You Shall Not Murder (Part 2)

Introduction

English Standard Version Chapter 20

13 “You shall not murder.

Exodus 21:28–29 ESV

“When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.

Ezekiel 33:1–9 ESV

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand. “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

This week is part two of our look at the 6th commandment, “you shall not murder.” Last week we focused most of our time on the nature of murder, and what lies at it’s heart. At first we saw that the 6th commandment doesn’t forbid all types of killing, but specifically forbids the taking of innocent life. That the 6th commandment isn’t meant to forbid capital punishment, killing in self-defence, or in the case of a just war.

Then I argued that the reason murder is wrong is not fundamentally for utilitarian reasons. That murder isn’t wrong merely because it results in negative consequences. But rather murder is wrong fundamentally for two reasons, 1) because man is made in the image of God, and 2) because only God possesses authority over life and death. Murder is wrong because we possess inherent dignity, a dignity that is not based upon anything in us, but based upon who made us. You do not possess more or less dignity based upon whether you’re strong or weak, or how much you contribute to society. Human dignity is no contingent upon whether or not someone else thinks you’re valuable or not, human dignity isn’t contingent upon whether you’re sick or healthy, or upon your personal circumstances, whether you’re rich or poor, instead your life is valuable because you are made in God’s image.

Murder is also wrong because, unlike God, we do not posses authority over life and death. We don’t possess the authority, or right, to take the life of another person, only God does. So, when you hear slogans like “reproductive rights” they’re making the claim that women should possess authority over the life of their unborn children. That because the child dwells within their body, that they therefore should possess authority over its life. However, the Bible grants women no such authority, nor anyone else. We do not possess the authority to assist with someone’s suicide, even under the guise of showing mercy, because we do not possess such authority. Furthermore, we do not possess the authority to take our own lives, to commit self-murder, no matter how difficult our circumstances. Why? Because we do not possess such authority.

Lastly, we looked at the heart of murder, that at its heart is a hatred that leads to devaluing one another, and is what ultimately gives rise to murder. That hatred is lethal. While most of us may have never violated the 6th commandment by taking another person’s life, we’ve all certainly broken the 6th commandment when we’ve harbored unrighteous hatred toward our brother. And as Jesus pointed out, in his sermon on the mount, we break the 6th commandment every time we insult our brother, every time we call him names, or make fun of him, or speak hurtful, demeaning words to him, because in doing so we devalue his humanity, disregarding that our brother has been made in the image of God.

You shall honor life

Now, this week I want to focus more specifically on the application of the 6th commandment. And I want to look not just at how we violate it, but how we uphold it. You see, the flip-side of “you shall not murder” is “you shall honor life.” You see, we keep the 6th commandment by honoring life, by respecting the image of God in one another. We keep the 6th commandment by protecting and preserving life. We uphold the 6th commandment by caring for our neighbor’s life.

Self-defense protects life

And I want to begin by consider again those three categories of justified killing, to consider how self-defense, capital punishment, and just war are, not only, not a contradiction to the 6th commandment, but how, in fact, they are intended to uphold it. For example, killing someone in self defense is not murder because it is a justified killing, it is not the taking of innocent life, but more than that, it’s important that we realize that self-defense is carried out with the purpose of protecting or preserving life. You’re protecting your life, and the lives of those who may be with you, such as your family. Now, you might ask, “but doesn’t Jesus tell us turn the other cheek?” Yes, he absolutely does, but Jesus wasn’t teaching against self-defense, Jesus was teaching against to personal retaliation. Jesus said in Matthew 5:38-39,

Matthew 5:38–39 ESV

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

When Jesus references the phrase ‘An eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth’, he’s referring to texts found in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy that prescribe equal justice under the law. Therefore, when Jesus tells his disciples to “tun the other cheek,” he isn’t telling his disciples that they should do away with equal justice, but that equal justice is not a license for personal retaliation. That the principle of equal justice does not justify someone seeking revenge. I don’t know how many times I’ve broken up a fight between my children and heard words like, “he hit me first.” It’s astonishing how often we justify personal vengeance under the pretense giving people what we think they deserve, even when the Bible makes it abundantly clear that we are not permitted to seek personal retaliation. Which is precisely Jesus’ point in Matthew 5.

Just war defends life

Similarly, a just war is not murder because it is justified killing, it is not intended to take innocent life, but rather a just war takes life with the fundamental aim of protecting or defending life. For example, a nation might righteously defend itself from another invading nation, or a nation might come to the aid of an ally to protect them from an invading nation.

Capital punishment discourages murder

And likewise, capital punishment is not murder, because it is justified killing. As we’ve seen before governments are intended to be God’s servants who do not bear the sword in vain, (Romans 13:4) and are intended “to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good,” (1 Peter 2:14) even to the extent of capital punishment if necessary. And just as self-defense and just wars are intended to protect and defend innocent life, so is capital punishment. Capital punishment is intended to protect innocent life by discouraging murder.

Many of the OT prescriptions for capital punishment were followed by the phrase “and all the people shall hear and fear”, indicating that carrying out justice was intended to restrain evil, to discourage similar crimes, to instill a fear of punishment if the people committed similar crimes. Carrying out justice is not only a just response to evil, but punishments are also intended to prevent others from committing further evil. In the case of murder, capital punishment is intended to protect life by discouraging murder.

For example, while studying the 5th commandment, to honor father and mother, we looked at Deuteronomy 21:18-21, where the Moses prescribed capital punishment for a stubborn and rebellious son who refused to obey the voice of his father and mother, despite their discipline. I want you to listen to how this passage ends, we read,

Deuteronomy 21:18–21 ESV

“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

What’s one of the intended effects of capital punishment? To discourage murder.

Capital punishment defends the image of God

Furthermore, we must understand that capital punishment upholds human dignity, it affirms the value of human life by punishing murder justly, whereas neglecting to justly punish murder inevitably devalues human life. To dispense with capital punishment is to dispense with equal justice, and to dispense with equal justice is to devalue the image of God in man, and to dispense with Genesis 9:6 that says, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” You see, capital punishment is intended to be a defense of the image of God in man.

Therefore, it’s ironic when those who oppose capital punishment claim to be pro-life, when, in fact, such a position inevitably opposes equal justice, and is fundamentally not pro-life, it’s unavoidably a position that does not uphold human dignity, but inevitably devalues human life.

One of the major problems with this kind of thinking is that it supposes that justice must be incompatible with compassion, and therefore, as a result, in the name of compassion, they do away with justice, beginning with capital punishment. In other words, we’re tempted to pervert justice in the name of compassion. Which is a temptation we should all be mindful of. This is why Israel, for instance, was repeatedly instructed not to pity the evildoer, lest they dispense with justice in the name of compassion. I could give you several examples, but for the sake of time we’ll look at just one, listen to Deuteronomy 19:11-13,

Deuteronomy 19:11–13 ESV

“But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that it may be well with you.

You see, capital punishment is intended to discourage murder and defend the image of God in man. All three of these categories, self-defense, just war, and capital punishment are not only not in contradiction with the 6th commandment, but they actively uphold it by protecting life, discouraging murder, and defending human dignity.

Protecting and preserving our neighbor’s life

Now, we also need to understand that the Hebrew word translated murder refers not only to premeditated murder and murder with malicious intent, or murder driven by hatred, but also the taking of innocent life through carelessness or negligence. Therefore, the 6th commandment teaches us that we must protect our neighbor’s life, and seek to preserve it. Which is why we see civil laws in Israel like the one in Deuteronomy 22:8, we read,

Deuteronomy 22:8 ESV

“When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if anyone should fall from it.

In ancient Israel, houses often had flat roofs used for various purposes, such as sleeping, drying crops, or social gatherings. You can think of a parapet for their roof as akin to a railing on a porch or balcony. While most of us don’t live in a culture or a location where it’s common to have social gatherings on your roof, most of us are familiar with gathering on someone’s porch or balcony for a cookout. And often times those porches or balconies are more than a story high overlooking a nearby landscape, and if someone were to fall they would either be seriously injured or suffer death, therefore most states require a railing to be installed. Whereas, roofs are rarely, if ever, required to have a parapet installed, even flat roofs, simply because we’re not accustomed to gathering on them.

Now, what’s important for us to recognize in Deuteronomy 22:8 is that if a person neglected to install a parapet for their roof, we’re told that they risked bringing bloodguilt upon their house. In other words, if someone fell from their roof because they neglected to install a parapet, they would be accountable for that person’s death. Why? Well, since it was common practice to utilize a person’s roof for regular activity, the homeowner therefore bore a responsibility to safeguard it by installing a parapet.

I remember visiting the state of Florida for vacation and renting a home with a pool while we were there. With the house came very strict instructions for utilizing the in-ground pool. There were alarms on the doors that had to be disarmed each time you entered or exited them to the access the pool. The yard was purposefully fenced in and additional screens surrounded the pool itself to guard against neighborhood children from falling in while we weren’t at home. Many communities even require pool covers for added safety during the winter when the pool isn’t in use.

Another example of our obligation to preserve our neighbor’s life is found in Exodus 21:28-29, we read,

Exodus 21:28–29 ESV

“When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.

In other words, owners are responsible for their livestock and their pets, and may be liable if their animals injure or kill a person, therefore we’re responsible to restrain them. For we bear a personal responsibility to our neighbor to protect and preserve their life insofar as we’re able. This is why it may be appropriate to require warning signs or labels in certain circumstances such as “Danger: High Voltage,” or “Avalanche Zone,” or this is a “Hard Hat Area”. All with the intent of preserving our neighbor’s life.

It’s why we put up guard rails along certain parts of the road, it’s why employers are required to provide tower climbers with safety harnesses, it’s why rumble strips are incorporated into the road berm, it’s why reflective markers are put on the center lines of roads, it’s why certain buildings require a fire escape, and so on. My point is simply this, the 6th commandment requires that we make an effort to protect and preserve the life of our neighbors.

Abusing the 6th commandment

Now, at this point, it’s also important to consider how our responsibility to our neighbor can also been abused, as it frequently is in our day. While, on one hand, we have a responsibility to seek our neighbor’s good and to preserve his life, it has become fashionable in our day to mitigate against every perceived risk, no matter how unlikely or unrealistic. In fact, our culture has become obsessed with holding others liable at every turn, not out of a zeal to protect life, but as an excuse to blame our neighbor for our own careless actions, but this is not the point of the 6th commandment, but eave it to men to twist virtue for their own gain.

Negligent manslaughter

But when we’re genuinely careless or negligent to protect and preserve the life of our neighbor Scripture holds us responsible. In fact, in our nation, any death as a result of negligence is referred to as negligent manslaughter. For example, there is great responsibility when getting behind the wheel of a car, because the stakes are much higher. I’ve especially felt this burden as of late, now that two of my children are licensed to drive.

Traveling on foot rarely puts another person’s life in danger, whereas driving at 45 mph inside a vehicle significantly raises the stakes. While accidentally running into someone while on foot might leave a bruise or scrape at worst, accidentally hitting someone with your car can easily result in serious injury or even death. Texting while driving might seem insignificant at the time, especially if you’ve gotten away with it repeatedly before, but it can result in devastating consequences. Neglecting to keep your eyes on the road and on the lookout for pedestrians just to send a quick text message can result in veering left of center and colliding head-on with another driver.

A young man might find it thrilling to drive 60 in a 20 on a one lane gravel road with his friends, but such carelessness can easily result in the death of everyone inside, just one miscalculation, an animal running across the road, a blind corner which kept him from seeing that oncoming car. Someone might leave a loaded gun out in the open and in reach of their children and accessible to visitors, putting them at risk of inadvertently shooting themselves or others. These are all examples of negligence that violate the 6th commandment, examples of carelessness that could result in making you liable for your neighbor’s death.

I recently felt the weight of this responsibility, first-hand, at work. One of the members of my crew fell from a ladder and badly injured himself. I’ll never forget when the call came in that he had fallen from the roof and couldn’t get up. I instructed them to call 911 immediately and I bolted out the door to my truck. When I arrived onsite I was thankful that the man hadn’t suffered life threatening injuries, but he had severely broken his leg. Not long after, OSHA showed up to investigate the incident. They interviewed each of us privately, and while I had nothing to hide, I couldn’t help but wonder if the investigation would reveal that I had failed to prevent his injury in some way, whether by not utilizing all the necessary safety equipment, or failing to provide him with all of the necessary safety training. While I couldn’t think of anything in particular I couldn’t help but feel responsible as the man’s manager. I felt deeply responsible for his wellbeing, and it bothered me that I might have neglected to sufficiently protect his life. Thankfully, the investigation didn’t reveal any glaring negligence, but it certainly reminded me of my responsibility to protect and preserve the life of my staff.

Accidental manslaughter

However, we should also recognize that negligent manslaughter is not the same as accidental manslaughter. While the 6th commandment holds us responsible for negligence, cities of refuge were provided in Israel for those who were involved in accidental manslaughter in order to protect them from retaliation from the deceased’s family. We read this in Deuteronomy 19:1-6,

Deuteronomy 19:1–6 ESV

“When the Lord your God cuts off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. You shall measure the distances and divide into three parts the area of the land that the Lord your God gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them. “This is the provision for the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past— as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live, lest the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past.

Listen again to what Moses said at the end, “the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past.” Now this doesn’t mean that a judge couldn’t discover, later, that criminal negligence was behind the slip of the axe head, but if he doesn’t this man does not deserve to die, and should not be held responsible for this man’s death. Therefore, no one should carry the burden of their neighbor’s death in event of accidental manslaughter.

Spiritual life

Now, finally, this morning, I want to make one final point related to the sixth commandment that I suspect may not be immediately obvious to most of us, and that’s how the scope of the sixth commandment extends even to spiritual life. In fact, I would argue that having concern for our neighbor’s spiritual life is of paramount importance. And to see what I mean turn with me to Ezekiel 33:1-9, we read,

Ezekiel 33:1–9 ESV

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand. “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

What I want you to notice here is that God isn’t holding Ezekiel accountable for the earthly lives of the Israelites, but for their spiritual lives, that if he fails to warn them, they will die in their iniquity, and their blood will be required at Ezekiel’s hand. And God uses an earthly analogy to make his point, that Ezekiel is like a watchman who has the responsibility to warn the people when he see’s the threat of an approaching army. And if he fails to warn them that their blood will be upon his own head.

And like Ezekiel, we too should feel compelled to warn our neighbors that God “has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising [Jesus] from the dead,” (Acts 17:31) “that the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent” and to believe in His Son, lest they die in their sins. And like Ezekiel we will be held accountable for whether or not we warned our neighbors.

And while we have no control of whether our neighbors will respond positively to this warning or to our pleas for them to come to Christ, we are responsible to proclaim the Gospel. While we will not be held responsible for how they respond, we will be held responsible for whether we warned them of the wrath to come.

In 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 the Apostle Paul writes that God has reconciled us to himself through Christ, and entrusted us with this message of reconciliation, that if you confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved,” (Romans 10:9-15) saved from the wrath that is to come. He writes,

2 Corinthians 5:18–20 ESV

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Like Ezekiel, we’ve been commissioned, commissioned to deliver a message intended for the whole world, and we will be held accountable for whether we shared it with our neighbors or not. For “how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:14-15)

Conclusion

In summary, the 6th commandment is far deeper and wider than most of us realize. Murder is forbidden first, and fundamentally, because we’re made in the images of God, and no one has authority over life and death but God himself. Furthermore, the 6th commandment cuts much deeper than most of us realize, because at its heart is hatred for our neighbor, and so whether we’ve treated our neighbor with contempt, called him names, made fun of him, vilified him, or wished harm upon him we’ve all violated the 6th commandment. The 6th commandment also teaches us that we must honor our neighbor’s life, that we’re responsible to protect and preserve it. And lastly, that we must have concern for our neighbor’s spiritual life, like Ezekiel, responsible to warn our neighbor that God “has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising [Jesus] from the dead,” (Acts 17:31) “that the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent” and to believe in His Son, lest they die in their sins. And like Ezekiel we will be held accountable for whether or not we warned them. Let us take these things seriously.

Prayer