A final scenario…, is where the Lord made provisions for those who accidentally killed someone.
Manslaughter versus Murder
Numbers 35:9-12 Then the LORD said to Moses: “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee. They will be places of refuge from the avenger, so that a person accused of murder may not die before he stands trial before the assembly.
Here, God instructs the Israelites to set aside cities of refuge where a person who had accidentally taken a life could flee for protection. This ensured that the person could be safe from the “avenger of blood” and have their case heard properly. The avenger was any relative of the deceased who seeks retaliation by killing the killer. These cities were created out of a recognition that not all killings are premeditated or done out of malice.
Num 35:22-24 “But if he strikes him suddenly, without enmity, or throws anything at him unintentionally, or with any stone large enough that a man could die, without seeing him, and throws it at him, and he dies, even though he was not his enemy nor sought his harm, then the community must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these decisions.
READ BEFORE: BIBLE CONTRADICTIONS (PART 7)
The Value of Life
Life is sacred in the eyes of God. Therefore, while we should never take any act of killing lightly, there are situations where it is not considered a murder. In its simplest form, murder is the UNLAWFUL taking of a life WITH malice or intent while manslaughter is the MISTAKEN taking of a life WITHOUT malice or intent. Manslaughter could be a result of error by: a vehicle driver, a medical (or non-medical) personnel, a drunk person, a careless person (who sets an unwitting death trap), an arsonist, drug seller or ‘sharer’, a carer (for infants or elderly or infirm persons), etc.
God’s law provided for protection from harm for such people due to God’s awareness of the emotional rage that aggrieved people can fly into. In today’s society, a police station would be the closest alternative to an immediate and temporary city of refuge. While the cities of refuge in the bible are shadows of the spiritual refuge the Lord Jesus provides for sinners and more, the physical application of this law served the Jews for thousands of years and was pertinent to social order. Till today, it would serve every society to have similar laws that can protect mistaken offenders.
READ NEXT: BIBLE CONTRADICTIONS (PART 9)
Until Proven, the Murder was Intended
We must note that, like most laws of God, there are two sides to the offence of manslaughter. Till proven, it was presumed that the killer intended to do so. A lot of death occurs, for example, in the medical field in certain countries, due to reckless negligence arising from a lack of consequences. We must know that even if men do not prosecute many careless killings, God sees the circumstances that led up to every death. And many are being pursued by the Avenger of Blood even today, without realizing.
The following may leave you somber but, you came here to think, didn’t you?
Num 35:31-33 Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. He must surely be put to death. Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow him to go back and live on his own land before the death of the high priest. Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
Single Pringles, this episode brings you a glimmer of hope. Don’t miss it!
