THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

The Ten Commandments was taught by Dr. James Modlish

The Sixth Commandment
Thou shalt not kill. (Ex. 20:13)

Introduction:

Statistics show that a person is murdered on the average of one every 10 minutes, somewhere in the world. There is one person every 30 minutes in the United States murdered. There are many who would have us to believe that America is the victim of so many violent crimes because of the amount of guns available. However, any thinking person will concede that no gun can kill anyone unless there is someone that is willing to squeeze the trigger. Guns have done nothing to glamorize murder but television has certainly contributed to the glamorization of killing.

Three members of Stanford University Institute for Communication and Research, William Schaum, Edwin Barker and Jack Lyell, studied for throe years the effect of T.V. on children. Their research involved 300 school authorities, 2000 parents and 6000 children in ten communities. Included in their research was a one week survey of "kids shows" from 4 to 9 P.M. Monday through Friday. The survey involved 100 hours of programing. During those 100 hours they observed the following:

[1]. 12 murders

[2]. 21 persons shot

[3]. 21 other violent incidents with guns

[4]. 16 major gun fights

[5]. 37 hand to hand fights

[6]. 1 attempted murder with a pitch fork

[7]. 1 stabbing in the back with a butcher knife

[8]. 3 successful and I unsuccessful suicide( attempts

[9]. 4 people pushed off of cliffs

[10]. 2 cars running off cliffs

[11]. 2 attempts to run over people with an automobile

[12]. 1 raving psychotic loose in an airliner

[13]. 2 mob scenes where a woman was hung - another where the wrong man was hung.

[14]. 1 man ground under the hooves of a horse.

[15]. 2 robberies

[16]. 1 woman killed falling from a train.

[17]. Numerous people killed in a tidal wave and earthquake.

[18]. A hardened killer stalking his victim and one of them getting his head cut off with a guillotine.

There are three different kinds of killers mentioned in the Word of God.

 

I. KILLERS WHO GET OFF FREE

A. Those who hate their brother - (Matt. 5:21,22)

According to Jesus killing begins with a heart attitude. If you have the attitude about someone "I would just as soon see them dead" you are a killer.

B. Military action that really isn't military action -

There is a lot of killing done today by guerrilla terrorist groups in the name of military action. They have no commission from any government. The Irish Republic Army is a good example.

Absalom led such a group - (2 Sam. 16-18).

C. Christ Rejecters -

It was our sins that nailed Christ to the Cross (1 Pet. 2:24). If we reject Him we are guilty of Deicide. When people try to justify their own righteousness they often say "I haven't killed anybody" holding up murder as the one unpardonable sin. Did you ever wonder why?

 

II. KILLERS GOD PROTECTS

A. Killers of animals - (Gen. 9:3; Acts 10:11-13; 1 Tim. 4:3,4)

B. Those guilty of manslaughter - (Num. 35)

Gods definition of manslaughter is a killing that is a genuine accident. I doubt that drunk drivers would have found deliverance under Old Testament Law.

C. Obeying a military order for self defense (1 Sam. 15; Judg. 8; Judg. 16:9-16).

D. Those protecting their home - (Judges 4:18-22)

E. Self defense - (Lk. 22:36-38)

III. KILLERS WHO GOD CONDEMNS

A. The Murderer - (Matt. 19:18)

From what we have seen it is obvious that there is a need for further definition of "Thou shalt not kill." Jesus gives that definition in (Matt. 19:18) when He says "Thou shalt do no murder."

Some would suggest that capital punishment is a violation of the Sixth Commandment. The following should be noted.

The death penalty was instituted over 800 years before the Law was given at Mt. Sinai. It is first found in (Gen. 9:5,6). A search of the Bible will show us, to the surprise of many perhaps, that there are twenty-one separate offenses against society and against God which God says are punishable by death. Some of these are: Murder, rape, kidnapping, and witchcraft. Here are a few scriptural references on the punishment of death: (Gen. 9:5,6; Ex. 21:12,16, 23-25; 22:18; Lev. 20:2-5; 20:10; Num. 35:16-21; 35:30; Deut. 19:10-13; 19: 15-19; 22:24-26; 24:7; 1 Kings 21:19; Pro. 6:17; Matt. 5:17-22; Acts 25:11; Rom. 13: 1-5; and 1 Pet. 2:13,14). The Law did not repeal the death penalty. Opponents of the death penalty often quote "Thou shalt not kill" (Ex. 20:13). This verse does not in any way repeal the death penalty. Surely we do not believe that God was confused that he repealed the death penalty in (Ex. 20:13), and then contradicted Himself by saying, "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death", in (Ex. 21:12). "Thou shalt not kill", is God's law, and (Ex. 21:12) is God's commandment to human government to punish those who violate that law.

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