Sermon Deuteronomy 5:17 “You Shall Not Kill”
New Covenant Church
April 8, 2018
Sermon Audio
I am continuing today, with a series of sermons on the Ten Commandments. These are principles which, if followed, allow us to flourish in the world God has created. We have the freedom to choose not to follow them, but we should expect consequences if we don’t. In commandments 1-5 we have heard how we should relate to God. Now, in commandments 6-10 we will hear how we should relate to each other and our neighbors. We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
Deuteronomy 5:1 Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, Israel, the decrees, and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 It was not with our ancestors that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.
5:17 You shall not murder.
In the sixth commandment, we have an absolute prohibition on killing another human being. As we read in the Book of Leviticus, the punishment for killing someone is death.
Leviticus 24:17 Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death.
Why does the Bible put such a high value on human life? What is it about human life that requires the forfeit of life if you take another? As we read in the Book of Genesis, the reason for this is that human life was created by God and created in the image of God.
Genesis 9:6 Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.
So we are not to kill another person. If we do the punishment is death. And the reason for this was that God has created humans in God’s own image. Therefore we are to put a very high value on all human life. But what about the story we heard earlier? What about Cain? He murdered his brother but did not forfeit his life. Instead, God sent him to a city and ordered that no one take Cain’s life. So what is going on here?
There is a distinction in scripture between intentional and unintentional killing. Suppose you park a car on a hill but do not set the brake properly. The car rolls down the hill and kills a pedestrian. Are you at fault? Yes, because your negligence resulted in the death. Did you intend for the person to die? Of course not. The death was unintentional. And the Bible makes a provision for unintentional killing. To avoid a death sentence someone who killed a person unintentionally could escape to a city of refuge where he would be safe. And this is exactly what happened to Cain.
So we have an absolute prohibition on killing a human being because people are created by God in God’s image. The biblical punishment for an intentional killing was death. The biblical punishment for unintentional killing was exile from family and land in a city of refuge.
Are there any exceptions to this law on killing others? The only exceptions in scripture are when it is God’s will that someone dies and we are commanded to carry it out. This would happen in self-defense when we protect ourselves and families from death. This would happen in war when a nation defends itself. And this would happen in criminal justice when a murderer is executed. Let’s take a look at self-defence.
Exodus 22:2 “If a thief is caught breaking in at night and is struck a fatal blow, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed; 3 but if it happens after sunrise, the defender is guilty of bloodshed.
The rule for self-defense is that you may protect yourself and family from an intruder in your home by killing him. But you may only use lethal force at night when the burglar is trying to hide himself and your cries for help may go unheard. During the day, presumably, you have other options. So the principle is that you may defend yourself and family but only if this is your sole option. Now, let’s look at killing in war.
Joshua 8:1 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land.
The Bible is very clear that sometimes war is necessary. Killing in war is justified but only if God says so. We must first discern if what God’s will is. For the Hebrews, God’s purpose was to give them land. War was necessary to accomplish this. The principle here is that we must always prayerfully ask God if war is necessary. Only if God responds positively are we justified in killing in warfare.
Abraham Lincoln believed that the Civil War was justified because the United States was attacked and its survival was in jeopardy. This was a war of self-defense. As the war came to its conclusion Lincoln wrote this in his second inaugural address:
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
And that is our goal, not to fight and kill, but with God’s help to find a lasting peace.
Let’s look at killing as a form of executing justice.
Exodus 21:23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
This is the law of proportionality. Punishment must fit the crime. And therefore it is permissible for the state to execute someone who has taken a life.
In America today there are strong forces advocating for the taking of human life in three areas: suicide, euthanasia, and abortion. Let’s take a look at these.
Suicide is the taking of one’s own life. It is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. 45,000 people die at their own hands every year. Each one of these people was created by God. Each one was created in God’s image. Only God has the right to end a human life. We need to reach out to people and bring them to hope in Jesus Christ.
Euthanasia is the taking of someone’s life at the end of their lives often to end pain and suffering. Euthanasia is illegal in all fifty states. Some states do allow for physician-assisted suicide. And sometimes we do have to remove life support to allow a person to die in peace. God alone will decide how many days we have on earth as he said in the Book of Job.
Job 14:5 A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months
and have set limits he cannot exceed.
And finally, we turn to abortion. Abortion is legal in the United States. In 1972 in Roe v Wade the Supreme Court recognized a Constitutional right to have an abortion. The standard they set was the viability of the fetus. In the first trimester of a pregnancy, they reasoned that a fetus would not survive outside the womb and therefore could be aborted. Of course, the sixth commandment has a different standard. It says that an unborn fetus was created by God in God’s image. Listen to the Prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 49:1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.
The value of the unborn fetus is so high that it should not be aborted. Only God should decide if it lives or dies. The Choice to have an abortion or not is really the Choice to obey the sixth commandment or not. And there are consequences for not obeying the commandments.
And now we turn to Jesus’ teaching on the sixth commandment.
Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.
So Jesus’s concern is that our anger can overwhelm us to the point when in rage we kill someone else. This is what happened to Cain. He was so angry with Abel that he attacked him and unintentionally killed him. What Jesus wants to do is give us some very practical advice for controlling our anger before it gets out of control. Let’s hear this advice directly from Jesus.
Matthew 5:38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.
These are practical suggestions from Jesus that will help us to keep our anger in check and prevent killings. When a Roman soldier slapped a Hebrew man the usual reaction was to pull out a knife and attack the soldier. Usually, someone would die in this fight and it wouldn’t be the soldier. Instead, Jesus told them to turn the other cheek. This would diffuse the situation and prevent a killing. Whenever we are in situations that cause us to be angry, look for ways to diffuse the situation and keep control of your anger.
There were 17,250 murders in the United States in 2016. Each person who died was created by God in God’s own image. God grieves each death. This is why what we do is so important. Christians need to obey the 10 commandments. Christians need to teach this nation the principles of the ten commandments so that we can live lives of abundance through obedience. People need to experience Jesus’ love and hear his teaching about controlling our passions. Only though Christians can our nation learn to have a high value on life. Let’s pray.
Father in heaven, we thank you for creating us in your image. We thank you for the blessing of life. We will follow Jesus and find practical ways of controlling our anger. Bless our nation with fewer violent deaths. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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