The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 463

11liehed in the following way :-1. Certain citiea were made ,anct'll,<1,ry cities (Exod. xxi. 13). The avenger of blood might pursue the manelayer to the gate of the city of refuge; might kill him, if he could, before reaching the gate; bat at the gate 'he had to halt and sheathe hie sword. 2. Although the gate of the city of refuge was open to every manslayer, the cit'll did n-0t suffer the wilful murderer to laugh at tlu BW<>rd of j'U,Stice. It gave provisional protection to all, but only to save them from the bhnd and indiscriminating anger of the avenger of blood. The refugees were sheltered only till they had stood a regular trial (ver. 12). If it should be .proved to the satisfaction of the congregation that the accused person had been guilty of murder, he was to be delivered up to the avenger of blood to be killed. 3. If, on the contrary, it should be found that the manslayer meant no harm, that it wa, a case of accidental homicide, the city of refuae was u, afford him inviolable ,1a1nctuary. The law did not (as with us) suffer him to go home free. Accidental homicide is often the result of carelessness. To teach men not to trifle with the -sanctity of life, the manslayer, although no murderer, had to confine himself to the -city of his refuge. But so long as he abode within its walls he was safe. IL THE ORDINANCE 01!' THE CITY 011' BKP'UGE CONSIDERED AS A TYPE. That it had :a typical reference might be gathered (were there nothing else) from the direction that the manelayer was to continue in the sanctnary city "until the death of the high priest; " a meaningleee provision if the statute had been only a piece of criminal law, Considered as a type, the ordinance represents-1. Our condition a, sinners. We are exposed to the vengeance of God's law, and the stroke may fall npon ue at any moment. A condition in which there can be no solid peace. 2. What Christ is to those who are found in him. He ie their High Priest, whose life is the security for their life ; who "is able to eave to the uttermost, seeing he ever liveth" (Heh. vii. :25 ), And he is their Refuge, insomuch that for them the one thing needful is that they be found in him (Rom. viii. 1, 38, 39 ; Philip. iii. 8, 9). 3. How we may obtain 1M salvat:ion whica is in Christ. It is by fleeing into him for refuge and therellfter abiding in him continually. In him we are safe, out of him we are lost. This way of salvation is such ae renders inexcusable those who neglect it. The cities of refuge were so distributed that no manslayer had far to run before reaching one. There were three on each side of Jordan ; of the three, in each case, one lay near the north ,border, one near the south border, and one in the middle. Every city was the natural -centre of its ~rovince and accessible from every side. They were so situated that no fugitive required to cross either a river or a mountain chain before reaching his refuge. How strikingly is all this realised in Christ our refuge 1-B. Vere. 30-34.- Whg the murderer mu,t be put to <Uath. This passage brings up a •subject not often discussed in the pulpit. Yet it surely is a subject which comes home to the business of us all, In a country like ours the administration of justice, the execution of vengeance on evil-doers, is a duty in which every one has to bear 11, ,part. We may not all be officers of justice, but we must all act as infonnere, or ·witnesses, or jurymen. It is of high importance, therefore, that every member of -the community should be well instructed regarding the principles which lie at the -foundation of the criminal law, and, in particular, should know why and on what authority the community lays hold upon evil-doors and inflicts on them the punish- ment of their crimes. I. Observe THE 0COABI0N of the statute here delivered. It is an appendix to the :law regarding the cities of refuge. That law WRS designed to shield the involuntary homicide from the avenger of blood. The intention was good ; but good intentions ,do no~ always prevent dan~eroue mistakes. It often hapP.ene that good men in labouring to caet out one evd open the door to a greater evil A follower of John ,Howard may so press the duty of humanity towards prisoners as to deprive the .prison of its deterrent power. So in Israel there was a danger that the care taken to restrain the avenger of blood from touching the involuntary mnnelayer might have .the effect of deadening the public sense of the enormity of murder, and weakening men's resentment against the murderer, The design of the stutute before us is to .prevent ao mischievous a result. II. What then are THE PB0VISI0N8 01' THE STATlJTE? 1. The ancient law whic/a. 454 THE BOOK OF NUMBEUS. [ea. n:xv. 1-3f.