Deu 21:1-9 | KingComments | STEP | This is a special chapter, which also forms a whole in the five sections that make it up. We find here the holiness of life and personal rights, seen from different angles. We also discover a marvelous overview of God’s plans with His people. There are also spiritual applications to make. Here it is about someone who has died a violent death, while the perpetrator is unknown. The scene of the crime is the open country, not a city. The first murder in the history of mankind also occurs in the field ( ). If no perpetrator is known, in society everyone normally goes unpunished. For God this is not so. For Him it is certain that there is guilt and to that awareness the people must come. One of them is a murderer. The people must learn to see that guilt as their guilt. The blood that has been shed is innocent blood ( ) in the sense that one does not know who the perpetrator is. Yet there is guilt, because it happened among the people. The whole land is involved ( ). To atone for the guilt of the land ( ), a sacrifice must be brought. God provides a means by which the general guilt of people and land will be removed. Should crime go unpunished, justice is not satisfied. If the perpetrator can’t be traced, the guilt that rests on the land and the people must be removed in another way. The general guilt of the individual’s act can also be seen in Joshua 7 ( ; cf. ). In Deuteronomy 19 a provision has been made for manslaughter in which the manslayer is known ( ). In this chapter a provision is made in case the murderer is not known. To work forgiveness for the shed blood, a heifer’s neck must be broken by the elders and these elders must then wash their hands over the heifer. During this washing of hands, the elders, as representatives of the people, have to declare themselves innocent of this shed blood. Then they must ask the LORD to keep his redeemed people innocent. There is no atonement in the usual sense of the word here. Nothing happens with the blood of the heifer. It is rather atonement through justice. The heifer dies instead of the unknown murderer, through which the land is cleansed of guilt (cf. ). The prophetic application lays ahead in Israel’s future. Israel will realize their culpability in the death of the Lord Jesus ( ) at that time. Those alive at that time will not be literally responsible for His murder. They are literally innocent, but as a people they are guilty of bloodshed. Thus, the people, represented in the elders, stand in the valley: personally innocent, but corporately guilty. The fact that it takes place in a valley symbolically indicates the humiliation related to this event. The heifer is brought “down to a valley with running water, which has not been plowed or sown”. The running water speaks of the never-ending grace of God. The fact that the valley has not been plowed or sown indicates the absence of any human work or any human effort with the hope of a future result. The work that God does for atonement is exclusively the result of His grace without any contribution from man. The laying on of the hands is the identification with the murderer present in their midst, although he is unknown. By the sacrifice, the people are freed from the guilt that rests on them. The judgment strikes the heifer and not the guilty people as a whole. They wash their hands as a sign of identification with the sacrifice ( ) and not like Pilate, who didn’t want to have anything to do with the sacrifice ( ). Both the murdered and the heifer represent the Lord Jesus. The murdering of the Lord Jesus ( ) is the result of His rejection by man. Giving Christ as a means of reconciliation is the answer of God’s grace. This can be seen on the cross. There man has brought the Christ and at the same time God gives Him as reconciliation. There is also an application to the church. Evil that is present in a local church affects all the people of God. The borders of the land do not apply to the church of God. Yet not every person in the local gathering is equipped to deal with the evil that is present. This is done by the ‘cities’ closest to them, and not every single one of these, but specifically the elders and judges who represent the element of responsibility. It is important to know where the first spiritual responsibility lies. There must be a ‘measured’ approach as to who has the first responsibility. An individual can only deal with evil if there is no guilt on his own hands. Only then can there be identification in the awareness that the whole people are guilty. It is about brothers who are closest in a spiritual sense. They can deal with it. They are brothers who, as priests, are accustomed to being in God’s presence. They are not only concerned with serious evil as murder, but with “every assault” ( ). For such believers, it is important that the priestly and the judicial element are in balance.

‏ Deuteronomy 21:1-9

Introduction

This is a special chapter, which also forms a whole in the five sections that make it up. We find here the holiness of life and personal rights, seen from different angles. We also discover a marvelous overview of God’s plans with His people. There are also spiritual applications to make.

Removal of the Guilt of Innocent Blood

Here it is about someone who has died a violent death, while the perpetrator is unknown. The scene of the crime is the open country, not a city. The first murder in the history of mankind also occurs in the field (Gen 4:8). If no perpetrator is known, in society everyone normally goes unpunished. For God this is not so. For Him it is certain that there is guilt and to that awareness the people must come. One of them is a murderer. The people must learn to see that guilt as their guilt.

The blood that has been shed is innocent blood (Deu 21:9-10) in the sense that one does not know who the perpetrator is. Yet there is guilt, because it happened among the people. The whole land is involved (Deu 21:1 ; 8). To atone for the guilt of the land (Deu 21:8), a sacrifice must be brought. God provides a means by which the general guilt of people and land will be removed. Should crime go unpunished, justice is not satisfied. If the perpetrator can’t be traced, the guilt that rests on the land and the people must be removed in another way. The general guilt of the individual’s act can also be seen in Joshua 7 (Jos 7:1; cf. 2Sam 21:1-2).

In Deuteronomy 19 a provision has been made for manslaughter in which the manslayer is known (Deu 19:1-13). In this chapter a provision is made in case the murderer is not known. To work forgiveness for the shed blood, a heifer’s neck must be broken by the elders and these elders must then wash their hands over the heifer. During this washing of hands, the elders, as representatives of the people, have to declare themselves innocent of this shed blood. Then they must ask the LORD to keep his redeemed people innocent.

There is no atonement in the usual sense of the word here. Nothing happens with the blood of the heifer. It is rather atonement through justice. The heifer dies instead of the unknown murderer, through which the land is cleansed of guilt (cf. Num 35:33).

The prophetic application lays ahead in Israel’s future. Israel will realize their culpability in the death of the Lord Jesus (Zec 12:10) at that time. Those alive at that time will not be literally responsible for His murder. They are literally innocent, but as a people they are guilty of bloodshed. Thus, the people, represented in the elders, stand in the valley: personally innocent, but corporately guilty. The fact that it takes place in a valley symbolically indicates the humiliation related to this event.

The heifer is brought “down to a valley with running water, which has not been plowed or sown”. The running water speaks of the never-ending grace of God. The fact that the valley has not been plowed or sown indicates the absence of any human work or any human effort with the hope of a future result. The work that God does for atonement is exclusively the result of His grace without any contribution from man.

The laying on of the hands is the identification with the murderer present in their midst, although he is unknown. By the sacrifice, the people are freed from the guilt that rests on them. The judgment strikes the heifer and not the guilty people as a whole. They wash their hands as a sign of identification with the sacrifice (Psa 26:6 ; Psa 73:13) and not like Pilate, who didn’t want to have anything to do with the sacrifice (Mt 27:24).

Both the murdered and the heifer represent the Lord Jesus. The murdering of the Lord Jesus (Acts 7:52) is the result of His rejection by man. Giving Christ as a means of reconciliation is the answer of God’s grace. This can be seen on the cross. There man has brought the Christ and at the same time God gives Him as reconciliation.

There is also an application to the church. Evil that is present in a local church affects all the people of God. The borders of the land do not apply to the church of God. Yet not every person in the local gathering is equipped to deal with the evil that is present. This is done by the ‘cities’ closest to them, and not every single one of these, but specifically the elders and judges who represent the element of responsibility. It is important to know where the first spiritual responsibility lies. There must be a ‘measured’ approach as to who has the first responsibility.

An individual can only deal with evil if there is no guilt on his own hands. Only then can there be identification in the awareness that the whole people are guilty. It is about brothers who are closest in a spiritual sense. They can deal with it. They are brothers who, as priests, are accustomed to being in God’s presence. They are not only concerned with serious evil as murder, but with “every assault” (Deu 21:5). For such believers, it is important that the priestly and the judicial element are in balance.