2002-01-01
Good Morning Fellow Believers,
Many Christians who have limited exposure to the OT complain to me about how harsh it is. There is some truth to this, but we must understand God knew that He was in the process of civilizing His people. It’s hard for us living in our times to imagine how cruel people were in the past and how much it was necessary for them to be given some kind of code of behavior to live by so that they could continue to even exist. We all know that the most evil of peoples throughout mankind’s history have ceased to exist. Good examples are the Edomites, whose demise as a people is described in the book of Obadiah, and the Nazi regime in more modern times. I do not mean to imply that people can’t be very cruel today, but in the more civilized countries punishment of crimes is handled with more consideration for intent and in more humane ways. An example of this is that crucifixion is no longer used as the method of capital punishment. Instead, it is done by lethal injection. It is my supposition, based on RO 7: 7, that God handed down the old covenant of the Law as a means of allowing people to know what behavior is acceptable to Him and what is not. Had God given the Covenant of Grace at the time He gave the Covenant of the Law, the people would not have been ready for it; they wouldn’t be sufficiently civilized, for lack of a better way to put it. There is great value to us in knowing the gradual revelation of God’s teaching, so we can see where a particular teaching comes from and the ultimate wisdom of God’s perfect timing in advancing His plan.
I am led to continue our discussion of the traits of a kinsman-redeemer. So far, we have seen the following: 1) He must be a blood relative; 2) He must be able to pay the price of redemption; 3) He must have a desire to redeem; 4) He must be willing to redeem; and 5) He must serve as judicial executioner of his relative’s murderer. It is the last one that I continue to discuss today.
Having said all of this, we need to look at DT 19: 1-3, 10-13, which discusses the cities of refuge in ancient Israel, God’s earlier effort to find a righteous way to deal with murderers. “After the Lord your God has destroyed the people whose land He is giving you and after you have taken their cities and houses and settled there, divide the territory into three parts, each with a city that can be easily reached. Then, a man who kills someone will be able to escape to one of them for protection…Do this, so that innocent people will not die and so that you will not be guilty of putting them to death in the land that the Lord is giving you. But suppose a man deliberately murders his enemy in cold blood and then escapers to one of those cities for protection. In that case, the leaders of his own town are to send for him and hand him over to the relative responsible for taking revenge for the murder, so that he may be put to death. Show him no mercy. Rid Israel of this murderer, so that all will go well with you.” Being a kinsman-redeemer has some very unpleasant responsibilities associated with it, but such a person is really necessary if justice in ancient times was to be carried out. The very last verse in this passage gives us the overall picture of God’s intent. In other words, it’s a reminder to the people and to us of God’s whole reason for setting Israel apart as a nation in the first place. His will is that this should be a nation of “His chosen people, a people dedicated to Him alone” [EX 19: 5-6] and that Israel should be “a light to the nations” [IS 49: 6]. The words of 1 PET 2: 9 support this notion. “But you are the chosen race, the Kings’ priests, the holy nation. God’s own people, chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God, Who called you out of darkness into His own marvelous light.” God wanted His people to live lives of holiness and purity centered on Him. Allowing a premeditated murder to go either without punishment or with very lenient punishment just doesn’t fit within the context of His righteousness or His purpose for His own people. Such a person is totally overcome with the stronghold that Satan has over his life.
The Hebrew word for “to avenge” is “gaal” [pronounced gay-all, a verb]. The noun for this verb, meaning “avenger of blood” is “goel” [pronounced go-ell, with the accent on the first syllable]. That whole term, “avenger of blood” is almost always used. These words for the kinsman-redeemer and the action he is to take indicate and emphasize a relationship between the redeemer and the redeemed. Tomorrow, we will look at NU 35: 15-25, 30-31, and 33 for a deeper understanding of what God reveals on this topic. This will help us better understand the depth of the love our Lord has for us in giving up His physical life on the cross so we could find salvation through repentance and faith in Him. There isn’t a single one of us who isn’t impacted enormously by what God and His Son have done for us. I find in this sufficient motivation to spend more time in my life praising and thanking God for the love He shows us and the presence He is in our daily lives. How about you?
PRAYER: O Lord, today You draw our attention to the writing you inspired Peter to do. 1 PET 1: 15-16 makes Your will for us clear. “Instead [of allowing your lives to be shaped by what you desired when you were ignorant], be holy in all that you do, just as God Who called you is holy. The Scriptures [LV 11: 44-45; LV 19: 2] say, ‘Be holy because I am holy.’” 1 PET 1: 18-19 remind us that Christ paid the costly sacrifice like a Lamb without defect that was the price for our redemption. Your will is further illuminated in 1 PET 2: 4-5, “Come to the Lord, the Living Stone rejected by man as worthless but chosen by God as valuable. Come as living stones, and let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple, where you will serve as holy priests to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 PET 3: 21, 23b-24 allows us to know how we can please You, Dearest Abba. “It was to this that God call you, for Christ Himself suffered for you and left you an example, so you would follow in His steps…When He suffered, He did not threaten, but placed His hopes in God, the righteous Judge. Christ himself carried our sins in His body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. It is by His wounds that we are you are healed.” Each day as we study Your holy word, You give us greater insight into Your will for us and Your reasons for setting that agenda. We humbly offer You the confession of our sin, our willingness to not waste one drop of our Kinsman-Redeemer’s blood by being trusting and obedient of You, and our heartfelt praise and thanks for all that You are and all that You do for us. Often You ask us to take a difficult path, but this is always done with Your clear perspective (certainly clearer than ours) of what is for our greatest good. Each day, You keep the promise of RO 8: 28, and we must rely on that. So, dearest Lord, You have our adoration, worship, glory, honor, diligence and loyalty forever. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
As mentioned above, tomorrow I will go on with more discussion of the fifth trait of a kinsman-redeemer. It is my hope that the Holy Spirit is allowing you to see the important connections between the OT and NT. I also pray that you are discovering, as I am, even more manifestations of God’s love for each of us every day. What a faith-builder and blessing we can find that to be! Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn