What Does God Want From Elders? (Job 29:1-25; Joshua 20:1-9; Acts 6:1-7) Series

I'd like to begin this morning by simply reading Joshua 20:1-9, from start to finish:

(1) And Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying,

(2) "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying,

"Make for yourselves cities of refuge, which I had spoken to you by the hand of Moses, (3) to flee there, a

manslayer-- a striker of a life accidentally, apart from intent,

and they shall be for you as a refuge from the redeemer of the blood,

(4) and he shall flee to one of these cities,

and he shall stand at the opening of the gate of the city,

and he shall say/explain in the ears of the elders of that city his words/situation,

and they shall gather him to the city-- to them,

and they shall give to him a place,

and he shall dwell with them,

(5) and when the redeemer of the blood pursues after him, they shall not surrender the manslayer into

his hand

because apart from intent he struck his neighbor,

and not hating him was he beforehand in the past,

(6) and he shall dwell in that city until he has stood before the community for the exercising of authority -

- until the death of the high priest who is in those days.

At that time, the manslayer shall return,

and he shall go to his city and to his house/home, to the city that he had fled from there,"

(7) and they dedicated Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shekhem in the hill country of Ephraim and Kiriath Arba-- this is Hebron-- in the hill country of Judah,

(8) while on the other side of the Jordan Jericho to the east they gave Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad and Galon in Bashan from the tribe of Menasah.

(9) These are the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel and for the resident alien residing in their midst, to flee there-- all who struck a life accidentally,

and he shall not die by the hand of the redeemer of blood until he has stood before the community.

These verses should sound familiar to you. They should make sense. But this doesn't mean that Joshua 20 is teaching the same thing that Numbers 35 and Deuteronomy 19.

There is a unique focus in Joshua 20-- AJ here focuses far more on the role of the elders and the community in dealing with cases of unintentional killing.

Starting in verse 4, almost every verb focuses on the elders and the larger community:

(1) the manslayer shall explain in the ears of the elders his words

(2) and they shall gather him to the city, to THEM,

(3) and THEY shall give him a place

(4) and he shall dwell with THEM,

(5) and THEY shall not surrender the manslayer into the redeemer's hand, first, until the community can hear his situation, and second, until the death of the high priest.

Notice how much responsibility Yahweh gives to humans in all of this. When someone murders someone else, we'd maybe expect God to put a giant flashing neon light above the murderer's head, to make sure that person is punished. Or maybe, we'd expect a flash of lightning from heaven, as God deals with the murderer himself. But God doesn't do that. Instead, God delegates that authority, and responsibility to humans:

A) Elders and the community are given the responsibility of determining whether or not the manslayer should die.

B) Humans are given the responsibility of being the ones to execute the guilty person. Specifically, this falls on the redeemer of blood.

C) Elders are given the responsibility of protecting the innocent manslayer.

-Not everyone gets a sign of divine protection on them (Genesis 4:15).

-The elders initially protect the manslayer until the redeemer of blood can make his case, with witnesses, for the manslayer's death.

-Assuming innocence, the elders then protect the manslayer until the death of the high priest.

D) Elders are given the responsibility of making sure the innocent manslayer has a place to live-- among them. They can't let the manslayer go homeless. Or starve to death. Or ostracize him.

If you are a town elder, God expects you to exercise authority with integrity. You have to judge impartially; you have to protect the vulnerable (including the manslayer!). Above all, you have to keep the land free of bloodguilt. God is counting on you to make sure the people live rightly within the covenant you made with Him. God is counting on you to protect the manslayer from being murdered.

One of the main complaints Yahweh makes about Israel through the prophets, is how Israel's leadership usually failed in all of this (Isaiah 1:15). It's hard to be the kind of leader God wants you to be. It's hard to exercise authority rightly, on behalf of the weak and vulnerable. It's hard to not take advantage of your position by perverting/twisting your authority for personal gain.