The Foundation of Our Justice System
Since the United States has a Judaeo-Christian heritage, much of our justice system was based on the Bible. That is a great blessing, because God's justice is true justice. I pray that we will be able to preserve the Biblical elements in our justice system, because that will help all of our citizens and others who live among us. The Lord gave Joshua a good example of this when it comes to murder and manslaughter. (Joshua 20:9) Let's consider what God said.
God appointed six cities in the Promised land to be cities of refuge. If a person killed another person, they could flee to one of those cities, and be safe from the family members of the slain person, until they could face a trial before their peers. If they had committed premeditated murder, they would be put to death on the basis of testimony from multiple witnesses. However, if they were found to have killed the other person unintentionally, they could live in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Then, they could go home. Of course, if they were found innocent by their peers, they could go home, too. This same law applied to others who lived among the sons of Israel.
That is a very fair system of justice for a very serious crime. It calls for the murderer to be put to death, but only when the crime was confirmed. It allows for a punishment for the man-slayer, too. In this way people knew the sanctity of human life, and they respected all human lives. We would do well to follow these guidelines in our own way, and to stay with the other principles of justice in the Bible, too.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Joshua 21-23.
God appointed six cities in the Promised land to be cities of refuge. If a person killed another person, they could flee to one of those cities, and be safe from the family members of the slain person, until they could face a trial before their peers. If they had committed premeditated murder, they would be put to death on the basis of testimony from multiple witnesses. However, if they were found to have killed the other person unintentionally, they could live in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Then, they could go home. Of course, if they were found innocent by their peers, they could go home, too. This same law applied to others who lived among the sons of Israel.
That is a very fair system of justice for a very serious crime. It calls for the murderer to be put to death, but only when the crime was confirmed. It allows for a punishment for the man-slayer, too. In this way people knew the sanctity of human life, and they respected all human lives. We would do well to follow these guidelines in our own way, and to stay with the other principles of justice in the Bible, too.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Joshua 21-23.