Image Is Everything (34mb)

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This is the seventh sermon in a series on the Ten Commandments. This message discusses the sixth commandment regarding murder.

Written Excerpts:

Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.

Introduction:

Today we are moving on to consider the sixth commandment, which is very simply stated, “You shall not kill.” The intentional or negligent taking of a human life is condemned in the strongest terms by God.

Here are some statistics that I learned on the FBI’s crime statistics website: (http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/violent_crime/murder_homicide.html)

■An estimated 15,241 persons were murdered nationwide in 2009, which is a 7.3% decrease from the 2008 estimate, a 9.0% decrease from the 2005 figure, and a 2.2% decrease from the 2000 estimate.

■More than 44% (44.8) of murders were reported in the South, the most populous region, with 21.3% reported in the West, 20.0% reported in the Midwest, and 13.9% reported in the Northeast.

The good news in these statistics is that the rate is going down. The bad news is that it still represents a staggering loss of human life through the awful crime of murder.

I suppose that all of us are sitting here thinking that this is one sermon Pastor Les doesn’t really need to preach, because there isn’t anyone in our church that would think about killing someone. Well, I certainly hope that is true. However, I do believe that there are some important lessons we can still learn or take from this commandment that we might not have thought about before.

A.  Negative Meaning: Do not murder.

The sixth commandment simply says, do not kill. The meaning of the Hebrew word as defined and described by most OT scholars is the idea of murder. The command is a prohibition against the intentional and malicious destruction of another human life either through direct means or through negligence.

B.  Positive Meaning: Human life is sacred.

Several of the verses that we read earlier in our Scripture reading today related to the fact that God has created man in His image and therefore human life is sacred. That truth is expanded in many ways throughout the Bible. The simple fact is that everyone who has any desire at all to follow God’s Word and God’s will should have a high regard for the lives of our fellow human beings.

C.  Exposition:

Lessons that we learn from the proper understanding of this command include:

1.  Any violence or negligence that results in the loss of a human life is a violation of this command.

Death that resulted from a plot or plan that could be described as “lying in wait,” was definitely included in this command. (e.g., Cain and Abel)

In addition to deliberate actions taken to end someone’s life, we also learn from Exodus 21:29 and Deut. 22:8 that any death that results from negligence is also included in this command. In these passages, the examples include: someone who was killed by an ox, but the owner knew that the ox was prone to gore with its horns and didn’t take necessary precautions to have the animal confined; or someone who didn’t build a suitable barrier around the roof of his house to prevent another from accidentally falling to his death.

In all these cases which might be classified as some form of “homicide,” the punishment defined by God in the OT was death or “capital punishment.” Capital punishment emphasized the fact that anyone who negligently or deliberately destroys life, must suffer the destruction of his own life because “he has destroyed that which represents the image of God on earth.”

Passive inaction to defend life is prohibited. See Lev. 19:16 where “stand against the blood…” is interpreted by some as “stand aside while your fellow’s blood is shed.”

Suicide – (K&D) The omission of the object still remains to be noticed, as showing that the prohibition includes not only the killing of a fellow-man, but the destruction of one’s own life, or suicide.

2.  This command does not include certain cases of death.

a. Self-defense     Exodus 22:2 – This case speaks specifically about a thief that is breaking in at night and is struck so that he dies.

b. Accidental death      Deut. 19:4ff – Someone accidentally kills a man when ax head flies off. He can go to city of refuge to avoid the “avenger of blood.”

c. Capital Punishment    Gen. 9:6 – whoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed. Also, Numbers 35 describes the task of the “avenger of blood.”  Romans 13: Talks about the civil authorities are ordained for the punishment of evil and “do not bear the sword in vain.”

d. War      Deut. 20 – talks about specific rules of engagement God gave for war. Also, Romans 13 could apply to the situation of war i.e. “punishment of evil.”

In all of these specific situations the slayer was viewed differently because the death was either accidental or it was within God-given guidelines for the destruction of evil in the world.

3. This command emphasizes the value of human life.

(K&D) Life is placed at the head of these [last 5] commandments… because it is the basis of human existence, and [by attacking] the life the personality is attacked, and in that the image of God (Gen 9:6).

Before one gets very far in the first book of the Bible, we find the basis for the severity of punishment God ordained for those who violated this commandment. In Genesis 9:6 we are informed that whoever sheds innocent blood is to be put to death himself. Why? Because man is made in the image of God and any attack on the life of a human being is an attack on the image of God in this world.

Human beings are the only creatures in this world that have been described as being made in the image of God. There is no other creature on earth as valuable and precious in the sight of God as a human life. So you see, as I have stated in the title of this message, “Image IS Everything!” Without that image of God within each one of us, we are nothing more than an animal.

The Bible clearly teaches that God is the author of human life, so therefore only God has the ultimate right to take human life. We have emphasized this point at other special church services, but this inherent value in the life of a human being speaks to the issues of abortion, euthanasia and other important human rights issues of our world and society.

4.  This command applies to words and attitudes that violate human dignity and value.

For the Christian who is not only trying to follow the Ten Commandments, but to also follow the principles and teachings of our Lord and the Apostles in the NT, we must realize the ways in which Jesus and the Apostles applied this commandment.

Abusive and derogatory talk directed toward one another is addressed by Jesus, Paul and John. However, it is not just a New Testament addition to this commandment. These applications show up first in the OT book of Leviticus. See Leviticus 19:14-18.

a. Malicious slander and gossip.

b. Verbal attacks that reveal inner anger and hatred.

In Matthew 5:21ff, Jesus informs us that anger within one’s heart that finds expression in abusive language towards another person is the seed of murder. The actual definitions and complete explanation of Jesus’ words here can be examined at another time, but the point in His statement is this…

Anger and hatred within our hearts toward another person that finds expression in verbal outbursts that attack the worth and dignity of that person is equivalent to what I would call “verbal homicide.” (Including slander and gossip.) The reason I have classified it as “verbal homicide” is because these kinds of words have the power to kill the very spirit and self dignity within a person that convinces them or others that they have no worth or value in the eyes of God. This is especially true when it involves a child. These kinds of verbal abuse or outbursts can have the power to convince the victim that their life is worthless in the eyes of God, especially when those words come from a parent.

1 John 3:14-17, the Apostle John talks about the evidence of spiritual life in the believer and that evidence is a genuine love for our “brother.” John adamantly states that anyone who hates his brother is a murderer. He then goes on to describe conduct that would, by its very connection in the context here, help define what kinds of behavior constitutes hatred toward one’s brother. That includes, having the ability to help someone in dire need, but not doing anything about it.

Conclusion:

As I stated at the outset of this message, probably most of us feel like this message doesn’t really apply to me, because I have never killed anyone, nor ever thought about killing anyone. Yet, as we have pointed out here in the last few minutes, the commandment as applied by Jesus and the Apostle John does include more than literal murder.

We must be careful about our heart attitudes and our verbal communication towards one another and about one another. According to these principles, we can be guilty of murder in our hearts if there is hatred and bitter anger towards another human being.

Next sermon in this series is: Holy Matrimony - Part One (link available in blog archive on right)