TEN COMMANDMENTS
THOU SHALT NOT KILL
DR. JIM DIXON
EXODUS 20:1-20
MARCH 22, 1992
Yang Sin Yung was a 17th century rebel leader who took control of the Chinese province of Szechwan. His governing policy consisted of killing everyone in sight. Yang Sin Yung, historians tell us, killed 32,310 students, 27,000 Buddhist priests- He killed 280 of his wives and 3,000 of his harem attendants. He killed thousands of his own military personnel and 400,000 daughters, sisters and wives of military personnel because he wanted his military to be devoted only to him. He killed 600,000 civilians in his royal city. Eventually, he grew tired of keeping these statistics. One day, he was particularly enraged after accidentally sitting on a prickly plant, he ordered his vast armies to go throughout the province of Szechwan and to kill everybody. In a massive genocide in a hideous holocaust in the year 1648, Yang Sin Yung was responsible for the murdering of thirty-eight Million people. Now ultimately, he was cast down by the Manchus but not before he had killed from 1643 to 1648, over 20 million people, and he had laid waste the second largest province in China. After his death, that province of Szechwan remained desolate and barren for 80 years. The message of Yang Sin Yung’s life was this. Life is cheap. Life is cheap. All of his actions reveal his conviction that life is cheap, but the message we have from God, the message of the sixth commandment, is just the opposite.
Life is precious. In God’s sight, life is precious. “Thou shalt not kill.” If the first and second commandments concern the sanctity of monotheism, and if the third commandment concerns the sanctity of God’s; holy name, and the fourth commandment concern5 the sanctity of the Sabbath. Day, and the fifth commandment concerns the sanctity of the family and the parent/child relationship, then this sixth commandment concerns the sanctity of human life, “Thou shalt not kill,” Now this commandment is, I think, oftentimes misunderstood and misapplied. This morning I would like u5 to begin by focusing on some misapplications of this commandment. It is not a reference to animals or to the killing of animals. Every once in a while, you will see animal rights activists holding up signs that say “Exodus 20:13 thou shalt not kill!” This is a misapplication of this sixth commandment because the Hebrew word for kill in this verse is the word “raysaw.” The word “raysaw” never, absolutely never refers to the killing of animals. The Hebrew word “sahat” is the word that’s used for the killing of animals.
Now I know some. of you have been to Vail—I assume most of you You’ve probably looked to the east of Vail and the north of Vail, and you have seen that beautiful mountain range, that jagged mountain range called the Gore Range, named after Lord Gore, the European, who in the 19th century, came here to the American west. He came with an entourage of hunters, and he just butchered animals. He slaughtered: deer, elk, and bear. He killed animals by the hundreds and by the thousands. He did not kill them for food. He did not kill them for clothing. He did not kill them for protection. He just killed them for the pure pleasure of the kill When he had left animal carcasses all over Colorado, he then proceeded northward into the Dakotas. When he was in the Black Hills, Lord Gore and his entourage of hunters were captured by an Indian nation. The Indian chief did not kill Lord Gore, but he stripped him naked and forced him to run naked for hundreds of miles before Lord Gore returned, humiliated, to Europe. Now what Lord Gore did was a sin. The Bible gives us permission to kill animals for food, to kill animals for clothing and to kill animals for protection, but the Bible never gives us permission to kill animals gratuitously and what he did was an abuse of the very dominion that God has given to mankind. It was an abuse of the stewardship that God has given us on this earth. Nevertheless, it was not a violation of the sixth commandment because the sixth commandment has nothing to do with animals or the killing of animals. Now this commandment is also not a reference to war or the killing of war. Again, the -Hebrew: word here is the word “raysaw” and the word “raysaw” never, absolutely never referred to the killing of war. Indeed, the Hebrew word “hyrog” was the word uged -For killing in war-. The Jews understood that there was such a thing as a just war. If you look at the history of Israel, there were many times they went to war with surrounding nations and they did this oftentimes by the will of God in obedience to the will of God, serving a holy cause.
This sixth commandment should not be used to support pacifism. Now I went to college in the 1960’s. In the 1960’s, of course, the Vietnam War was taking place. One of my friends in college, one day, came to me and one of my other friends and told us that he was thinking of becoming a conscientious objector. He said he did not believe in killing in the context of war or in any other context. He said that he really did not think there was ever justification for violence. He didn’t think there was ever justification for wounding or killing another human being. We said to him “Well, what about, I mean if you get married and you have a wife and you have some kids and some warped criminal comes along and you see he’s going to kill or hurt your wife or kids. Wouldn’t you do something?” He said “No. Even then I wouldn’t do anything.” We said “Well, are you going to tell your wife this when you marry her?” He said “Well, she’ll understand because she’ll think just like me. She will believe Exodus 20:13 – “Thou shalt not kill.”
But you see, that is a misapplication of this sixth commandment. It does not refer to pacifism. It does not refer to killing in war or to killing in self-defense. The word “raysaw” was never used in that way. Now it is also not a reference to capital punishment. Now there are two times in the Bible where the word “raysaw” refers to capital punishment, but it is not the normative word for capital punishment, and indeed, in Israel, in the world of Judaism, they practice capital punishment. They practice capital punishment in obedience to the instructions of God. This word “raysaw” was not the normative reference to capital punishment. What I want us to understand first of all is what this commandment is not It is not a reference to animals or the killing of animals, It is not a reference to killing in war, certainly not in a just war, or in self-defense, nor is it a reference to capital punishment.
What is this commandment then and what is the primary reference? The word “raysaw” was the normative particular Hebrew word for “murder.” On rare occasions, it could refer to involuntary homicide but normally this was the word that referred to premeditated homicide. This was the particular word for murder. Indeed, in the Jewish. Bible, as it is translated into English in the Jewish synagogues, this commandment is read “Thou Shalt not Murder.” In some of the better English translations that we use in Protestantism, the same is true. This is rendered “Thou Shalt not Murder.” Now we live in a society where this commandment has many applications.
I know in the Roman society, life was cheap. In the city of Rome, there were two great stadiums. There was the Hippodrome Which was commonly called the Circus Maximus and it seated. 250,000 people. That is where they had the chariot races. People loved to go to the Hippodrome and the Circus Maximus and see those chariot races. But there was a place they’d rather go, a more prestigious place, a place considered a greater honor and that was called the Flavian Amphitheater or better known as the Coliseum. The Coliseum only held 50,000 people and it was there that the Roman elite went for their fun and pleasure. They watched mock naval battles. They watched gladiator combat unto death. They watched human beings, normally slaves, fight animals to the death. All of this was to satisfy the bloodthirst of the Roman elite.
Some of you know how, in the year 401 AD, a Syrian monk went out into the floor of the Roman Coliseum, in the midst of a gladiator combat a Syrian monk named Telemachus and he shouted up to the Roman audience of 50,000, and he said “This must stop. This must stop. Thou shalt not kill. This must stop.” By the order of the Roman Emperor, Honorius, he was run through with the sword. But in that moment when Telemachus that gentle Christian monk was run through with the sword, the Roman audience was appalled for perhaps the first time They were appalled to see this gentle man killed and his blood run before them- they were appalled, and they began to just walk out of the Coliseum one by one That was not the end of gladiator combat in Rome, but it was the beginning of the end. Word began to spread regarding the brutality of it all By the year 404 AD, gladiator combat had ceased in Rome.
We need people in America to stand up today and say “This can’t go on. This cannot go on!” Violence is rampant on television and in the movie theaters. Rampant. The average 18-year-old today has seen thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of murders on television and in the movies. They don’t watch the same kind of murders we saw when we were growing up. Usually when we saw a murder on television or in a movie, you saw a smoking gun, and somebody fall. But today, you see exploding body parts, the graphic running of blood. You see, in slow motion, the bullet penetrate human flesh and people feed on this. I think we have reached a point where Christians surely need to say This cannot go. on.” So-called experts say “Well, it really doesn’t affect human behavior.” That is what they say. “Television doesn’t affect human behavior.”
I find this incredible, particularly since major corporations throughout our nation are spending millions and billions of dollars just to buy television time 50, they might advertise their products, thinking it might affect human behavior. And it does affect human behavior. Just recently, a professor at M.I.T. has concluded that it is more dangerous for a minority person growing up in the inner cities of America, a. better chance that he will be murdered, or she will be murdered than it was that an American soldier would be killed in battle in World War II. I don’t know how he came to that conclusion or those statistics. I do not know if he is accurate. I find it astounding but I know this Violence is growing in our nation. We need Christians to say, “This can’t go on Thou shalt not kill.”
I know abortion is a very controversial subject. It really is I am sure that in a congregation this size, there are many different views of abortion. I am sure that some of you are pro-life. I am also certain that some of you are pro-choice. We have in the United States of America, 1,300,000 babies aborted every year 4,000 babies a day. I must say, whatever your view of abortion, surely you think this is a tragedy.
Whatever your view of abortion, how can it be right that we’re aborting 4,000 babies a day and a million and a half babies a year in this nation. And certainly you know. that 98% of these abortions have nothing to do with danger to the life of the mother. Ninety eight percent of these abortions have nothing to do with rape or incest or fetal deformity. Ninety-eight percent of these abortions are belated efforts at birth control, and most of those abortions are required or desired because of babies born out of wedlock through premarital sex in an increasingly promiscuous society. Surely the judgement of God cannot be far away…
You know there are a lot of wonderful people truly wonderful people who are pro-choice. And as I have sought to read and hear their arguments, I must say they have some strong arguments. I mean the pro-choice people have some really compelling arguments but it all pales it all pales in light of the sanctity of human life. The only reason I am pro-life is because of the sanctity of human life. You might say “Weill how do you know that God views the fetus as human?” “How do you know God views that fetus as a human life?” “How do we know that that fetus is not only a developing body but also a soul and a spirit?” “When does God place the soul and the spirit in that little life?” “Does God place the soul and the spirit there at conception? In the first, second or third trimester? or at the moment of birth?” Obviously, these are very difficult issues but, you see, the very fact that we do not know exactly how God works this is reason enough to not tamper.
If you really believe in the sanctity of human life… I must say this. In the Bible, this much is absolutely clear. God views the life in the womb as precious to Him. The Bible tells us that God looks at that developing life in the womb and God knows that life. In the Bible, God tells us that He watches that life being formed intricately within the womb and it is precious to Him precious. You know if you’ve had an abortion… I mean if you’re here now in this sanctuary and you’ve had an abortion, the last thing that we want to do as a church is to condemn you. We don’t want to do that I mean we are all sinners in desperate need of God’s grace and God’s mercy. I’m a sinner in desperate need of God ‘ s grace and God’s mercy. But we want you as we proclaim God’s word, to understand what is critical in God’s sight, the sanctity of human life.
Of course euthanasia is another subject that is much debated. I think increasingly debated in our society today. I must say, I believe in mercy dying. I believe in mercy dying. I think sometimes we sustain life through artificial means long beyond what we should. I think sometimes God is trying to take somebody home and we are just keeping a corpse breathing through artificial technology, artificial means. I believe in mercy dying. You see, mercy dying is very different than mercy killing. I do not believe in mercy killing. Mercy killing is cutting short the natural life that God has given. That’s really what euthanasia is all about cutting short the life, the natural life that God has given. We live in a world where there’s a lot of suffering and pain. I think most of us, if we have the compassion of Christ, we’d like to diminish that suffering and diminish that pain, but sometimes, when we try to stop the suffering and pain, might cross a line God never meant us to cross—tamper with that with which we were never meant to tamper or touch.
This commandment “Thou Shalt not Kill” has a multiplicity of applications, more than we could ever deal on a Sunday morning like this. Certainly, it relates to the global poverty and starvation that we see in the world today. I mean, did you know a billion people, a billion people a thousand million people are starving to death on this planet today. A thousand million people are going to go to bed hungry tonight without enough food and millions of people every year in this world die of starvation. I know it’s not our direct responsibility but perhaps there’s a little bit of corporate maybe we are culpable corporately Just a little. Maybe we have not done enough. Maybe we do not care enough. In light of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 25, where he said “I was hungry, and you gave me to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me to drink. I was naked and you clothed me., sick and imprisoned., you visited me. A stranger, you welcomed me. Come, oh blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you.” And then He warns and says “I was hungry. You gave me not to eat. Thirsty and you gave me not to drink. Depart from Me you workers of inequity.”
Well maybe all this just does not seem personal enough to you. Maybe it does not seem that relevant. Maybe the subject of abortion or euthanasia or global starvation just does not touch you closely. But what our Lord Jesus Christ said in Matthew, Chapter 55 in the Sermon on the Mount, that brings the sixth commandment home for all of us. You know how our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount. He took the sixth commandment “Thou. Shalt not Kill’ and He explained what it really means, how ‘God views it. Jesus said “You’ve heard it said of old. Thou Shalt not Kill Whoever kills shall be liable for judgement, but I say to you. Whoever is angry with his brother or sister shall be liable for judgement. Whoever looks upon his brother or sister with contempt shall be liable for the council and whoever says to his brother or sister ‘You fool!” shall be liable for hellfire.”
You see, Jesus takes this sixth commandment, “Thou Shalt not Kill” and He internalizes it He looks at the heart, at our thoughts where murder begins. In this verse, He really uses three Greek words, and we really don’t have time because it’s coming to a close here this morning, but three Greek words. The word “orgay” is translated “anger” but it doesn’t refer to a brief anger… This word “orgay” refers to. sustained, harbored anger that wants revenge. Jesus said “There is just a little bit of murder in your heart when you harbor anger like that.” He uses this word “raca.” The word “raca” is translated “contempt.” To look upon a brother or sister and say “Raca,” the word could mean ugly. The word sometimes referred to an “intellectually inferior person.” Jesus is saying “If you look at another human being and you just write them off as ugly or intellectually inferior, you’ve just dehumanized them and in a little way, you’ve murdered them.” Then He uses the word “morose.” It is translated “fool,” but it doesn’t refer to intellectual inferiority. It refers to moral inferiority. If you look upon your brother or sister and you call them “morose. ” If you say that they are morally despicable… If you just discard them ethically and you look down on them and you badmouths them and you take their name and you destroy their character verbally, Jesus warns you’re liable for hellfire because we can murder people through slander. too. That’s really what this drama this morning was all about. The sanctity of human life. “Thou Shalt not Kill” in thought or in word or in deed. Let us close with a word of prayer.