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The Command: Do Not Murder
Good evening, how are we, doing well?
Good, good, I’m glad to hear that.
Before we begin, I want to thank Doug for inviting me to speak and the elders for not firing him as soon as they found out he invited me.
It’s a joy and a privilege to be here with you and I hope that we’ll be mutually blessed in our study together.
If you have a Bible and want to follow along, there are five places specifically we’re to going to be tonight, and we’re going to start in :
“Do not murder.”-
If you’re reading the King James Version tonight, you’ll find that the text says “kill” here, and that can be puzzling because those are two different words in English, so let’s go ahead and get that out of the way.
The verb is רצח and it denotes an illegal/unsanctioned act of violence with the intent or result of ending another human being’s life, which can include our modern legal categories of manslaughter, negligent homicide, and the like.
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy expand on the specific applications of the term, making allowances for those guilty, by accident or negligence, of ending another person’s life without malice, premeditation, or rage being primary motivators.
Cities of refuge, for instance, were places where persons who had unintentionally killed someone could go and, at the decision of the elders of that city based on all the available evidence, be safe from any “avenger of blood,” a designated person who was to seek a killer and kill them in turn.
No restitution, however, was sufficient to mediate the death penalty for murder.
A person guilty of murder or manslaughter would have to stay in the city of refuge until the high priest died, or else the avenger could find them and kill them without consequence.
(Num 35:9-32) This should give us pause: many crimes could be atoned for with a ransom in the Old Testament.
Sacrifices could be made or money could be paid.
However, according to God, the penalty of a murderer has to be paid with either the death of the high priest or his own death at the hands of an avenger.
This is a stark contrast to the ancient world where human life could be compensated for with money or the modern world wherein a wrongful death suit can be settled out of court for a substantial sum.
This should also impress on us how seriously God takes human life.
Do not murder.”- .
If you’re reading King Jimmy’s Version tonight, you’ll find that the text says “kill” here, and that can be puzzling because those are two different words in English, so let’s go ahead and get that out of the way.
The verb is רצח and it denotes an illegal/unsanctioned act of violence with intent or result of ending another human being’s life, which can include our modern legal categories of manslaughter, negligent homicide, and the like.
Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy expand on the specific applications of the term, making allowances for those guilty, by accident or negligence, of ending another person’s life without malice, premeditation, or rage being primary motivators.
Cities of refuge, for instance, were places where persons who had unintentionally killed someone could go and, at the decision of the elders of that city based on all the available evidence, be safe from any “avenger of blood,” a designated person who was to seek a killer and kill them in turn.
No restitution, however, was sufficient to mediate the death penalty for murder.
A person guilty of murder or manslaughter would have to stay in the city of refuge until the high priest died, or else the avenger could find them and kill them without consequence.
() This should give us pause: many crimes could be atoned for with a ransom in the Old Testament.
Sacrifices could be made or money could be paid.
However, according to God, the life of a murderer has to end with either the death of the high priest or his own death at the hands of an avenger.
This is a stark contrast to the ancient world where human life could be compensated for with money or the modern world wherein a wrongful death suit can be settled out of court for a substantial sum.
This should also impress on us how seriously God takes human life.
The God Who Commands and the Why of His Command
תִּרְצָח
We have to ask now, why is this such a big deal to God?
Many of God’s ordinances today are mocked and treated as God being petty.
His commandments against homosexuality, for instance, are treated less as a holy God ordaining the proper function and behavior of his creation and more as grouchy rants against things that he thinks are “gross.”
Is murder the same way?
Does God simply find murder unthinkable and therefore unacceptable?
I don’t think so, and here’s why:
Do not murder.
“Whoever sheds human blood, by humans his blood will be shed, for God made humans in his image.”-
There is an unimaginably weighty matter at hand here: the imago dei, or the image of God.
Mankind is made in the image of God () and we can’t afford to overlook this.
Who we are flows out of who God is and what he is like.
Likewise, his commandments flow out of who he is and what he has done.
(see ) Human beings are made in the image of a God who is powerful, loving, sovereign, faithful, and merciful, just to name a few things.
Every commandment of God is one he is able to back up, not just with a “Because I said so” (the single most useless way to justify something of all time) but with, “Do this because it is consistent with my identity and my character, which I made you to reflect.”
This should lead us to a stark realization: murder is wrong because it is an assault on who God is!
Other sins can be rightly called idolatry or a breach of covenant trust, but no other sin can quite convey the message that God himself is so undeserving of love and respect that his image is not worth valuing and preserving.
When a human life is taken, it is an assault on the goodness of God both in his creation and his own self.
Murder therefore, is first and foremost about God and is wrong primarily because it defaces his image.
(see ).
The Command Expanded
Whoever sheds human blood, by humans his blood will be shed, for God made humans in his image.
Before we begin to think that all that’s necessary to avoid violating the 6th commandment is to not shove knives in the chests of random passersby, Leviticus expands upon the command:
by humans his blood will be shed, for God made humans in his image.
for God made humans in his image.
“Do not oppress your neighbor or rob him.
The wages due a hired worker must not remain with you until morning.
Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you are to fear your God; I am the Lord.
‘Do not act unjustly when deciding a case.
Do not be partial to the poor or give preference to the rich; judge your neighbor fairly.
Do not go about spreading slander among your people; do not jeopardize your neighbor’s life; I am the Lord.
‘Do not harbor hatred against your brother.
Rebuke your neighbor directly, and you will not incur guilt because of him.
Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.”
() While we may tend to see portions of this passage as retaining primarily to honesty in business, court, and personal life, there is a theme throughout: treat everyone with dignity.
This culminates in “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and is anchored in “I am the Lord.”
We should pay close attention here, because we tend to, if we’re not careful, generalize the Old Testament as mere ritual law or technicalities.
Yet, “love one another” is a resounding theme in the Old Testament.
The prophets especially hamper on this, whether it looks like Zechariah’s indictment of plotting against others in the courtroom (), Isaiah calling on Israel to abandon their pride and cruelty in favor of charity, kindness, and goodwill (), or Micah declaring that faithful love is part of what God requires ().
It is overwhelmingly the case that even in the Old Testament, dry and bereft of love and kindness as some may think it to be, to treat all human beings with dignity and respect and to do what one could to ensure mutual human flourishing was required of the people of God.
The Command Restored
“Do not oppress your neighbor or rob him.
The wages due a hired worker must not remain with you until morning.
14 Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you are to fear your God; I am the Lord.
Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), .
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