Building a culture of life through law

The term “culture of death” often refers to the brutality of modern life, focusing on the legalization of abortion and euthanasia in many parts of the world during the 20th century. The era is also known for Hitler’s holocaust against Jews and others, Stalin’s gulag, Mao’s brutal “Great Leap Forward,” Pol Pot’s “killing fields” in Cambodia, Turkey’s massacre of Armenians, ethnic cleansings in Bosnia and Rwanda—examples of barbarity in a seemingly sophisticated age. 

In biblical history there were several attempted holocausts. Think of Pharaoh’s planned suppression and extermination of Jews, or Haman’s later plot. Think of Herod’s “slaughter of innocents” in Bethlehem after Jesus was born.

Historians also cite lesser-known atrocities in other eras: the slaughter of the people of Melos by Athenians during the Peloponnesian War, the massacre of Cathari during the Albigensian Crusade in the 13th century, the execution of Danes by the English in 1002, Czech attempts to rid their lands of Germans in the Middle Ages, Spain’s expulsion of Jews in the 15th century, and the displacement of Native Americans by North American settlers in the 18th and 19th centuries. (See Encyclopedia Britannica on ethnic cleansing and genocide.)

If it were comprehensively tallied, the record of victimized and vanquished people would be shockingly long. There is no end or limit to mankind’s propensity for cruelty and imagination for killing.

You shall not murder. –Exodus 20:13

With these words from Mount Sinai, God began to reinstitute the culture of life He initiated at creation. He had created all forms of life and called them good, very good. He had given His creatures—animals and humans—the “breath of life.” He had prepared a “tree of life” and provided everything creatures would need to live.

But mankind rebelled, choosing death over obedience to God. From that point onward, a “culture of death” reigned. Soon after, there was Cain’s murder of Abel, Lamech’s boast exalting violence, and the world’s devolution into corruption and unrestrained violence that led to the worldwide flood. 

God strongly affirmed His preference for life through these words in the commandments: “Thou shalt not kill.”

But what is murder? What sort of killing is prohibited by the commandment? We will learn more as we journey through the books of Moses, but God did not leave mankind to wonder for long; He laid out moral principles for protecting life and punishing murder in chapters immediately following the commandment. 

Nevertheless, here is what was known (or should have been known):

• By animating creatures with life, God implies its goodness. Indeed, He said that all He made was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). His design was for life to continue.
• Mankind was created in God’s image and likeness, and therefore murder is a proxy attack on God (Gen. 1:26-27).
• By pleading with Cain to reconsider his anger, God warned him against murder (Gen. 4:6-7).
• God showed mercy to killers, but allowed them to suffer the consequences of their actions (Gen. 4:13-17).
• In the flood, God killed nearly all the human population, but through Noah wanted humankind to go on (Gen. 6:8-18). 
• In judgment God is holy and just; people and animals must account for the death of every human (Gen. 9:5-6).

Within the early record of man’s inhumanity we find examples of courageous individuals who resisted the lure of murder because they understood these principles.

Questions that remain:

How is murder different than killing? How do we know it refers to killing men and not animals? Does it differ from what soldiers do in war, and how? Is there an allowance for killing in self-defense? What differentiates intentional killing from accidental manslaughter?

These questions will be answered as we work our way through the Pentatuch. The Bible needn’t say everything about a subject in every text that it appears. Such repetition would be tedious. Neither did God arrange His word so that all He wants us to know about a subject is in one scriptural location. His revelation is progressive. The Bible student must recognize similarities and differences in texts, make note of context and nuance, and recall what has been learned. 

Bible students expend considerable time and effort to systematically collect or gather all that God has said on a subject. As we work, we can rejoice that He has given us “everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3) and blessed us with His illumining Spirit.

One thing we can do here at the outset of the section on law is briefly summarize what we find concerning murder in the New Testament:

• Jesus reiterated God’s law concerning murder and linked it to hatred or scorn for another person (Matthew 5:21-22; 1 John 3:15).
• The heart is the source of murder, not outside influences or causes (Matt. 15:19-20; Mark 7:21-23; James 4:1-2).
• The irony of ironies about Jesus’ crucifixion is that a known murderer was released so that He, the sinless Creator of life, could be executed! (Luke 23:18-25, Acts 3:14-15).
• Jesus attributed murderousness to the Enemy (John 8:44).
• Murder is evidence of ungodliness (Romans 1:28-31; 1 Timothy 1:9-10; 1 Peter 4:15).
• Murderers who do not repent are denied entrance into the eternal kingdom while those who repent are forgiven (Acts 3:14-21; Revelation 9:20-21, 21:8, 22:14-15; see the lives of Paul, David, Moses, and Mannasah).

Conclusion

Although humanity’s record of murders is incomplete, we can be sure that God has seen and made note of every murder from the beginning (Psalm 10:8-11, 94:6-9). God’s attitude toward murder does not change with time or location. His commandment is relevant in every culture. 

As our own “civilized” culture continues to assert the “right” to kill some people, it is the responsibility of  those who ascribe to the Bible as God’s word to reaffirm a culture of life.

Next: Murder defined (Exodus 21:12-14)

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Image credit: Moses Receiving the Tablets of Law, by Marc Chagall, 1966