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Thou Shalt Not Kill
Thou Shalt Not Kill
Thou shalt not kill.
Exodus
· By the time the average North American child has reached sixth grade, they have already witnessed over 8,000 murders and watched 100,000 acts of violence on television. More kids die from violence than from illness today. Nearly 2 million North Americans will become violent crime victims this year. Every 20 seconds, someone is beaten, stabbed, shot, robbed, raped or killed in the United States and Canada.
· But some of you are probably thinking, “We can skip this one.” Your urge to murder probably doesn’t happen very often, except maybe in traffic! It’s not like we have too many “hit men” in our church!
· The sixth command seems like it should be quite straightforward, but actually it’s often misinterpreted, misapplied and misunderstood. In it’s basic form, this command states that NO ONE BUT GOD HAS THE RIGHT TO TAKE THE LIFE OF AN INNOCENT HUMAN BEING. God creates and sustains man, and He alone has the right to number man’s days or determine when a person should die.
· The sixth command seems like it should be quite straightforward, but actually it’s often misinterpreted, misapplied and misunderstood. In it’s basic form, this command states that NO ONE BUT GOD HAS THE RIGHT TO TAKE THE LIFE OF AN INNOCENT HUMAN BEING. God creates and sustains man, and He alone has the right to number man’s days or determine when a person should die.
· Before we look at what this commandment DOES teach, let’s take a brief look at what it DOES NOT teach:
THREE THINGS THIS COMMAND DOES NOT TEACH:
1. It does not prohibit killing of animals
· The Bible is very clear about the difference between human life and animal life. Many times God commanded that animals be sacrificed, and He is not contradicting Himself in this commandment!
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
· You don’t have to be a vegetarian unless you want to be – it’s not commanded in the Bible. It’s okay to eat animals for meat!
·
· You don’t have to be a vegetarian unless you want to be – it’s not commanded in the Bible. It’s okay to eat animals for meat!
1. It does not prohibit capital punishment
1. It does not prohibit capital punishment
· Many times in Scripture God commands capital punishment, and to maintain order in our society, He has allowed human governments to enforce the law and punish wrongdoers.
Levit
And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.
· (GN) Anyone who commits murder shall be put to death … the principle is a life for a life.
(Good News Translation) Anyone who commits murder shall be put to death … the principle is a life for a life.
For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
· (JB) The state is there to serve God for your benefit … The authorities are there to serve God: they carry out God’s revenge by punishing wrongdoers.
(JB) The state is there to serve God for your benefit … The authorities are there to serve God: they carry out God’s revenge by punishing wrongdoers.
· The Hebrew phrase “lo t’ratzach” in the sixth commandment means “no wrongful killing.” It teaches that we must not take a “judicially innocent” life, and is in accordance with the Biblical principle that an accused person is innocent until proven guilty.
· God wants justice in His world, and He also demands swift justice. But our system of appeals has made a mockery of that. When US President William McKinley was assassinated, his killer was caught, convicted and executed 53 days later. Do you think that would happen today? When Ted Bundy was finally executed after killing so many women, it was 11 years after the crime. And US taypayers paid for his “room and board” all those years! That’s not justice.
· Some people say, “I don’t think capital punishment really deters criminals.” It deters the one that is executed! He’s not going to rape or murder anybody anymore. Why not just give him a life sentence? Because a criminal given a life sentence in North America is now only in prison for an average of eight years!
· Oliver Wendall Holmes (Associate Justice Supreme Court): “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
2. It does not prohibit going to war
God sent His people to war many times, and His Word teaches us that there are some things worth fighting and even dying for! It’s right to fight in order to preserve freedom, defend innocent people, or stop the spread of evil.
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time of war, and a time of peace.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Ecl
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time of war, and a time of peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:
· (NLT) [There is] … a time for war …
German Protestant minister Martin Niemöller said this about the Nazis: “When Hitler attacked the Jews, I was not a Jew, therefore I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the unions and industrialists, I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned. Then, Hitler attacked me and the Protestant church -- and there was nobody left to be concerned.”
Edmund Burke (Author): “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
FIVE WAYS THAT GOD ESTEEMS THE INDIVIDUAL:
·What does the command “Do not murder” have to do with my family? Well, the very first murder happened in a family when Cain killed his brother Abel. In fact, today’s most violent crimes and murders are committed by one family member against another.
· But the sixth commandment has a much wider view that just the act of murder. It includes any attitude or action that leads society in the DIRECTION of murder. God is saying, “VALUE THE INDIVIDUAL.” Here are five applications of God’s sixth commandment …
But the sixth commandment has a much wider view that just the act of murder. It includes any attitude or action that leads society in the DIRECTION of murder. God is saying, “VALUE THE INDIVIDUAL.” Here are five applications of God’s sixth commandment …
1. God says “NO” to murder
· The most obvious meaning of this commandment is that we are not to kill another person. The prohibition against murder appears in all five books of the Torah (the law of God as revealed to Moses and recorded in the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures (the Pentateuch).) – in fact, it is the only law to be repeated in every one of the books. Obviously, this is important to God!
· You may believe that murder is wrong because SOCIETY says so. But then, you would have to respect that in Nazi Germany, and much of eastern Europe, it was acceptable to kill Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, the severely intellectual disabled, and any other group deemed inferior. Hitler came to power through the democratic process, and the support of the people kept him in power. German society said murder was acceptable! Today, there are societies where it is acceptable to murder certain ethnic groups; that is what happened recently in Bosnia. Their society says murder is acceptable!
· THE FACT THAT SOMETHING IS APPROVED OF BY SOCIETY DOES NOT MAKE IT OBJECTIVELY RIGHT! Murder is not wrong because society says so, but because God says so! Murder is wrong because life is a gift from God; every murder is a direct attack on God.
Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
Genesis
· (NLT) Yes, you must execute anyone who murders another person, for to kill a person is to kill a living being made in God’s image.
· The only thing that keeps the North American murder rate “down” is the increase in the prison population (quadrupled in the last 25 years) and modern medical technology. A wound that would have killed 9 out of 10 soldiers in World War II, 9 out of 10 would survive today. By a conservative estimate, if we had 1940-level medical technology today, our murder rate would be TEN TIMES HIGHER!
· WE MUST CONSTANTLY GUARD OUR FAMILIES AGAINST THE “MOVIE MENTALITY” THAT DEVALUES HUMAN LIFE! About 350 characters appear each night on prime-time TV, with an average of 7 of them murdered every night. If this rate was reality, then in 2 months everyone in North America would be killed – and the last one left could turn off the TV! Human life is cheap in Hollywood!
· David Grossman is a military psychologist who coined the term KILLOLOGY for the study of the methods and psychological effects of training army recruits to circumvent their natural inhibitions to killing fellow human beings. Except in sociopaths, killing requires training because there is a built-in aversion IN EVERY SPECIES to killing one’s own kind. Grossman states unequivocally that the SAME TACTICS used in training soldiers are at work in our media! Every time a child sees a violent movie or plays a violent interactive video game, he is learning the exact same conditioned reflex skills as a solider or police officer in training. Grossman’s complete article, “Trained To Kill,” is currently available online at: http://www.christianityonline.com/ct/8t9/8t9030.html
· The Journal of the American Medical Association has published a definitive study on the impact of television violence. Their statistics show that in every nation, region, or city where television has been introduced, there is an immediate explosion of violence on the playground, and within 15 years there is a doubling of the murder rate. Why 15 years? That is how long it takes for a desensitized 3 to 5 year old to reach “prime crime age” – 18 to 20 years old.
· Rachel Scott (Columbine Victim) wrote this poem just days before her murder: I’m drowning, in my own lake of despair. I’m choking, my hands wrapped around my neck. I’m dying … quickly my soul leaves, slowly my body withers. It isn’t suicide … I consider it homicide. The world you have created has led to my death.
2. God says “NO” to suicide
2. God says “NO” to suicide
· The suicide rate for Canadian youth, ages 15-19, has increased by over 600% since 1955. Every day in Canada 224 teenagers try to take their own life. They literally have no reason to live!
· In North America, suicide is the number two killer among college students and the number three killer among high school students.
· Some people think, “It’s my life and I have a right to live it and end it as I want.” But the Bible disagrees with that concept!
Seeing his days are determined,
The number of his months are with thee,
Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
· (Contemporary English Version) Our time on earth is brief; the number of our days is already decided by you.
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
· (Living Bible) We are not our own bosses to live and die as we ourselves might choose.
· Our bodies are NOT ours to do with as we wish! God decides the number of days we’re going to live, and He doesn’t want us to try and “short circuit” our lifespan!
· Suicidal BEHAVIORS are also prohibited by the sixth commandment – promiscuous sex in the age of AIDS, drunk driving, drug abuse, overeating, not taking care of our health, etc.
· Most of us at different times have felt enough despair to wonder, “Is my life worth living?” If you are have considered suicide, remember that THERE IS HOPE! You matter to God! Along the ocean coast, you can watch the tide. When it goes out, it always comes back in. The tide may be out in your life right now, and when the tide is out, the beach is ugly. But wait for the tide to come back in! The sun always shines after the darkness.
3. God says “NO” to mercy killing
3. God says “NO” to mercy killing
· The technical term for mercy killing is EUTHANASIA. It means to cause the death of someone because of deformity, old age, or an incurable disease. It does NOT refer to allowing death to occur naturally by removing artificial life support.
In the United States there are assisted dying laws restricted to terminally ill adults in Oregon, Montana,Washington, Vermont, Hawaii, California, Coloradoand Washington D.C.
As this type of killer medicine becomes acceptable, what horrors the future could hold. The progression is obvious; from assisted death to suggesting death to insisting on death."
· An unbelievable scenario? Not at all! What many North Americans do not realize is that another country has run the full gamut when it comes to euthanasia. “Mercy killing” has been practiced in Holland for the past twenty years.
The Dutch News reported that the number of reported assisted deaths increased by 10% in 2016 with 6091 reported assisted deaths, representing 4% of all deaths in the Netherlands up from 5516 reported assisted deaths in 2015. There were 5875 euthanasia deaths and 216 assisted suicide deaths.
Since 2006, in the Netherlands, there has been a 317% increase in assisted deaths.
There were increases in euthanasia deaths based on dementia or psychiatric reasons. There were 141 people who died by euthanasia based on dementia in 2016, up from 109 in 2015. There were 60 people who died by euthanasia for psychiatric reasons in 2016, up from 56 in 2015. There were also 244 people who died by euthanasia based on "advanced age."
· Tony Snow (Washington Times): Most requests for euthanasia in the Netherlands [where it has been legal since 1973] come not from patients, but from their families. It is the ultimate form of selfishness: If mom and dad seem less vibrant and more expensive than they did in the good old days, Dutch kids get on the phone and summon the angels of death.
In whose hand is the soul of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind.
· Almost 80% of Dutch physicians have now had experience with euthanasia. Those who do kill often report nightmares afterwards. Why? Because they are taking on a responsibility that God never intended them to have! Only God has a right to determine when I should stop living!
· It is God who directs the lives of His creatation; every man’s life is in His power.
2. God says “NO” to abortion
A. Pre-borns are human, but not persons.
B. Babies become legal persons only after they are born.
C. Before then, babies have no legal rights.
D. A woman has the right to choose what to do with her own body, including the fetus.
Denying personhood to human beings was wrong in 1857. Denying personhood to human beings is still wrong today! Why? Because it breaks God’s sixth commandment by “taking away” someone’s life!Samuel Armas: (1) Look at this photo taken almost one year ago of a baby that was 21 weeks old – that is, 21 weeks from conception! His brave parents are allowing him to undergo surgery to close a gap in his spine, because he was diagnosed with spina bifida.
(NLT) 13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
Although everyone recommended abortion, that was not a consideration for Alex and Julie Armas, his parents. So Dr. Joseph Bruner was called upon to perform this experimental surgery and prevent serious brain damage before birth. Special miniature instruments had to be created to perform such a delicate operation by Casarean section.
(2) Then, as Dr. Bruner was probing the incision, it happened – a baby’s fully-developed hand wrapped itself around the finger of the surgeon and held on! This picture was sent around the world to most media outlets, but the liberal media elite have refused to run it. Why? Because it is an unmistakable reminder that growing in the womb of every mother is a baby, not a “product of conception” but a human person with an eternal soul being formed in the image of God! Fortunately for Samuel, abortion was not an alternative for the Armas family. His mother said, "We have always believed life begins at conception, and we never wavered, not even when it was actually our decision to make and not mere words that we say. My husband’s first words after we received the news were, ‘Well, we wanted a baby and this is the one God has chosen to give us.’" During the highly sensitive operation, Dr. Bruner even had to tell his staff, “Shh! You’ll wake the baby!”
By now, you may think that the sixth commandment has absolutely nothing to do with your family. However, there is
(3) Little Samuel was delivered from the womb at 36 weeks, on December 2, 1999. He did not have to spend any time in a neonatal unit, and went home on Monday, December 6.
(4) His neurosurgeon was very optimistic, as his brain malformation had resolved and he was moving his legs very well, all things considered. With some physical therapy, he now has a good chance for a normal life! And he could have been aborted!
one last way God wants us to “VALUE THE INDIVIDUAL.” And this one “hits home” in every home …
(NLT) 13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.By now, you may think that the sixth commandment has absolutely nothing to do with your family. However, there is one last way God wants us to “VALUE THE INDIVIDUAL.” And this one “hits home” in every home …
1. God says “NO” to verbal abuse
OUR HOMES HAVE BECOME A BATTLEGROUND, AND VERBAL ABUSE IS THE WEAPON OF CHOICE IN MANY FAMILIES.
OUR HOMES HAVE BECOME A BATTLEGROUND, AND VERBAL ABUSE IS THE WEAPON OF CHOICE IN MANY FAMILIES.
· Jesus taught that there is little difference between murder, gossip and verbal abuse, because they all flow from the same source – a hateful heart. And they all kill! There’s more than one way to murder someone! Here’s what Jesus said about command #6:
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
· (New English Bible) 21 You have learned that our forefathers were told, “Do not commit murder; anyone who commits murder must be brought to judgment.” 22 But what I tell you is this: Anyone who nurses anger against his brother must be brought to judgment. If he abuses his brother he must answer for it to the court; if he sneers at him he will have to answer for it in the fires of hell.
· When unresolved anger is present in a relationship, it will not rest until it has displayed itself in a hateful attitude that demeans the other person. The Aramaic word “RACA” that appears in the KJV means “good for nothing.” When MURDERERS kill, they usurp God’s right to measure a man’s DAYS. But when ABUSERS kill, they usurp God’s right to measure a man’s WORTH.
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
1 John 3:15
· (CEV) If you hate each other, you are murderers, and we know that murderers do not have eternal life.
· A Christian home should not exemplify this kind of behavior! So what happens when the inevitable conflicts come? Here are some great pointers on how to have F.I.G.H.T.S.
· F - Face each other
· Walking off or involving yourself in something else leaves no room for discussion because you are absent
A soft answer turneth away wrath:
But grievous words stir up anger.
Proverbs 15:
· (CEV) A kind answer soothes angry feelings, but harsh words stir them up.
· I - Ignore distractions
· Don’t resort to “rabbit trails” to throw your spouse off the subject and keep you from facing the facts
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
· (NLT) My dear brothers and sisters, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
· G - Guard your tongue
· Once personal attacks or name-calling begin, your spouse is too busy defending themself to listen to you
· (NLT) And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness that can ruin your whole life. It can turn the entire course of your life into a blazing flame of destruction, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
· H - Halt the history
· Bringing up the past tells your spouse that nothing will ever change and the past has not been forgiven
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
· (CEV) Jesus said: Don’t judge others, and God won’t judge you. Don’t be hard on others, and God won’t be hard on you. Forgive others, and God will forgive you.
· T - Touch
· Somehow this position softens the heart, making us more vulnerable, reasonable and caring
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
· (CEV) 31 Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don’t yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. 32 Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ.
· S - Stay in there
· Surgeons can’t quit while there is an open wound, or they invite infection – finish the fight the same day
· (NLT) 26 And don’t sin by letting anger gain control over you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a mighty foothold to the Devil.
· Do you feel like you’ve broken God’s sixth commandment in some way? If we don’t “VALUE THE INDIVIDUAL” in the way God says, we become murderers in His sight. But God forgives murderers if they repent! In fact, most of the Bible was written by three men who were once murderers: Paul, David and Moses.
· If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.