God had definite ideas for what the boundaries of the Promised Land were, and for the leaders of the people who would apportion the land for the tribes’ inheritances. Do we believe that God has as definite ideas for the interests of His people today? Do we bother to seek His input in our affairs? It would be easier if He gave audible commands like He did with Moses, but since He doesn’t, do we conclude that He doesn’t give us guidance in our affairs like He did the Israelites?
I believe that He is interested in our affairs. Our ultimate enemy is His enemy, and He desires to see that enemy defeated. He has invested much in enabling us to have a relationship with Him. He doesn’t treat us who are reconciled to Him through the Savior He sent, as redeemed sinners, but as children. Consider from your own family relationships what the latter point signifies about His interest in what interests us. So if He is interested, how do we get guidance from Him?
I believe that God can communicate effectively with us. Physiologically, we hear in our brains, not our ears. Might the maker of our bodies and all of creation be able to communicate with us via means other than our ears? One thing is sure: He won’t if we don’t believe that He will. If we are truly seeking His guidance in our affairs, and if we believe He will give us that guidance, we can proceed with pursuing our interests in full confidence that He will guide us as He did the Israelites. I often wonder if He doesn’t wish we would cease to expect things from Him that He doesn’t intend to give, and accept His ways of communicating with us without the drama. We would be a lot less frustrated when it comes to making decisions in our affairs!
Cities of refuge enabled justice. How does a society serve justice when a person is killed by accident? That is not an easy question. The blood avenger was likely someone in the family who would make sure that blood was shed in payment for the shedding of their loved one’s blood. If the killer did not intend to kill, but instead was a victim of one of those awful, messy situations of life, what constitutes justice? God’s answer was pretty clever, I think. The killer could flee to the city of refuge and settle there until the death of the current high priest. If the blood avenger found him outside the city, he could kill him justly. That seems pretty just.
God’s guidance about the inheritance of women shows that He is concerned that each tribe’s inheritance stays with the tribe. It might be interesting to consider why that would be. Do you have any ideas?
We have finished reading what may be the most difficult reading in the Bible! There are passages in Chronicles listing genealogies, but other than that, these books of the Law represent to me the dullest reading of the Bible. Yet they haven’t proven dull at all, have they?! If we can glean so much rich meaning from these the dullest books, there is absolutely nothing to fear from any of the books of the Bible, as I have stated before.