The second half of the book of Joshua is little better than a list of cities, regions, and borders, as they were divided amongst the tribes of Israel. To someone as unschooled in Middle East geography as me, these chapters may as well be in the original Hebrew, I cannot even begin to guess the size of the areas the Bible draws out in these areas. Amid all this division of land, though, come 6 verses that fascinate me to no end.
“Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying ‘Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, “Designate the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the manslayer who kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood. He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and state his case in the hearing of the elders of that city; and they shall take him into the city and give him a place, so that he may dwell among them. Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand. 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.”’” – Joshua 20:1-6
How absolutely fascinating! A system of law that looks at the heart and intent of the wrongdoer and not just the action. How just like a God who saves. Intent is everything here. If the manslayer is proven to be without intent, he is free from punishment under this system. God taught the Israelites mercy by establishing these cities, he taught them the power of forgiveness. God had never supported the “wrong for a wrong” principle, and now He was setting up plans that frustrated such fleshly goals.
Imagine for a moment that we live in ancient times. While hewing wheat in the fields, I accidentally scythe your brother rather than the wheat. The males in your family would hunt me down, and kill me for what I had done. My family would then rise up against yours. Welcome to the classic blood feud. However, what is plain to the reader of Joshua is that the Israelites power, just like humanity’s power before the fall of Babel, lies in unity. By destroying the presence of blood feuds, God retained the unifying strength of His people. By teaching them how to forgive, He kept them from killing each other.
And so God taught them mercy…have we learned the lesson?
