The Biblical Application of the Death Penalty

I recently preached a sermon on Numbers 35 and the Cities of Refuge. One of the themes in this passage is the application of the sixth commandment, “you shall not murder”. As you read through this passage, it is clear that this is a strong case, and application, of the death penalty, at least in the case of murder.

 

 

In this passage, we see the main theme and process when someone in Israel kills another, they must quickly flee to a city of refuge in order to receive protection and to be ensured a trial. Then we get the rules for judging between murder, and accidental killing, then the penalties for each. Toward the end we get the reason for all of this, to ensure the only true justice; His!

 

Starting in verse 16 it says, “he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.” And verse 17, “he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.” And verse 18, “he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.” Verse 19 says, that the “avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.” And verse 21, “that person shall be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.” That is 6 times that it is repeated that the murderer is to be put to death.

 

Then in verse 29, we are reminded that we just heard how the killer was to be judged. It says, “These are to be legal requirements for you throughout the generations to come, wherever you live.” In verse 30 we start seeing the rules to ensure justice as it reminds us that “no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.” But we go right back to the insistence on the death penalty, in verse 32, there is no substitute, it says, “Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. He must surely be put to death.”

 

Those are the cold, hard facts. Guilt is determined in a very objective, black and white manner. The penalty is clear, there are no options.

 

Most people misunderstand the death penalty, and the reasons for it.

• Some think the reason is life-for-life in terms of bringing redemption to the family who lost a loved one; but this is only a partial reason which doesn’t satisfy, another life only adds to the loss.
• Some think the reason is the extremeness of the penalty is to deter the potential criminal from the crime; this seems reasonable and pragmatic, but even where the penalty is in play, people still murder, so it’s not entirely effective.

The real reason is given in the end of the chapter, verse 33 says, “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.” We are brought back and reminded of the first murder, where Cain killed his brother Able, and God says to him in Genesis 4:10, “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.”

 

To understand this better, we look at to David we tells us, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight”. And we look when Moses writes of Noah when he gets off the ark after the flood and God makes a covenant with him in Genesis 9. God tells Noah in verse 6 that “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed” then he continues and gives the reason, “for in the image of God has God made man.” When we kill another, we destroy His image! God takes that seriously, that is why “bloodshed pollutes the land” and tells us the ultimate reason, to protect God’s image, God’s holiness, to “not defile the land…where I dwell.” from verse 34.

 

To summarize: The death penalty is put in place not to reconcile man to man, but to maintain God’s holiness, from pollution, and from destroying His image in each of us. When we fail to use God’s law for justice in determining the guilt of the murderer, and fail to implement His judgment, then the cry of the land grows stronger for our injustice and our defiling God’s land.

Growing Through Family Worship

This blog posting is a copy of the text of a speach that I gave at my local Toastmasters club last week. I've added the scripture references into this post so you know where they came from, but left them out of the speach. It evoked some negative reactions...

Today, I would like to introduce you to the foundational Christian practice of Family Worship. I was introduced to Family Worship two years ago and began to practice it with my family. Don’t let me fool you, this was not an easy thing to get started and convince the family of, but its benefits far outweigh the struggle of getting started. Once you get past the initial resistance, it is simple and requires only minimal effort to keep going. Let me tell you why you should begin to practice Family Worship.

God Commands It:
First of all, God commands it. We read early on in the history of the Bible, when Moses was leading Israel through the wilderness, that God gave Moses many commandments and he told them to “teach them to your children. Talk about them when you sit down and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” –Deuteronomy 6:7

Solomon also gave us his wisdom when he reminded us to “train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” –Proverbs 22:6

And Paul tells us, as fathers, to “bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” –Ephesians 6:4

You will grow closer to your family:
Again, why should we do this? Or why does God command this?

First of all, Moses tells us that we should do this “so that we may enjoy long life, and so that it may go well with you, and you may increase greatly.” –Deuteronomy 6:2-3  One of the benefits that I have seen is a better connection and relationship with my children, and my wife. If you practice this regularly, in time, you will also see this happen. When you spend time together in this way, reading, praying, and asking questions, you will grow closer to each other.

It is simple to do:
The next reason to practice Family Worship is that it is very simple and gives a high return on investment. Many people don’t practice this because they think they don’t know enough, or it will be too hard.

It doesn’t need to be hard; here is what you need to do. Find a time to gather your family every day. Then, sit down together and read the Bible. There is no better tool to teach your family about God, than His Word. In fact, this is the most effective way; not through a ‘devotional’ or a ‘life-application’ bible, or a ‘Bible study guide’; just God’s Word, pure and simple.

Second, pray together. This can be short and simple, but praying for each other and for others lets your family see your heart and desires for them. We began asking each person to thank God for a blessing each day in order to help keep a positive, thankful, attitude in them.

Third, sing together; even if you are out of tune, or can't carry a tune. You may have some songs your family knows from memory, or you can find some songs and music online. We use an old hymnal that our church gave away when they got new hymnals. You can sing a cappella, or if someone is talented sing with a piano or guitar.

If you are short on time for one reason or another, you can skip the singing, but don’t skip the reading or the prayer.

You will grow spiritually:
The last benefit I will mention is your own spiritual growth. Through the process of reading God’s Word you will learn. You will learn from your children and spouse asking you questions. You don’t have to know all the answers, just promise to take some time to investigate give an answer the next day. They usually aren't looking for a long, complex answer, just simple answers to their questions.

Conclusion
As a parent, this is a simple thing to do. All you really need is a Bible, and 15 minutes each day. Do this every day without excuses to skip and you will grow spiritually, grow together as a family, and gain more influence in your child’s life than even their peers.

I urge you to begin Family Worship today. Don’t delegate this to someone else! Not the church, nor even a school. This is a “do-it-yourself” project. That is the only way you will get these benefits.

Spiritual Growth 101

Recently I have run into several references to the concept of Spiritual Formation. In concept this seems like a good idea, but some of the ideas and practices promoted by those in the Spiritual Formation movement are counter to the Biblical examples and commandments. I may address some of the other practices promoted by the Spiritual Formation movement, but first let me address the core of spiritual growth from a Biblical perspective.

What are the basics of growing as a Christian?
This is an important question, and every Christian needs growth whether they are a new Christian, a mature Christian, or a struggling Christian. Maybe you've grown and are experiencing a spiritual plateau or a dry spell. Maybe you just don’t know where or how to start.

One of my hobbies is playing table tennis. Just as in table tennis and any other pursuit you may be involved in, if you want to improve you need to practice. You also need to learn and add disciplines to your practice. At first, you may just spend time playing. Then start practicing your serve, or your spin, or ball placement. Later you add to your growth by learning and practicing new techniques for different aspects of your game.

Likewise, to grow spiritually, spend time practicing. As you want to take that next step, refocus, or learn new techniques. Avoid learning some of those bad habits or techniques that could slow or limit your growth.

What are the core practices for spiritual growth?
There are three core practices of the Christian faith. They are to:

1. read God’s Word


2. pray, and


3. worship God

All three of these are required, none are optional. It is important for each of these, as you are beginning, and growing, to keep each of these pure. In other words, don’t add to them with other aids or props. Adding to them may get you into harmful or limiting techniques. I’ll go into more on each of these, but this is important to keep it simple to start with, and to keep it free from pollution as you mature.

Each of these practices should be done individually, as a family, and as the body in church. Each of these contexts is important, for they are all commanded in God’s Word. These three core practices should all be done every day (not necessarily corporately, but at least individually.

I make a distinction between these practices and the sacraments. The sacraments are signs and seals to remind us of God’s love and covenant with us. The sacraments can be classified in the context of corporate worship and faithful administration of the sacraments is one of the signs of a true church.

What are the goals of spiritual growth?
As you faithfully practice these with discipline, you will grow in maturity, and knowledge of the Lord. Through these you will get spiritual food, to sustain you. In John 15, Jesus reminds us,

”I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;”

We will bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

As we bear fruit and grow, we must not forget that we may get pruned (disciplined). When we are disciplined, it may feel like we've been cut off, but God will not cut off those that are His.

Conclusion
As you grow, you will see your growth, you will see more and more of God’s hand in your life and in the history of the world, and you will sense God’s leading through His promised Holy Spirit.

Here are a few closing scriptures of encouragement:
1 Corinthians 9:24b,

“Run in such a way as to get the prize.”

Galatians 5:7,

“You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?”

Hebrews 12:1b,

“let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Spiritual growth is important; it takes discipline, and yields its fruit. A fruit does not grow to maturity in a day, but grows as it gets the nourishment that it needs. Don’t get discouraged, keep running and you will finish the race well, God is faithful!

The Ten Commandments and sin

I heard someone say recently that the 10 commandments are divided into two parts. The first half lists sins against God; the second half lists sins against your neighbor, thus corresponding to the two greatest commandments.

There is some helpfulness in dividing the commandments this way. But this isn’t quite an accurate picture of God and his relationship with man. David wrote Psalm 51 when the prophet Nathan confronted him about his adultery with Bathsheba.

In verse 4, David writes, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.” So, even with a sin that appears to man to be a sin against another man, it is a sin against God alone!

Maybe we should consider these two categories of the 10 commandments as direct sins against God, and indirect sins against God through others.

Do Aliens Exist? Biblical indicators

In our culture, many people talk about aliens. Both from scientific investigation such as SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence), and from a social or experience perspective with reports of UFO sightings, crop circles, and abductions.

If you are interested in a more detailed treatment of this subject, I recommend a book by Dr. Gary Bates called Alien Intrusion. This book was a good eye-opener for looking at this topic, both in terms of the evidence, the symptoms, and their message and purpose.

I would not do true justice to this topic if I tried to treat it in-depth, you are better off reading his book. What I’d like to do is look at the question, “Do aliens exist?” from the Biblical evidence.

First, let’s look at Genesis where we find the foundation for nearly all doctrines in the Bible.

The Earth and other Heavenly Bodies

The first two verses in the Bible show how the earth is treated differently than the rest of the other heavenly bodies by mentioning the earth separately and by creating it before the rest.

Genesis 1:1-2, “¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ²Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

Then later, on day four, God creates the other heavenly bodies, and mentioning that “He also made the stars”. But he made them for a purpose that he mentions, to give light and to mark seasons and days and year. When mentioning the purpose of giving light, it is to give light to the earth, not to other planets.

Genesis 1:14-19, “¹⁴And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, ¹⁵and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. ¹⁶God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

Mankind

Second, let’s look at another concept in Genesis, the creation of mankind.

Genesis 1 shows that God made mankind, male and female, in his image and did not create others (fish, birds, animals, plants) in his image. Other extra-terrestrial intelligence is eerily missing.

Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

In the second account of God’s creation in Genesis 2 we see some other clues about man’s purpose. In verse 18 we read, “The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." This doesn’t mean that it’s not good for man to be alone in the universe, thus supporting other life forms out there. If this were so, why have we not found them yet, since God didn’t want us to be alone? But, if we look at the text, it points to a helper suitable for him, which we find out later is his wife Eve. Verse 22 says, “Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib ^[j] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.”

Then after the fall and the curse we see Adam name his wife Eve recognizing both biology and the curse.

Genesis 3:20, “²⁰ Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.”

Paul reinforces that as he talks about death coming to all mankind through Adam, and life and redemption through Christ.

Romans 5:12,14, “¹²Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— … ¹⁴Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.”

Eve was the mother of all the living, the gift of life comes through Jesus Christ, only to those who are made in God’s image and are under the curse of the first man.

Final, Conclusion

Further support comes in various places, one unique scripture dealing with this supports the idea that the earth is unique among God’s creation, limiting the argument for intelligent life on other planets.

Isaiah 45:12 and 18, “¹² It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts. … ¹⁸ For this is what the LORD says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: "I am the LORD, and there is no other.”

God here is affirming that He is sovereign and everything is done for his purpose, he is putting King Cyrus in his place and reminding him that God did all this, and God put King Cyrus in authority for His purposes. Here God reminds us that the earth is special and he put man on it, “he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited”. He does not say this anywhere about any other planet or heavenly body.

In the end, this is an argument from silence, which has some weakness built in. However, we can conclude with some confidence that God made the earth special, God made man in his own image, the “mother of all living”, and he made the earth to be inhabited. Thus, we should not expect to find intelligent life in outer space.