God Leads Softly, Not Overdrive the Flock
The institution of the cities of refuge reveals a profound principle: Yahweh accommodates His revelation to the moral capacity of His people. The *goel*, or...
This is historical examples on god's patience with human limitation and gradual moral progress, drawing on Joshua 20:1-9.
The institution of the cities of refuge reveals a profound principle: Yahweh accommodates His revelation to the moral capacity of His people. The goel, or kinsman-avenger of blood, represented 'blood for blood'—the justice appropriate to Israel's stage of civilisation. To have suddenly imposed the Sermon on the Mount's command—'Resist not evil'—would have produced only hypocrisy and chaos, for the people's consciences were unprepared.…
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