You Shall Not Murder (Part 1)

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Well, as of this week, we’re now more than halfway through our survey of the 10 commandments. We’ve spent 14 weeks, so far, studying the law of God. The first four weeks included four introductory messages, and since then we’ve spent at least two weeks looking at each commandment, and if we keep up that pace we should have another 10 weeks left looking at the last 5 commandments of the decalogue, which means we should wrap up sometime in the month of March, Lord willing. So, keeping in step with the first five commandments we’re going look at the 6th commandment over the course of two weeks.

This first week I want us to consider the nature of the 6th commandment, while next week we’ll consider, more specifically, the commandment’s positive and negative applications. If you recall, one of the points we should always keep in mind, when studying the 10 commandments, is that these commandments have both negative and positive applications. For example, while the 6th commandment forbids taking innocent life, it follows that the 6th commandment is intended protect innocent life. That the 6th commandment forbids murder for the purpose of protecting life. So, on one hand, while we’re forbidden from taking innocent life, on the other hand we’re also commanded to protect innocent life. And in our next time we’ll examine these two points of application in greater detail. But this week I want us to consider, primarily, the nature of the 6th commandment, or the heart of the 6th commandment. Because, if we can accurately grasp the nature of this commandment then we’ll be better prepared to apply it in our own lives.

Now, some of you might be tempted to ask, “Doesn’t this commandment go without saying? Is there really that much here to take into consideration? Isn’t this commandment already quite clear? Does it really warrant two weeks of consideration?” Well, the short answer is, yes. In fact, if you find yourself asking that question, it’s quite telling. It’s likely an indication that you haven’t yet given enough considered to the 6th commandment. Furthermore, many of us might naturally assume that, out of all the commandments, we’re certain we’ve never violated the 6th commandment. But, again, to make such an assumption is very telling, that there is still much to consider, that there is still much to see and to understand. And, my goal here this morning is to help you see the depth and the breadth of the 6th commandment, how many of us have likely misunderstood it’s nature and it’s purpose, that our understanding of the 6th commandment is likely more informed by our culture than the Bible.

Thou shall no kill

That being said, I want to begin by addressing an issue that’s tripped up many Christians for centuries as it relates to the 6th commandment. Many of you are probably familiar, to one degree or another, with the King James translation of the Bible. Some of you probably grew up with it as the primary translation in your home, and even if you didn’t you’ve likely heard or know scriptures that were quoted from the King James version. For example, if you were to ask me to quote any of the commandments to you I’d probably begin each of them with the word thou, “Thou shall have no other gods before me,” or “Though shall not steal,” and so on. And the reason I would do that isn’t because I grew up reading the King James version of the Bible, but because whenever someone talked to me about the the 10 commandments they usually quoted from the King James translation. Now, my point is that the KJV has had a massive impact upon the English speaking world, even to this day, despite the myriad of more modern translations in recent decades.

And while the KJV remains an excellent translation of the Bible, and while we owe a great debt to those translators from the 16th and 17th centuries, our modern translations have the advantage of a larger catalog of manuscript evidence and centuries of refining our ability to translate those Greek and Hebrew manuscripts into modern English. An example of this is when the KJV translates Exodus 20:13 as “Thou shall not kill.” Which has given many Christians over the centuries the impression that the 6th commandment forbids killing for any reason, but this is a poor translation of the Hebrew word rasah (rots-saw) which is more accurately translated murder. Which is the reason all other modern translations translate the verse “You shall not murder.”

This mistranslation has lead many to conclude that killing for any reason is forbidden by the Bible, that serving in the military during wartime would be impossible for a Christian lest they be asked to kill another person, or that it would be impossible for a Christian to serve as a police officer, or impossible for a Christian to protect themselves from others using deadly force, or that the death penalty is inherently unbiblical and forbidden by the 6th commandment. Many have even concluded that we should all become vegetarians to avoid killing animals.

Forbids unjustified killing

But the Hebrew word rasah (rots-saw), is more accurately defined as taking innocent life. Therefore, what the 6th commandment is forbidding is unjustified killing, whether on purpose or by accident. It prohibits the taking of innocent life. The 6th commandment is not intended to forbid justified killings, such as in the case of self-defense, or to forbid justified killings either by law enforcement or the government judicial system, or by soldiers engaged in a just war.

In fact, if the 6th commandment were intended to forbid all reasons for killing then it would contradict many other clear Scriptures in both the OT and NT. For example, God prescribed capital punishment in Israel for all kinds of sinful behaviors, including, bestiality, adultery, homosexuality, giving false prophecy, prostitution, rape, and others. Then later in the NT the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 13:3-5, “... whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” Notice how Paul describes the government as “bearing the sword”, this is a reference to capital punishment, not that all lawbreakers should be put to death, but that the government’s authority extends as far as bearing the sword as a servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

We also learn in Exodus 22:2 that there is no bloodguilt if a thief is killed while breaking into someone’s house, we read, “If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him… ” In other words, if you’re forced to kill an intruder to protect yourself or your family this is not a violation of the 6th commandment. You would be justified in taking their life. Not that you’re required to take their life, but that if you feel as though you have to then you’re not guilty of murder.

Furthermore, if we were forbidden from killing animals then Abel’s sacrifice would no have been accepted in Genesis 4 when he sacrificed the firstborn of his flock, if we were forbidden from killing animals then why did God give Noah and his decedents “every moving thing that lives” as food for them in Genesis 9? So, in summary, don’t get tripped up by the mistranslation of the 6th commandment in King James translation. The 6th commandment forbids unjustified killing, not all reasons for killing. It prohibits the taking of innocent life.

Why is murder wrong?

Now, what I want to spend the remainder of our time considering is the reason murder is wrong? Have you ever asked yourself why is murder wrong? Well, answering that question is important, because it gets at the heart of the 6th commandment, answering that question is how we come to understand the nature of the 6th commandment. While most of us who have grown up in the Western world (or have been influenced by the Western world) naturally assume that murder is wrong, we don’t often know why it’s wrong, or, at the very least, we don’t have adequate or biblical answers to that question. Unfortunately, most people, even Christians, have what’s called a utilitarian view of murder (more on that in a minute), whereas the biblical view is fundamentally different.

So, first, let’s consider why murder is wrong from a biblical perspective, and then we’ll contrast that with a utilitarian view of murder, a view that’s prevalent but not biblical. The Bible teaches us that the reason murder is wrong is twofold, 1) murder is wrong because mankind is made in the image of God, and 2) murder is wrong because only God is sovereign over life and death. And let’s look at these one at a time.

Man made in the image of God

Murder is wrong because mankind is made in the image of God. Listen to Genesis 9:6, shortly after Noah’s Flood, when God says to Noah,

Genesis 9:6 ESV

“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

This text is foundational for understanding the purpose of earthly governments. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed. This isn’t a text promoting personal vengeance, but capital punishment for anyone who commits murder. The punishment is intended to fit the crime, and we’re intended to feel the gravity of this sin by the severity of the punishment that accompanies it. But, more than that, we’re also told why murder is such an egregious offense, and it’s not merely because murder isn’t a very nice thing to do to our neighbor, but murder deserves capital punishment, first and foremost, because “God made man in his own image.”

What does this mean that we’re made in God’s own image? Well, it likely implies many things, but, in short, to bear God’s image is to be his representative on the earth, it’s to mirror him, or to reflect his image on the earth. Being made in God’s image distinguishes us from the animals and the rest of creation. Therefore, mankind possess an inherent dignity as a result of being made in the image of God. That isn’t to say that mankind is inherently good or lovable, but simply that man’s dignity stems from the one who made him, not that man possesses any inherent worth apart from God, but that his worth is a derived worth, a worth that comes from God alone. Human dignity is not the result of how strong we are, what gifts we have, how old we are, how much money or possessions we have, or our ethnic roots, rather, human dignity is derivative, it’s rooted in the one who made us and the purpose for which we were made. And despite the fall of mankind in Genesis 3 we still bear his image, despite sin having marred the image of God in us, that image still remains.

Therefore, murder is fundamentally an attack upon the image of God in man. The fundamental motivation behind murder is the destruction of God’s image in man, an attack against God himself. This is why we’re told that the devil “was a murder from the beginning” (John 8:44) and why mankind is the object of the devil’s wrath, because the devil is seeking to destroy the image of God in man, on the earth. He intends to rid the earth of anyone who mirrors or represents God in creation. The principal reason murder is evil is because man is made in the image of God.

God is sovereign over life and death

The second reason that murder is wrong is because only God is sovereign over life and death. Murder is prohibited because it seeks to overthrow God’s authority over life and death. No one has the right or the authority to take the life of an innocent person, except God. We do not have the right to take another’s life without just cause. None of us possess authority over life and death, not even our own life, only God possesses such authority. Which is also why suicide, or self-murder, is a violation of the 6th commandment.

God’s sovereignty over life and death is obvious, first, because he is our creator, because He is the potter and we are the clay. Second, his authority over life and death is asserted repeatedly throughout Scriptures. For instance, listen to how Hannah prayed in 1 Samuel 2, “The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up,” or what Moses wrote after the Israelites were delivered out of the hands of the Egyptians at the Red Sea in Deuteronomy 32:39, “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.”

Now, this doesn’t mean that God doesn’t delegate some of his authority over life and death. As I’ve already pointed out, capital punishment, when carried out in accordance with God’s law, is not a violation of the 6th commandment, rather, capital punishment is intended to be an exercise of God’s delegated authority on earth. Capital punishment, along with other biblically prescribed circumstances, do not stand in opposition to God’s authority but are intended to carry it out.

Utilitarianism

Now, how do these biblical reasons for the prohibition of murder compare with utilitarianism’s reasons for prohibiting murder? Well, let’s first define utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is a philosophy in ethics that suggests that the best course of action is the one that maximizes utility, or that brings the most happiness or pleasure to the greatest number of people. It focuses on the outcomes of actions rather than a person’s intentions, and it tries to maximize overall well-being. Now, my goal here today isn’t to give a lecture on the philosophy of utilitarianism, but we do need to have a basic understanding of this philosophy so that we can understand how it impacts our thinking about morality, and, in this case, the Bible’s prohibition of murder. So, let’s walk through some of the ways utilitarianism often affects our thinking, and I think you’ll quickly see what I mean.

Murder isn’t wrong merely because it hurts people

I think if you asked the average person on the street, “Why is murder wrong?”, if they were able to answer you at all, they would probably reason that murder is wrong because it hurts people, and I think many Christians would likely reason this way as well. And while hurting people is certainly a consequence of murder, as we’ve seen, it’s not the fundamental reason why murder is wrong. The reason murder is wrong is not primarily because it results in negative consequences, but because it destroys the image of God in man, and because it seeks to overthrow God’s authority over life and death.

Consequences are an insufficient metric

You see, if the negative consequences of murder are the fundamental reason murder is wrong then men will inevitably find reasons that give them license to murder under certain circumstances. What happens when someone’s life is perceived as having a negative impact upon yours? Like a financial or emotional burden, or a health risk? What happens when you believe that you would be much better off if that person were gone? At what point does this justify taking the other person’s life? At what point is the financial burden of caring for your elderly parents or bed ridden child too much? At what point is the thought of giving birth to a child who you know will have Down Syndrome justify terminating your pregnancy?

One of the fundamental arguments for taking the life of an unborn child in this country is whether or not that unborn child is perceived to negatively impact the life of its mother, whether that pregnancy or child is perceived to cause her emotional trauma, the loss of an education or career opportunity, financial uncertainty, a health risk, fear, shame, and so on. Now, we all know intuitively that the child’s life should be more important than any of those concerns (for they’re made in the image of God), but this is how we reason when we base our judgments solely upon the perceived consequences of an action. We begin to weigh the consequences of those actions, and as soon we perceive that the concerns of bringing a child with Down Syndrome into the world outweigh the perceived value of that unborn child’s life, then we reason that it’s okay to end the life of that child.

This is why abortion advocates make arguments that seek to diminish the value of an unborn child’s life and that highlight the concerns of the mother, in order to justify abortion. They pit the concerns of the mother against the life of the child. For example, they’ll pretend as though we can’t know whether the child is a baby yet or not, as if it weren’t manifestly obvious, they argue that the child is just a clump of cells, or that it can’t yet feel pain. In other words, because we can’t know if its a baby yet or because they don’t yet feel pain then the mother isn’t really hurting anyone and it isn’t really murder. You see, there it is. If we’re not hurting anyone then I guess it’s permissible. Since it’s questionable whether it’s even a baby or not, or that it won’t experience any negative consequences (such as pain) that it’s okay to take its life, so that the mother won’t have to bear the consequences or responsibly of keeping her child.

Similarly, euthanasia and assisted suicide are often described as humane because they’re usually carried out in a way that doesn’t cause the person any pain. We reason that taking this person’s life is more merciful and humane than allowing them to live, that putting them to death outweighs the consequences of allowing them to live. That the negative consequences of letting them live outweigh taking their life. This is how euthanasia and assisted suicide is justified, yet it is always murder. We don’t put people to death in order “to put them out of their misery” under the guise of mercy, like we might do with an animal, because humans are made in the image of God, while animals are not. We don’t take someone’s life because they’re in pain, or because their circumstances are difficult. Their pain or difficult circumstances don’t justify or provide us with the license to take their life, even if it’s at the person’s own request. You see, this is why the negative consequences of murder cannot become how we discern whether murder is wrong or not, because sinful will men will conceive of all sorts of reasons to approve of murder. Whereas, the Bible teaches us that we’re all made in the image of God, no matter how young, how old, sick or healthy. That we all posses inherent dignity that outweighs any of our objections.

The utility of a person

Utilitarianism also teaches that the value of human life boils down to how productive or useful we are, or what kind of utility a person can provide to others (hence the term utilitarianism). But we don’t put someone to death because they’re old or an invalid, or sick, or because they become inconvenient to us, or are perceived as drain upon society. Many countries in Europe have laws now that permit assisted suicide which have quickly turned from voluntary suicide to involuntary suicide. Because it doesn’t take long for insurance companies to start denying coverage for certain kinds of medical care that are designed to extend a person’s life, because at some point, by their reckoning, you become an unnecessary financial burden to the healthcare system. And now increasing numbers of assisted suicide requests are coming from family members rather than patients, in order to unsaddle families from the burden of caring for the elderly and the sick.

But Scripture teaches us that the value of human life does not boil down to how productive we are, how useful we are, whether we’re in pain or live under difficult circumstances, or whether our existence poses an inconvenience to others. We don’t attribute dignity to human life based upon any earthly metric. We don’t attribute dignity merely to those who meet our standards of usefulness, importance, or how well that person’s life might serve ours, but rather we attribute dignity to all people because all people are made in the image of God, and God is of infinite and immutable worth.

There are therefore no degrees of dignity. One does not have more dignity than another because they’re cute or beautiful, one does not have more dignity because they’re stronger, one does not have more or less dignity because they are of one ethnicity or another, one does not have more or less dignity depending upon the gifts they possess, one does not have more dignity as a result of their possessions or wealth, one does not have more or less dignity if they’re younger or older, one does not have more or less dignity based upon what they produce. No, all human life is sacred as a result of who’s image they bear. And it’s only this biblical standard that is able promote a culture of life. The moment we ground man’s dignity in anything else it will result in an ever-increasing culture of death. Which is why we’ve seen something like 60-65 million babies aborted in our country alone since Roe v. Wade in 1973.

Hatred the heart of murder

And lastly, before we close today, I also want us to consider what lies at the heart of murder. While we’ve already seen that murder is ultimately an attack upon the image of God in man, what is it that lies at the heart of murder, what is its fundamental motivation? Well, we read in 1 John 3:15, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer.” So, what lies at the heart of murder? Hatred.

In fact, Jesus pointed this out in his sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:21-22 when he said,

Matthew 5:21–22 ESV

While I assume no one in this room has murdered anyone bodily (if so, maybe you should come see me afterward), but I do know that we’ve all broken the 6th commandment. At some point we’ve all harbored hatred for another person in our heart, whether at our parents, our spouse, our children, our co-workers, or a customer service agent over the phone. Maybe you’ve broken things, clenched your fist, punched a wall, yelled, spoken cutting and hurtful words, or maybe you’ve even injured someone, maybe you’ve been abusive. These symptoms stem from the same root as murder, hatred.

Devaluing a person

And have you ever wondered what Jesus meant when he went on to say, and “whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire”? Well, the word translated insult there is actually an Aramaic word (Rakah) which means empty head. In other words, when you lob an insult like that at someone, what you’re doing is attacking their worth. “If you weren’t so stupid you’d be more valuable to me.” In doing so you’re basing that person’s worth on what we get out of that person (why are you driving so slow, why can’t you understand, why are you so stupid, why are you always in the way, and so on). In short, what you’re saying in your heart is that your life would be better off without them, thinking that your life would be better if they weren’t a part of it. In fact, most of us have probably said hurtful things like that before.

For example, a child might hate their father or mother for what they’ve done to them, or how they’ve treated them, and therefore wish that they were dead, thinking that their lives would be better off if they weren’t in it, and thereby harboring murder in their heart. Siblings may harbor hatred for one another after fighting over an idol, or a fight over the last piece of cake, or a fight over who gets to play video games, or who gets to go first. How easy it is to log insults at one another to cut them down, all the while not realizing that they’re devaluing the image of God in them. You can’t insult your brother without insulting God.

Making fun of people

Or have you ever wondered why your conscience is pricked when you make fun of others, for being fat, for being slow, for being stupid, for being ugly, or any other reason? It’s not merely because it would hurt their feelings, but when you mock others you’re devaluing them, you’re showing contempt for the image of God in them. This why there are texts like Leviticus 19:14, that say, “You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.” or texts like 2 Kings 2:23-24, where 42 young boys make fun of the prophet Elisha’s bald head, but end up suffering greatly for it, we read,

English Standard Version Chapter 2

23 He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” 24 And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys.

On one hand, we might think it’s a light thing to make fun of or to mock others, but to do so is to mock and disparage the image of God in man, even God himself.

Conclusion

But what do we do when when we find ourselves filled with unrighteous anger? What do we do when we harbor hatred toward others, when we harbor murder in our hearts? Well, it doesn’t matter whether that hatred is the result of someone who’s done harm to you, or if that hatred is the result of your own selfish desire, or some combination of both, but the first thing we must do is trust in Christ. We must consider the patience and the longsuffering that he has shown us. That God’s anger, which was once directed at us, was not an unrighteous anger like our own, but rather a wrath we deserved, yet Christ endured that wrath for us, on our behalf. That we might be forgiven. And it’s only when we consider how much we’ve been forgiven and consider God’ patience toward us that we realize we have no right to harbor anger toward others.

Prayer

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