Deuteronomy 19:1-21

Justice is a very difficult thing for us to find in a fallen world.  It seems that those who can afford to pay lawyers always find a way to manipulate the law and can get away with almost anything.  God did not want this to be true in the nation of Israel.  He wanted His people to be known for their holiness and their justice.  Moses gives clear explanations as to how God wanted the children of Israel to handle various situations where justice could easily be perverted.

ACCIDENTS: We all must realize that accidents to happen and as a result of these accidents people end up getting hurt or even killed.  The person who made the mistake had no intention of hurting or killing the other person and would do whatever he could to go back in time and be able to avoid the accident, but is unable to do so.  Moses gives the example of two friends in the woods cutting down trees and the ax head accidentally flies off and kills the other friend.  There was no intent to kill, but the friend is dead none the less.  In the mid-east culture and in many cultures; the close relative of the dead person would have the right to take vengeance on the other person.  God makes provision to protect the innocent person from further bloodshed by providing cities of refuge where a person could flee and be protected.  We don’t use cities of refuge today, but we should still recognize that we need to hold no ill will against those who accidentally hurt or kill those who are close to us.  Inflicting pain or allowing bitterness to take residence in our hearts is useless and only makes the situation much worse for all involved.  God would have us be a forgiving and loving people who cry together over the results of accidents but never try to find comfort through any form of revenge.

MURDER: There is a great difference between accidental death and the person who plans and plot against another and take a life because of hatred.  God places a very high value on the life of men and in no way permits the intentional taking of life.  Those who commit murder were likely to do so again and so the just punishment of the murderer was for his life to be taken by the community.  It seems odd to say that the taking of the life of one who murders is actually a way of valuing life, but that is the argument behind this law.  The Law of Moses clearly permits and even requires death as punishment for may sins and crimes.  I am not suggesting that we must follow the Law of Moses in today’s system of justice.  However, I do believe that we need to place a very high value on the lives of men and that our laws should do all that they can to protect the lives of those who would fall victim to the murderers f our society.

LIARS: Another perversion of justice could easily come about through the false testimony of one person against another.  The Law required that there be two or three testimonies against a person in order for him to be convicted.  The person who gives a false testimony against another is, in fact, committing a crime against that person and seeking to inflict that person by abusing the system of justice.  God detests this practice and required in the Law that the person who gave a false testimony should be punished according to the punishment he was attempting to have inflicted upon the innocent person.  God wants His people to be known as honest and truthful.  We must never try to manipulate the law so that it hurts others or gives some sort of unfair advantage to ourselves.  God desires that all of us be holy and just because that is who He is and He wants His glory to be reflected through us.