christ is attainable wherever men call upon his name ( Romans 9:33 , &c.;).

6 . That in order to be safe the manslayer must flee to the city of refuge, which was a Levitical city ( not a solitary post or a mere sanctuary ) , and there must take up his abode among the Levites. Even so the sinner who desires to escape from the sentence of Divine justice must flee for refuge unto Christ to take hold on his merits; but in doing so he does ipso facto find a home in the society of the truly faithful, and in that society he will abide. The life of one that is escaped from wrath is not a solitary-walk with God, but a dwelling in a populous city ( Acts 2:42 ; Colossians 3:15 ; Hebrews 12:22 , Hebrews 12:23 ; cf. Psalms 31:21 , &c.;).

7 . That the manslayer must never stir outside his refuge at risk of his life; if he did, the goel was at liberty to slay him. Even so the sinner must never quit his refuge in Christ for one hour, lest he perish; neither may he (which is part of the same thing) withdraw from the society of the faithful, for that is his (outward) protection. At whatever risk and less of things temporal, he must abide under the shelter of the atonement.

Consider again, with respect to the death of the high priest, and the staying of blood-feuds—

1 . That the high priest typified Christ, not in that he died by virtue of individual mortality, but in that he lived by virtue of official immortality (see on Numbers 20:28 ; Hebrews 7:24 , Hebrews 7:25 ); wherefore it is contrary to the whole analogy of Scripture to attribute any power of atonement to the death of the high priest.

2 . That the high priest was not only the mediator and intercessor for Israel, but was also the chief minister of the law of God, and therefore the avenger of all iniquity against Israel, especially of all blood-guiltiness; in a word, he represented Divine justice as well as Divine compassion.

3 . That the death of the high priest, which set the escaped manslayer free from all constraints and restrictions, must be taken to represent the passing away (as far as we are concerned) of the law of God as directed against sin. But this will only be when sin itself shall have wholly ceased, i.e; at the resurrection of the just; then, and only then, will all restraints, all constraints, all necessities for sacrifice and renunciation, all penalties for forsaking the society of the faithful, be for ever abolished as no longer needful.

Consider also, in connection with this—

1 . That the word goel is translated avenger, kinsman, and redeemer; the same personage sustaining in fact all these characters, and that by a natural law due to the circumstances of the age.

2 . That our Lord is unquestionably our God, in that he is our Kinsman, who has made himself our nearest blood relation, and in that he is our Redeemer, who hath redeemed for us our forfeited possession in the kingdom of heaven.

3 . That he is also our Goel in that he is in readiness to avenge as Judge all wrongs done unto the temporal or spiritual lives of his own. This is indeed little considered, but is certainly true, since he alone wields all power in heaven and in earth (see Matthew 28:18 ; Hebrews 4:12 , Hebrews 4:13 , where the "Word of God" is evidently the personal Word; Luke 18:7 ; 2 Thessalonians 1:6 ; Revelation 6:10 ; Revelation 19:2 , &c.;).

4 . That the work and office of Christ as Avenger and Defender of his own will cease and determine with the final end of all wickedness, and then he will be Goel no longer in this sense (see 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 compared with Revelation 7:17 , &c.;). And this change, whereby the Avenger will be wholly swallowed up in the Kinsman and Redeemer, seems to be symbolized by the death of the high priest (see above).

III. The laws of manslaughter here declared have rather a moral than a spiritual value. The one thing which they uphold as a principle is the sanctity of human life, and the duty of inflicting capital punishment for murder, as laid down in Genesis 9:1-29 . It is difficult to see that this duty is less under the gospel, because the bringing in of the gospel has not changed the fundamental relations of man to his Maker as based upon creation; rather it would seem to have added to the sanctity of human life by adding to the ties which knit that life to the life of God (cf. Acts 9:4 , Acts 9:5 ; 1 Corinthians 6:15 ; 2 Peter 1:4 ). Whatever may be held, however, as touching the duties of civil governors, we may consider—

1 . That the sin against God involved in murder is enormous, and this guilt is incurred by every one that hateth his brother ( 1 John 3:15 ).

2 . That the guilt of murder lay before God in the intention to kill, wherefore murders also proceed out of the heart ( Mark 7:21 ).

3 . That it was laid upon the congregation to show by prompt and righteous procedure that they had no sympathy with the murderer.

4 . That in the absence of such vindication of justice the land was polluted with blood in the eyes of God, who dwelt therein.

5 . That there is a crime which is murder, but is worse than any killing of the body, i.e; the destroying of the soul by leading it into sin.

6 . That it is laid upon all the faithful to show their horror and detestation of this crime by their treatment of seducers and tempters ( 1 Corinthians 5:11 ; Ephesians 5:11 ; 2 Timothy 2:21 ; 2 John 1:11 ).

7 . That indulgence and sympathy extended to destroyers of souls that have not repented brings down the wrath of God upon a Church, and makes it hateful in his eyes (see Isaiah 1:21 , &c.;).

8 . That this sinful indulgence of seducers is excused by human considerations, in forgetfulness that God is in the midst of his people, and that every sin so lightly excused or ignored stares him in the face ( 2 Corinthians 6:16 ; Revelation 2:1 ).

9 . That if the blood of Abel cried to him from the ground, and if the land of Canaan could not be cleansed from the blood of its slain, how much more will he be moved by that destruction of immortal souls which is wrought by the wicked lives and solicitations of bad Christians I