Articles
Why is Murder Wrong?
“Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man.” (Gen 9:6)
“You shall not murder.” (Exod 20:13)
“How long shall the wicked, O LORD, How long shall the wicked exult?
They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly;
All who do wickedness vaunt themselves.
They crush Your people, O LORD, and afflict Your heritage.
They slay the widow and the stranger and murder the orphans.” (Psa 94:3-6)
These passages (and many more besides) are rooted in God’s authority as the giver and taker of life. One of the key points that both Jesus and the apostles taught about God was that he “gives life” (John 5:21; Rom 4:17; 1 Tim 6:13). The Scripture also affirms in various places that only God has the true power to kill and give life (Deut 32:39; 1 Sam 2:6; 2 Kgs 5:7; Hos 6:1-2). In the beginning, God made man in his image (Gen 1:26-27) and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (Gen 2:7). The first murder ever committed was by a man named Cain, who slew his innocent brother Abel out of jealousy and anger (Gen 4:1-8). The Lord was not ignorant of this, and noted that Abel’s blood was “crying out” from the ground (Gen 4:10).
Of course, “murder” is not just any kind of taking of life. The Lord specified numerous instances in the law where death was the penalty for sins (Exod 21:15, 16, 17; 22:18, 19, 20; 31:14; etc.) God thus did not see capital punishment as something in the same category of murder (since this would otherwise create an impossible dilemma for the executioner of Israel). Similarly, the Old Testament contains rules for warfare (cf. Deut 20), which are not viewed as inherently incompatible with the instruction not to murder. Murder in scripture is particularly defined as the shedding of “innocent blood”—the death of people who have committed no crime and done nothing worthy of death. Like Abel, innocent blood that was shed would actually defile the ground it was shed on (Num 35:34; Deut 19:13; 21:9). Even if a body was found and the murderer was not known, a sacrifice was still required to atone for the innocent blood shed in the area (Deut 21:1-9).
Among capital crimes in Israel, murder is treated as if it were in a class by itself. A murderer could not buy himself a pardon or ransom once condemned to death (Num 35:30). Some of the most villainous people in the Bible are murderers. Cain murdered his brother Abel (Gen 4). Abimelech killed all of his brothers in an effort to claim the throne of Israel (Judg 9). Saul slew the priests of Nob on suspicion of helping David (1 Sam 21). Ahab and Jezebel murdered Naboth in order to steal the land that was on the property next to them. Even David, when confronted [implicitly] with his own murder of Uriah the Hittite, stated that “Surely the man who has done this deserves to die!” (2 Sam 12:5)
Leaving aside any of the “ethical complexities” of things like “just war,” or self-defense, one thing is clear—a person cannot participate in, call for, or otherwise condone the murder of innocent people and still call themselves a servant of God. The Scripture provides no justification for this. The murder of the innocent belongs in the realm of Pharaoh, who killed Hebrew boys because he thought that they might grow up to threaten his nation. It belongs to the realm of Herod, who slaughtered innocent children in Bethlehem because he thought one of them would become a rival king to him. While God grants vindication to the slaughtered innocent, he also promises judgment and vengeance on the ones who killed them (cf. Rev 6:9-11). Woe be to the man that dares advocate the death of the unborn baby, the newborn infant, the young child who still has yet to learn the difference between his right hand and his left! Woe to that one who calls for death on those who have committed no crime to deserve death! Woe to anyone who takes pleasure in the death of others, for not even our Lord took pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek 18:23, 32; 33:11)!
One would hope that all Christians can agree with what I have written here. But Satan has a nasty way of getting disciples to turn against God’s will. I have recently seen more than one individual using their politics and their nationalistic fervor to justify the very thing these Scriptures condemn! That is entirely out of line for the people of God! As Christians, we are to be lights in the darkness, sharing the Lord’s desire that none should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet 3:9). Whatever rationalizations people offer for advocating the death of others, at the end of the day we should remember that we too deserved death for our sins (Rom 6:23), but Christ provided his own innocent life as death instead. How much more should we desire the life of others! Let us choose life that we may live!
