Deuteronomy 21:1 says, 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: Moses talked about the situation of a man who no one knew being found slain in a field. Verse two adds, Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: Moses said in this situation that the elders and judges were to come forth and measure the distance to the cities which were near the person who was slain. It would be assumed that he had to have been in one of the cities shortly before he was slain. Though they might not have known who, someone was responsible for the man's death. Verse three continues, 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; Moses then said that the elders of the city closest to the slain man were to take a young heifer that had that had never worked. Verse four states, 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: The elders were to take the heifer into a valley that wasn't cultivated and slay it for a sacrifice for the sin of slaying the man, even if they weren't responsible or didn't know who was. Jesus Christ is the sacrifice for our sins, even before we commit them and even if no one else knows about them. Verse five adds, 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: Moses next said the priests and Levites who represent God were to come near to bless the people of the city and then every one would be freed from the responsibility of the death. We as Christians will never be held responsible for the sins of others, but no one else can bring us forgiveness of our sins either, except Jesus Christ. Verse six continues, 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: Moses said that the elders from that city were to wash their hands in the blood of the heifer to bring forgiveness for the people of the city. We are washed clean of our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ. Verse seven proclaims, And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Moses said that they were then to say that they had not shed the blood of this man, nor did they know who did. Of course, there was at least one person who knew who had slain the man, and that was the man who had murdered him, and he would not be held guiltless by God, even if he was never identified as the murderer. We may commit a sin, or even many sins today, and no one in the world ever know about it, but God will always know, and He is the only one that counts. Verse eight adds, 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. They were to ask God to be merciful to them, because they had not shed this innocent blood and for God to not hold them responsible for it. We can always depend on the fact that God will never hold us responsible for the sins of anyone else, and by His mercy He even sent Jesus Christ to atone for our sins if we will accept Him as our Savior and Lord. Verse nine continues, 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. Moses said that they could put away the guilt of innocent blood when they did as God instructed them to do. We today can put away the guilt of our sin when we do as God instructs us to and and repent and accept Jesus Christ Who shed His innocent blood for us as our Savior and Lord.
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