I finished yesterday’s post by pointing out how tribalism and the avenging of the death of a family member by another family member was not only a universal custom in ancient times, but something that’s still quite common today in a good majority of the world.
I gather quite a few of you were surprised at what I said (especially if you hail from the West).
However, if you think about it, in light of 9/11 and the rise of Islam, we shouldn’t be too surprised.
Because a lot of the sickening things such as all of the beheadings and terrorist acts we see being reported in the media or via a bunch of internet videos being streamed live are nothing more or less than expressions of tribal justice that have always existed since the earliest of times.
Since we’ve been talking about the Cities of Refuge, I should point out, the idea of a holy place like a sanctuary city serving as a place of protection has always been a part of western civilization.
Think about the church for example.
Historically, the church has always been considered a sacred place where someone accused of a crime (even a convicted person) could escape in order to receive protection from those chasing after him (even the police).
Today that right no longer exists for a fleeing convict but the notion still exists.
Even today, a police officer in hot pursuit of a criminal will respect the church authorities if they ask him to not enter their place of worship.
In the Scriptures however, a sanctuary city only offered protection for one reason and one reason only: the killing of a human being.
One could not escape to a City of Refuge for any other reason.
Having said that, there is no doubt that cold-blooded murderers and terrorists have used these off-limits sanctuaries to their own advantage.
In the Middle East, many fleeing terrorists rush to the safety of a Mosque because they know they’ll be protected once they’re inside.
Another interesting point to consider is that what we in the West would instantly classify as a cold-blooded murder would under Islamic Law simply be regarded as a religiously sanctioned killing…something that properly took place within the tribe or clan.
Hence, from their perspective, the killer is worthy of protection.
And honestly, this might tick some of you off, but that idea is much closer to the true Biblical perspective than our modern notions of fair justice.
Don’t get me wrong.
I don’t believe one who intentionally committed a murder should be protected by a church or a sanctuary city and the Bible doesn’t believe that either.
The Torah is offering protection only to a person who accidentally killed another person.
And even then, that protection is contingent on the fleeing killer’s ability to get his butt inside of the sanctuary city before he is caught by the avenging family member of the person he killed.
If he doesn’t make it to the Sanctuary city before he’s caught by his pursuers, he will be killed and Biblically speaking it will be perfectly justified even if it was an accidental killing.
I find it fascinating how God handles a difficult situation like this and how it’s not so black-and-white.
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