Removing Evil from the Land

Order of Service

Welcome

Prayer

Hymn -

Notices

Prayer Meeting - 7:30pm

Friday 7pm - Online

Sunday Morning 11am & 6pm

Tithes & Offerings - £

Main Prayer

Hymn -

Reading

Deuteronomy 19 ESV

“When the Lord your God cuts off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. You shall measure the distances and divide into three parts the area of the land that the Lord your God gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them. “This is the provision for the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past— as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live, lest the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past. Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities. And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers— provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and by walking ever in his ways—then you shall add three other cities to these three, lest innocent blood be shed in your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you. “But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that it may be well with you. “You shall not move your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Sermon

The land they will enter is a gift from the Lord their God

Evil would defile the land and would need to be either prevented or purged

Bloodshed in the Land (v1-13)

Deuteronomy 19:1–13 ESV

“When the Lord your God cuts off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. You shall measure the distances and divide into three parts the area of the land that the Lord your God gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them. “This is the provision for the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past— as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live, lest the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past. Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities. And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers— provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and by walking ever in his ways—then you shall add three other cities to these three, lest innocent blood be shed in your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you. “But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that it may be well with you.

“The Land the Lord your God is giving you” occurs 5 times in verses 1-14

It significies the importance for Israel of recognising God’s Gift and lving appropriately in it

Christians are God’s People, and where we live is His too

God’s Law

Genesis 9:5–6 ESV

And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

When blood is spilled it cries out to God

Genesis 4:10–11 ESV

And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

10 Commandments

Deuteronomy 5:17 ESV

“ ‘You shall not murder.

Cities of Refuge

3 cities, central to three areas of the land of Israel

Example of Manslaughter

Axe head flies off when swung killing another

No prior hate between them

Flee to City of Refuge and remain there

Family avenging death of a relative was due to lack of legal structures especially in rural areas

The danger is of relatives cannot distinguishing in their grief and anger between murder and accidental death

God’s concern for justice and the protection of human life is clear

Example of murder

Prior hate

Lying in wait

Strike, causing death (not necessarily instant)

You shall show them no pity

two or three witnesses

Purge them from Israel

In case the murderer tries to use the refuge city they will be tried (v11 - 13)

The writter of Hebrews describes the blood that calls not for vengence but for forgiveness ...

English Standard Version Chapter 12

Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Even murderers can find forgiveness here.

Inheritance in the Land (v14)

Deuteronomy 19:14 ESV

“You shall not move your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

Landmark stones marked out the land allocated to each family

To move such stones would be stealing, and reduce the ability for a family to survive

To move such stones to allocate to one’s own family what God had given to another

Such an act was rebellion against God

Has no place among a people so bless with God’s gifts

We cannot also disconnect this verse from the verses surrounding

False Witness in the Land (v15-21)

Deuteronomy 19:15–21 ESV

“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

“A single witness shall nto suffice against a person for any crime [objectionable behaviour] or for any wrong in connection with any offense [law/duty/moral] that he has committed”

As seen with capital punishment requires two or more witnesses

The penalty shall we equivalent to the seriousness of the crime

“Life for life, tooth for tooth, hand for hand,foot for foot”

It is the principal of proportionality

Prevents disproprortionate punishment

Expansion of the 9th Commandment (v15-21)

It is not mearly about always speaking the truth

It is about love for a neighbour.

How can you love your neighbour if yo bear false testimony against them

Hymn -

Q&A

Hymn -

Closing Prayer

Doxology