2005-04-15
Good Morning Cherished Readers,
Isn’t it great to know that you are cherished by God (and by this writer)? It’s a comfort to me when life deals us it’s trials and tribulations that we don’t have to face them alone. Instead, we have a loving God Who has our best interests in mind every day. That may seem a strange way to begin a devotion which is about analyzing murder as a sin, but the entire perspective must be seen. Mankind has seriously disappointed their One and Only God at times. When murder is committed is surely one of those times. EX 20: 13 [KJV], “Thou shalt not commit murder,” wasn’t written just because God wanted to talk. He reveres life, because of GN 1: 27 [NIV], “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them male and female, He created them.” The bottom line is that life matters to God.
I’ve written about the question, “Are we our brother’s keeper?” before, and am now led to return to it in this context. The world would have us believe that we are not; God would say that we are. We can know this from GN 4: 9-11, God’s reaction to the slaying of Abel by his brother, Cain. “The Lord asked Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ He answered, ‘I don’t know. Am I supposed be my brother’s keeper?’ Then the Lord said, ‘Why have you done this terrible thing? Your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground like a voice calling for revenge. You are placed under a curse and can no longer farm the soil. It has soaked up your brother’s blood as if it has opened its mouth to receive it when you killed him.” Cain was relegated to being a homeless wanderer for the rest of his days. We get even more perspective on God’s bitter disappointment here from PS 121: 5, “The Lord will guard you,’ the Psalmist writes, ‘He is by your side to protect you.’” Does God have emotions? I believe He does, and that Christ, Who is the “visible likeness of the invisible God” [COL 1: 15] showed us this during His incarnation. There is further evidence of this in our own emotions, for remember we have been created in God’s own image.
The Hebrew word for murder, “harag,” [pronounced: haw-rag] means “to smite with deadly intent.” This is what in modern legal terminology is called premeditated murder or murder in the first degree. God was so concerned about this behavior that He instituted capital punishment for it as early in mankind’s history as GN 9: 5-6, “If anyone takes human life, he will be punished. I will punish with death any animal that takes a human life. Man was made like God, so whoever murders a man will himself be killed by his fellow man.” I’m sure today’s liberals who don’t believe in capital punishment are offended by this, but remember these are God’s words, not this writer’s, and God always decides, speaks, and acts with righteousness. When God began civilizing sinful mankind, they were equipped with caveman mentalities. Sadly, some people today still are. But, thankfully, those of us who are obediently faithful to God have left that kind of behavior behind. A look back at EX 21: 12-14 gives us God’s consideration of intent when someone is killed. “Whoever hits a man and kills him is to be put to death. But if it was an accident and he didn’t mean to kill the man, he can escape to a place which I will choose for you [a reference to the cities of refuge in ancient Israel] and there he will be safe. But where a man gets angry and deliberately kills another man, he is to be put to death, even if he has run to My altar for safety.” Today’s legal system looks at this and complicates it with plea bargaining, early release “for good behavior,” and other such rationales. It is this writer’s opinion that this is the reason for the “revolving doors” of prisons and a high rate of recidivism.
At the outset, we must understand that God never does evil; He is always-righteous, even if a man or groups of men don’t agree with His decisions or totally understand them. We need only look at the system of cities of refuge mentioned in DT 19: 1-4 to see this. “After the Lord your God has destroyed the people whose land He is giving you [referring to the Canaanites] and after you have taken their cities and houses and settled there, divide the territory into three parts, each with a city that can be easily reached. Then a man who kills someone will be able to escape to one of them for protection. If a many accidentally kills someone who is not his enemy, he may escape to any of these cities and be safe.” Later in DT 19: 11-13, we learn what happens when someone commits “murder one” and lies about it. “But suppose a man deliberately murders his enemy in cold blood and then escapes to one of those cities for protection. In that case the leaders of his own town are to send for him and hand him over to the relative responsible for taking revenge for the murder, so that he may be put to death. Show him no mercy. Rid Israel of this murderer, so that all will go well with you.” That may seem harsh to the new believer, but God was trying to purify the land where the only people on earth at the time Who knew He is the One and Only True God would be living. This was one more step in His on-going efforts to civilize mankind and carry out His loving purpose to bring as many of them back to Him for eternal life as possible [JN 6: 39-40; COL 1:20; EPH 1: 4-5].
PRAYER: O Lord, we may wonder why you call us to examine a subject like murder, which thankfully, most of us won’t commit in our earthly lifetimes. However, we are impacted heavily by this subject when we hear stories of drive-by shootings in our own cities, the abduction and murder of college students who may be either friends or relatives, and the senseless machinations of the would-be murderer who lures young people over the Internet to meetings where he can carry out his wrongdoing. Ever since that first murder by Cain, You have felt emotional pain and disappointment from sinning mankind’s propensity to keep making the same mistakes repeatedly. It is why You bring to us a hunger for Your words, giving Yourself the opportunity to reveal Yourself to those of us who will read them. PS 42: 1-2, “As a deer longs for a stream of cool water, so I long for You, O God. I thirst for You, the living God. When can I go and worship in Your presence?” You, Dearest Abba are our own “City of Refuge,” a place where we can escape from the sinfulness that surrounds us [COL 3: 3-4]. I remember, O God, the young teenage girl who looked at the point of a gun leveled at her as she crouched under a Columbine high school cafeteria table. The boy pointing his gun at her said, “Do you believe in God?” She answered, “Yes,” with no hesitation, and then he shot her to death. Lord, I believe that this young martyr is one of the people mentioned in REV 6: 9-11 who will ask, “Almighty Lord, holy and true! How long will it be until You judge the people on earth and punish them for killing us?” We believe that You will present her with a white robe, telling her to rest awhile longer until the complete number of fellow servants are killed as she was. And then, we believe You will give those martyrs pecial eternal recognition in heaven for their courage of faith. Your decisions are always just, righteous, and wise. We stand before You to praise and thank You for Your mighty presence in our lives. In Christ’s holy name, we pray. Amen.
Next week, I am led to continue the analysis of murder as a sin. We have only seen part of the picture in this message. We will see what Christ has to say about this subject then. God allowed His Son to be murdered on the cross, to suffer and die for us. Why He did this reveals His ultimate love and compassion for mankind. He wanted those of us who would listen and believe, who would repent and come to life-giving faith, to spend a blissful and close fellowship with Him forever in heaven. The work of the cross has been done, and Christ has risen to His Father’s side for another work-that of acting as our Intercessor and Advocate in the heavenly Holy of Holies. We can take comfort that He is the “first among many brothers” to be resurrected [RO 8: 29]. Our prayers are sent up to Him, and He takes them to the Father to plead on our behalf [HE 8: 1-2, 9: 12; 1 JN 2: 1-2]. When we were saved, we were judged “innocent.” RO 4: 6-8 [KJV], “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without words, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” It is plain to see why we can wake up each day that we haven’t committed murder or other sins bathed in the warmth of God’s love and the salvation of being washed clean in Christ’s blood.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn