John Calvin Commentary Deuteronomy 4:41

"Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising;" — Deuteronomy 4:41 (ASV)

God had destined, as we have previously seen,²²¹ six cities for refuge, in case anyone had killed a man, provided he could prove his innocence before the judges. Regarding the three cities He had appointed on the other side of the Jordan, Moses records that he had faithfully performed what God had commanded. Therefore, it appears that even though he could not immediately comply with God’s command fully, he still did not wait until the other three cities could be added, but instead, as far as circumstances permitted, carried out his duty.

From this, let us learn that even when we cannot at once entirely carry out what God commands us to do, we are still by no means to be idle. For only sheer laziness stands in our way if we do not quickly begin, at God’s command, what He intends to finish and accomplish through the hands of others.

²²¹ See ante, on on Numbers 35:10-34; ; vol. 3, pp. 62,, et seq.