The Sixth Commandment (Part 2) Exodus 20:13 Sunday 28 th October 2018 Glenvista Baptist Church 25 th Message in The Ten Commandments Exodus 20:13 (ESV) 13 You shall not murder. Introduction. a) Our study thus far of the Sixth Commandment has comprised of the following: we have seen clearly that life has sanctity because man was made in the image of God (imago Dei). We have also very clearly seen that murder is wrong for numerous reasons, but that murder goes far deeper than simply meets the eye. Jesus redefines the commandment by pointing that hatred and envy of one s brother is as good as murder and is a sin that needs to be dealt with ruthlessly by eradicating it from our lives. b) We have seen that regardless of society s view on capital punishment, that it is abundantly clear from the Word of God that it was part of God s law for murder. We see very clearly that by the time of Noah God saw it as appropriate to respond to murder with capital punishment (Genesis 9:6). When we then reach the giving of the Ten Commandments fifteen hundred years before Christ, it was sufficient for God to merely underline what was already in place, as seen in Exodus 21:12 and Leviticus 24:17. c) Exodus 21:12-12 Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. d) Leviticus 24:17-17 Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. e) Our main task therefore in our study of the Sixth Commandment is to see, in light of this eternal truth, how we then are to live in light of a commandment that God engraved with His own finger on tablets of stone. Point 1 When, if ever, is it permissible to take life? (v13) Exodus 20:13 (ESV) 13 You shall not murder. a) The Sixth Commandment primarily deals with the value of human life, as seen clearly from our first exposition. Man is created, imago Dei (in the image of God). He is representative of God and has the very essence of God upon him. Life is not valuable because of its viability but because of the fact that God s image is upon all of mankind. Because God values life and has set strict parameters upon the preservation of life, it ought to be our duty to know what God has said on this important matter and to implement faithfully what God has instructed in this regard. 1
b) In order to answer this question we need to for a moment just go a bit wider than human life and even apply this question to the animal kingdom. I will only though answer this question very briefly when it comes to the animal kingdom. c) {1} Firstly it is important that we stress that God Himself commands that animals can be killed for religious sacrifice. We read in Exodus 12:5-6 that God gave clear instructions pertaining the Passover sacrifice by saying, 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. Further on in Exodus 29:11 we read, 11 Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting in light of the consecration of the Old Testament Priests. God Himself set up these sacrificial laws. d) {2} Secondly we also see that God qualified His command by allowing animals to be killed for food and clothing. In actual fact the very first instance of this is found in Genesis 3:21 where God takes the life of an animal to use its skin to clothe Adam and Eve. In this act God was saying to Adam and Eve that in their duty to rule and subdue the earth they also had the responsibility to use the animals for the purposes of food and clothing. Later on in Deuteronomy 14 we see however that God gives His people a list of foods that were not suitable for consumption, clean and unclean animals. e) {3} Thirdly, animal slaughter is permissible for the management of the earth s resources. We have already seen from Genesis 1 that God created man to rule over and subdue the earth. That means man has a responsibility towards the created order and is called upon to keep his hand upon it. So that means aside from using the animal kingdom for food and clothing we are to control the animal kingdom as well, but only in such a way as would be good for the world God has given us to live in. f) That is enough Biblical evidence for now to indicate what is permissible pertaining the animal kingdom. I do though now want to answer this question somewhat more indepth from the perspective of the human race. g) {4} Fourthly then, God allows that human life is taken as a legal punishment for certain crimes such as murder. We are referring here to the death penalty, which is also known as capital punishment. Whatever the view of society may be upon this issue it is clear that capital punishment was part of God s law for murder. Even though God Himself did not take the life of the first murderer, Cain (Genesis 4:1-16), we do though see that by the time of Noah God saw it appropriate to institute capital punishment as a suitable punishment for murder (Genesis 9:6). Last week we saw that by the time of the giving of the Ten Commandments, which was 1500 years, before Christ it was sufficient for God simply to underline what was already common practice in the life of Israel. God s people knew that if a human life was taken, a life needed to be taken as well in its place (Ex 21:12; Lev 24:17). In the New Testament we see the apostle Paul upholding the responsibility and the right of the state to exercise capital punishment by referring to the fact that the state does not bear the sword for nothing (Rom 13:4). That means God has given unto the state the responsibility to uphold the sacredness of human life and to institute the highest penalty possible for those who treat cheaply the image and likeness of God in others. So in light of the duty of the government to implement the death penalty God has made two provisos in His Word: [1] that He places the judgment in the hand of the judiciary who ought to punish evil and reward good (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Pet 2:14); and [2] that God allows for unintentional killing or manslaughter as per Exodus 21:12-14 - 12 Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to 2
death. 13 But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. 14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die. h) {5} Fifthly, the Scriptures are clear that God allows that men can kill during war. Just as the right of the death penalty belongs to the state, so also the right of war belongs to the state. War was lawful under the Old Testament and therefore remains lawful under the New Testament. God sent His people into Canaan with orders to destroy all the inhabitants of the land because of the vile sins that were being committed there. We read in Joshua 11:18-20, 18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19 There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in battle. 20 For it was the Lord's doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the Lord commanded Moses. This mass wholesale genocide was the direct command of God to His people. Now we need to be careful; that does not mean that mass genocide is commanded here to all people. That does not mean we also have the right to do this. God directly governed Israel in a theocracy, meaning the direct revelation of God was what governed these people. Today the state is authorized by God to kill in defense of freedom and the security of the weak and defenseless. We can therefore clearly say that there is such a thing as a just war, even though our Christian principles will severely limit what is and what is not allowed even during a time of armed conflict. For those of our men therefore this morning for whom military service was compulsory, may the legitimate nature of God-ordained war, at times, for the protection of your country and the weak, bring solace to your minds pertaining the matter of legitimate killing. i) {6} Sixthly, and finally, the Scriptures also speak to the matter of killing in line of selfdefense. Taking life in self-defense is not forbidden when anyone, for the purpose of defending his own life against a violent attacker, kills such a person. There are however guidelines in this regard, as this cannot be seen as a blanket permissive approach to randomly kill in self-defense. So when it comes to self-defense the Christian is in need of exercising much wisdom. In Luke 22:36, Jesus tells His remaining disciples But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. Jesus knew that His followers would be threatened and He upheld their right to self-defense. Yet just a short time later our Lord is arrested and Peter resorts to physical violence and cuts off the ear of one of the soldiers. This Jesus condemns in the strongest terms. 49 And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, Lord, shall we strike with the sword? 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus said, No more of this! And he touched his ear and healed him. (Luke 22:49-51). In Exodus 22:2-3 we are given some further clues pertaining self-defense, 2 If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him, 3 but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. The principles are clear here: if a thief broke in at night whilst it was dark and caught the people of the house in surprise, and in the confusion out of self-defense the thief was killed, that owner would not be charged with murder. However, if the thief was caught in the home in the middle of the day when the homeowner was more than likely not sleeping, then the law forbade the killing of the thief. The foundational principle was that homeowners should not be quick or rash to kill thieves. Self-defense therefore is allowed but deadly force always ought to be the last resort. Life is precious and even 3
under these circumstances the taking of a life ought never to be the first thought that crosses the mind. j) So then, from the perspective of human life, it is clear that there are some areas in which killing would be permissible, permitting that all the biblical data given is taken in to account. And in each scenario great wisdom is required, so that the sanctity of life is always in all circumstances honored. Point 2 What types of Murder are Prohibited by the Sixth Commandment? (v13) Exodus 20:13 (ESV) 13 You shall not murder. a) Now as we come to this question, I need to admit that this one is somewhat loaded. I will commence by answering this question this morning, but I will also let some of it stand over till next Lord s Day. As much as there are certain events in which killing is legitimate, there are many more to which this commandment speaks that makes killing murder. And the commandment is clear, You shall not murder. I seek to consider a number of areas with you that are strictly prohibited by this commandment. b) {1} Firstly, the commandment specifically prohibits premeditated killing/premeditated homicide. This particular acts is known as murder and in Exodus 21:12,14 God elaborates on the prohibition of this act. 12 Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death 14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die. So this verse does not refer to manslaughter or unintentional killing, for which we saw earlier God, gives room for escape and a city of refuge in which the one guilty of such an intentional act may find a place of refuge. This act referred to here is the intentional act of taking another s life. Now it is important that we highlight something important here. God makes no distinction whatsoever between premeditated or aggravated or provoked murder. That means even though we may feel very sympathetic towards the abused and battered wife, who acts in revenge and takes her husband s life, yet the bottom line is still, that even the extenuating circumstances, does not take away the fact that it was nonetheless murder. And it is precisely this type of act which our Lord so strongly condemns in Matthew 5:38-39 when He says, 38 You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 39 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. You see, the great problem today in this context is that many firmly believe that revenge murder is justified and that they are justified to take the law into their own hands. Now this concept in Matthew 5 is a direct quote from Exodus 21:23-25, and it was the misuse of this text that our Lord was opposing when He was quoting it in His earthly ministry. You see in the Old Testament context Jesus was reiterating that the penalties are to be dictated through the legal system and that magistrates alone have this right. That of course applies in the New Testament current context as well. Of course we recognize that extenuating circumstances could limit the severity of the punishment, but we can never buy into a thought pattern that promotes the idea that premeditated murder under any given circumstances could ever be seen to be acceptable. So, this command makes abundantly clear that any form of premeditated murder is unacceptable in God s sight and deserves life to be taken in the place of life. c) {2} Secondly it needs to be noted that murder through means of negligence or carelessness is condemned by this command. Last Lord s day we looked at the 4
example of the parapet wall in the Old Testament context. We take that further today by seeing in Exodus 21 an incident of an ox goring a man to death. It reads as follows: 28 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. 29 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) This law upholds the sacredness of life. If this scenario happens once it would be seen as an accidental death, but if it happens again after the owner of the ox had been warned and perhaps fined, then this death is seen as negligence, and such negligence was punishable by means of the death sentence. We have also seen earlier from Exodus 22:2 that God gave laws to His people to limit the force we may use to protect our property. During daytime some degree of force could be used against an intruder; whilst at night greater force could be used. In this instance if the defense of the owners household or property leads to the death of the perpetrator then the householder would not be guilty of murder. God though also recognizes that at times something unexpected might happen and manslaughter tragically occurs. In such an event our God stipulates, that the person may flee to a city of refuge (Ex 21:13). In Joshua 20:7-8 we read that God appointed six such cities where people could flee for refuge in the event of accidental manslaughter. Therefore an accidental death could not be considered a murder and in such a case this person would not be guilty of trespassing against the Sixth Commandment. d) {3} Thirdly, the Sixth Commandment prohibits abortion, euthanasia and suicide. Now these three prohibitions have large ramifications each in its own right and I want to deal with each one in its own time, and we won t get to them all today. So let us then just consider abortion this morning. It is evidently clear so far that the law prohibits murder. Even apart from special revelation, natural revelation written on our conscience tells us that it is wrong to take someone else s life. The real question that lurks at the door when it comes to the topic of abortion is whether the fetus in the womb is a person. Now we saw clearly last week that what determines the value of life is not its viability, but is the very image of God stamped upon that life, and we saw that was true from the very point of conception. Currently though the debate is that the fetus is only viable and can only be protected once it is outside the mother s womb. Prior to that the argument is that it cannot enjoy the status of personhood. However from a Scriptural perspective we see under Israel s civil law that the life of a pregnant woman and the life of her fetus were seen in the same light. We read in Exodus 21:22-25, 22 When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. Whatever the injury was, it called for a similar form of retribution. And that tells us that the fetus was treated with exactly the same right to live, as did the pregnant mom. As evangelical Christians we believe that God s image is stamped upon the fetus from conception and that such life is valuable as that child can experience pain, consciousness and humanness at the earliest stages of its development. Now friends I need to point out to you something of great significance. Nowhere in the Old Testament can the word for fetus be found. The word that is used though in the Hebrew to refer to the child in the womb is the very same word that is used for the child out of the womb. The word is yeleth. One of the most familiar 5
occurrences of the use of this word is in that well known prophecy in Isaiah 9:6 that reads, For to us a child is born and in this instance the word yeleth is used. So, to Christ in His incarnation, at the point of birth, the Hebrew writers employ the word yeleth, yet the very same word is used for the baby in the womb, as for example seen in this incident here in Exodus 21:22-25. There is therefore in the Word of God no distinction between the fetus and the child born. Both are described as a child, and that has significant bearing on the fight against abortion. The main issue in this text is what ought to happen in the case where a pregnant woman who intervenes in an altercation between two men, becomes hurt and gives premature birth to the babies. The plural of the word yeleth is used indicating in this instance the woman was with twins. The issue being addressed is what ought to happen when her children come out. That is the root meaning of the original words. So the issue was this, if the child survives there was a fine but if the child dies then punishment would be life for life. In other words the key thing to grasp here in this passage is this: it is an explanation of the penalties for murder under varying circumstances. We are specifically told here that this woman was pregnant, and that tells us that the focus here is particularly upon the child in her womb. For if as a result of violence done to her, the baby in the womb is injured then a serious fine would be levied, but if the child is dead, then the penalty is life for life. And friends, what this instructive passage teaches us is that a deliberate act which causes the death of a child is considered to be murder. This tells us exactly what God thinks of the doctor, the clinic, the mom, and the agencies that deliberately kill unborn children in the womb! Now time allows not for me to focus on all the complexities of the whole debate around abortion, but the evidence given suffices to point forth that God s refusal to concede that the child in the womb is anything other than truly human, created imago Dei, should for the sake of this morning s message clearly settle the thought in our minds as to whether any human has the right to terminate life in the womb. The principle is clear. The commandment is written in stone, and any attempt that denies that human life begins at conception, is an attempt to break the law of God and justify in doing it with the Sixth Commandment in particular. But God calls this murder and that is the way it will always be. e) Lord willing next week we will take this issue further and consider euthanasia and suicide as well. Conclusion: a) In conclusion then this morning, where does this leave the mom this morning that may be guilty of abortion? Where does this leave the nurse, or the doctor, or the clinic or the agency that has been guilty of such malpractice, which God deems as murder? b) Where does this leave the bus driver guilty of manslaughter, or the homeowner that killed the perpetrator in an effort to protect his family and his house? Where does this leave the soldier that killed during war in defense of his country? Where does this leave the one whom in cold-blooded premeditated murder killed the farmer and his family? Where does this leave the state agent who as commissioned by his country gave the lethal injection to him who was sentenced to death? c) Well, we have seen clearly that there are two main categories; that of permissible killing, and that which can be classified as premeditated murder. The first category is seen not as murder, whist the second is. Yet the Scriptures are clear that murder is not the unpardonable sin. Those who repent of this sin will receive mercy and find grace. 6
d) But there is a greater murder for which all mankind is responsible the killing of the Son of God. Romans 3:23-23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and the consequences of this is that 23 the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23) And this according to God s plan for 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. (Acts 2:23) e) All are guilty, and those who do not repent will see the second death. Revelation 21:8-8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. f) Friend, where do you stand this morning in light of the Sixth Commandment? Outside of Christ you are in great trouble. Yet in Him, and in Him alone, there is pardon and grace, for by His blood He has ransomed a people unto Himself, a people belonging to God, a chosen generation, a kingdom of priests to His God and Father. g) Are you part of the blood bought family of God? Or are you running your race rapidly descending into the bottomless pit and awaiting the second death? Turn to Him alone who rescues us from every sin worthy of condemnation and eternal death. h) Praise be to God who saves sinners like us. Amen! Soli Deo Gloria (For God s Glory Alone) Glenvista Baptist Church 28 October 2018 7