God is the Creator, He is “Self Existent” and the source of all life. He is the ruler over life and death (Job 1:21; Isa. 45:7). As the Creator of life, He has all rights over life and death and the authority to divinely command. We have been going through the Ten Commandment in a series of Pastor’s messages and we are now at the Sixth Commandment found in Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17. “You shall not murder”.
Although some translations translate this as “You shall not kill”, the original Hebrew word is ratsakh. There are four main words in the Hebrew Scripture used for killing: harag (Gen. 4:8, 14, 15, 25, mut (Ex. 1:16), qatal (Job 13:15; Dan. 2:13, 14), and ratsakh. It is significant to note that three of these verbs (harag, mut, qatal) include killing humans and animals, while the verb ratsakh (used hefe in the sixth commandment) applies only to killing humans. Additionally, ratsakh does not mean killing in general but refers specifically to killing without a legal justification—unlawful killing namely murder, or unauthorized killing (including unintentional, or accidental killing). Almost all modern translations translate this as “You shall not murder”.
No commandment shows the effect of sin more immediately than the breaking of the sixth. With other sins, there may be a delay between the act and a visible result, but when the sixth commandment is broken, the loss of the person's life and his separation from relationships make the fruit of this sin very apparent. Murder is a horrible thing. Yet it has been a terribly common occurrence in the history of humanity. The world has suffered an ongoing nightmare of murder ever since Cain, the firstborn of Adam and Eve, murdered his brother Abel (Genesis 4:1-8). Even the Son of God was murdered.
The Bible reveals life as among the most valuable of all possessions, for it is the basis of human existence. Man is “created man in His own image” (Genesis 9:6), for a sacred purpose (Genesis 1:27). Every human being is a child of God, so only He as their Creator (the Source of all life), can authorize the taking of human life. That is why murder—the unauthorized killing of a human being—is wrong. Regardless of the concept, regardless of the justification, the sixth commandment gives no one permission to justify deliberate killing. No, not even love of one's country overrides God's commandment.
There is no telling what the murder figure is worldwide. Without doubt, mankind has a major problem. Like all other sins, murder is generated in a person's inner being. It is interesting that on of the first thing Jesus mentions in Matthew 15:18-20 as emanating from the heart are evil thoughts followed by murder. As the evil thoughts germinate and grow, they begin a process that ultimately produces murder. Jesus shows that the character of our thoughts becomes the character of our conduct.
The taking of human life is a worldwide problem; 464,000 people were estimated to have been victims of intentional homicide in 2017 (the last year full statistics are available). We know intentional homicide violates this commandment. Let’s consider other common violations. Abortion is one of the most significant moral issues of our day. Emotions run very deep when it comes to this issue. It is tempting to consider this issue from the perspective of our culture’s standards. Christians want to be informed about abortion based on the Word of God. God’s Word also says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart” (Jeremiah. 1:5). Psalm 139:16 says, “Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.” God knows us and recognizes us as His potential children and as life He created before we are even greeted by our parents. The moment that an egg and a sperm are joined, when a new, unique set of DNA and chromosomes are formed, God already knows us. We are a human life from that moment. Life begins at conception. Abortion is therefore murder! It takes the lives of the most innocent and helpless of human beings, the unborn. Statistics on this form of murder overwhelm the emotions. According to the WHO website quoting statistics from 2020: “Around 73 million induced abortions take place worldwide each year. Six out of 10 (61%) of all unintended pregnancies, and 3 out of 10 (29%) of all pregnancies, end in induced abortion”. “Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him” (Psalms 127:3, New International Version). Babies are a gift to mankind and God always wants them. There is not enough room here in this pastor’s message to cover all of the arguments that are presented in our society justifying abortion, so I encourage you to review the material the church publishes on this.
Additionally, it’s shocking and sad that many people place no value on their own lives, the prevalence of suicide is utterly heartbreaking. There are many things that lead one to this state including but not limited to: depression, other mental disorders, or a substance use disorder, chronic pain, exposure to family violence (including physical or sexual abuse). As heartbreaking as these conditions are we must understand, suicide is a form of murder, self-murder. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Burden of Disease study estimate that almost 800,000 people die from suicide every year. That's one person every 40 seconds. One of the Great Commandments is to “love your neighbor as yourself.” There is a desperate need for people to learn their God-given purpose in life and how God wants everyone to provide tender loving care for his God-given body and mind (see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
Euthanasia is another increasingly common form of suicide and murder. However, this should not be confused with a patient voluntarily deciding to let nature takes its course and terminating certain life-sustaining medical treatments, which is legal, moral, and reasonable. Then there is war. It is by far the most effective and rapid means of killing yet devised. One estimate reports that the total killed in the twenty most devastating wars is 500 million people! World War II alone killed between ten and fifteen percent of them. I don’t have the time here to fully go through this so encourage all to look at our Fundamental Beliefs - Military Service and War.
The Hebrew used in this commandment is about as terse as it can be. It consists of two words that are the Hebrew equivalent of "No murder." However, enough other scriptures appear in God's Word to let us know that the commandment means that God does not permit the premeditated killing of one perceived as an enemy or any other killing without a (biblically) legal justification. Exodus 21:12-14 clarifies this and adds a necessary component to this analysis we also must understand: “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.”
This clearly separates a premeditated murder from an accidental killing. One can also discern from verse 14 that, under this circumstance, constituted civil authorities are permitted by God to enact the death penalty, which we will consider in more detail shortly. Verses 12 and 13 imply that no amount of money or property settlement can atone for the destruction of the image of God in a murdered person. Even if the death was truly accidental, the killer still had to flee to a city of refuge. But for one guilty of deliberate murder, there were no sanctuaries whatsoever to flee to, not even the altar of God.
As for the cities of refuge, Numbers 35:9-34 provides us with a great deal of information. They were sanctuaries to which those who accidentally killed another could flee. There were six of them located throughout Israel, three on each side of the Jordan River. Even if the killer made it to a city of refuge, he still had to undergo a trial. Deuteronomy 19:15-21 shows God's concern regarding a fair judgment. If after the trial he was found guilty of committing an accidental death, he had to remain in the city until the death of the current high priest. Thus, the city served as his jail. However, he was otherwise free to move about, find employment, and live with and support his family. If he left the city for any reason, the avenger of blood could lawfully take the killer's life. The avenger of blood (verses 12, 19) was usually a blood-relative of the manslaughter victim. His assignment from the family was to protect the family's rights and to avenge the family's loss of the killed person. The vengeance taken was not always to take the killer's life. If the avenger actually took the killer's life before he managed to reach a city of refuge, then he truly was an "avenger of blood."
Time does not permit me to cover all of the violations of this commandment or even all there is to know on those aspects I have mentioned here. The gravity of killing is demonstrated by the severity of the punishment. There was no sacrificial compensation for killing; only life pays for life in case of murder, or asylum in situations of accidental killing. When you really wrap your mind around how much unlawful killing or killing without a legal justification—namely murder; or unauthorized killing there is in our world today you can’t help but recognize we are sliding into another spiritual dark age. The apostle Paul wrote about the character of many people in “the last days” in 2 Timothy 3:1-7. Of course, the greatest evil influence is from Satan, the “ruler of this world” (John 12:31; John 14:30; John 16:11). “The devil . . . was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44).
A proper analysis of this commandment cannot avoid the valid question which has already been briefly touched on earlier; what about capital punishment? We need to rightly divide the word of truth to answer many questions, and this can be a challenging question for some. One of the first commandments that God revealed to Noah after the Flood was the institution of capital punishment. Genesis 9:6 says, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man.” We must always remember, as the Creator of life, He has all rights over life and death and the authority to divinely institute punishment for sin (both physical and spiritual). This scripture disproves the view that any execution must be by God because it says, “by man his blood shall be shed”.
The Contemporary English Version (CEV) combines verses 5 and 6 and makes the meaning clear: “I created humans to be like me, and I will punish any animal or person that takes a human life. If an animal kills someone, that animal must die. And if a person takes the life of another, that person must be put to death.”
Romans 13:1-10 shows that civil governments are authorized by God to administer justice and maintain peace. In the New International Version (NIV), Romans 12:5 says: “For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer (Romans 13:5).
Contrary to the thinking of many people, God’s law for ancient Israel requiring the execution of murderers emphasizes how highly God regards human life. All of the first five books of the Bible state that murderers should be executed. In Israel, under the Old Covenant, other crimes such as kidnapping and rape were to be punished with the same penalty—death! When people see honest, fair, and swift justice being administered, they “hear and fear”—they are in most cases more motivated to be law-abiding!
Regardless of where we turn in Scripture, legal safeguards designed to protect life appear. Even though the death penalty existed, it was not easily obtained. Extreme care was the order of the day in the courts. Of special note is the warning against perjury, as well as the witnesses' responsibility to be first in executing the death penalty (Deuteronomy 17:6-7). In addition, Deuteronomy 17:8-13 mentions that Israel also had a supreme court.
Life is extremely fragile and must be carefully preserved; even negligence is punishable (Deut. 22:8). If a person never had an evil thought, no murder would exist.1 John 3:15 reveals how important Christians should consider controlling our thoughts to be: "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." The hostility present in a wrongly motivated person's mind already contains the ingredients necessary to persuade him to kill another. The hostility connects directly to the act of murder because they are actually one process.
When Jesus Christ came to earth, he came “to magnify his law and make it glorious” (Isaiah 42:21, English Standard Version). By deepening, expanding, and elevating the Ten Commandments, He revealed the spirit of the law, showing that obedience is a matter of the mind and heart as well as one’s actions. He made clear that the Sixth Commandment includes the commands to “love your neighbor” and live by the Golden Rule (Matthew 22:39; Matthew 7:12).
Love and good relationships greatly depend on forgiveness. God expects us to be forgiving. God clearly loves us because He is always ready to forgive when He sees godly sorrow, true repentance and the person’s readiness to forgive those who hurt them (see Matthew 6:12, Matthew 6:14-15). And we must make it as easy as possible for others to forgive us by having the humility to admit our faults, ask for forgiveness and seek reconciliation (see Matthew 5:23-26).
In Matthew 5:21-22, Jesus revealed that hatred, bitter anger, and ridiculing attacks are the spirit of murder. When someone callously damages and scars a person’s heart, mind, reputation, self-respect, and/or aspirations by abuse of any kind, a vulnerable and precious part of that person can die. Whether the abuse is by commission or omission, that is the spirit of murder. You shall not murder, either in the letter of the law or the spirit of the law.