UNROLL
Dusk in the hill country: a small town of fieldstone and mud brick on a rise, its plain gateway open with a clay lamp glowing inside, a cleared road marked by small cairns winding up to it from a darkening valley.

The Book of

Deuteronomy 19

Roads kept open to safety for the one who killed by accident, and courts that will not condemn anyone on a single word.

21 verses≈ 4 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–4Remember the wayFrom Horeb to Moab
  2. 5–11Love the LORDThe heart of the covenant
  3. 12–26Laws for the landWorship, justice, neighborChapter 19
  4. 27–30Blessing and curseChoose life
  5. 31–34Moses' farewellA song, a blessing, a death

Cities of Refuge

When the LORD your God has cut off the nations whose land He is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their cities and houses, then you are to set apart for yourselves three cities within the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

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Moses
Sunrise from a high ridge over range after range of hills, valleys and small towns, the land opening wide toward a far horizon.

And if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you all the land He promised them, and if you carefully keep all these commandments I am giving you today, loving the LORD your God and walking in His ways at all times, then you are to add three more cities to these three.

Thus innocent blood will not be shed in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.

0:26

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

If, however, a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait, attacks him and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities, the elders of his city must send for him, bring him back, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die. You must show him no pity. You are to purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, that it may go well with you.

You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, which was set up by your ancestors to mark the inheritance you shall receive in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

Jordan RiverSea of GalileeDead SeaKedeshShechemHebronBezer (site uncertain)Ramoth in Gilead (site uncertain)Golan (site uncertain)

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

Six cities of refuge

Three cities west of the Jordan, named when the land was settled (Joshua 20): Kedesh in Galilee, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Hebron in the hill country of Judah. Three east of the Jordan, set apart by Moses (4:43): Bezer, Ramoth in Gilead and Golan. Spread north to south on both sides of the river, they kept refuge within reach of every part of Israel. The sites of Bezer, Ramoth and Golan are uncertain.

Reflect

Where do you run?

The manslayer did not hide in the woods or try to talk his way out. He ran, to “flee to one of these cities to save his life,” down a road kept open for him. The New Testament says that believers have fled to God for refuge too. When guilt, fear or shame catches up with you, where do you run? Write down what you tend to hide in, and then what it would look like to run to Christ instead.

The Testimony of Two or Three Witnesses

A lone witness is not sufficient to establish any wrongdoing or sin against a man, regardless of what offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Deuteronomy 19:15

Morning at a town gate in the hill country: two village men stand side by side before three gray-bearded elders seated on a stone bench, one with his hand raised as he speaks, the other nodding.
At the gate of the tabernacle court, a priest in white linen and two gray-bearded judges sit on a stone bench; two men stand before them a pace apart, one with his head lowered.

The law

A false witness

  1. Court

    A witness accuses falsely

    If a false witness testifies against someone, accusing him of a crime,

  2. Both stand before the LORD

    both parties to the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD, before the priests and judges who are in office at that time.

  3. The judges investigate thoroughly

    The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is proven to be a liar who has falsely accused his brother,

  4. Justice

    Do to him what he intended

    you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother.

  5. Purge the evil from among you

    So you must purge the evil from among you.

  6. Warning

    The rest will hear and be afraid

    Then the rest of the people will hear and be afraid, and they will never again do anything so evil among you.

You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.

Question

Quick question

Israel’s courts were not to condemn anyone on a single accusation.

How many witnesses did it take to establish a charge?

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Deuteronomy 19

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A verse to carry with you

A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Deuteronomy 19:15

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