INTRODUCTION
We live in an age where we can pick up any newspaper, or watch any news broadcast and be guaranteed to hear about another persons untimely death. This commandment in Ex 20:13 is as relevant today as it was when God first gave it to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The taking of human life either deliberately or by accident is condemned in this commandment, yet we live with it each and every day. There are two questions we need to ask in relation to this commandment. First, “Why is murder wrong?” and then, “What exactly is condemned?”
I. WHY IS MURDER WRONG?
a. Because murder touches the image and likeness of God.
Murder is wrong because it is not only a physical issue, but a spiritual one also. You see, to break this commandment is not only a direct act of violence against humanity, but more seriously it is a direct attack against the image and likeness of God in which the human race is created (Gen 1:26-27; 9:6).
That is why it is very important for us to translate this verse carefully. Some older versions of the bible use the phrase, “You shall not kill.” But this is not what is said. The verse very clearly refers to murder - the taking of human life.
Many people operate on the principle that, “this is a living thing (plant or animal) and we must reverence life and therefore we must not destroy it.” The sixth commandment cannot be used to support this belief. It is only concerned with the sacredness of human life and in no way speaks to the issue of the life of plants or animals.
It also is quite obvious from scripture that this commandment does not concern plants and animals. In the O/T we see that God is most certainly not a vegetarian, nor that he intended people to be. And its clear from the N/T that Jesus would sacrifice the lives of hundreds of pigs for the sake of ones mans sanity. So it’s apparent that the lives of plants and animals are not at issue here.
Recently I saw a documentary on the ABC which highlighted the anti-population sentiment of many prominent environmental organizations - Greenpeace is one you are probably familiar with. Their argument is that the world is vastly over-populated by humans to the detriment of other forms of life. They even go as far as to say that we need to take immediate action to cull the level of the human population on the earth. That the current level of human population on earth is not sustainable and that we ought to make every endeavor to reduce it at once. It’s a view which sheds a whole new light on the motivation of such organizations. Why are they so bent on destroying, or at least limiting the only part of creation made in the image and likeness of God?
What kind of society is it that we live in when we have no hesitation in aborting a human fetus as a means of birth control or discussing the euthanasing of the elderly or terminally ill and yet we fight to save one tree! We cannot say that this commandment is not relevant today. It is relevant precisely because it tells us what is on God’s heart and mind concerning the way we value ourselves and ultimately the way we value him.
b. Because murder s an act of finality which cannot be reversed.
Murder is also wrong because it is a final act which cannot be undone. Murder is condemned in the bible because, unlike New Age, Hindu and Buddhist thinking, humankind does not have a second chance at life. Hebrews 9:27 makes this clear:
Humans are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.
c. Because murder is the most far reaching act of human against human.
The third and final reason why the bible says murder is wrong relates to its effect upon a community. Murder is the most far reaching act of human to human. The Israelites knew the extent to which the blame for a death could be carried. In Deut 22:8, when they are given instruction regarding how to build their homes they are told to
….make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.
In other words, if someone fell off your roof and died, the whole family wore the guilt (NB By the way this may look like an accidental death and not murder, but we will explore this a little further in just a moment).
The point here is that murder is wrong because it has repercussions right throughout the whole of society. Not only is the murderer and the victim affected but so too are their family and friends - and the society at large. How has your level of well-being and safety, even in your own home, been effected by the knowledge that there are serial killers waiting to be brought to justice. Murder is wrong because effects the entire community.
II. WHAT IS CONDEMNED?
We mentioned what seemed to be an accidental death just a moment ago. I want to turn now then, to look at what exactly this commandment condemns.
a. Premeditated Killing
Perhaps the most obvious kind of killing this commandment condemns is the premeditated and deliberate taking of human life with evil intent.
I say “with evil intent” because there are times when the premeditated and deliberate taking of human life is morally and biblically justifiable. The basic Christian argument is that it may, in some circumstances, be both justified and a duty to take one life in order to save another. For example in the case of a pregnancy which threatens the life of the mother, or a policeman who shoots a gunman to prevent him killing others, or in the defence of innocent life in warfare. Neither does this commandment include the deliberate taking of human life for the purposes of capital punishment.
GE 9:6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.
b. Murder through carelessness
The sixth commandment also condemns murder through carelessness. In Dueteronomy 22:8, God urges his people to live in such a way that they cannot be the cause of the death of another person.
When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.
The way we build our house, drive our car, walk our dog or sell our produce can be the cause of the death of others; that may not be our intention, but it can still be the direct result of our actions. This commandment forces us to consider that possibility. We have fire and safety regulations - Worksafe make sure of that - and we have these regulations because we take seriously the value of human life. And we have them because we acknowledge that we are not to be responsible for the death or injury of someone else as Leviticus 19:16 reminds us,
Do not do anything that endangers your neighbours life.
c. Suicide, abortion and euthanasia.
So the taking of human life either intentionally or through carelessness is condemned. So to is the destruction of our own lives - this is especially so for the Christian.
1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
While we may have every sympathy for the victim and family of suicide, this commandment condemns it on the grounds that it is the destruction of a human life, created in the image and likeness of God himself. And while we would not like to see suicide become a criminal offence, it is also dangerous to give the impression that to live or die is simply a matter of personal choice. It is not. We live in community and death impacts all of community no matter how insignificant and unimportant we may feel at times. We are all important to God and he has plans for our lives within the family and community in which we live.
Nevertheless, it is not unusual for good people to long for death sometimes, Paul did:
Phil 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
But there is no record of Godly people taking there own lives anywhere in Scripture.
This is not the place to deal with the issues of abortion and euthanasia in depth, but these are also condemned. This commandment requires a spirit of kindness, long-suffering, and forgiveness with regard to these two issues.
There is no doubt that abortion and euthanasia are emotional issues. But they are issues that we must approach without wanting to voice our opinion, but seeking to discover how God feels about them. It is not what I feel about these issues that matters, it’s not even what others around me feel about these issues. The scriptural approach is to ask, “How does God feel?”
Contrary to contemporary thinking, our life is not our own; we hold it in trust from our Creator who gave it to us - whether we acknowledge that or not. Just as it is a lie that woman should have sole right to determine whether the child she carries should live or die, so it is a deceit of a corrupt society to pretend that everyone has the right to choose the time of their death. That belongs to God alone.
d. Virtual (vicarious) murder
Another type of murder that this commandment condemns is what I want to call virtual murder. “Virtual” because it is simulated or at least “unreal” to us; we are detached from personal involvement in it; we can remain anonymous even though we are witnesses. You know, because we see so much of it we can now watch violence on TV without the horror we once may have felt. Violent attacks on human life makes for good entertainment or headlining news - and it sells. We will even go and pay to watch violence at the cinema or on video and cable TV. Simulated violence and death are considered normal in children’s video games. I think we can also include in this, violent blood sports such as boxing. Surely we can see the offense these things must cause a holy God?
e. Passive aggression
Finally, this command forbids all kinds of passive aggression. By this I mean all types of murderous thoughts that don’t result in physical action. Emotions such as envy, malice, hatred, or anger, and all provoking or insulting language.
This commandment then, is something that applies to almost everyone of us. You may never have to physically kill someone, but I’m going to tell you what Jesus said this commandment meant. He said that there is more than one way to murder someone. You can murder them in feeling, you can murder them in thought and you can murder them in word, and they’re just as serious as murdering in deed.
Jesus said, If you’ve ever been angry at someone without just cause then you are a murderer! To rage in anger to the extent that we wish someone were dead (or that we never had to have anything to do with them ever again) shows that we have all the potential within our heart to murder.
Jesus also said that we can murder someone by our arrogance. Jesus taught that snobbery is murder? To despise someone is to destroy them. To look down on them because you have more financial or more social or more intellectual qualities about you, to do that is murder. To treat others as beneath you is murder. Why is it murder? Because you’ve forgotten that they are made in the image of God.
And the final way he said is by abuse. Have you ever called someone a moron? Have you ever called someone a fool? And meant by that “they are beyond God’s help”? That there is no hope for that person? Then you are guilty of murder. To even think, much less say, of a single person that they are beyond salvation, beyond God’s help, then you have murdered them. Why is that murder? Because you have virtually destroyed the image of God in them. To abuse someone is to take the image of God that there is inside them, an image that needs to be restored and could be, to take it and smash it and not be bother trying to restore it.
Now frankly when Jesus says that, then I stand before you today as a murderer. And so are most of you. And we stand as discovered murderers, not with weapons in our hands but with weapons in our heads and hearts, and even on our tongues. If looks could kill, we’ve killed.
CONCLUSION
And that’s it. We are all murderers. That is why this commandment is so relevant today - because you and I have broken it. But I have good news for you. What Christ has done for us will see us overcome our guilt. Christ died to rescue and forgive murderers. Jesus died on a cross, paying the supreme penalty of the law so that we wouldn’t have to - so that we murderers may go free.
You know, there was one murderer walking free around the streets of Jerusalem the day after Jesus died on the cross, and his name was Barrabbas. The Jews called for his release instead of Jesus when Pilate offered them the choice. And you and I are alive today and enjoying this world because, like Barrabbas, we can point to the cross and say, “Jesus took my place.” Remember that. However murderous your thoughts, intentions or even actions have been there is hope for your future because Jesus is willing to take the wrap for your crime.
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