Ten Rules for Living (Reverence Human Life)
EXODUS 20:13
You shall not murder.[1]
Thou shalt not kill. This is the form in which many of us learned this sixth commandment. In that form, it has been abused beyond belief by would-be theologians and by wannabe social engineers. What exactly did God have in mind when He issued the command? The answer to that seemingly innocuous question lies in exploring the revealed mind of God, and He has given us a perfect revelation of His mind in the Word. Explore the Word with me to discover how this rule for living applies in the life of believers in this day so far removed from that in which Moses lived.
What the Commandment Does Not Teach — In order to understand what the rule does say, it is necessary to discover what the rule does not say. Though many have attempted to interpret the rule for modern man, we need to be certain that we are not marching to the errant beat of a drummer out of step with the Living God.
The commandment does not teach us to be vegetarians. On one occasion, at the conclusion of the morning service of a church which I pastored in Vancouver, a young woman indicated that she wished to speak with me. She had some questions and apparently was hoping that I would answer in a manner to please her. Informing me that she was a vegetarian, she sought my agreement as a Christian minister, that one should never violate the sixth commandment, Thou shalt not kill, by eating our “friends the animals.” She was dismayed when I pointed out other Scriptures, with which she was utterly unfamiliar, indicating that I could eat anything I wished.
This young woman was not the first person to appeal to this Scripture in an attempt to justify vegan views. Years ago, during ministry in the city of New Westminster, a young man accosted me, calling me a carrion eater. He was incensed at the thought that I ate meat. In part, his anger derived from personal conflict with the message of the Christian Faith. Though he claimed to be intrigued by the fundamentalist message I proclaimed, this young fellow was repulsed, so he claimed, at the thought that anyone would “kill and thus violate the very commandment they claimed to uphold.” Obviously, according to his logic, I violated the sixth commandment, if not in practise than vicariously through eating protein derived from animals.
There would appear to be an increasing number of people declaring themselves vegan—that is they eschew eating “red meat.” The term is somewhat imprecise, since there is quite a spectrum of views. There are individual vegetarians willing to eat selected animal proteins, including cheese and milk, eggs, poultry or fish, but refusing to eat anything which is derived from mammals. Other individuals are equally adamant that they are vegans— strict vegetarians. These individuals eschew even dairy items or eggs or fish. Macrobiotic diets were the rage some years ago and interest in strict vegetarian diets continues in certain circles to this day.
However, the translation, you shall not kill, misses the concept conveyed by the Hebrew. The term translated by the English word murder in our text is what is known as a qal intensive. Throughout the Old Testament this particular word is consistently translated murder, and in the older translations it was translated almost everywhere except for this text by the word slay, quite a stronger word and a more descriptive and a more powerful term than the more general term kill. On linguistic grounds, then, one cannot appeal to this rule for living as an excuse for choosing to be a vegetarian.
As an aside of considerable importance in this issue, there exist a plethora of Scriptures which teach that it is fitting and proper to eat animal protein. It would seem entirely appropriate to consider a few such verses at this time.
It is true that at the beginning mankind was vegetarian. God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so [Genesis 1:29, 30].
However, following the Fall, God Himself slew the first animal to provide clothing for our first parents [Genesis 3:21]. To ensure that none miss the issue at stake here, after delivering Noah through the Flood, God said, every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything [Genesis 9:3]. For the Jews under the Old Covenant, this matter was clarified by the dietary laws.
Under the New Covenant matters have been relaxed and simplified even further. Peter was taught that nothing God had created was to be considered impure or unclean [Acts 10:9-16]. God did this by ordering Peter to kill from a variety of animals which he had until then considered to be unclean.
Numerous statements concerning food are provided in Romans Chapter Fourteen. The one who observes the day, observes it in honour of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honour of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honour of the Lord and gives thanks to God… I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself… The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit… Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men… Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats [Romans 14:6, 14, 17, 18, 20].
For the sake of completeness, I direct your attention to a few additional passages. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof” [1 Corinthians 10:25, 26]. Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer [1 Timothy 4:4, 5]. One final verse to assist in our thinking is this from Titus. To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled [Titus 1:15].
The commandment does not keep us from protecting our national sovereignty or insuring our personal integrity. I have the deepest respect for those individuals who adhere for conscience sake to a peace position. While I defend the right of those who believe Christians should not take up arms, I reject their attempts to impose their doctrine on others through the ballot box. At that point, they are inconsistent.
In order that no one misunderstand the significance of the issue I am now raising, this is the precise point at which I oppose the practise of the various Mennonite groups. Our Mennonite brothers (and they are indeed brothers in the Faith) hold to a peace position, but they nevertheless generally feel it right to participate in our democratic system in an effort to bring about their eschatological views. They are at best inconsistent, and at worst dangerous. They would have us remove all armed forces and, if consistent with the teachings of their forebears, would also eliminate all sheriffs and law enforcement personnel. This would prove most foolish for a nation.
The position that we should refuse to defend ourselves, either individually or as a nation, finds no comfort in the sixth commandment. This commandment does not teach that a nation cannot defend itself—even if such defence entails killing those attacking us. Certainly, Israel was compelled to defend itself in the biblical accounts, and did defend itself with God’s blessing. While I would not contend that every war recorded in the Old Testament was blessed by God, it is obvious by even a casual reading that a significant number of those wars were blessed by God. Wars of expansion are seldom justified, but defence is assuredly not precluded by this rule for living.
Facing the Cross, Jesus forever freed His disciples to defend themselves, recommending that they purchase a sword if they did not have one. The disciples produced two swords—weapons of defence—and Jesus did not object [Luke 22:36-38].
The commandment does not debar the state from taking the life of a murderer. I believe in capital punishment. Perhaps this surprises some people, but this position naturally follows from the thought that to deny the biblical mandate for capital punishment is to trivialise individual responsibility. The paroxysm of agony which accompanies the howling of contemporary liberals as they bemoan the possibility that the state may make a mistake in holding the murderer responsible for his actions is itself a grave mistake. An overriding issue in each of these ten rules for living is individual responsibility which is in turn predicated upon the concept of personal freedom.
It is unthinkable that a Baptist, holding to Baptist convictions, would deny personal freedom; and the corollary to personal freedom is personal responsibility for acts freely performed. Thus, I believe in accountability for each action.
Clearly, the Word of God holds the state responsible to administer justice and to hold the citizenry accountable for their acts. As Noah worshipped following the Flood, God spoke these solemn words: for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.
Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image
[Genesis 9:5, 6].
According to New Testament teaching, the state is responsible to extract judgement, including, by deduction, death to those deserving of such. We learned in a previous message that [the governing authority 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 [Romans 13:4].
What the Commandment Does Teach — It is a commentary on the evil of the day that it is necessary to invest a considerable amount of time refuting errors spoken about the Word, but there is a fuzzy logic applied to the Word of God. Theological lightweights read a portion of Scripture and assume they know the entire Word. The best remedy for error is the truth. Therefore, let’s think together about what the commandment does say.
The commandment does teach that we are not to wilfully take human life. The key word in this description is wilfully. If the state, acting as an agent of God, is responsible to demand an accounting for the life of one murdered, this act cannot be construed as wilful. A life taken in defence of person or in defence of national sovereignty is neither premeditated nor wilful.
The rule says we are not to murder, either directly or indirectly. We are not to murder. To wilfully kill another is to violate this command. Neither may we kill by proxy, as did David when he murdered Uriah. The rule admits the sacredness of human life. It realises that life is God’s gift. We have power to take life, but we have no power to restore it. To murder, therefore, is a wrong that once done, cannot be undone.
By a similar token, this law condemns suicide; or in a more pointed reference to our contemporary situation, we are not to condone euthanasia, whether active or passive. You are not your own, states the Apostle, you were bought with a price. The logical corollary is appended in the following verse: so glorify God in your body [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20]. As a Christian, your life belongs to God. It is not yours to discard at will.
Outsiders need to consider that they also belong to Him who purchased them by His blood according to the revelation given through Peter’s second letter: But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction [2 Peter 2:1]. Since this is true, euthanasia violates this command as does suicide, Jack Kervorkian, Sue Rodriguez and Sven Robinson notwithstanding.
If outright taking of life is proscribed, taking one’s life by degrees is equally wrong in light of this rule for living. That one who digs his grave with his teeth is guilty before God and before his fellows. To indulge in any pleasure at the expense of premature death is to violate the spirit of the commandment. Those determined to smoke must square their action with the commandment, as must those determined to drink socially; and the more so is this true when they know that their choice shortens life and makes them a burden at the last on the remainder of society as they burden the health care system and drain the finances of loved ones. We must be responsible for our own actions.
There is, I believe, a violation of this commandment which will never brand a person criminal in any sense. It is possible to violate this command and never be conscious that the blood of our brother is on our hands. The rule forbids us exposing either others or ourselves to needless physical risks. That individual who drives while intoxicated is risking not only her own life, but also the life of others on the road. Perhaps it is fair to say that those who insist on driving without sufficient skill to handle the power of their automobile are equally guilty, for they expose themselves and others to the danger of death. While the government soothes the soul of the nation by claiming to protect us through registration of all firearms, it is amazing that an individual can still kill with an automobile and never be held fully accountable before the law.
The rule calls for the safest possible working conditions. The employer has no right to expose his employee to needless risk. The rule calls for sanitary housing. These rather specific applications were detailed under the Old Covenant. In the instance of unsafe conditions, consider the following passage.
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 [Exodus 21:28, 29].
Likewise, the responsibility to ensure safe housing is detailed under the Law and the basis for the instruction would appear to be this sixth commandment. God, through Moses, gave the following clarification in Deuteronomy 22:8: 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. An action as innocuous as building a house means that I must assume responsibility for others, and not merely content myself with purchasing liability insurance to protect myself. I am responsible to take reasonable steps to protect others.
Need I actually say that abortion is murder? Is it not self-evident that killing the unborn in their defenceless state is murder? I am pro-choice—but choice must be exercised long before life is conceived. A woman has a choice whether to be moral or immoral. A woman can say “No” long before she lies with a man. However, once conceived, life is life, whether in the womb or in the bassinet. We cannot call it one thing in the test tube and something else in the womb. No right thinking individual can condone abortion.
I must wonder whether we likewise bear responsibility when we kill others by robbing them of incentive, as do our governments through well-intentioned, though evil, actions. We can kill when we destroy another morally, leading them into dissipation and dissolution. Paul, especially, addressed this issue for us in The First Corinthian Letter.
Take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ [1 Corinthians 8:9-12].
Again, who is responsible for putting people out of work solely for profit? Those used up by big business and then cast aside are destroyed as surely as though they had been slain with a gun. Unemployment is like a slow-moving genocide with people being destroyed by the erosion of their security and self-worth. We have elevated profit to the level of a god, so that the bottom line is the bottom line.
I am increasingly dismayed by the lawless attitude of those charged as guarantors of the law. Our police forces and prison staffs harbour an unusual number of people who, save for the badges, ought themselves to be in prison, such is their disregard for the law. Canadians are rightly astonished at news reports this week past stating that senior police personnel are paid by various Eastern European mobs. I appreciate the conscientious men and women who place their lives in harm’s way for the sake of public safety, but it is distressing to note that there appears to be a growing number of peace officers charged with malfeasance and serious crime in the past several years. Frankly, I worry about the willingness of senior police officials to do right and thus ensure our safety.
In the past decade, I have had opportunity to view the work of corrections officers from a different angle than I once did while conducting ministries in the prison systems of Texas and British Columbia. There are a significant number of men and women wearing blue uniforms who act as sociopaths. The marvel is not that there are riots and unrest in our prisons, but rather that there are not more riots and greater unrest in response to deliberate provocation of prisoners. One who provokes those incarcerated must share in the guilt when provocation results in riot, bloodshed and death. That wicked system which refuses to accept responsibility for attempting to manipulate the mind of those incarcerated must share in the unleashed rage produced by the manipulation.
Judges and legislators who have transformed the justice system into a legal system must likewise bear responsibility in light of this commandment. Lawyers who defend the guilty, though knowing the guilt of their clients nevertheless distort the intent of the law in order to free the guilty must likewise bear their guilt before the Lord God.
I have endeavoured to stimulate your minds into thinking biblically. There exists an overarching theme of personal responsibility which is far too easily forgotten and even ignored in these last days. Never forget, I am responsible for my own actions. Bear in mind that this sixth commandment has broader application than we might ever anticipate, for it makes us responsible for the safety of others, answering in the affirmative the ancient self-indulgent cry of Cain: Am I my brother’s keeper?
The commandment does teach that we are to hold human life in reverence. Christians are to be a people that hold human life as sacred because man was created in the image of God [Genesis 1:26, 27]; this knowledge must work itself out in practical ways in our daily lives. The impact of the commandment is that we must treat the life of all mankind as precious.
I find no warrant for adopting an activist view because of this commandment, but I do find sufficient challenge to give any saint pause in the light of daily intercourse. Each of us should ask ourselves whether we revere human life and how, in a practical manner, such reverence is witnessed in interaction with our fellow man. Does my speech betray a low view of human life? Do I reduce entire cultural groups or nations to the level of mere beasts so that I can condone my hatred? Have I begun to credit wickedness with reason because I do not wish to be bothered with thinking great thoughts. Does the thought of euthanasia and abortion seem a great bother and does my speech betray an irritation at being challenged by these evils?
Do I make excuses for needless risks? Do I, in my thinking, reduce criminals to mere animals worthy only of death, and thereby countenance the excesses even of the criminal justice system? Have I truly grown so callused that I no longer care about government robbing my fellow man of incentive, only crying out in angry rage when the cost becomes greater than I am willing to bear or when the actions inconvenience me?
There would be little warrant for activism were we Christians to serve as salt and light in the world. Were we to speak as those endowed with the voices of heaven and were we to stand opposed to the mindset of this world, I cannot help but think that the gates of Hell would tremble. We have been silenced, in part, because we do not reverence human life. This Sixth Command is nothing less, as I have already stated, than a practical application of personal responsibility, not only for my own actions, but to care for others. It is practical holiness put into action.
The sixth commandment is concerned with our own life and our neighbour’s life. You shall not murder. You shall not do anything hurtful or injurious to the health, ease and life of your own body, or any other person’s unjustly. The sixth commandment does not forbid killing in lawful war, nor in our own necessary defence. Neither does the commandment forbid the magistrate’s putting offenders to death—for those things tend to the preserving of life; but the sixth commandment forbids all malice and hatred to the person of any, and it forbids all personal revenge arising from hatred. Rash anger upon sudden provocation and hurt said or done, or aimed to be done, in passion, are likewise forbidden. As that which is worst of all, the commandment forbids persecution, laying in wait for the blood of the innocent and excellent ones of the earth.
Applying the Commandment in Light of New Testament Theology — Jesus challenged people long ago with these words, words which continue to challenge us to this late day. In fact, with these words, our Lord went to the heart of the matter which is—the heart! Listen carefully and with fresh interest to the challenge issued to the heart by our Master.
You have heard that it was said to those of old, “You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgement.” But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, “You fool!” will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny [Matthew 5:21-26].
The words of the Master are not an addition to the law; they serve as an explanation of and an application of the law. More particularly, this teaching is an application of and a commentary on this sixth commandment. Jesus here exposed the heart of all mankind by forcing any who hear these words to explore the dark recesses of the heart. Bitterness lies at the root of murder. Hatred is the root of murder. Killing is virtually impossible without the motivation of deep anger.
Have you ever muttered under your breath or thought to yourself in a time of stress: “I wish that person were dead”? Perhaps you were being attacked unjustly or you were caught up in an intense argument and the words somehow sprang into your mind unbidden. That experience is confirmation that each of us is subject to violating this command, except by the grace of God. Before ever a person can murder, there must be a depersonalisation, a dehumanising of the one to be murdered.
Jesus addressed the rabbinical proscriptions against murder, but the people must have been surprised when he probed deeply into the heart of each individual listening. Anyone who is angry must give an answer to God. Was it righteous anger? Was it justified anger? Or was the anger because pride had been piqued? Or because security had been threatened? Or because “self” was ravaged?
Then, so none would miss the point, Jesus pointed out that the “natural” step was to dehumanise the one toward whom anger was directed. The person is reduced to an epithet—Raca. The term spoke of one who was morally deficient, an individual unworthy of sharing human dignity.
A growing body of evidence appeared in news reports after détente which revealed that the Russians used captured American soldiers in medical experiments during the Korean and Vietnam wars. The Czech general, Jan Sejna, said it was a small thing since the captives were imperialist dogs. Japanese medical experiments were conducted on captured allied soldiers and on Chinese civilians during the Second World War, the subjects of the torture being referred to as logs. Korean women were forced into prostitution for the pleasure of Japanese soldiers, after being dehumanised by receiving the title of flower women. Only after the Jews were reduced to untermenschen—socially dead people—were the German people able to slaughter them in such appalling numbers. The plague continues as Arab terrorists who hate Americans refer to that great nation as the Great Satan.
Nor is the free world liberated from this plague. During the Vietnam conflict, encouraged by our training officers, we referred to the Vietnamese people by a variety of epithets—slopes and gooks. The Vietnamese had to be dehumanised before boys from the farms of America and from the streets of American cities would slaughter them. Over sixty thousand Canadians served in that conflict as well and received the same training in dehumanisation. Canadian troops in the ill-fated Somalia fiasco reduced the peoples of that benighted nation to mere creatures—knick knocks and niggers. Thus, they were undeserving of respect as humans through use of a variety of slanderous names.
My point is simply this: permitting oneself to reduce a fellow human to the level of a mere creature is the first step toward murder. Though a crime has not been committed in the sense of violating the Canadian Criminal Code, such an individual has violated the highest law—the law of love. The policeman or prison guard who refers to prisoners as cons, the criminal who refers to the police as pigs, the secure individual who insists that the homeless are lazy or speaks of them as drones, the poor who speak of the wealthy as imperialists, the abortionist who speaks of the unborn as foetal tissue, and the pro-life advocate who employs derogatory terms for the abortionists—all alike have violated the commandment and must give an answer to the Living God.
There is no hope that any of us can escape condemnation except for the grace of God. Unless God should redeem us, giving us a new heart, how can we cease violating this rule for living? As Jeremiah lamented:
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
[Jeremiah 17:9].
There is but this singular hope, that each one of us can be born again—born from above. That hope becomes reality in Christ the Lord.
Hear the Word of the Lord! If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9-13].
In the eyes of man, you may be considered a good person, a fine individual, upstanding and law abiding. If you have not been born from above and into the Family of the Living God, you have no hope of living a life pleasing to Him in whose hands are our life and times. With a heart which would do you good and not evil I urge you today to consider Christ, to receive Him as Master of life, asking that He set you free from your dark passions and deliver you into eternal light and life.
Fellow believer, perhaps something which I have said in this message has pierced you to your heart and even now the Spirit of God is employing that word to sting your conscience and wound your soul. Determine that you will stop thinking like the world, that you will give up harbouring anger in your heart toward another. Ask the gracious Lord to set you free from anger and bitterness that you may begin to truly live as the child of the King and that you may truly glorify His Name through a life which is harmless and undefiled. Seize the promise given through John’s first letter: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [1 John 1:9]. May God release each of us from the bondage of hatred, making us sensitive to the insidious intrusion of all such evil, bringing us into the freedom of His children. Amen.
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[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Ó 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.