All right, Deuteronomy chapter 19. Deuteronomy chapter 19. Deuteronomy 19 is kind of a repeat
in some ways. There's a lot of same material that's getting covered that was in Deuteronomy 17, but
not a lot of it, but there's definitely some principles that are repeated. And as I've said
many times going through this book so far and elsewhere, even in Scripture, you know, when God
is reiterating things, you know, that's when we need those are the things we got to pay attention
to. And especially, you know, this would apply more to society in general. This would be something
those civil authorities that have the power to execute judgment upon a society, they are the
ones really that should be paying attention to some of the things that we've read about so far
and are going to touch on again tonight. But it says there in verse one, it says,
when the Lord thy God hath cut off the nations whose land the Lord thy God giveth thee,
and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities and their houses. You know, it's good to
just take notice again. We've preached about this in the past, about the fact that when the
children of Israel moved into that land, you know, they moved right into houses that were
prepared for them. They moved right into vineyards and olive yards that they didn't have to plant.
God had everything just ready made for them. That's how much he blessed these peoples. And
he's saying, you know, when you go in there and he's kind of reminding them,
when thou succeedest them and dwellest in their cities and in their houses, he says,
then shalt thou separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the Lord thy God
giveth thee to possess, and thou shalt prepare thee away and divide the coast of thy land,
which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts that every slayer may flee
thither. Now, when we read that word slayer today, that kind of has a, you know, a very
negative connotation and it is a negative thing, but we kind of might misunderstand that as
somebody who has intentionally killed somebody. And if we read this context here, you know,
a slayer is not somebody who has gone and intentionally slain someone. That's not the
type of person he's referring to. You know, God here is providing a means for such a person to
flee. You know, we've seen often that God, you know, prescribes the death penalty, and we'll
look at that here again in a minute. But what's going on here in this passage is again, as we've
seen repeatedly so far in the book of Deuteronomy, is that God is careful that innocent blood is not
shed. This is something that is very important to God. Even going all the way back to Cain and Abel,
when Cain rose up and slew his brother Abel because his works were evil and Abel's were good
and Cain's were evil, you know, God came to him and said, thy brother's blood crieth unto me from
the ground. I mean, God takes note of innocent blood. He hears it, it cries unto him from the
ground, and God is a God of justice. God wants that to be made right. So, but he's also very
careful to make sure he's even provided means by which innocent blood would not be shed.
Accidentally, you know, a man might think this is a proper time to, you know, kill somebody when
they've accidentally killed another person that, you know, life must go for life. But the Lord is
very careful here and he's saying, look, this guy is not at fault, you know, and he's providing a
way for him to escape. And we have to understand something is that, you know, the death penalty is
something that predates the law. You know, we've talked about it a little bit the last couple of
times we've been in Deuteronomy, but this is something, this isn't something that is new.
It goes before the law. If you remember in Genesis nine, when they first came off the ark,
and if you would go to Genesis chapter six very quickly in Genesis chapter nine,
God said, who so shedeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed for in the image of God made he
man. So God had already prescribed the death penalty before Moses had received the law from
him on Mount Sinai. He had already prescribed that man should be shed, killed by man,
should he, you know, shed man's blood. And, you know, people today, they squirm at that,
they scoff at that. They call that inhumane. They call that barbaric. They say that's, you know,
some stone age thing that says bronze age book that you're reading. But I mean, look at society,
how is it really working out for us? The more and more we've gotten rid of the death penalty,
the more that we've stopped, you know, executing those that are worthy of death.
Has it made society better? Have we morally and culturally improved as a nation? No. Wickedness
has abounded even more and more. And, you know, I've preached other sermons about that, how that
because judgment against an evil work is not swiftly executed, it is fully set in the hearts
of men to do evil. When men who are wicked see that there is no punishment for their sins,
they're just emboldened. You know, the death penalty is a deterrent and it's also a protective
measure to keep innocent people from suffering at the hands of wicked individuals. In fact,
notice here the consequence when God didn't prescribe the death penalty because there was
a time prior to the flood that there was no death penalty. God had not given that out.
And if you look here in Genesis chapter six, we see how that that worked out for man,
how it ended up. It says in verse 10, and Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The
earth also was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence. And it's not talking,
you know, it's talking about men doing evil things to one another. They're violating one another.
And God looked upon the earth and behold, it was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted his way upon
the earth. And God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh has come before me for the earth is filled
with violence through them and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. So I guess you could
kind of say in a way that God still did, you know, enact the death penalty here because he
wiped everybody out. But you know, this law of man shedding man's blood, you know, in recompense
for murder, you know, had not yet been doled out. And what was the result is that the earth became
filled with violence. You know, this is a measure that God has given mankind to curb the wickedness
of men. So it's a very important thing, but it's also something that's supposed to, as we talked
about again in previous chapters, that God handles delicately. That it can be a double-edged sword.
You know, if we're not careful to make diligent inquiry and if we don't follow these safeguards
that God has prescribed, it could be that innocent people are killed and that would defeat the whole
purpose that innocent blood is being shed. So one measure that we see here is that God is protecting
innocent blood from being shed by distinguishing manslaughter, what we would call manslaughter day,
from murder. And he's providing its own consequences. And we even have something like
that in our law today. We know we have first, second, and third degree murder. We, you know,
premeditated murder versus manslaughter. These are different charges that come with different
consequences. So if you look there in verse four, it said, and this is the case of the slayer,
somebody who's killed someone, which shall flee hither, thither, excuse me, that he may live.
Whoso killeth his neighbor ignorantly. Okay. So this is not premeditated. This is something that
he didn't mean to do. You know, it was as an accident. Whom he hated not in times past.
So often that's what goes along with premeditated murder. You know, the people examine their motive.
You know, what happened here? Well, you know, they hated this individual. Do they have a history?
You know, when they investigate these things, you know, that's sometimes that's something that
comes out and they can make their judgment. So, but this is the case of a guy, you know,
we make diligent inquiry. We find out, Hey, he was ignorant of it. It was an accident.
He didn't hate him in times past. You know, he was friends. He had no motive to kill this guy
in verse five. It says, as when he gives this example, right now, it's not, you know,
it's not limited to just this example, you know, he's just using this as an example of, Hey,
when this kind of thing happens. As when a man goeth into wood with his neighbor to hew wood,
and his hand fetches a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the
hell and lighteth upon his neighbor that he die, he shall flee hither into one of those cities.
And that kind of thing happens. I remember I had a job where we would swing, you know,
five pound sledgehammers. And you were always told, do not stand anywhere near where that
that thing might come off. You're not, you're supposed to stand on the opposite side of somebody
was swinging over here, you should be on that side of them for fear that head might come off.
And, you know, you might get a little bit more than a goose egg from that. But he's saying that's
the type of instance that we're talking about, right, is somebody's just going about their work,
there's just out working in the field, you know, and we've, you know, we see this kind of thing
happen all the time, accidents happen all the time. People get hurt, people even get killed,
you know, we take measures to prevent it. But accidents happen. And that's what this God is
talking about here. Somebody who has no animosity toward this individual, they did it ignorantly,
it was just an accident, right? The head slippeth from the health and lighteth upon his neighbor
that he die. And he says of that guy, he shall flee into one of these cities and live. He's
saying, look, you're not going to kill this guy. You know, you're going to separate these three
cities under the Lord. And, and you're going to let him flee into that. And that's where he's
going to stay. In verse six, lest the avenger of blood pursueth the slayer, while his heart is hot
and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him, whereas he was not worthy of death.
So remember, God is saying, look, you're going to set apart three cities. He said,
now shall make a way, right? So they weren't just to have three cities, but they're actually have,
these cities were to be connected and part of the highways and byways, so that a person who was in
the circumstance could quickly get on this road and get to one of these cities. You know, unless
the way be long, right? It's hard to get there. And the guy, the, the, the, the avenger of blood
catches up to him. Now who's the avenger of blood? Well, this obviously would be somebody who knew
the guy that was killed. You know, somebody who's upset about the fact, you know, or maybe doesn't
understand the circumstances, you know, is not going to sit around and wait for a trial or to
hear it and let delegate, you know, let inquisition be made. Somebody who just looks at the
circumstances, Hey, that was my brother. You know, that was my dad. That was my son, whatever,
some kind of relation, a friend or whatever, and just, just is out to for vengeance. You know,
their heart is hot, you know, and that's kind of a crime of passion type of thing. Somebody gets,
you know, just they're, you know, they're just caught up in the emotion of the moment and they
just want exact vengeance on the, on this guy. Maybe because they don't understand the circumstances.
I mean, when two guys go out into the wood with an ax and only one comes back, you know, can you
really blame somebody for having questions about what's taking place, right? But he's saying, look,
if this is what happened, make sure this guy can get quickly to where he needs to go to one of
these three cities. And it turns into six later. And he says, lest the avenger of the blood pursue
the slayer while his heart is hot and overtake him because the way is long and slay him,
whereas he was not worthy of death in as much as he hated him not in times past.
Wherefore I command thee, thou shalt separate three cities for thee, and if, and I want us to
pay attention to that word, if, and if the Lord thy God enlarge thy coast, as he has sworn into
thy fathers and give thee all the land which he hath promised to the given of thy fathers,
if thou shalt keep all the commands and to do them, which I command in this day,
to love the Lord thy God and to walk ever in his ways, then shalt thou add three cities more
for thee besides these three. So God is saying, initially, you're going to have three cities.
And then he says, and you're going to add three more. But there's a stipulation there. How are
they going to get three more cities? Well, the only reason there would need to be three more
cities is if God enlarged their coasts. You know, if God gave them more land, if they were able to
take over more land that that God had sworn into their fathers. So the if there is, if they will
obey God, so we can kind of see the fulfillment of this promise that if they obey God, if they
love him, if they walk, if they keep all these commandments and do them, and they walk ever in
his ways, that God is going to expand the land that they have. They're going to have, and then
they'll have need for three more cities. But it's, again, important to notice that, you know, that's
an if there, there was no promise that, you know, God was going to give them all of this land.
He gave them this bit first and said, okay, here's this first portion, put three cities up,
if you obey me and keep my commandments, you'll have need of three more, because I'll enlarge
your borders, I'll expand your coasts. So, you know, that's kind of just a principle that we can
apply to ourselves today is that, you know, if we want God to enlarge us spiritually, you know,
as individuals, as a church, even as families, numerically, spiritually, whatever it is, you know,
we have to make sure that we're being faithful with what God has given us to begin with,
you know, unto, you know, unto whom so much, much is given, of him shall much be required.
You know, God holds us accountable for what we have. And if we do well with it, you know,
unto him shall more be given, right? And that way we can expand. So that's kind of a principle
that we see there is that if we want more from God, if we want to enlarge, we got to make sure
that we're walking ever in his ways, that we love him, that we keep his commandments, that we obey
those things that he has commanded us to do. So that was kind of an interesting thing I thought
there that, you know, there was no problem. They didn't have need of six. They only needed three.
And if they kept God's commandments, then they would later need six. But these cities, again,
they were there verse 10, that innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the Lord thy God
giveth thee and for inheritance. And so blood be upon thee. You know, God, God holds the nation
accountable for this innocent blood, not just the individual who's, who's, who's shed it. You know,
God looks down and says, you know, he's going to avenge that blood upon the earth.
He doesn't want, and we don't want that blood upon us. You know, he doesn't want this to,
to be applied to them. Now, if you would go over to Numbers chapter 35, Numbers chapter 35,
we'll look at some scripture where it talks about what these cities are. These cities that,
that have been set apart, these three cities are what the Bible refers to in Numbers as cities of
refuge. I mean, that's what it was to that guy, you know, who's running for his life. You know,
he's looking for a city of refuge, somewhere where he can find a safe harbor, somewhere where
he can find safety and protection to where he knows he's not going to have to look over
his shoulder and wonder if someone is going to come get him. Look there in verse 10 of Numbers
35, it says, speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, when you become over Jordan
into the land of Canaan, then you shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you that
the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares. Again, this is somebody who's
done it ignorantly and didn't, you know, did not hate him in times past and they shall be unto you
cities for refuge from the avenger that the manslayer died not until he stand before the
congregation in judgment. Right? So what God is providing here is that he would, he's providing
that this person's right to a trial, to have his case heard in a day of court, to say, Hey, this
was an accident. I didn't do this. And then, you know, witnesses could be brought and say, did you
ever notice any conflict? Has he ever bad mouthed this guy? Did he ever say anything along the lines
of, you know, I hate him? You know, there could be diligent inquiry could be made. Now it might be
that this guy goes to the refuge, you know, and it was murder, you know, and he's, he's just trying to
say, well, you know, Hey, it was an accident. And then the, you know, then the witnesses come and
they find out, well, that's not in fact the case. In fact, it looks like you did intentionally kill
this individual and then they would go from there. But God here again, it's just being very careful
to preserve innocent life. Even a guy who has accidentally killed somebody, he's saying, let's
not let it get out of hand here. And they shall be unto you cities for refuge, verse 13, and of the,
these cities, which you shall have, give six cities that you shall have for refuge. You shall give
three cities on this side, Jordan, three cities shall you give in the land of Canaan, which shall
be cities of refuge. These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel and for
the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that everyone that killeth any person unawares
may flee thither. Again, so this goes back to the fact that God says there should be one law for all
people in land. You know, they didn't have to necessarily be a citizen of Israel. You know,
if this happened within their coasts, you know, even if it was a stranger, that's what it's talking
about. There is somebody who's a foreigner in their land that they had the same right to this
trial. You know, and they didn't, you know, and this is, you know, the law of the land.
You know, this is what that person could appeal to, the whole, the book, you know, the law. They
could say, well, you know, your God told you to give me a trial. You know, they had some way,
something to appeal to. So God's saying, look, there's going to be one law for these people,
not a multitude of different laws and so on and so forth. And it says there in verse 16,
and if he smite him with an instrument of iron so that he die, he is a murderer. The murderer shall
be surely put to death. So he's saying, look, if it turns out this guy did kill him intentionally,
you know, then he's a murderer. He shall be put to death. God prescribes the death penalty for
murderers. You know, and that, and that's something that our country has backed away from. You know,
and I think the big, probably the main reason for that is because a lot of greedy individuals
discovered that there's a lot of money to be made in the prison industrial complex. You know,
the vast majority of people in prison should either be set free, you know, or they should,
you know, according to God's law, they would be beaten, pay a fine, or put to death. You know,
you don't see imprisonment in the Bible. God does not prescribe that. That is the cruel and unusual
punishment to lock somebody up in a cage. And so he goes on and he says there, if in verse 17,
and if he smite him with a throwing stone wherewith he may die and he die, he is a murderer. The
murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he smite him with a hand weapon of wood, wherewith
he may die that he die, he is a murderer. He's saying, it doesn't matter how he does it. If the
guy murdered somebody, he's a murderer, he shall be put to death. The revenger of blood shall slay
their murderer wherewith when he meeteth him, he shall slay him. But if he thrust him of hatred or
hurl at him by lying of weight that he die, or in the enmity with his hand that he die,
that smote him shall surely be put to death, for he is a murderer. The revenger of blood shall
slay the murderer when he meeteth him. But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or cast upon
him anything without lying of weight, or with any stone wherewith a man may die, seeing him not,
and cast it upon him that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm, the congregation
shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments. And the
congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood. So he's saying,
look, if this wasn't premeditated, if it was an accident, if he was ignorant of it, he's not going
to be put to death. But the guy that has purposed in his heart, you know, has said, I am going to
kill this individual, and then goes about and does it, that makes him a murderer. The guy who,
you know, manslaughter, you know, even the crime of passion, these things are not to be,
you know, punished with death, excuse me. And it says in verse 25, and the congregation shall
deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him
to the city of his refuge, wherewith he was fled. Now, it's not that this guy just gets off scot-free,
you know. When God says, hey, he's going to live in that, basically he says here, we're going to
read it right here in a second. In fact, let's read it right now. He says, and he shall bide in it
unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil.
So the guy doesn't just get off scot-free. The guy who just accidentally kills somebody,
you know, he has to go and live in the city of refuge until the high priest die.
So, I mean, if you're that guy, you know, one, you know, a week ago, the new high priest just
got put in office, you know, this young guy with a long life ahead of him, and the next week you
accidentally killed somebody, you got a long road to hoe. You know, you're going to be living
in that city for a long time. But that's just how God works things out, you know. God is balancing
everything out. That was a form of punishment, if you think about it. I mean, if I were to come
to tell you and say, you know, hey, you got to go, you have to leave Tucson, and you have to go live
in a city like, what's an undesirable city to live here in Arizona? Anybody want to pick on a city in
Arizona tonight? No one? Yuma. Man, I've never been there. Is it that bad? Hey, you got to go
live in Yuma, Fabian, for the next, you know, until, you know, Pastor Anderson keels over
from old age, you know, and, you know, he takes good care of himself. So, it could be a while,
you know, you might be there for 30, 40, maybe plus years, and, you know, but that's it. You
know, you got to stay there. You got to stay in Yuma. That would be a form of punishment,
wouldn't it? Would it be as bad to be put to death? No. I mean, you could still have a life,
but, you know, you're not allowed to leave Yuma. You got to stay there, and, you know,
that's where you're going to live the rest of your life. You got to work there. If you're going to
have a family, you have to raise your, you know, a family could come visit you, but you cannot leave
this city. That's where you have to live the rest of your days. So, there was a form of punishment,
you know, the guilty, they were isolated from, you know, the familiarity. They were isolated
from friends. They were isolated from family, you know, their familiar surroundings, and what's going
on there is that they're kind of suffering, to some degree, the same thing that the family of
the victim is suffering. You know, the victim's family, they're suffering the loss of a familiar
friend. They're suffering the loss of somebody that they can't just go see whenever they want.
So, God's kind of balancing the scales here, if you can see that. You know, God's working that
out. So, there is a punishment involved. Go ahead and go back to Deuteronomy chapter 19.
Deuteronomy chapter 19. And it goes on and says, in verse 26,
But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of his refuge, whether he was fled,
I'm sorry, I'm still in Numbers. Go back to Numbers if you want, or you can follow along.
Numbers chapter 35, he says, But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the
city of his refuge, whether he was fled, and the avenger of blood, finding without the borders of
the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood killeth the slayer, he shall not be guilty of
blood, because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest.
So, he's saying, look, if Fabian comes out of Yuma, you know, he's fair game. You know,
if that avenger of blood is still upset about what happened, you know, he can go ahead and
take him out. Because that was a punishment. That was the punishment that was doled onto him.
And now he's saying, look, well, I don't want to abide by these rules. I don't, you know,
I'm not worthy of this punishment. I don't, you know, he's trying to, you know, put off what
he's got coming to him, right? So, it's not that this guy just gets off scot-free. You know,
he still has to pay the consequences to some degree of what he's done. He goes on and says
in verse 29, So these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your
generations and all your dwellings. Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by
mouth of witnesses. But one witness shall not satisfy any person to cause him to die. Moreover,
he shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer. He is guilty, which is guilty of death.
He shall surely be put to death. He's saying, what, no satisfaction is he saying? It means
you're not going to just pay it off. You're not going to accept anything other than death. That
is the prescribed judgment. Nobody can say, oh, you know, life in prison, you know, 50 years,
and then probation. You know, they can't, he's saying, no, that the only appropriate punishment
for the murderer is death. You know, no therapy, no reintroduction to society, none of that,
no satisfaction. The only thing that's appropriate, God is saying, is that he would be put to death.
Verse 33, so ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are, for the blood, it defileth the land,
and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that
shed it. You know, you want to talk, you want to talk, you know, the destruction of the environment,
Greta, you know, you want to talk about polluting the land, you know, environmentalists. That's what
really defiles the land. You know, it's not, I mean, I understand there's pollution and things
like that, but maybe people should worry a little bit less about some supposed hole in the ozone
and start thinking a little bit more about the fact that this land is being polluted and defiled
by the innocent blood that is being shed upon it. You know, and I don't want to go off on a tangent,
but I'm kind of a little bit, you know, America has got a long, bloody past. It really does. When
you start to study it, there's been a long trail of just innocent people, innocent people,
innocent blood just being shed over and over again in this country.
And it just seems like we're getting away with it. We're getting away with it. But God, you know,
he, he's keeping track. And one day he's going to, he's going to avenge all that innocent blood upon
this land and even the whole world. And he's saying, look, it's defiled. You say, well, can we,
can we appeal God? Can we, can we, can we appease him? Can we, can we make this right? Well, only if
you take, if you shed the blood of him that shed it, you know, and unfortunately a lot of
those people passed off the scene. You know, there's a lot of people, a lot of people in our,
in the past of this country, the history of this country that went on and shed a lot of innocent
blood. And they went on to live long, full lives and died natural deaths and went to the grave in
peace. A lot of them. And they left a bloody wake in their path. And it's too late to avenge that
blood. Those people are gone. So who's going to have to take care of that now. So now who's going
to have to avenge the innocent blood. It's God. And that's what he's going to do. And quite
frankly, if we stopped, you know, this is my opinion, but if you stopped abortions tomorrow,
they just became illegal. And then we just did with every abortion doctor as ought to be done
with every murderer, because that's what he is. Put him to death. You know, it still wouldn't be
enough. It's too late for this country, you know, sorry to break it to you. I know this is not the
most uplifting moment in, in, in our sermon here, but that's the facts. That's where we're at in
this country. There's just this pool, this ocean of blood that's been shed and God's going to have
to cleanse it one day because it's too late. There's people have gone on. He said in verse
34, did not defile, not the land, which he shall inhabit wherein I dwell for I, the Lord dwell
among the children of Israel. That's the real pollution that's going on in this country today.
It's not your, it's not the, the CO2 emissions, you know, it's not the cows and their methane
on some farm somewhere. It's not the trash that's floating down some river. That's not what we
should be concerned about. Those things, you know, the trash and things like that. Yeah. We would
like to see it cleaned up, you know, it makes the place look nice, but the real pollution that we
have a problem with this in this country, it's all these, blood that's been shed and it's too
late. You know, there's no going back and cleaning that up. The people that did that are long gone.
And you know, the Lord here, what we're seeing is that he avenges innocent blood
by shedding blood. That's what he's prescribed today. And that's what we would have to start
doing if we wanted to start doing things by the Lord, doing things by God, doing things right.
Now again, I'm not saying that we as a church body are going to practice this. You as an
individual are not to go out and start practicing this. We understand that. This is referring to the
civil authorities. That's who God's talking to here. The judges, the Levites, the priests. He's
saying, look, this is how you're going to pass judgment in this land. You know, these people
are going to, it's not just this, you know, wild west where, you know, everyone's just hanging
everybody else and, and, and, you know, this vigilante justice. He's saying, look, you're
going to bring these people. They're going to go to a city. They're going to bring the witnesses.
They're going to make judgment. There's going to be a trial. You know, God is very careful again,
to do what? To prevent innocent blood from being shed. God of course wants to execute judgment and
righteousness and balance the scales of justice. But he also understands that, you know, if we're
not careful, we could execute the wrong people, that the wrong people could be put to death.
It says there, now you can go back to Deuteronomy. And he says there in verse 11,
but if any man hate his neighbor and lie and wait for him and rise up against him and smite
him mortally that he die and flee into one of those cities, then the elders of that city shall
send and fetch him fence and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood that he may die.
So he's saying, look, if someone goes to one of these cities and it's, if he hate his neighbor,
it finds, they find out, look, this guy, you know, he, he committed murder. He's saying the
judges of that city shall deliver him into the avenger of blood. You're saying you're going to
let him, you know, take care of it. He's going to, they're going to deliver him over to the
authorities that he may die. And he says in verse 13, thine eye shall not pity him. Now,
why does God have to say that? Why does God have to take the time? Like he did in Deuteronomy 17,
say that you shall not pity these people because people pity these people. And that's exactly
where we are today. That's why these laws have been passed, that you cannot execute murder. You
cannot execute, you know, a child rapist cannot be put to death in this country, pedophiles.
That would do the most wicked things to the most innocent people among us. They're protected by a
bunch of bleeding heart, you know, people who just want to, just want to pity them and say,
oh, those, you know, it was their past. Look, I'm, you know what, and a lot of times it's exactly
right. It is the past. Something happens to these people in their childhood and they grow up and
they do the same things that were done to them onto somebody else. They prey upon a victim like
they were preyed upon. And that's unfortunate, but I'm not going to penny that person, you know,
because if you, because think about it, you're just, if you allow that to continue, the cycle
just keeps going. It just continues. You know, something happens to me when I'm a child,
you know, I'm molested in some way. I want to get back at somebody for having that happen to me.
So I go and do that to another child. That child grows up, has the same feelings I do.
He goes and does it to another child. That shot, you know what I mean? It just perpetuates itself.
God's law puts a stop to it and said, but what it requires of us is to not pity these people
and say, oh, I'm sorry. You know, oh, but you don't understand. It was just what happened
in the past. I understand it was what happened is past, but that doesn't excuse him for what he did.
And God wants this cycle to stop to protect. It's not just, you know, it's not just,
there's a purpose behind putting these people to death. It's to protect other people from them,
you know, that the cycle would end. So that's what he's saying here. You know,
you're gonna deliver this guy over and you will not pity him. You know, you're not going to just
feel this, you know, poor fella, you know, and you know, people are real sorry when they get caught.
People like to cry and when they get caught and pull at your heartstrings and come up with
all kinds of excuses. And if you're not careful, you know, they'll, they will cause you to pity
them. You know, they'll tell you their sob story and everything that happened. And next thing you
know, you're like, oh, poor guy. Well, that's too bad. Do we really have to, you know, no,
God's saying, yeah, you have to look, you have to do this. No pity for this person.
What they've done is wrong. You know, you need to carry out justice. He says thou shall,
but if it goes on and I shall not pity him, but thou shall put away the guilt of innocent blood
from Israel, that it may go well with thee. He's saying, look, if you want it to go well with
Israel, you need to remove the guilt of innocent blood. If we want it to go well in our, in our
country, you know, we need to put away the guilt of innocent blood. And that's not something that's
taking place anymore. And then he kind of shifts gears a little bit here in verse 14. And he says,
thou shall not remove thy neighbor'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.
So this kind of, there's this principle, you know, we're talking about here, you know,
civil justice, you know, criminal justice. And then we kind of get into property rights
here as well. You know, God is kind of covering all the bases in, in, in society here. And he's
saying, look, you know, there's also, you're not going to just move people's landmarks. And the
Bible talks about this a lot. In fact, if you would, let's go over to Proverbs chapter 23 real
quick. Proverbs chapter 23. He repeats this again in Deuteronomy chapter 27, where he says,
cursed be he that removeth his neighbor's landmark and all the people shall say, Amen.
So God's pretty serious about property rights. And God's not a big fan of, you know,
it doesn't sound like eminent domain was a thing with him. You know, oh, we got to build a highway
here, you know, and we got to plow down your house, you know, not in God's law, you know,
that you don't get to just walk in and move somebody's landmark. You know, you should
probably have to offer them a pretty hefty sum of money and, you know, make things right, you know,
and if they deny it, then, then, you know, your, your highway's got to go like that. But, you know,
God here, he's, he's, he's protecting people's property and he doesn't want people because
here's the thing, you know, property, you know, people who, who amass a large amounts of land
become very powerful, wealthy people. And that's another thing we see in God's law is that
the, you know, the year of Jubilee people were, you know, if somebody had sold their inheritance
for money, you know, in the 50th year, the year of the Jubilee, that land was given back to them.
You know, they were, they were allowed to go back into their inheritance. That way you didn't just
end up with these barons, you know, these just people who just amass huge quantities
of land, then just sit on it. And, you know, I, I've, I've, I've lived in a city where there
was that, you know, everyone knew who, who the Olsons were, you know, Olson's Farms,
because the guy had, he bought all the land around that city and as it grew, you know,
he would slowly sell it off to the city and he just got wealthier and wealthier. And I'm not
saying he was a bad guy, you know, he raised Buffalo and he would, you know, slaughter the
Buffalo and donate it to the, to the local barbecue. And it was great. We loved him for it.
But, you know, that, what if he wasn't a great guy, you know, what if, you know,
and that thing's kind of gone on in the past, people who just, you know, lord over people
and make them, you know, they're servants and they're, and they're serfs, you know, and, and
just use land to, as a means of ruling over people. But, you know, God is saying, look,
you're not allowed to do that. You know, you, you can't just walk in and craftily steal somebody's
land by moving a landmark, you know, and here's the thing, how do you do that? You do it real
slow, right? Because maybe, maybe they'd have, you know, we actually have actual markers today
in some properties. You, you'll, you'll find them like these big poles and rods and things that are
put in a certain spot. Back then they'd probably use large stones or something, you know, but if
I were to go out every night and just kind of push that land, that marker over every week or so,
just push it over two feet, you know, on your back 40 and, you know, you're not there very often.
The next time you go there, you're kind of scratching your head like, man, wasn't that
10 feet that way? Nah, I don't know what you're talking about, you know, and then next month you
come back and it's another few feet over, you know, and that's what he's saying. You're not
going to remove the ancient landmark. You're not going to just come in and start kind of, you know,
doing this to your neighbor and muscling them out and taking more land than, than what's yours.
And I'm trying to not tell stories here tonight, but it's, every time I read about this,
it just reminds me, and if I told you the lawn mowing story when the guy moved in next door to me
and the guy, so we lived next door to this guy or these people, I grew up in this house,
we had this big lawn in the front yard, the biggest one on the block, you know,
it wasn't huge, but we mowed it and then Pat, this lady who lived next door, I mean, I grew up next
to this lady next door, you know, she actually had a shed that was like three feet on our property
and that we didn't care. And then we, it was just there when we got the house and then we would mow
about two or three feet onto her property. It was just, it was just the way we did it.
And she sold the house and this young couple moves in and I remember I was living in my mom's house
at that time and I go out to mow the lawn like I always do and I mow right to where I always mow
and this, you know, the grass had gotten, you know, pretty long and the guy, the next day,
the guy, he goes out and mows and he mows and I kid you not, he left a strip about that wide
right down between our two yards. I was like, well, welcome to the neighborhood, buddy.
You know, what was he doing? He's pushing that ancient landmark, right? He's saying,
look, that's still, you have to come, he must not have gotten the lay of the land when he bought
the house. I felt like knocking on his door and be like, hey, you mind getting your shed off our
property if you want to be like that, you know, I can play that game, buddy. And then we kind of,
I kind of had a standoff with him, you know, I'm like looking, I'm looking out my window
in the morning and sitting in my coffee, I'm not mowing it. I'm going to wait for him to mow it,
you know, and then I realized how childish it was when I mowed it, but I don't know if that's got
anything to do with it, what I'm talking about tonight, but it's kind of a funny story. I thought
I'd share it, you know, we're talking about killing people in this and blood, maybe a little
levity here, but you know, what was the guy doing? He wasn't respecting the ancient landmark that we
had established with Pat, you know, we said, hey, we'll mow on your property and that was just the
way we did things. And this new guy comes to town and just, you know, disregards it. And he's, you
know, making a bad name for himself in my book, but, uh, you know, God's, you know, he doesn't
want this type of thing going on. Where did I have you go? Proverbs chapter 23, he says in 22,
he says, uh, remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set. Look at Proverbs
chapter 23. And we're going to look at, uh, verse 10, remove not the old landmark and entered not
into the fields of the fatherless. So you can kind of see what God's getting at here with this,
not removing the landmark. You know, he doesn't want people taking advantage of other weak people
enter, not into the field of the fatherless, you know, somebody whose, whose father has passed on,
you know, before his time, you know, a widow and, you know, the young family, they might not
understand where all these landmarks are. And now this other guy, you know, the neighbor sees it,
oh, here's my opportunity to walk in and take advantage of these people and say, oh no,
that's where that's always been. You know, it's always been this far over. No, it, you know,
it wasn't 30 feet back there. What do you mean? No, you didn't have these acres. This acreage
wasn't yours. It's always been here. Didn't your dad tell you that? Oh, he must not have told you.
So that's what he's kind of getting at here. He doesn't want people
taking advantage of other people, you know, and, and take, you know, and pushing that landmark.
Now go ahead and go turn back to Deuteronomy 19 where I had you.
So that seems like it's kind of just like a break, you know, God just kind of put that in
there. Sometimes he does that. And then, you know, and then when it kind of, then it kind of goes
back to, you know, this deal of witnesses, you know, how are we going to handle people who are
guilty of things? Maybe this guy, maybe there's somebody, you know, who committed murder. We got
to get to the bottom of it. You know, did this guy kill this guy? Did he not kill this guy? Was it an
accident? Was it murder? We don't know. Did this guy go in and, and, and, and, and enter in the
field of the fatherless? Did he move the ancient landmark? Did he go in and remove his neighbor's
landmark? You know, is he cursed? You know, should we say that or not? Well, how are we going to find
that out? Well, you're going to do that through witnesses, you know, again, because God is being
careful here to preserve innocence of people and making sure they're not punished beyond what's
due them, if at all. So look at verse 15, he says, one witness shall not rise up against the man for
any iniquity or any sin in any sin that he sent, you know, in any sin, big, small, you know, one
witness is not enough. It's not enough to just come saying, Hey, I caught so and so doing this,
that do you have another witness? No. Well then why are you even talking to me about it? Why are
we even bringing it up? You know, it's not good enough. You know, I mean, now it's your word
against his. That's not good enough, you know, and this is something that we see in even in the
New Testament, you know, against an elder that shall not receive an accusation, but before two
or three witnesses, then that sin rebuke before all meaning those that would not that would come
with an accusation against an elder without witnesses, those people are to rebuke before all
that others also may fear. So he's saying, look, one witness is not a good, not enough,
and any sin that he sent at the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses. Now,
why is that nuance there? Why is it two or three? Well, if it's two and it's things aren't just
quite, you know, it sounds like this guy might be guilty, but we're still not quite sure. That's
when you might need a third. You know, you might need somebody, a third witness to come in and,
you know, kind of work out the details and say, Oh no, this is the piece of information you're
missing. Everything clicks. You know, the guy's guilty of the guy's innocent.
He says out of the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses shall the matter be established.
If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him, which is wrong,
then both men between whom the controversy is shall stand before the Lord before the priest and
the judges, which shall be in those days. Remember in verse chapter 17, we talked about if the
controversy was too hard, they were to get up and go and see the Levites, right? This is what
this is referring to here. And he says, which shall be in those days. And the judges shall
make diligent, diligent acquisition and behold, if the witness be a false witness and has testified
falsely against his brother. So this hard thing comes up, they're on, they can't make a judgment.
They can't get to the bottom of it. They're basically what we would, you know, they would
appeal to a higher law on the land. You know, this is kind of like our version of the Supreme
Court kind of, you know, this is them taking it to somebody else that who's going to spend more time
making more diligent inquiry, really digging in there and getting to the bottom of this and,
and doing it with, you know, the leading of the Lord and, and his, and his spirit as well.
And he says there, then, then shall you do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother.
Now, this is a great law. This is a fantastic law. This would deter a lot of people from making
false accusations. You say, does that ever happen? Yes, it does. Does she cry rape when
it never happened? Yes, that happens. Do people call other people on other people's children and
say, oh, they're abusing their kids when they're not? Yes, that happens. And according to God's law,
what they sought to have done unto that person would be done unto them. You say, what's the
purpose of that to deter that from even happening? You know, if I was going to rise up and say,
you know, brother Fabian killed somebody, you know, and I'm a false witness and I'm trying
to get him in trouble for murder and it's found out I'm lying, then I'm, you know, that's it for
me. You know, that fact alone would probably keep me from doing that other than the fact that,
you know, I love Fabian, I'd never do that to your brother, but you know what I mean?
It's a deterrent. It keeps people from doing that kind of thing. You know, people wouldn't call CPS
if they knew it was their kids that might end up getting taken away. You know, she wouldn't cry
rape, you know, if she knew it was her that might be ended up swinging from a tree or whatever it is.
And he says here in verse 19, then shall you do unto him as he sought to have done unto his
brother, so shall thou put evil away from among you. It's an evil type of person that brings up
a false accusation and an attempt to get somebody else put to death, beaten, fined, whatever,
in order to have some kind of punishment rolled out. It's an evil heart that does that.
And those which remain shall hear and fear and shall henceforth commit no more any such
evil among you. God's law is a deterrent. People say this is harsh. No pity. Do unto them as they
sought to have done unto others. Hey, they got to the bottom and they found his liar. Why not just
let them both go? They found out it was a false accusation. Why not just let them both go? Because
they'll do it again. And they'll say, oh, there's no consequences for just bringing up false
accusations? Well, maybe I'll try. Maybe I'll let me take a stab at it and see if I can get somebody
killed or whatever. You know, he says, look, if you'd follow my law, if you do things the way God
has laid them out to be done in his word, if a nation would execute God's law the way he has
told them to do it, he says right there, you shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.
It would deter so many people from doing bad things. They would just, you know what,
they'd say, whoa, what am I even thinking trying to do this? Me trying to get somebody else in
trouble? Why am I even thinking about bringing up a false accusation? What's wrong with me?
Let me just focus on my own life. Let me get my heart right and let me just do good unto others.
You know, it would probably fix a lot of evil with people. And he says in verse 21,
he repeats himself, and thine eyes shall not pity. You know, you're not going to feel sorry
for these people. You know, you're not going to give them an excuse. You're not going to give
them a pass because of their sob story. If they did what they did, you're going to execute
judgment mercilessly. That's how God is. I mean, we look at hell and we say, you know, Lord have
mercy. You know, we pity those poor people. And certainly God does far more than us. You know,
I'm not saying God is not without compassion and love. You know, he sent his own son to
die for them. But there is a side to God that says they deserve to be there.
They deserve it. And they are tormented in the presence of the Lord and of his angels
day and night. That's the righteous, holy side of God. God can be pitiless. But we understand also
God is long suffering and very merciful. But it's both, folks. You know, there's a time for mercy
and there's a time for judgment. And God's saying, look, when they're guilty, you know,
and it's found out and the thing be true, no pity. And I shall not pity them, but life shall go for
life. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. What's God trying to do? He's
trying to balance the scales. So, you know, we should be careful not to just, you know,
write God's law off as harsh. You know, God's law on the surface to our human understanding,
especially those have been brought up in a culture that is contrary to much of this,
it might rub us the wrong way. But, you know, as I've heard said, and I like to say from time to
time, if it's rubbing the cat the wrong way, the cat needs to turn around and get right.
And that's what we need to do as a society. You know, if we wanted to try and spare ourselves,
you know, some of the wrath that's coming our way, we would say, look, God's law is right.
Let's abide by it and see if we can't get some things right. God's law is just holy and perfect,
you know, and we ought to abide by it. We'd be better off for it as a society and as individuals.