1"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, 2 you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess. 3You 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. -Deuteronomy 19:1-4
I like "simple". The more complex life becomes, the more I like "simple". As history has unfolded, and as we have "progressed" ("if" that is what we have done), it would only seem natural that we complicate things. We humans are good at that. We try and please and extend to every possible whim and person and scenario.
Deuteronomy 19:1-21, ultimately shows God's "grace". It speaks of "cities of refuge" for a "manslayer" (meaning one who accidentally kills someone; not a cold-blooded murderer). It speaks, very simply, of "property boundaries"; that a man should not "move" a property boundary of a neighbor. It speaks, also, of "laws concerning witnesses"; stating that no "single" person may stand as an accusatory witness of someone else. Two, or three, witnesses are necessary.
Aren't these quite similar to structures of our laws today ...with the exception of a city of refuge, of course? Further evidence as to how our wonderful heritage is based, our country founded, on biblical principles. As we complicate, and try to accommodate every nuance, accept for the God that provided our model of freedom, it seems we stray further and further from simple, biblical principles; the very principles which we enjoy as citizens of the United States of America, whether we realize it or not! Privileges enjoyed by few other countries on the globe. Our God expressed righteousness, but also expressed great mercy. I pray that we continue to model this, and always struggle to balance it.
