Deuteronomy

Unsolved Murder

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Pentateuch

Lesson: 65-110

Genre: Talk

Track: 065

Dictation Name: RR187AJ65

Location/Venue:

Year: 1993

Let us worship God. This is the confidence that we have in Him that if we ask anything according to His will He heareth us. Having these promises let us draw near to the throne of grace with true hearts in full assurance of faith. My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning oh Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee and will look up. Let us pray.

Oh Lord our God we come to Thee who art the author of all good mindful of all mercies and knowing Thy judgments. We pray for our country that by Thy grace it may again be a godly nation. We pray for Thy judgment upon the iniquities of our country and of our time. Cleanse Thou the nations oh Lord and make them Thy people. Bless us in Thy service, bless us now by Thy word and by Thy spirit and strengthen us for Thy peace. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Our scripture is Deuteronomy 21:1-9. Our subject: Unsolved Murder. Deuteronomy 21:1-9, Unsolved Murder.

“ If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him:

2 Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:

3 And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;

4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley:

5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the Lord; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried:

6 And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:

7 And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.

8 Be merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.

9 So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord.”

This is a very, very important law, in fact I do not believe one can truly understand God’s law apart from this one. It makes clear God’s requirement that justice prevail and that every crime be atoned for. The law concerns the discovery of a murdered man. The body is found outside a city, somewhere in the country, there must be then a jurisdiction established. Which city is closest to the body? If there is any doubt the distance must be measured. No crime can go without resolution and with murder this rite requires that a heifer be killed to indicate their efforts to locate and execute the murderer. The heifer dies instead of the killer, the innocent dies for the guilty. This points to Christ’s atoning death. It also tells us that unsolved crimes punish the innocent. There were apparently a few chosen spots where this ritual had to take place, it had to be some small valley or draw which was neither planted nor plowed. It is described as a rough valley but the word better translates there had to be a valley with running water. The heifer had to be one neither bred nor yoked for work. Involved in the ritual was both the local eldership or aldermen and the priests. Unresolved crimes must be a matter of concern to both church and state in other words because they indicate at the least a hiatus or a break from the operation of justice. Failures in the justice system are an indictment of both church and state. They mean that evil is out of control and that justice is faltering or failing.

Neither civil nor religious leaders therefore can overlook the fact of unsolved and unpunished crimes. The ritual requires them to acknowledge the crime but disavow their part in it and this can only be done by this ritual. No unsolved murder can be bypassed. While the priests and elders declare themselves of the actual murder by this ritual they also acknowledge their responsibility to keep their community faithful and obedient to God’s law word. Now stop for a moment and consider the implications of this. What God is saying is: that every wrong done, great or small has to be righted. If you have been wronged and this world is not done justice to you or the courts have not even considered it of any importance God does consider it important. He will hold it to their account. In verse six the elders must wash their hands to declare their innocence. Ironically, this is the ritual which pilot who knew Jewish law, he had to learn it to be an effective ruler there, Pilot used this to declare himself innocent of Christ’s blood. He washed his hands and declared he was not guilty of the blood of this man. He misused the law, since He signed the death warrant. We have other reference to this ritual washing of hands to declare innocence in Psalm 26:6 and Psalm 73:13. The premise of this law is that the whole community is involved in blood guiltiness where an unsolved murder occurs. Unless there is an awareness of church and state of how serious the problem is and that God’s requirements must be met. There is no past, dead or meaningless history in God’s sight. This is why we can trust these things into God’s hands, they will pay to the last penny our Lord says either in time or eternity.

Men may forget the varieties of crimes and murders committed ten years ago but God does not forget. He lays these offenses to the charge of the country or the community and in due time a few years hence or a hundred years later and in eternity He will exact His payment. It is His law and His justice that have been violated and He will in His own way exact His judgment and if it is against us personally we are His sons and daughters and He will not forget what has been done to His children. The past can be forgotten by men but never by God. The judges apparently took part together with the elders and priests. But their part was simply to determine which city had jurisdiction. IT is interesting to note that even though the body of the victim was found just outside a city and miles from any other in Judea it became mandatory to measure the distances. In other words, bureaucrats then and now are the same. They can create work where none should exist. So the officers would go out even though the body was found just at the edge of the city and solemnly measure the distance to the city walls and then to the next closest city and come up with an opinion which city had the jurisdiction. It’s an interesting example of pomposity. Incidentally this law became obsolete a generation or two before our Lord as far as practice in Judea was concerned. There were so many murders beginning to take place that they no longer bothered. They paid for it though in the absolute destruction of Jerusalem. David F. Pane very ably summarized the four basic elements of this rite:

First, the whole community represented in its elders and Levites acknowledged responsibility. They were not the criminal but they were the justice community. By an oath personal responsibility was disavowed and the outlaw or murderer was condemned. Second, by the death of the heifer they declared a murderer must die. His life must pay for his crime for the life taken. Even where the murderer is unknown a life must be taken, blood must be shed. This ritual did not prevent the execution of the murderer if he later be known and caught. Third, by the use of water innocence was affirmed. Innocence must mark a community whereas blood guiltiness condemns them in God’s sight if no atonement is made for the crime. Fourth, because men cannot bring about perfect justice, they must recognize God as the source of all justice. They must invoke His mercy to keep the community from degeneration. In First Corinthian 5:9-13 Paul asks the Corinthian church to deal with offenders as God requires and thereby meet God’s requirement of justice or pay a price for it. Morecraft commentated and I quote:

“The entire community has a responsibility when crimes are committed or injustice done. A community cannot be indifferent to any sin, crime or injustice in its midst or else it bears the guilt as well as the offender and is under judgment. When a community shuts its eyes to any evil in its midst and refuses to deal with it justly and in accordance with God’s law then the whole community is under God’s condemnation.” Unquote.

Forms of this law existed until this century because of the influence of the Bible. In Britain in the last century a fine was levied on the district in which an unsolved crime of murder occurred, that of course is now gone. Unsolved murders were seen as a national reproach. In verse eight we have a prayer for mercy for all Israel. Not only the district where the crime took place but all the country must view an unsolved murder as a burden of guilt until atonement is made. In Judges 19-20 we have an account of the rape killing of a Levite’s concubine that is, a wife without a dowry. Although it was an evil era all other tribes or clans reacted by declaring war on Benjamin when that tribe refused to surrender the guilty men. That incident reflects this law. Unpunished murder makes a land unclean. A moral dereliction is in all its charged to their account. Unless the people protest such a lawlessness, unless they appeal to God for justice all are guilty in God’s sight. This ritual is not performed by either the Levites or the priests. This is an unusual fact. It is a duty of the city elders or aldermen because the law of God must be of concern to the civil authorities as well as the clergy. Action had to be taken where crimes were unsolved.

This rite did not end the investigation into murder, it simply established the necessity for justice as a social fact. Without justice no society can endure indefinitely. Guilt does not go away. It must be removed by expiation either by the execution of the killer or by this substitutionary death of the heifer. The city elders could not perform this rite or post pone this rite to the end of the year and then have one ceremony for all unsolved murders. This would cheapen the meaning of individual life. Every unsolved murder pollutes the land according to Numbers 35:33. Murder is a crime against God and His law, it destroys God’s image bearer. In very ancient Greece murder was a crime against the family but God declares it to be against Him and His law. This enables us to see how total God’s justice is, remember, not only all crimes but our Lord says every idle word God shall require an accounting for. So He holds men to requirement of perfect justice. Our country may fail us as far as justice is concerned, the courts and lawyers may fail us but God through His law declares throw your cares onto me, I will give perfect justice in my time. Let us pray.

Our Lord and our God, we thank Thee for this Thy word. We thank Thee that we live in a universe where perfect justice does and shall prevail. Give us faith therefore and patience, teach us to cast our every care upon Thee knowing that Thou carest for us. All our yesterdays, todays and tomorrows are known to Thee and come from Thee. Give us grace to accept them, to rejoice in Thy providential care and all Thy promises to us in Christ which are yea and amen. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson? Yes?

[Question] Well what’s the substitution for chopping the heifer’s head off?

[Rushdoony] Well first of all it cost the city something [laughs]. Second, it made them realize that where there is no fulfillment of God’s requirements of justice innocent blood, innocence suffers. So it teaches them that somebody has to pay and if you don’t have perfect justice the innocent are going to pay for it. Of course now we’re so hardened to crime that they take place in some cities about once a day and nobody even thinks they’re worth noting. Any other..yes?

[Question] A society of beasts masquerading as human beings.

[Rushdoony] Well they’re totally depraved human beings…yes? Any other questions?

This is a law to think about and to realize it’s still on the books with God. And He is going to judge the nations in terms of this law. He has never repealed it although men have forgotten it. Although the state would consider it absurd if anybody talked about such a thing and the church never preaches it. But it’s still eternally the law with God and He is going to exact atonement of the nations, they will pay even as our Lord says to every idle word, to the last farthing He said, they will pay. Yes?

[Question] This is such an excellent reminder for people who are in positions of authority that there is going to be an accounting here, are there other examples in scripture that remind leaders of these kind of things, for example, the church seems to do whatever it pleases. Is there anything in scripture that reminds them that look, you just can’t do that.

[Rushdoony] Well, the preaching of the law should do that, but today when the church doesn’t feel that this is anything but a museum piece and not the law of God how is the state to know? The prophets tell us that the purpose of the watchmen is to alert people to problems but where are the watchmen on the walls now, they’re not teaching this. And this is so basic to understanding the nature of God and His justice. But I’ve never read of this being preached unless possibly by, certainly, by Joseph Morecraft in Georgia and myself. I’ve preached on this more than once. That tells you why we are in trouble, as a church and as a nation. Well if there are no further questions or comments lets conclude with prayer.

Our Father we thank Thee that with Thee there is perfect justice. That every offense, every sin committed by men will exact a penalty in time and in eternity. We thank Thee that Thy judgment will cleanse the nations and we know that we are now in a time of cleansing. We beseech Thee to be merciful unto us, to make us strong for the days ahead and faithful in all things. And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, Amen.