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5/26 Reading Portions: Numbers 35; Psalm 79; Isaiah 27; 1 John 5
Numbers 35:30
“If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.”
EVIDENCE
Nearly every major instance in this chapter is a prophetic picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, with two primary exceptions. Jesus is the Slain, illustrated in the death of a man in the land. We deserve death for our sins against God; and our sins are the cause for Christ’s death upon a tree. Jesus is the Avenger of Blood, as He is the ever-righteous King of kings, who alone can dispense holy justice. Jesus is the City of Refuge, to whom alone a manslayer may flee and find safety until the death of the high priest. Jesus is the great High Priest who is alive forevermore, making continual intercession on behalf of the manslayer in the Refuge City. For the sinful descendants of fallen Adam, however, there are only two prophetic depictions— the murderer and the manslayer. You and I fall into either of these two categories. The murderer is the one who has embraced his sins against God. He cares not a whit or whistle of God’s Christ, whom our sins have slain upon the tree. In that Day, he will have overwhelming evidence of witnesses against him. Against the murderer are witnesses of his defiled deeds against heaven on earth, his every thought given to the lusts of his flesh, his every blasphemous word uttered from the mouth God created, and his own testimony in the rejection of God’s gracious provision through the Lord Christ, denying the water of Christ's incarnation and the blood of His atoning death. Moreover, Satan’s silence in accusation will be evidence against him. Finally, the Holy Spirit will bear witness against him,
…because the Spirit is the truth. 1 John 5:6
The manslayer, however, exemplifies the soul of one who has fled to Christ, the Refuge City. Though we are guilty of Christ’s death via our sins, we did so ignorantly until the light of Christ’s gospel shined safely within. There is only one witness against the manslayer who for refuge abides in the Lord Jesus Christ— Satan, the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10). This is the power of the Spirit, the water of Christ’s incarnate birth, and the blood spilt by His sacrificial and atoning death. Jesus Christ is the righteous Advocate who propitiates on our behalf (1 Jn 2:1). The murderer is guilty of the blood, whereas the manslayer in Christ is cleansed thereby (1 Jn 1:7).