The Law, P3
This blog post is Part 28 of a series entitled "From Fear To Freedom" by Pastor Jeffrey Dean Smith of Donelson First in Nashville, TN.
Message Date: September 22, 2024
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There are times when we arrive at places in Scripture, and, upon arrival, we are faced with the decision to either stay the course Scripturally or deviate; deviate in a particularly less turbulent direction; a direction some might consider to be less divisive; less disruptive. Today we find ourselves at such a place in Scripture with Commandment #6:
Commandment #6: You shall not murder. Exodus 20:13
John Adams, our nation’s second President, once said, “America is a nation of laws, not men.” Today, we appear to be a nation possessing less and less repute for both. God abhors murder. He makes this extremely clear with the Law #6, and with His response to humanity’s first murder.
Genesis 4:8-12
In the King James Version of the Bible, the 6th Commandment reads: Thou shall not kill. Exodus 20:13
So we read in both of these translations that ending the life of another is wrong. So then, though God does command that you are not to murder, how do we reason with what God then states just one chapter removed from the 10 Commandments in Exodus 21?
Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. Exodus 21:12
Now at first read, it could appear that God contradicts Himself – stating in the 10 Commandments that murder is wrong, yet too, stating just one chapter later in the Bible that a fatal blow warrants the death of the one causing such a tragedy. Here again Church is yet another example to us as to just how very important it is to approach God’s Word with these 2 principles:
To dissect the Holy Word and adequately understand God’s position on a matter, you must:
1. Study the fullness of Scripture.
2. Study the original text.
Let’s look at both the words “murder” and “death” in the original text to better understand what God is saying to us on this life and death issue. Though the NIV and the King James Version of the Bible read differently, we find the same Hebrew word used for both the words “murder” and “kill” in these two biblical translations of Commandment #6. The Hebrew word for both murder and kill used by God in the 10 Commandments means:
Murder + Kill / Hebrew / v./ rasah = premeditated; immoral taking of a human life
Every time this Hebrew word appears in the Old and New Testaments, 47 times in all specifically in the NIV, the word is never associated with the act of self-defense, the killing of animals, killing in war, or in an act for justice. This Hebrew word is in a glaring contrast to the word “death” used just one chapter removed from Commandment #6, where again, God declares:
Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. Exodus 21:12
The word “death” in Exodus 21 is defined in the Hebrew as:
Death / Hebrew / v. /mut = a cause for which to die; must surely die
The Hebrew here clearly makes a distinction between the act of murder, a “premeditated and immoral taking of a human life,” and death, an action that is cause for “just retribution by death.” More on this in a moment. Too, look at:
Numbers 35:17-21
Notice in verse 18, we see both of these Hebrew words for “murder” and for “death.” Again, here in this passage we find 2 different Hebrew definitions for the act of murder and for the retribution of such a murder. It is important to note that the accidental or involuntary causing of another person’s death, deems a slightly lighter penalty. Such an act Scripturally is not grounds for the sentence of death, but we see that the guilty party was banished to an appointed place, which Scripture later reveals as “cities of refuge.”
Deuteronomy 19:4-7
So, when one accidentally is killed by another, Scripture offers a refuge, still a punishment, but a lighter one for the accused. This is amazing y’all, and it too shows the magnificence of the wisdom of our God who thought through everything when handing down the proper and holy laws to which we as a humanity are to adhere and live. God’s law differentiated between a premeditated and immoral taking of a human life and an involuntary killing. As I have thought through the act of murder, I have tried to do so as a Hebrew within the nation of Israel hearing for the first time this Commandment. Such an exercise has been quite robust for me in my time of study, and I want to share with you what I have discovered. You see, there is so very much more to this Commandment #6 than just the law prohibiting murder.
At the heart of this Commandment specifically is the discovery of just how very much God loves you.
I cannot even begin to bring justice to the supernatural concept of God’s love for His humanity. His love is the reason for everything – everything Church! His love for His greatest Creation, you, is what set into motion the process that God knew would ultimately lead to Him allowing His Son to die a death His Son never deserved; a death reserved for you and me; a death He should have never had to endure; a death because of our choices; a death as a result of sin. Think back with me for a moment to the global tragedy that happened in Genesis 6. Do you remember this?
Genesis 6:5-8
So God flooded the entire earth killing every human except Noah and 7 members of his family. After the waters receded, God clearly articulated to Noah that he would never again destroy the earth with waters. God then speaks with Noah and gives him several commands as to how humanity is to eat and re-populate the earth.
Genesis 9:1-5
Interestingly, right in the middle of these commands, God pauses to make a statement about, of all things, murder:
Genesis 9:6
Shed / Hebrew/ v. / sapak = to intentionally pour out; spill out of
Truly fascinating y’all! As the Noah’s begin life post the flood, God gives them freedom to eat, to eat all animals that move across the ground. Yet, interestingly, God shifts here to the topic of murder – of ending the lives of humans. Do you see this? God has just ended the lives of everyone on the planet except for the 8 people He allowed to live. And He then essentially tells Noah, “You and your people better not try and play ‘god’ by choosing to end the lives of anyone! Only I have the right. And if you step outside of these boundaries, blood will be shed!” God establishes post the flood a very clear system to protect human life. Additionally, let’s take an even greater step backwards Scripturally. Before all of this happens, God reveals to us in Genesis 2 the most intimate and special and empowering words that He has ever said about you and me. Look at this:
Genesis 1:26-27
In speaking these words, we see just how very precious and valuable life is to God. God created humans in His image. Thus meaning, we are created like Him. Quickly... go back to Genesis 9:6! Notice what God says is the reason for blood to be shed when one is murdered!
Genesis 9:6
When one commits murder, one does not merely end the life of another. When one commits murder, one murders what is most like God in all of His creation... A human. So Church... God is saying... When you choose to kill another, you deserve to die not merely because you have murdered. No, He is saying you deserve to die because God has made man in His image... and who are you to take the life of one created in the very image of the Creator. I would even say that when one takes the life of another, this is the most egregious act man can take in attacking God. King David would later write these words about the precious gift of life and its origin:
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:13-16
And the Prophet Jeremiah wrote:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart. Jeremiah 1:5
Do you hear these words - - eloquent lyrics spoken in Psalm 139? King David very clearly articulates that the womb holds life; life of one yet to be born. Too, the words of the great Prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” In this one verse, we clearly read that a life in the womb is just as precious to our Creator as a life out of the womb. Who are we take into our hands one created in His image? All human life is exquisite to God. This is why the ending of any life – the elderly, the disabled, the sick, the underprivileged, and the unborn is so grievous to God. Murder, in any form, is a tantamount assault on Creation, and its greatest offense, an incursion on the Creator of life. A human, created in the image of God, has no authority to supersede God in unjustly ending the life of another.
So... where does this leave us with the ever important topic: capital punishment? This is a much debated topic, even among the Church. And a deeper read reveals to us that God speaks in greater detail to this very issue throughout Scripture! In the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and 2nd Samuel, we read where the death penalty was instituted for murder, and too, for kidnapping, bestiality, adultery, homosexuality, false teaching, prostitution, and rape. I too want to show you something that I have read on numerous occasions in my study throughout the life of Moses. God makes it clear to His followers that any nation who does not bring justice to the blood shed of the innocent will be a nation defiled. First look at this:
Numbers 35:29
First, God is saying to His people throughout all generations to come, this now includes us y’all, as His followers... wherever you live, enforce the laws God has outlined.
Numbers 35:31
Numbers 35:33-34
Man, this is difficult to read. But do you see what a Holy God is saying here? God is saying that, if innocent blood is shed, and you do nothing about it, the nation where you live will be a defiled nation. Look at it again!
Numbers 35:33-34
And, to make sure His people understand this reality, God says this again, in very similar ways two more times:
Deuteronomy 19:11-13
Deuteronomy 21:9
Church, does this mean that if we, America, are a nation allowing such innocent blood to be shed, whether the elderly, the disabled, the sick, the underprivileged, or inside the womb, and then choosing not to avenge such bloodshed by, as Scripture just stated four times that blood must be shed for blood... does this then mean that we are living as a defiled nation? As I have shared twice with you already in this study, what we see throughout the study of the life of Moses are these 10 Commandments being confirmed over and again to God’s people throughout the Bible. God reinforces these truths in greater detail; this is exactly what we are seeing here.
Now... I have heard it said on numerous occasions that when Jesus steps onto the scene in the New Testament, everything changes, as Jesus brings about the new way abolishing the old way. Well as we have studied before, Jesus does not merely “step onto the scene” in the New Testament. Jesus is there from the beginning. Jesus is throughout the entirety of the Holy Scriptures, with God from the beginning, and fully alive and present in both the Old and New Testaments.
Secondly, I see nowhere in the New Testament where it says that Jesus came to do away with the Old Testament. This is false teaching. Scripture never, ever says this! As a matter of fact, Jesus said this recorded in the book of Matthew:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Matthew 5:17
Church, the greatest example we see of a God in support in the New Testament of the laws He established in the Old Testament is the story of which we all are so very familiar; it is the story of all stories in the Holy Scriptures; it is the story of life change offered to every one of us. This story to which I refer is actually recorded, as some would say, as the most popular verse:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
You see, Scripture tells us that sin equals death. Do y’all see this? Jesus proclaimed the same message in the New Testament about life and death that we have heard today being taught and confirmed and proclaimed in the Old Testament by His Father, God. The wording is a little different. But it is the same message. The message has not changed. God gave His Son Jesus as a punishment for your sin because the standard God has established for you is the same standard He has established for Himself; for His Son.
Death must be remedied by death.
The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23
He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 1 Peter 2:24
What we view through the fullness of Scripture... is that humans are so incredibly significant and wonderful and unique that there is a time when a life is taken and the only way to settle the account and uphold the dignity of a life is to take a life. This is clearly a message we see in the fullness of Scripture. And what Jesus did is exactly this... because humanity has defiled the dignity of life in the way in which we sin, the only redeeming act was for one to die. And this is what Jesus did... He died, and He did so, in your place.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2
I tell you... there are so very many layers to the topic of life and death as it relates to Commandment #6. There are times in Scripture where we see that a life is to be taken for a life. Additionally there are a few times in Scripture when we see that God has had another plan.
So... how do we know when to exercise a penalty? Well, herein lies the great hardship for humanity: How do we hear, know and exercise the will of God when we as a people do not fully pursue the will of God? We need God's voice to clearly articulate to us in our decision-making over all decisions, especially life and death. You see, we know God's ways, but we live in a world often caring less to follow His ways. So we find ourselves immersed in quite the quandary… We desire justice. Yet, we fail to adhere to the ways and wisdom and Word of the only One worthy to proclaim such justice – the great and almighty Judge who ultimately resides over our very lives.
How do we make decisions based upon God's wisdom and will when, in full disclosure, we are a humanity immensely failing the full pursuit of God's wisdom and will? Church, we clearly see that in God's Word and through God's laws there are clearly defined parameters for when a life should be taken for a life. I pray we continue to seek His will to help us define all areas in and by and which man should adhere and live. I pray we continue to be a people as His Church who reverently pursue His wisdom, and too, who follow His laws... no matter how difficult, no matter how hard, and no matter how unpopular.
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Jeffrey Dean Smith is a husband, father to Bailey & Brynnan, author, and the Senior Pastor at Donelson First in Nashville, TN. If you are in Music City, meet Jeffrey and enjoy iced tea on the front lawn each Sunday at 10:30a.