Numbers 35:29-34 Bible Study | Episode 832

December 17, 2024

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

Numbers 35:29-34  Bible Study | Episode #832

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison, and you're listening to hope alive, applying God's word to your daily life. Hi, this is Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and have been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open up.

His word to you and allow you.

To see him and to know him and to know his will, that you might glorify him and that you might walk in faith and power each and every day, especially today, in Jesus name.

Well, good morning. Welcome to Lake Community Church's morning Bible study. We are in numbers, chapter 35, and we're going to finish the chapter today. We're going to be talking about today as one of those subject matters that actually is really relevant in our modern societies, especially because the practice of capital punishment is not, is widely used, as it has historically been used, and it may be maybe improperly used here in different ways. People have arguments about that. The Bible, clearly in the Old Testament and the New Testament, speaks of capital punishment in the New Testament. Paul asked the question, does the executioner wield his ax in vain? Meaning that he is. And when he's talking about that, he's talking about respect and honoring government officials and government and the institution of government that God created. And so we find capital punishment a part of the Old Testament law. It is. It is a part of the Old Testament law. And I think one of the main things we need to take from this is that we need to read it and see where God's heart is about this. Remember, the law is a definer of the holiness of God, and so we want to know the holiness of God because we want to attain to that. You go, well, we don't do it by living by the law. That's exactly right. Because we can't live by the law. We are not holy. As God is holy. We can't live perfectly by the law. So what do we need? Well, we need the grace of God. We need God's leadership, God's guidance. God's taking us through life and showing us how to live. And that's how we are righteous before God. Our righteousness is not by our ability to be right, as God is right, but our righteousness is by faith. But that does not mean that we do not need to know and understand God's holiness and understand his heart, because as we walk by faith, we want to learn how to walk with him. And so obviously, this is one of those. One of those understandings and ideas that I would want to have some background in. And so as we just kind of read through it, we're going to see some important. I really think every verse here has a great deal to teach us. Says, and all these things shall be a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations and all your dwellings. Meaning this is going to be a statute. It's going to be a law, a permanent law. And it's going to be permanent law throughout the generations in all your dwellings, meaning wherever you live and whatever time you're in, this is a statute to you. Now, that's interesting. God's making sure that they understand that. That times, even though they may change, and locations, even though it may change, God does not change. And oftentimes we want to say, well, we live in a modern society, and we have moved past those things. I say this all the time. We may live in a modern society, but the only thing that has progressed about humanity, you need to hear this. I've said it. Yeah, I said it yesterday in the morning. Bible study, not online, but with a group of men that I have Bible study with on Monday morning. I said, I said, uh, you will hear from people that humanity is progressing. I want you to hear me. Technology is progressing. Humanity is not progressing. Okay, I'm gonna say it again. Technology is progressing, which makes it easier for us to produce things, easier for us to live our lives more comfortably. But that does not mean that the heart of man is progressing any. The heart of man is not progressing. And I know that because I've got one of them. I've got a heart of humanity. I have a. A heart that is human. And I know when I measure myself up with God's law and God's word that I do not meet that standard. And I am just as poor at it as moses or Noah or David or Jacob or Joseph or. You just keep naming them all the way back. I'm not any better than Peter or Paul or any of them. That I am not progressing. The society I live in is not progressed past God's law and God's word. And so his law and his, and his holiness is beyond us. And it still is beyond us, even though I might be able to travel several hundred miles in a car during the day, whereas it would take. It would take many weeks to travel that distance because they didn't have automobiles.

Okay.

It may be that I have the power to compute all kinds of things, even. Even in my pocket during the day and have access to all kinds of information. Still not progressed, still not any better. It may be that we have medicines for illnesses and things like that, but none of that has changed the heart of humanity. None of that has changed the heart of humanity. We are still wicked in our hearts and we need a savior to change our hearts. The same as we. As it was 3500 years ago when this was written. It is the same situation, the same time, the same season. And so it says, you should have this statue forever in every place you go throughout the generations. Whoever kills a person, the murderer, now he's calling him a murderer. And that is. That is very important because it's not just you killed somebody. We've already dealt with. There are situations where people are killed by the actions of someone else, but that, that's not an intentional act. It's not a. An act that would require them to be suffered the death penalty because it's not intentional. They did not desire to kill them. They just killed them by accident. They killed them unknowingly, perhaps even. Even not even realizing that they killed them, perhaps. And that happens all the time. And that is not criminal.

Okay?

These are murderers. They shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses.

Okay?

So they're going to be put to death on the testimony of many of more than one witness.

Okay?

But one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty. That is an interesting part of the Old Testament law, especially when we're dealing with capital punishment and especially when we're dealing with people's character. The. The old testament required in the law that there be more than one witness to something that be more than one witness to say somebody did wrongly.

Okay?

And so that's very sufficient when you. Is very important and. And should be the sufficient number for a person to get the death penalty. He says, it says, but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty, meaning for you to lose your life due to the actions you took as far as killing another. Moreover, you shall take no ransom for the life of the murderer who is guilty of death, meaning you can't take somebody's life and then buy your way out of it. You can't, you can't, you can't. You can't do certain things. And just because you have earthly wealth, you get out of it. Now, that is a. That is an important understanding God is giving his people. That is a problem. That has been a problem throughout human history that the wealthy could get away with crimes because they're wealthy and because they could pay their way out of it. God says that's not going to work for him. God says that's. That's not how that this, this is going to take place. Just because you, you have money doesn't mean you ought to be able to get out of killing people. And he says there's no ransom to be taken. He also says, by the way, and you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to the city of refuge, meaning anybody who commits manslaughter, you can't take ransom from them. And so that they can return in the land before the death of the priest. Remember, they've got to stay in the city of refuge until the death of the priest who was in the office when they committed the death, committed the act of manslaughter. They got to dwell there, and they can't buy them their way out of it. So we've learned a couple of things. First of all, that humanity has not progressed in its heart away from wickedness. Humanity is still wicked. We've learned that you need more than one witness to enact the death penalty. We've learned you can't pay your way out of this stuff, okay? You. You shouldn't be able to pay your way out of it. Just because you're, uh, you've progressed, uh, in society to the top doesn't mean you get to, uh, get away with the actions, the intentional act of taking another person's life. Why? Well, so you shall not pollute the land where you are. For blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that he shed on it, except the blood of him who shed it. Meaning he's saying that murder defiles the land. Murder destroys the land. Murder is. Murder is a sickness in our societies. It's a sickness in the land that we live in. And it's evidence of that sickness, okay? It defiles it. Murder. Murder defiles our land. Now, I want you to know God's not. The reason for the death penalty is not a reason of justice.

Okay?

You need to hear this. In God's law. He is not. He's not giving us the reason for the death penalty as being just. It's only right to take a their life because they took another person's life. Even though that is true. That's a truth. But that's not his reason for it. His reason is not a retributive justice, meaning a retribution of justice. And by the way that's one of the things you study in law school when you study in criminal law, is retributive. Retributive justice. It's not God's reason for the death penalty is not a retributive justice. Reason, meaning it's not for retribution against the person who kills it, kill someone. It's because murder destroys society. Murder is a. Well, it's a sickness that destroys the land that you live in. It destroys the society that you live in. And so he says, the only way for that to be atoned for, meaning for that sickness to be handled, to be paid for. The only way for that to be paid for is that the one who shed the blood, his blood is also shed. Now you go. I don't understand that. Why is that important? Well, it's important because that's an important principle for atonement for us when we. Our sin requires death. In fact, we're talking about spiritual death. Our sin requires spiritual death. It does. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Why? Well, because. Well, my sin separates me from God and makes me spiritually dead. I'm spiritually dead because of the sin of my father Adam, that which is passed down to me. And I still have that curse of sin in my life. And the gift of God is an atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ in his blood. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. He gave his blood. He gave his sacrifice on the cross to atone for my sin. Well, he's saying here that the atonement for the sickness that's caused by murder in the land must be paid for by the murderer. By the murderer's blood. That's a. That. Now we're getting into it. What is the purpose of. Of the death penalty? The purpose for the death penalty is for there to be an understanding by the people of the land that murder is a sickness and evidence of a sickness in society. That's interesting. That's an important thought you need to get in your head. It's one of those ideas that kind of runs through the whole scripture, and it's the whole purpose of God's atoning sacrifice through Jesus Christ. It's to remove the sickness of sin, the sickness of death. Therefore, do not defile the land which you inhabit. Meaning don't mess up the place you live in.

Okay.

In the midst of which I do it. Meaning don't mess up the land where you live. And I live with you. For I am the, I, the Lord, dwell among the children of Israel. What he's saying is, is that we need a right society. And the only way for a right society to exist is for there not to be the intentional killing of others. That is one of the. One of the prerequisites for a right society and for us to live in harmony with each other and in harmony with God. That's pretty plain and straightforward. And by the way, it teaches you a whole lot about God's heart. It teaches you a whole lot about how we should live, and it teaches you what life is about. Now you say, well, pastor, can you make some comments? I know you're an attorney. Can you make some comments about the death penalty? Yeah, I can. We have the death penalty in Alabama. I think that the death penalty in Alabama is wrong, wrongly used. It is. It takes far too long. Of course, that's all over the country. It takes far too long to get to the death penalty, and it is lost its effectiveness because we, the person who we put to death, usually committed the crime, 20 years, 25 years before that, and nobody remembers the crime, and nobody knows the person who committed the crime because he's been in prison for 2025 years. We don't do it rightly, and I don't have a solution for how to do it rightly. Okay? But I know it's in the Old Testament and the New Testament, and so we should try to figure out how to do it in a way that it has its full effect for our society in keeping those who might consider it from doing it and give them a reason to think about not committing murder, because murder is a major problem in our country, and it's a major problem in our land, including Alabama, although it's not as bad in Alabama as some other places. But there are places in Alabama where it is a major problem, and it is a sign of a society that has a sickness in it. And so that's where I stand as you go today. I pray that the Lord will bless.

You and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you, and that he will give you hope and peace today. In Jesus name.