Friday, December 12, 2008

The Ten Commandments Part 7

Exo 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
Deu 5:17 Thou shalt not kill.

The Ten Commandments form an abridgement of the law, as is seen when the law is studied as a whole. Much of the law deals with various infractions against these Ten Commandments and the corresponding punishments. I write this because some would use this command to oppose capital punishment. This is an absurd perversion of the Law of God. God gives this command because human life is precious. It is given by Him as a trust in stewardship of the one to whom it is given with a reckoning held at the end as to how it was lived. When a man’s life is cut short, God requires a life for a life, and instituted this in the covenant He gave to Noah (Gen. 9:5-6). This covenant has never been abrogated and remains in effect for all of humanity for all times.
This law is far better than any other method which man has used to punish murder throughout history. It specifically forbids the reception of money in place of the death of the murderer (Num. 35:31-34). When man is viewed merely as a producer/consumer then it becomes possible to economically compensate the family for the loss. This was a widespread custom occurring among the Germanic tribes, and the Native Americans among others. However the Biblical view of man is that he was formed in the image of God, and thus any taking of his life, or even disfigurement of the dead is an offense against God who made man in His image (Gen. 1:26-27; Amos 2:1). In our own time the tendency is to view man merely as a member of society, thus we punish murder by locking the murderer away to prevent further murder. This humanistic method of valuing man ultimately leads to euthanasia and abortion, especially of those who are not perceived as having value to society. Man’s life is valuable not because of what he contributes to society, but because of the image they bear, marred by sin though it is.
The other common way to treat the offense was to kill one of the kindred of the one responsible, if the perpetrator could not be found. This is removed in the law, because only the one responsible was to be killed. Also His death was to be done after a trial, which would prevent blood feuds.
The law of God would thus require capital punishment for murder, with some allowance made for mercy to be shown as it was to David. The main objection to capital punishment is wrongful conviction. This would be somewhat removed if the law reflected the Mosaic law and made perjury in a capital case a capital offense (Deut. 19:16-19).
The value that God places on human life was shown in that this law was applied even to a burglar (during daylight hours) and only the confusion of night and terror associated with a night time prowler permitted the killing of a thief (Ex. 22:2-3). During the day it should have been possible to subdue the man, even if he were armed, at night the whole matter would have been much harder. The Old Testament does make it clear that men are within their rights to band together and fight against others who come against them to kill them (Est. 8:11). However, as Christians we have the privilege of laying down our rights, even the right to life, on behalf of others.
This command directly forbids abortion, euthanasia and suicide. These acts all view life as belonging to ourselves rather than as being a stewardship given by God.
Jesus took the command to not kill to its source and forbade us even to be angry with our neighbors which is the source of murder (Matt. 5:21-22). Beloved let us love one another!

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