"You shall not murder." - Exo 20:13
In our previous posts we have emphasized that sinning against Man is sinning against God's image. This commandment brings it into sharp focus.
"But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." : Mt 22:34-40
A familiar passage, and one quoted back to us by people saying we are no longer under Law, but Grace - and if we do those two things Jesus said we should be fine! Why then are we harping on the Law here... That is all true - however - I would like to draw your attention to a couple of things that are really interesting to contemplate.
#1 - The passages quoted by our Lord are actually from Deut 6:5 and Lev 19:18. The Mosaic Law! Not even the 10 commandments....that God SPOKE! ( Those are found in Exodus ). So by trying to obey the two fundamental principles laid down and taught by our Lord - we are actually keeping two of the many Mosaic Laws! :-) The Law actually contains Grace!!!!!
#2 - And this is easy to miss... the lawyer asked for 1 greatest commandment- Jesus gave him 2! Was that a 'Christ'mas special? No... :-) The key is in the words - "The second is like unto it". They are SIMILAR - so similar that they needed to be put together as the one greatest foundation on which everything rests!
Here are some verses that sharpen the point...
"Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." - Mt 25:40 Loving/Hating/Serving people = Loving/Hating/Serving God!
"If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also." 1 Jn 4:20-21 If you say you love and serve God but are nasty to the people around you - you are kidding yourself! And John repeats the commandment!
Loving Humanity is very similar to Loving God and is something He Himself does for ..." God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son " !
Now the first - tenth commandments should make perfect sense. They are all ONE commandment in principle! Love and Respect God (and His image), for God is Love!
The sixth commandment prohibits murder - it does not say - do not kill. If it did, no temple sacrifices would be possible in the OT and we would have literally nothing to eat! ( no not even vegetables- because they are living things - pre flood we were originally vegetarian, but after the flood we were permitted to eat animals - Gen 9:3). No, murder is something different.
Murder is the intentional and personal taking of human life without lawful sanction. Inadvertent manslaughter does not fall into this category. Killing without personal anger ( serving in an army, executing capital punishment, judgement ) is necessary- and God Himself does it and requires it - but this is different from planning in cold blood or taking a life in anger.
The two best examples of these are King David and Cain. King David plotted in cold blood to kill Uriah so he could have his wife, and Cain killed Abel out of jealous anger. God judged them for it.
In the Sermon on the Mount our Lord takes it one step further. "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca ( fool ) , shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool ( moron ), shall be in danger of hell fire. " Mt 5:21-22
Just as lust is the root of adultery, anger is the root of murder. (The word kill used here is an unfortunate translation of the Greek in the KJV - we have already addressed kill v murder earlier - Jesus is referring to the commandments in this passage). That is why the Apostle Paul asks us to walk in the Spirit - putting away the works of the flesh in Gal 5:19 "Adultery.... hatred, variance....wrath, strife, ...Envyings, murders,... , and such like".
There is one form of cold blooded humanly sanctioned murder being practiced today that we need to address. Yes, I am speaking of abortion. God hates child abuse and He abhors the shedding of innocent blood even more. According to the WHO, there are 40-50 Million abortions per year. That's 125,000 per day. 60 a minute or approx 240 deaths by the time you finish reading this post. 6 Million deaths in 2013 in the US alone based on data collected by the CDC. Truly the enemy comes to kill and destroy.
If being angry at ones brother puts one in jeopardy of hell-fire we should shudder to think of the judgement that awaits those who do this to enable a lascivious lifestyle or out of convenience. We should not be insensitive to the needs of people who financially cannot support another mouth, cases of rape and incest, and other situations but there are better alternatives than killing. For those who argue as to when life begins, here is a simple logic. When your daughter or wife misses her period - she is pregnant and -that's- the signal that a new life has started, not when she is delivering the baby.
For those who have committed this sin, it is not beyond Gods love to forgive you. He has, if you have taken it to Him, washed it in His Blood ( - He - had to PAY for it ) and repented ( turned from it ) forever more. Do not stop loving those who do this out of ignorance - because they really really do not know what they are doing!
"Whoever sheds man's blood, His blood will be shed by man, for God made man in His image." : Gen 9:6
This is not an uplifting or cheerful post, but take comfort in the fact that ".... such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Cor 6:11
Murder is not in the list of sins listed in the verses preceding the one just quoted, but I am sure that if God could be merciful to Cain, and forgive David, Moses and Paul - He will forgive you!
A bloody Religion
“ For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.” - Leviticus 17:11
This might be uncomfortable reading for some as it touches on things that we prefer not to see in our daily lives, and things we might not even want to think about, as regards our life, mortality, Christianity and the authenticity of scripture…. blood, sacrifice, ritualism…
It’s all very well to see it in the movies, where under the guise of “action”, “grindhouse”, or “horror/thriller” genres, violence and gore are sometimes pushed to cartoonish extremes…. because…. it’s just a movie, the people aren’t really dying, and it’s fake blood —- but to those experiencing or who have experienced this carnage in real life…. those are memories they would rather not have or relive!
But what do we do with the scripture we opened with?
—— What kind of a God says a thing like THAT?——
A practical, down to earth, Holy, Just and loving one…. let’s take a look !!!
We have several concepts in this one verse.
Blood, flesh, life, altar, atonement, soul, gift, God, & Israel ( not all humanity, but a principle is being established ).
Observe the structure…. It opens with a statement(!) about where the life of the flesh is located/supported. The blood.
In todays world you might associate life with your heart, lungs, brain, nervous system etc… but it’s not that simple is it? Without blood, everything dies really quick. Cut a jugular and you have just minutes to live before you bleed to death. Blood is required to be donated —- even with todays technology we cannot make artificial blood, just as we cannot create life by mechanical/chemicsl/electrical means.
Next, we have the use ordained for it.
Given to Israel as a COVERING —- the word for atonement is the word “Kafar” - to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel: - appease, make (an) atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, to pitch, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile (-liation) —- for their souls.
Next, we have the one and only location for its ordained use. The altar.
If we look at the verse in context ( Lev 17:1-15 ) we see that it opens with forbidding the Israelites from spilling animal blood on ANY altar EXCEPT at the the one and only Tabernacle.
Prior to this Law being given, the Israelites had been sacrificing to many gods in open fields, and they were also eating blood —— this section of the Law condemns the historical practices, and completely and logically aligns with the first commandment — worship no other Gods but the True One. The injunction against eating the blood of animals is also front and center in this section of the Law, and TIED TO THE SAME REASONING.
Blood :: Life.
“ And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off. “ - Lev 17:13, 14….
Clearly holding sacrosanct the blood of any beast or animal ( that may be hunted for food ) and REPEATING Blood::Life three times again !!!
Lastly, note the linkage and DIFFERENTIATION between life and SOUL. Yes blood is a wonderful and precious life sustaining organ ( one of the most pervasive and unique in the whole body )… and we share a common bond with animals…. but even precious as it is, it pales in significance with the value of our SOULS.
When blood is being offered, it is LITERALLY satisfying the Life for Life requirement in the exacting balances of Gods judgment against sin being worthy of death!
Yet even these sacrifices could not remove our sins from us, they just covered them from His sight so that He could continue to be gracious to Israel…. till the perfect sacrifice, whose blood would be sufficient to cover ALL mankind’s sins would come!
Yes you heard us right, all mankind will ultimately be reconciled to God, however, some will have to make their own payments instead of having their debts forgiven… and it is a choice that they choose to make, in the face of the full revelation of the Word of God and His Gospel!
Blood is a living sacred thing, and eating dead blood is not good for you, neither is drinking it “live”. That’s not how it works and it’s going to make you sick, and pass on viruses and germs from animals to humans ( seeing that now) . Here we have the practical God who designed LIFE, us, and blood, speaking.
The blood of every animal ( including man ) is sacred, and that’s why we have Capital punishment in the scriptures. That’s why animal blood is either to be offered or buried. If offered, there is only ONE acceptable altar … not many. Here is the uniqueness and exclusivity of the Gospel for you …. there is only One name given to people whereby we might be saved. That’s a Holy God!
It was given to Israel as a gift, just as Christ is given to us without any strings attached. Israel could NEVER invent anything which God would find acceptable, so HE made a way and gave them a path to reconciliation. Here is Grace and kindness personified.
Lastly, ANY blood was acceptable, from birds to bullocks, from animals which were destined to be eaten ( some were totally consumed by fire ), giving access to all, rich and poor, to justice and acquittal in the court of the LORD.
But peerless above all is our Saviour, who shed His blood , ( which is the —ONLY THING— that REMOVES our sins forever ) …. and invites us to demonstrate and participate (symbolically) in THAT ALTAR through the sacrament of Holy Communion, to symbolize Gods love to todays generation, just as the Levites symbolized He who was to come so long ago!
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
