Then Moses separated three cities on this side the Jordan toward the sun-rising,
Moses has been speaking to Israel, urging them to obey God. Then he breaks off his address and acts. He marks off three cities east of the Jordan. A man who kills someone by accident can run there and stay alive. Why does that act belong here? It is the first question commentators ask.
The jump from sermon to map can look like an interruption. One writer sees deliberate order in it:
To a careless reader it might seem abrupt; but far from it — it is, as we would expect, in perfect and beautiful moral order. Scripture is always divinely perfect. If we do not see and appreciate its beauties and moral glories, that is only because of our own blindness and dullness.
Another writer looks at Israel's own history:
This division closes with what looks like a remarkable digression — the provision of the three cities of refuge on the east side of the Jordan. We cannot miss the divine fitness of pointing to a refuge for a people whose past history so strongly underlined their need of one.
The cities are not a soft option. They hold together two things God refuses to give up:
The chapter closes with three cities chosen for the manslayer in the country beyond the Jordan. Israel had taken that land from the Amorite kings, Sihon and Og. Jehovah Himself required such a refuge. He would not tolerate the shedding of man's blood, and He would not let anyone treat an accident as murder.
The two and a half tribes settled here, east of the Jordan, short of the land God had promised.
Here we have a lovely display of the grace of God rising, as it always does, above human weakness and failure. By choosing their inheritance on this side of the Jordan, the two and a half tribes were plainly stopping short of the proper portion of the Israel of God. That portion lay on the other side of the river of death. But despite this failure, God in His abounding grace would not leave the poor slayer without a refuge in the day of his distress. If man cannot come up to the height of God's thoughts, God can come down to the depths of man's need.
The same writer is careful not to turn that kindness into approval:
Does this prove that the two and a half tribes were right? No; but it proves that God was good, and that He must always act like Himself, despite all our weakness and folly. Could He leave a poor slayer without a place of refuge in the land of Gilead, even though Gilead was not Canaan? Surely not... He took care to bring the city of refuge near to the slayer.
Moses could only finish half the job.
God had told Moses to do this before (Numbers 35:9-15). Moses now begins the work of setting apart certain cities of refuge. The three cities west of the Jordan would have to wait (Joshua 20:1-9) until Israel conquered that land. Moses appointed the three east of the Jordan — Bezer, Ramoth and Golan.
The three names carry a progression. Bezer means fortification, and Ramoth means height. But safety is only the start of it:
God's enclosure can never be a mere defence. It must be planted, like the first garden, with "every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food." In Him, evil and the enemy are not merely shut out; we are shut in with blessing.
The third name goes further:
Golan means joy or exultation. When the Lord receives someone into the refuge of His presence, we find more than protection and more than a high position. We find "joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory" (1 Peter 1:8).
One writer applies the refuge to Israel and the death of Christ:
The grace of God shines brightly in keeping the unintentional slayer safe inside the refuge, where the avenger of blood could not lay hands on him. In grace He regards Israel as a "slayer" rather than a "murderer," and He will restore the nation in due time to the good land, the land of their possession. On the cross the Lord made intercession for the transgressors. He put the deed on the ground of ignorance: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).
- Timing. Moses closes his address by pointing to a refuge — fitting for a people "whose past history so strongly underlined their need of one."
- Holiness. God Himself required the refuge. He would neither overlook shed blood nor treat an accident as murder.
- Nearness. East of the Jordan fell short of the promised land. Still, God "took care to bring the city of refuge near to the slayer" — grace reaching people where their own choice had left them.
- Fullness. The names run from shelter (Bezer) to height (Ramoth) to joy (Golan): not merely shut out from danger, but "shut in with blessing."
- Reach. The slayer who killed without hatred pictures a nation God treats on the ground of ignorance — mercy held open, and the promise still standing.
that the manslayer might flee thither, who should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not previously, that fleeing to one of these cities, he might live
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Bezer in the wilderness, in the plateau, of the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.