Sacred Life
Exodus 20:13
June 4, 2006 

It has been pointed out by both theologians and secular writers that we live in a "culture of death." In the United States alone, over a million babies are killed by abortion annually—multiply the figure worldwide. The prominence of selective abortion in China has shifted the gender balance so far, in attempts to have a son that will care for aging parents, that now one in six Chinese men will have to look beyond their own country to find wives. Abortion as birth control has diminished the population rate in some European countries so much so, that the death rate is higher than the birth rate.

      Murder in America is an everyday affair. Our own city hovers close to a murder each day. It's not just the mega-cities that frequent the morgue to identify bodies. Even small towns now have their share of violent aggression spurred by gangs, racial strife, greed, and envy. We endure sensational murder trials by high profile people—a practice that seems to inoculate us from any sense of shock at the violence of one human to another.

      While we still reel from the terrorist murders on 9/11, the motivation of the terrorists' minds continue to come up with new ways to kill those they hate. Every day we hear of another suicide bombing in the Middle East, Central Asia, or North Africa. The Darfur region of Sudan has witnessed the slaughter, rape, maiming, and destruction of hundreds of thousands in the past couple of years. Our generation has witnessed mass slaughter in Cambodia, Rwanda, South Africa, the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, to name a few.

      Murder and violence against humanity has become a primary source of entertainment in our own country. "By the time the average child finishes elementary school, he or she has watched eight thousand televised murders and a hundred thousand acts of on-screen violence" [Philip Ryken, Written in Stone, 139]. It makes you want to labor for your child to be below average! Even the New York Times commented, "If you have the impression that movies today are bloodier and more brutal than ever in the past, and that their body counts are skyrocketing, you are absolutely right. Inflation has hit the action-adventure movie with a big slimy splat" [quoted by Ryken, 139]. Video games have become so life-like that participants get the feel of killing someone—further numbing them to the downward spiral of a decadent society, and taking away the horror of unlawful killings. I read recently that one computer game developer has created a Columbine game with actual video footage inside the Columbine school and the crime scene, so that players can make the decision on who to shoot and who to ignore.

      In the face of a world filled with violence, the Creator has spoken: "You shall not murder." Many will find great consolation by a scant look at this 6th commandment, priding themselves on having never murdered anyone! But the commandment, as with all of the Ten Commandments, goes beyond the mere prohibition. John Calvin points out a two-fold basis for this commandment. "Man is both the image of God, and our flesh. Now, if we do not wish to violate the image of God, we ought to hold our neighbor sacred. And if we do not wish to renounce all humanity, we ought to cherish his as our own flesh" [Institutes, 2.8.40]. Holding a neighbor "sacred" and "cherish[ing]" all humanity carries more responsibility than simply making sure that we don't murder another. In fact, if we simply, and rightly, never murder anyone, we've still not fully obeyed this commandment. At the heart of it are the words of the second great commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love God first—that's the first table of the law; love your neighbor as yourself—that fulfills the second table. God's intention in the 6th commandment is that we treat life as sacred by loving our neighbor. Yet this commandment is violated regularly and never makes the headlines in the local newspaper. It's done by all of us. We must be intentional in holding life sacred. How can we do this? 
 

I. Analysis of murder

      The King James Version translation of the 6th commandment is most notable. I saw it yesterday on a car plastered with bumper stickers: Thou shalt not kill. We've heard religious and non-religious people use this commandment as stated in the KJV as the basis for some position regarding war, capital punishment, or community violence. But what does the word mean? What was the intention in this commandment? 
 

      1. Hebrew term

      The Old Testament, written in Hebrew, has eight different words for killing. One is used for war, another for killing an animal, another for slaughtering an animal sacrifice, and so forth. The word used in Exodus 20:13, "You shall not murder," is the Hebrew term ratzach. It is the word found in 1 Kings 21:19 when Elijah confronted King Ahab for the "intentional malicious violence" shown in the murder of Naboth in Jezreel [ISBE, III, 16]. It is the word used by Hosea to indict Samaria for their murderous actions, amplified by the prophet's explanation, "They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed" (Hos. 4:2). The Hebrew text is terse, having only two words. "Don't murder." It was carefully chosen to distinguish exactly what is meant. It did not state, "Don't kill," if by "kill" one means any kind of act that would take the life of another living thing. That would then put the killing done by soldiers in a just war as violation of this law, as well as capital punishment, slaughtering animals for food, and self-defense. Instead, the word is narrowed to imply "the unjust taking of a legally innocent life" [Ryken 136] or "unlawful killing, that is to say, with killing that violates justice" [J. Douma, The Ten Commandments: Manual for the Christian Life, 214]. This kind of killing is one that offers no justice or protection for others, but rather a wanton act of taking another's life without just cause.

      Many have used this commandment as the basis for opposing capital punishment, with the KJV translation placarded in front of courthouses and prisons whenever a capital sentence is being considered. But that is not the meaning of this commandment.

      Ronnie Stevens dropped by for a visit on Friday afternoon this week, and we briefly discussed this commandment. He pointed out about how the culture in which we live often colors the way that we interpret Scripture. A case in point that he brought up was an experience in Russia teaching a group of pastors the Ten Commandments. As he taught through an interpreter on the 6th commandment, one pastor in the back during a dialogue time chanted, "Thou shalt not kill! Thou shalt not kill! Thou shalt not kill!" He objected to Ronnie's treatment of the 6th commandment, commenting that it allows for no war or capital punishment. Ronnie pointed out to me that in a culture where men had seen terrorism rather than justice, it could easily color their interpretation of Scripture. He told the pastor to read aloud Exodus 32:25-29 that related the first command that Moses gave to Israel after descending the mountain with the tablets of stone. It followed the incident of the idolatrous golden calf. Moses commanded, "Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friends, and every man his neighbor." Then Ronnie asked, "Did Moses break the 6th commandment by issuing this command?" He said that he met with complete silence from his audience because they could not refute the evidence; this commandment is not a restriction on capital punishment or just war.

      It also cannot be used by those advocating vegetarianism, as it has been done so often. The word speaks of taking a human life unjustly. That might be by murder or by recklessness or by neglect.  
 

      2. Obvious implications

      In the tribal society of that era, if someone was killed intentionally or accidentally, the blood avenger sought to put to death the one that killed his relative. This commandment, and the laws that followed in Israel's society, sought to curb the ruthless vengeance practiced in society and to bring the people to a sense of justice. Judicially, the state had the responsibility to put to death the murderer. But that could not take place apart from two or more witnesses. Hearsay and conjecture could not convict a person. Justice had to be done. One involved in the accidental death of another found safety in the cities of refuge scattered throughout the land. They were protected by the community upon assurance of their innocence.

      The commandment bore down upon the whole society. They were not to take justice into their own hands. They were to give due consideration to the image of God in every person. In so doing, they would show concern for all men. No unlawful killing would be tolerated. If a man had an ox prone to goring and he did nothing to pen it up, and the ox consequently gored someone to death, both the ox and the man faced death. The owner's negligence made him culpable in someone else's death.

      The prohibition against murder did not begin with the Ten Commandments. We find God punishing Cain after he killed his brother Abel, as well as Lamech being marked as a murderer (Gen. 4). After Noah and his family emerged from the ark, God declared the sacredness of life: "Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man's brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man" (Gen. 9:5-6). The sacredness of life is found in every person, whether he acts the part or not, being made in the image of God. That gives unique value to every human, distinguishing the human race from the animal kingdom. That's why the use of "thou shalt not kill" by animal rights activists is an improper and absurd use of God's Word. It's not that we are to recklessly kill animals. But animals are not on the level with humans, in spite of the thinking of those who value any little creature above that of a child in the womb! 
 

II. Beyond the obvious

      The 6th commandment takes us into other areas beside that termed as murder. 
 

      1. Murder by other names

      The "culture of death" has spawned unthinkable positions now reckoned as mainstream in our day. Topping the list is the practice of abortion. The tiny human being formed in the womb is often treated as though it was a wart or unwanted mole that the woman has the right to have removed. Yet in pregnancy, a distinctly different human life with its own unique chromosomes, its own developing personality, and its own distinct physical, emotional, and mental features exists in dependence upon the mother that carries him. He is not a blob of tissue or a sub-human. The moment that the egg and sperm unite, he is a human being that is formed by the Creator. Job expressed it clearly. "Did not He who made me in the womb make him [i.e. a slave], and the same one fashion us in the womb?" (Job 31:15). Douma is right, "Something in the process of becoming a human being is already a human being" [217]. David exulted in the wonder of God's handiwork in each womb. "For you formed my inward parts; you wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them" (Psa. 139:13-16). Therefore, as one has written, "Since conception is an act of the life-giving God, abortion is an aggressively rebellious act. A created individual is murdered and the Creator is outraged. The wanton destruction of human lives created by God reveals the wretchedness of our culture" [Kairos Journal, "Abortion: Playing God and Taking Life"]. John Calvin, all the way back in the 16th century, saw abortion as "almost a monstrous crime."

...for the foetus, though enclosed in the womb of its mother, is already a human being, (homo), and it is almost a monstrous crime to rob it of the life which it has not yet begun to enjoy. If it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man's house is his place of most secure refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a foetus in the womb before it has come to light [quoted by Douma, 218].

      Similarly, monstrous is euthanasia, the practice of ending the life of one already outside the womb. It can be a newborn or a handicapped person or one with a terminal illness or just someone that has aged too much so that he/she has become a "drain" on society. It can be voluntary suicide or assisted suicide or involuntary with the decision made by someone else. Often, economic and social reasons factor into the rationale for euthanizing someone; other situations involve issues of pain, suffering, and hardship upon caregivers. Do we have the right to take a life of one made in the image of God? Death and life belong to the Lord alone.

      Most of us have been personally affected by suicide, whether by a family member or close friend or colleague. Thirty thousand people die self-inflicted deaths each year in the United States; four times that many are hospitalized by failed attempts. Annually, over a million worldwide choose to take their own lives [source: Kairos Journal, "Mapping the Terrain—Euthanasia and Suicide"]. Few things stick more painfully in the pit of our stomachs than the news that a friend has chosen that path. The 6th commandment is personal as well as relational. No situation is greater than God's grace to bring one through. God's command, "You shall not murder," goes for self-inflicted murder; it is a call to look to Him and His sufficiency rather than viewing suicide as a quick solution to mounting problems. Suicide is the cruelest means of escaping responsibility for difficulties or poor decisions or broken relationships. No one wins when that route is taken.

      Another less than obvious way the 6th commandment is broken is through carelessness and recklessness. It might be with one that exceeds the speed limit or drinks and drives or drives under the influence of drugs or carelessly runs through a traffic light. I often look at the wreath hung on a light post on Poplar Avenue where a truck driver carelessly ran a red light, striking a vehicle and killing a child. The driver thought of himself and his schedule, and made that a greater priority than his fellow man made in God's image. You shall not kill unlawfully, reminds us that everyday we have responsibility for others.

      Jesus spoke about another area, an inward aspect, that this commandment is broken. "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell" (Matt. 5:21-22). No physical blow strikes another. No physical life is taken. Yet Jesus declared that we are guilty of murdering another when we are angry with him; for in such anger we have momentary or even prolonged desires to see the person dead. To verbally abuse and destroy another's reputation and character violates this commandment. At the heart of such a breach is violation of the 2nd great commandment. We have failed to love our neighbor as ourselves, and thus through anger, hatred, rages, and bitterness we have slipped into a murderous inward disposition.

      But someone may ask, "What if I'm angry on the inside but say nothing?" This is typically known as passive aggression, and it is just another aspect of what Christ warns of. The Heidelberg Catechism explains what God requires in this commandment. "That neither in thoughts, nor words, nor gestures, much less in deeds, I dishonour, hate, wound, or kill my neighbor, by myself or by another; but I lay aside all desire of revenge" [Answer 105]. And why these inward issues standing next to the physical act of murder? "In forbidding murder, God teaches us that he abhors the causes thereof; such as envy, hatred, anger, and desire of revenge; and that he accounts all these as murder" [Answer 106].  
 

      2. Legitimate killing

      Many have misinterpreted and misapplied the 6th commandment. The pacifist movement, whether religious as with the Quakers or non-religious, has no grounds for their position by using the 6th commandment. We've already shown that the original Hebrew is restricted to the idea of unlawful killing rather than that which may be justified. But are there any cases where killing is justified? In an act of self-defense when you or your family is aggressively threatened with harm, taking another's life to prevent harm to yourself or family is permissible (Exodus 22:2-3). Certainly, it is to be avoided by all means, and such an option must be the last resort when one is unable to secure immediate intervention by the police [cf. Douma, 234].

      More controversial is the subject of capital punishment. As Genesis 9:6, that we read earlier, explained, when one chooses to kill another who is made in the image of God, then that person's own blood must be shed. As Douma put it, "Because a human being is so precious, the shedding of human blood must be paid for with the blood of the killer" [234]. This responsibility belongs to the government, and not to us. Paul spoke of the authority given by God to the state for protecting its citizens so that "it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it [the state] is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil" (Rom. 13:4). "The sword can serve life. For that very reason, God gave it to the government" [Douma 235].

      A just war is another legitimate reason for killing. Again I quote the Dutch theologian J. Douma who identifies six principles of a just war. "Generally stated, a just war must be waged (1) by a legitimate government, (2) for a legitimate cause, (3) with a legitimate purpose, (4) with consideration of benefits and costs, (5) with means proportionate to the offense, and (6) recognizing the difference between civilians and soldiers" [239].  
 

III. Call for action

      I think that we have sufficient evidence in what we've considered so far to deflate any boasting that we've never broken this commandment. But what about the positive aspect of it; what does this commandment call for us to do? 
 

      1. Love your neighbor

      There's no simpler, clearer, and more pointed application to this commandment than the words quoted by our Lord, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." When one particular lawyer sought to justify himself with regard to this command, he asked, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus told the story of a man that fell among thieves while traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. They left him for dead (murderers themselves!). As he lay there half dead, a priest passed by and went to the other side of the road. Likewise, a Levite did the same, both feeling no concern for the man or no call to be involved with him. But a Samaritan, a man not welcomed among Jews, felt compassion for the man. He came to his aid, took care of bandaging his wounds, provided a ride for him to a local inn, and even paid for his stay until the man could get back on his feet. Jesus asked the lawyer, "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?" He replied, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Jesus then gave the command, "Go and do the same" (Luke 10:30-37). That is the very essence of the 6th commandment. It is a call to be conscious of others, to be sensitive to ways that we might give them help or come to their aid. Martin Luther gave pointed applications on how we are to keep this commandment.

This commandment is violated not only when a person actually does evil, but also when he fails to do good to his neighbor, or, though he has the opportunity, fails to prevent, protect, and save him from suffering bodily harm or injury. If you send a person away naked when you could clothe him, you have let him freeze to death. If you see anyone suffer hunger and do not feed him, you have let him starve. Likewise, if you see anyone condemned to death or in similar peril and do not save him although you know ways and means to do so, you have killed him. It will do you no good to plead that you did not contribute to his death by word and deed, for you have withheld your love from him and robbed him of the service by which his life might have been saved [quoted by Phil Ryken, 144]. 
 

      2. Safety of the soul

      I end on an important way that all of us as Christians have a part in obeying this commandment. If we know that a person is in the way of eternal destruction, then what do we do to about it? John Calvin expressed this so clearly (for those who slander Calvin by saying that he didn't care about evangelism, then note what he wrote): "But if there is so much concern for the safety of his body, from this we may infer how much zeal and effort we owe the safety of the soul, which far excels the body in the Lord's sight" [2.8.40, italics added]. If we know that someone is in danger of hell, then by implication, the 6th commandment calls for us to sound the alarm through the gospel! It calls for zeal in telling the lost soul that there is refuge for sinners in Jesus Christ, so that even murderers can be forgiven through the God-satisfying death of His Son at the cross.  
 

Conclusion

      The 6th commandment reminds us of how desperately we need the saving work of God's Son. All of us have breached this commandment inwardly and verbally. We stand guilty before the eternal justice of our Creator for unlawfully killing those made in God's image by our attitude, anger, bitterness, hatred, passive aggression, slander, and gossip. To the cross we must go! To the Savior we must find refuge!  And like Paul, who gave hearty approval when angry men stoned the godly Stephen, though "chief of sinners," God shows mercy to us through Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 1:13).

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by South Woods Baptist Church.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy:

Copyright South Woods Baptist Church. Website: www.southwoodsbc.org. Used by permission as granted on web site. Questions, comments, and suggestions about our site can be sent here.