Theology on the Lighter Side – along with a serious point.
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six-year-olds. After explaining the commandment to ‘Honor thy father and thy mother,’ the teacher asked, “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?”
Without missing a beat, one little boy answered, “Thou shall not kill.”
Murder and death are in the news these days, perhaps more than in the recent past: the war in Ukraine, Venezuelan drug boats being blown up, Nigeria’s ethnic Christian cleansing, the fragile peace in Gaza, and individuals such as Charlie Kirk and Brian Thompson.
Webster defines murder as “the crime of unlawfully and unjustifiably killing a person.”
Webster defines the word kill as “to deprive of life: cause the death of.”
Scripture adds a layer of confusion over the differences between “murder” and “kill” based on the translation of the 6th Commandment.
Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17
- KJV—”Thou shalt not kill.”
- ESV and all other popular translations – “You shall not murder.”
The King James Version (KJV) of the Bible would suggest that it is always a sin to “deprive [someone] of life.” But this is in conflict with other verses (such as Genesis 9:6, 1 Chronicles 19:18, Exodus 21:12-39, Numbers 25:1-8, etc.) that clearly offer guidance on the execution of those who commit specific crimes. In the 10 Commandments the use of the term “kill” rather than “murder” is too broad. Interestingly, the KJV renders the word “rasah” as murder eleven times elsewhere but uses “kill” in the 6th Commandment.
The reality is that to protect our nation, and sometimes ourselves as individuals, taking a life is a part of our reality. And there is clear precedent noted above that under certain circumstances God acknowledges execution as acceptable. In Heaven, there will be no death, murder, or killing. But while we remain on earth, we are under a different set of rules … the lesser of evils.
To murder someone is to take a life that falls outside of both our Christian beliefs and the laws that we are commanded to follow (Romans 13:1-2). However, there may be times when God’s commands conflict with established human laws. In those cases, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). What is obviously left to the reader is to decide where that line in the sand falls as we watch drug boats carrying deadly poison being blown up, for example.
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
Please Comment – here or on Medium
