In Hebrew, there are nine different words that mean "to cause the death of another." The word that is used in the sixth Commandment means specifically to murder an innocent human being.
Exodus 20
13 "You shall not murder.
Webster's Dictionary defines murder as "the act of unlawfully killing a human being with premeditated malice." This doesn't prohibit all forms of killing people. There are three ways of killing human beings that are not forbidden by this commandment from God.
God's Word actually protects three ways of killing as being legitimate under certain circumstances.
The first legitimate way of killing a person is legal capital punishment for gross and heinous crimes committed against other people. In Genesis 9:6, God said to Noah, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." Immediately after Noah’s Flood, God authorized people to establish governments that would bring order and justice to society. Part of the authority given to a government is to execute its worse criminals with the death penalty.
Whether we like it or not, the Bible allows for the death penalty for certain crimes. Leviticus 24:17 says, "If anyone takes the life of a human being, he must be put to death."
God authorizes governments to use the death penalty on hard-core criminals. Numbers 35:16-21 affirms it. The Bible says the execution of a quick penalty serves as a deterrent to crime (Deuteronomy 13:11; Ecclesiastes 8:11). This same principle carries into the New Testament. In Romans 13:4, Paul says a policeman "is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer."
Paul said in Acts 25:11, "If I am guilty of doing anything deserving of death, I do not refuse to die." This shows that Paul believed in the legitimacy of capital punishment.
The second legitimate way of killing is that of a just war. The question is, what constitutes a just war? Does it mean beating Hitler and squashing the Nazis, at the cost of 30 million dead in Europe?
Proverb 20:18 says, "if you wage war, obtain guidance." Proverb 24:6 adds, "for waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisors." Clearly, God considers some wars to be just.
The bottom line is, when a soldier shoots another soldier on the battlefield or fires off a bomb with the benevolent goal of defending the lives of innocent people from a tyrant, it is not the same as murder, and it does not violate commandment six.
The third legitimate way of killing is that of self-defense. Exodus 22:2 says, "If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed.
Posted on Oct 24, 2004, 11:25 PM from IP address 63.184.161.165