The last 5 commandments deal with relationships between people of God’s community. Romans 13:9-10 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. The sixth commandment is found in Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17 and both are worded exactly the same: You shall not murder
The Hebrew word often translated “kill” in the sixth commandment (ratsach) normally applies specifically to the act of murder and manslaughter, not to killing in general. This command did not forbid capital punishment. Genesis 9:5-6 … from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being. 6 “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.
In the three chapters following the Ten Commandments (Exodus 21-23) there are at least 8 offenses named for which God commanded that men be executed.
The sixth commandment did not forbid war. Wars were frequently instituted by God throughout the Old Testament. God knew the Israelites would have to fight wars and defend their people. Deuteronomy 20:1 says When you go to war against your enemies. Numbers 10:9 says When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you. In fact, Deuteronomy 20 is all about what the Israelites were to do when they went to war. They were to seek peace first (Deuteronomy 20:10). But if the Israelites were engaged in battle they were to put to the sword all the men (Deuteronomy 20:13). Of course, we have no way of knowing today whether God approves a war or whether it is just. A discussion of this subject is beyond the scope of this lesson. We do know that John the Baptist did not tell soldiers to leave their duties in order to repent and part of a soldiers duty is to kill the enemy. Luke 3:14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”
Exodus 21:12-14 (1984 NIV) “Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death. 13However, if he does not do it intentionally, but God lets it happen, he is to flee to a place I will designate. 14But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death.
The punishment for violating this command was death. However, if it was not intentional God had provisions in His law to protect the accused. The Israelites were to establish “cities of refuge” where a person who unintentionally killed another person could flee to and have protection (Deuteronomy 4:41-42; Joshua 20:1-3). Numbers 35 gives detailed instructions on keeping the sixth command, what exactly constituted murder, cities of refuge, and the seriousness of shedding innocent blood.
Numbers 35:6 Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge. Of the 48 cities given to the Levites, six were cities of refuge.
These six cities were probably put under the Levites supervision because they would be the most impartial judges. Such cities were needed because the ancient customs of justice called for revenge in the event of a death of a relative (2 Samuel 14:7). The Levites would hold a preliminary hearing outside the gates of the city while the accused person was kept in the city until the time of his trial. If the killing was judged accidental, the person would stay in the city until the death of the high priest. At that time, he would be allowed to go free, and he could start a new life without worrying about avengers. If the death was intentional, the accused person would be delivered to the slain person’s relatives (avengers). This system of justice shows how God’s law and His mercy go hand in hand. Read Numbers 35:11-28.
Summary of Numbers 35:11-28: If anyone died because of violence, murder was assumed, but the murder suspect was not automatically assumed guilty. The cities of refuge assured the accused that justice would be served. But if the accused left the city of refuge then they would be assumed guilty and allowed to be killed by the avenging party. The Israelites were to be intolerant of the sin, yet impartial to the accused so that the person could have a fair trial. The cities of refuge represented God’s concern for justice in a culture that did not always protect the innocent. It is unjust both to overlook wrongdoing and to jump to conclusions about guilt.
Numbers 35:30-32 Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 31Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. He must surely be put to death. 32Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow him to go back and live on his own land before the death of the high priest. We can see in these verses the sanctity of human life. Murderers were to be put to death but never on the testimony of just one witness. This protected the accused from false testimony. Likewise, even those who killed unintentionally still had to suffer consequences for their irresponsible behavior. The last two verses of Numbers 35 show the seriousness of shedding innocent blood.
Numbers 35:33-34 Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.34Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites.
God said that bloodshed polluted the land. If the Israelites did not take the sixth commandment seriously the land they were entering to possess would become defiled. Simply put, to take another person’s life violates the sanctity that God, its creator, places on life. Furthermore, humans are created in God’s own image (Genesis 1:26), which intensifies the sanctity of life. As a civil society Israel had a responsibility to respect and protect life in all activities, they were not to kill in carelessness, anger, hatred, or vengeance. Murder did not become a sin with the giving of the Ten Commandments, it was always wrong. Jesus would explain the principles behind this command in the Sermon on the Mount. Here Jesus went beyond the letter of the law and explained the spirit of the law.
Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.
The Pharisees read this law and, not having literally murdered anyone, felt righteous. They understood the letter of the law but not the spirit behind the law. If anything the Pharisees were very superficial and they apparently didn’t know God’s Law as well as they thought. Remember, the Ten Commandments were more like bullet points and so it was with the command to not murder. Leviticus 19 gives a deeper meaning to the sixth command.
Leviticus 19:16-18 “‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people. “‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord. 17 “‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. 18 “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
The Pharisees did not realize that the positive command to love your neighbor also condemned anger, hate, and character assassination (slander). If one sin is forbidden by God, only common sense would tell you that all sins that lead to that one are forbidden as well. This wasn’t something new that Jesus was instituting, it had been true since the very beginning of humanity.
Genesis 4:3-8 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field. ‘ While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Cain’s unresolved, unrighteous anger drove him to murder his brother Abel. The apostle John, inspired by God, recalls this event in his first letter.
1 John 3:11-15 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
One cannot truly love God if they have hatred for another one of His children. 1 John 2:9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. When Jesus said “But I tell you,” he was not doing away with the sixth commandment or adding anything new to it. Rather, he was giving a more complete understanding of why God made that law in the first place. Where Moses said, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17) Jesus taught that we should not even become angry enough to murder, for then we have already committed murder in our heart. Jesus was not adding to the 6th commandment but simply pointing out the true application of it.
Scripture makes it clear that unrighteous anger can lead to murder. We see that in the story of Cain and Abel. But it can also lead to the killing of relationships within the Lord’s church. When we don’t deal with our anger in a biblical way it can lead to slander which can destroy a person’s reputation and destroy relationships between brethren. That is why we have scriptures such as these:
1 Corinthians 13:5 tell us that love is not easily angered. Ephesians 4:26 says “In your anger do not sin . Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry”. Ephesians 4:31 says we should “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” Colossians 3:8 says the same thing“rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” 1 Timothy 2:8 says that God wants men everywhere to “pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.” Finally, James 1:20 says that “human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” The verse immediately preceding that (James 1:19) says that a Christian should be “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry”.
Hebrews 8:13 reminds us that The Old Covenant, the Law of Moses (including the Ten Commandments) is obsolete, as Christians we are under grace. But the principles behind the sixth command are timeless and apply to God’s children throughout time. Jesus said in Matthew 15:19 (also Mark 7:21-22) For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. Love and anger reside in the heart and if our hearts aren’t clean we are guilty.
None of us are perfect and neither were any of the people in the Bible. The Pharisees thought they were because they weren’t literally murdering people (until they murdered Jesus). Jesus showed the true meaning of the “You shall not murder” command and in doing so showed that nobody was, nor is, innocent. We are all guilty. Remember the words of Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. The only way out of sin is through Jesus Christ.
Jesus summed this all up in Matthew 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Nobody has, is, or ever will be perfect, except for Jesus Christ. The only way for us to fulfill the principles of God’s moral law is through Jesus Christ living in us.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Because we have been crucified with Christ, we have also been raised with him. Romans 6:5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. We have been reconciled with God. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. We are free to grow into Christ’s likeness. Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And in our daily life, we have Christ’s resurrection power as we continue to fight against the sins of the heart, like murder. Ephesians 1:18-20 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.
We are no longer alone, for Christ lives in us – he is our power for living and our hope for the future. Through Him and Him alone we have the power to live-out, to fulfill the spirit, the principles that was behind each of the Ten Commandments. Jesus said in John 15:5 apart from me you can do nothing. But Paul, inspired by God, said in Philippians 4:13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Romans 13:9-10 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
The ability to truly love your neighbor as yourself, to love others the way God loves you, can only come through Jesus Christ. Are you with or without Christ this morning? If your with Him then live like it, be as wise as a serpent, gentle as a dove, and as bold as a lion, loving God and loving others and being salt and light to a dark and lost world. If you’re not in Christ, what are you waiting for? Go to the Scriptures, ask someone to study with you and seek the answers for salvation in the only place that we find absolute truth, God’s Word.