May 13, 2020
In Deuteronomy 21:1-9, Moses presents a strange, yet very specific scenario involving what to do in the case of a murder where the guilty party remains unknown. Like the law of God, Moses was leaving few, if any, loopholes that would allow the Israelites to permit sin to remain in the camp. In this particular circumstance, while the name of the guilty party was not known, the guilt of their crime remained. And because God viewed the Israelites communally, He held the entire nation responsible for the crime committed. Atonement must be made. Justice must be served. And, just because the identity of the murderer remained a mystery, it did not relieve the condemnation the crime had brought upon the people of God. One man’s sin had contaminated the entire body. And it was up to them to rectify the situation by doing what was right in God’s eyes by purging the sin from their midst.