Deuteronomy 19 - Cities of Refuge and Purging the Evil from Among You

LINK: Deuteronomy 19

BACKGROUND

This chapter included instructions for setting up cities of refuge so that people who had committed accidental crimes could run to them and escape "avengers of blood" who were relatives of the person killed. Cities of refuge were not for those who had truly murdered another. These people were to be handed over to the avengers of blood.

People were not to be declared guilty by judges on only one witness but on two or three. A false or malicious witness would have the punishment he desired for the accused put on him instead.

God meant business. He wanted the people of Israel to "purge the evil" (19:19) and "carefully observe all His commandments" (19:9) so that it would go well for them in the Promised Land.

REFLECTION

God wants us to purge the evil from our lives and carefully observe all He commands so that it will go well for us also!

Here is another installment of Many Aspire, Few Attain related to purging the evil from our lives:

2. Hate sin
“Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good” (Rom. 12:9).

Close your eyes for a moment and think of something that really nauseates you. That feeling is the word that Paul uses when he says “abhor." God wants you to view sin like you view the thing you're thinking about right now. That is what God wants your attitude to be. You hate sin so much you almost gag.

Do you have a hatred for sin? Do you find that you abhor that which is evil? We are all plagued with sin, but some Christians don’t hate evil. Some have sin that they embrace to their bosoms. These may be secret sins with which they pet and play. No one else may even know of them - no one but God. Have you ever thought about the fact that people will do in the presence of the living God what they would never do in front of other people? We are all guilty of this. We do things in front of God that we would never let others see. We think thoughts and commit acts of sin in privacy that we would never think of doing in front of someone else.

God says, “I want you to hate sin. Abhor it.” If there are sins you have embraced, if you have allowed them to rule in your life, if you have never dealt the victory blow to them even though God has given you the power to do so if you'll just appropriate it, you will not survive the battle. If you don’t want to give up the sin because you enjoy it, you will never make it. You’ll end up being one of the casualties of the war.

APPLICATION 

Spend some time answering the questions in this article. 

PRAYER 

Lord, help us to carefully observe all that You tell us to do and to live lives without compromise. Teach us to hate sin and to purge the evil from our lives so that we might glorify You and enjoy the benefits of obedience. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.