Bible Questions Answered:
“If God commands no killing, how then
christian people be at war?...”
Wasana/ Khan Kaen, Thailand
Bible Answer:
Bible Text:
Exodus 20:13 KJV
Thou shalt not kill*.
The answer is in
the word “kill*.”
Kill-Hebrew:
Ratsach (Raw-tsakh): To dash to pieces, i.e. kill (a human
being), murder:-to put to death, kill (man slay) murder.
(Abingdon Strong's
-Concordance.)
Murder:
The unlawful and
malicious* or premeditated killing of one human being
by another;"
To Kill (a person)
unlawfully and with malice.
(New World
Dictionary)
*Malice:
Desire to harm
another. (Hate)
(New World
Dictionary)
Murder:
Murder committed
with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or
premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious
crime, as robbery or arson (first-degree murder)
(Dictionary.Com)
Exodus 20:13 NLT
You must not murder.
This was not to
kill in war, because even God had His people, conquer
“heathen-nations,” through war. It must be well remembered
though, God had dealt with these heathen nations time after time,
but they would not repent of their evil deeds.
New Living
Translation, renders this verse as murder, and that is what the
Hebrew word “ Ratsach,” is.
Murder is with
hate, and premeditation.
Murder is such a
heinous crime, that God warned Moses saying....
Numbers
35:1,30-34 NLT (Capital Punishment.)
1 While Israel was
camped beside the Jordan on the plains of Moab across from Jericho,
The Lord said to Moses,
30 “All murderers
must be put to death, but only if evidence is presented by more than
one witness. No one may be put to death on the testimony of only one
witness.
31 Also, you must
never accept a ransom payment for the life of someone judged guilty
of murder and subject to execution; murderers must always be put to
death.
32 And never accept
a ransom payment from someone who has fled to a city of refuge,
allowing a slayer to return to his property before the death of the
high priest.
33 This will ensure
that the land where you live will not be polluted, for murder
pollutes the land. And no sacrifice except the execution of the
murderer can purify the land from murder.
34 You must not
defile the land where you live, for I live there myself. I am The
Lord, who lives among the people of Israel.”
Premeditation:
Numbers 35:16-21
NLT
16 “But if someone strikes and
kills another person with a piece of iron, it is murder, and the
murderer must be executed.
17 Or if someone with a stone in his
hand strikes and kills another person, it is murder, and the murderer
must be put to death.
18 Or if someone strikes and kills
another person with a wooden object, it is murder, and the murderer
must be put to death.
19 The victim’s nearest relative
is responsible for putting the murderer to death. When they meet, the
avenger must put the murderer to death.
20 So if someone hates another
person and pushes him or throws a dangerous object at him and he
dies, it is murder.
21 Or if someone hates another
person and hits him with a fist and he dies, it is murder. In such
cases, the avenger must put the murderer to death when they meet.
God Knows Our
Heart:
Job 42:1,2 KJV
1 Then Job answered The Lord, and
said,
2 I know that thou canst do every
thing, and that no thought can be with holden from thee.
Psalm 94:11 KJV
The Lord knoweth the thoughts of
man..."
Proverbs 23:7
KJV
For as he thinketh in his heart, so
is he..."
Jeremiah 17:9
KJV
The heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Proverbs 20:27
MSG
God is in charge of human life,
watching and examining us inside and out.
How careful we must
be of our thoughts, our desires!
Ephesians
4:26,27 KJV
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not
the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil.
The severity of
judgment upon murder, speaks volumes of God's view of the sanctity of
life!
Mankind was forever created in the “image of God.”
And be it of men or babies, murder is murder, and murders will one
day answer to Almighty God.
Oh, how wonderful, beyond earthly understanding, are those all
forgiving words....
I John 1:9 KJV
If we confess
our sins, He is Faithful and Just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Yes, true for murders, and all other sinners.
