Deuteronomy 19:8

Concerning the cities of refuge that the Israelites were told to set up in the Old Testament, the Bible says in Deuteronomy 19:8-13, “And if the LORD thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers;[9] If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three:[10] That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.[11] But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities:[12] Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.[13] Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.” In verse 8 the Lord tells the Israelites the circumstances under which they would need to add additional cities of refuge. If the nation of Israel grew to its intended boundaries, they would need more cities of refuge. Notice the word “if.” “And if the LORD thy God enlarge thy coast…” If you do increase in wealth or possessions or opportunity, it is because God causes that to happen. You have a potential for all that God wants you to accomplish, but the question is: will you realize that potential? There will be many pitfalls, and you will need God’s help.

The way that we get God’s help in the day in which we live is to trust in Jesus. The Israelites were told in Deuteronomy 19V9, “If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways.” Of course, this verse is from the Old Testament, and we expect it to say that the Israelites must “keep all these commandments to do them.” That is the requirement of the law. By the way this requirement the Israelites did not keep. No one can keep it. In the New Testament times in which we live, we must try to do what God wants, of course, but what we really rely upon is Jesus and His grace and mercy to us. That is the central theme of the difference between the Old Testament and its covenant, and the New Testament and its covenant. In the old covenant of the law the Israelites were told to please God by keeping all of the commandments. They did not do it. They failed, and so their country was taken away from them. And also God decided to give a new covenant that is much better than the old covenant. The new covenant is based upon the blood of Christ which was shed to pay the price for sin. Once you have faith in Christ, you can enter into this blessed relationship with God no matter what your past has been. Righteousness is given to you freely. Heaven is given to you freely. You do not earn the blessings and you cannot earn them. God gives them to you because of Christ, not because of you.

The Israelites were told to obey all the commandments, and they were also told to love God. If you are going to try and keep God’s commandments, then one of the commandments will be to love God. That is the most important commandment. The Bible says in

Mark 12:28-30, “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?[29] And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:[30] And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

The third thing mentioned in Deuteronomy 19:9 that the Israelites needed for the Lord to enlarge their coasts was “to walk ever in his ways.” To walk in God’s ways, you must know what His ways are. To obey God’s commandments, you must at least know what the commandments are. You get that knowledge from the Bible: the Word of God. That is one reason we need to read and study and hear the Word. It says “and to walk ever in his ways.” That means you just keep on keeping on. If you fall, you get back up and you keep on walking in God’s ways. If you sin, you ask Jesus to forgive you, and you keep on walking in His ways. If someone hurts you or disappoints you, you put your eyes on Jesus and keep on following Him. Never stop walking in His ways. Never.

Back on the subject of the cities of refuge, the Lord made it very clear that those cities were for people to escape to who had accidentally been involved in an event where someone died. But there is no escape for someone who commits murder. That is very clear. God commanded the Israelites to put to death anyone who committed murder. This is what God said about the murderer in verse 13, “Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.” A nation that does not properly punish evildoers will become an evil nation. Any leader who allows evil to proceed when it could have been stopped through the proper punishments is an evil leader. These leaders serve under God’s authority and power. Woe to the nation that does not properly punish evildoers.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 19:14-21, “Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.[15] One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.[16] If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;[17] Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;[18] And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;[19] Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.[20] And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.[21] And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” It is a good idea to always remember that these commandments from the law that we are reading were given not only to guide individual conduct, but also to guide a nation. These were the laws of the nation of Israel. A nation was set up and established based upon these laws. This was their constitution and their bill of rights. The verses that we just read have several important principles for the nation of Israel.

The commandment from verse 14 says, “Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark.” This has to do with respecting other people’s property and other people’s rights. It refers to treating others honestly and fairly. This commandment is one example of obeying the tenth commandment that says, “Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbors.” To covet means to have an overly-strong desire for something. One of the problems with having too strong of a desire for something is that a strong desire increases the temptation to do something dishonest to get it.

This goal of treating people honestly and fairly is why verse 15 says, “at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.” In other words there is always the possibility that someone will be falsely accused, and so the Bible says that one witness against a person is not enough to establish the truth of a matter. There must at least be two or three witnesses. If someone is found to be a false witness in a court of law, then their punishment should be the same as the innocent person would have received. That is why it says in verse 19, “Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.” An evil deed cries out for justice. Something about a nation and about a people is out of sync if crimes against the innocent are not properly punished.

The punishment must fit the crime. That is the message. If the punishment is too light, one result can be that other people in the community will see that only a light punishment is given for such a crime and so they will decide to do the same thing. The Bible says that punishments are a deterrent to more crime. That is why it says in verse 20, “And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.”

How does a judicial system determine if a punishment is the right punishment for a given crime? The principle to use to answer that question is found in verse 21 that says, “And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” Remember that this principle is for a judicial system. It is not for individual relationships. Some people over the centuries have taken this verse and used it for a get-even philosophy of life. Jesus made it clear that should not be done. Jesus said in Matthew 5:38-39, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:[39] But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” As Jesus did with other commandments from the Old Testament, He set this one aside and replaced it with a commandment of His own. That is because the New Testament trumps the Old Testament. The gracious and merciful teachings of Jesus sometimes set aside the harsh teachings of the Old Testament. As it says in John 1:17, “The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 20:1-4, “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.[2] And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,[3] And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;[4] For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” We live in a world of war. Verse 1 does not say, “If you go out to battle…” It says, “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies.” Jesus said that we will have wars and rumors of war all the way until we get to the end of the age. The disciples asked Jesus about the end times, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Part of Jesus’ answer is in Matthew 24:5-8, “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.[6] And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.[7] For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.[8] All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Thank God that there are at least some short times of peace, but there will be no lasting peace until the Lord returns.

Not only will there be wars between nations, but the Christian life is often described as a war in the New Testament. For example, it says in Ephesians 6:11-13, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.[12] For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.[13] Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

Concerning the spiritual battles that we will certainly have, the passage in Deuteronomy chapter 20 tells believers several important truths about the victory that we can have. First, it tells us not to fear. Then it tells us why we do not need to fear. We do not need to fear because God is with us. In other words God is on our side. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” We do not need to fear because God will fight for us. It says in verse 4, “For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies.” No matter how great the battle, God will “save” us. It sure is good to be a Christian. There are so many benefits. If you do not know Jesus as Savior, today you can bow before Jesus and pray to Him for forgiveness from your sins.

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