Thou Shalt Not Kill
©Rhonda Pethoud 2/28/2015
History proves the events of the Bible. The Bible shows us why those events occurred. All the battles and taking over of land and territory was a direct result of God trying to eliminate evil and promote those who would choose to live in peace with one another. It’s not unlike our world today, when peaceful nations try to suppress those who would do harm to mankind. Good people rise up against evil because they inherently know that it’s wrong to murder innocents or suppress women or kidnap children and marry them off to a 60 year old man. We know what evil is, and continuing to fight against it is a call that has been placed in our heart from the beginning of time.
Simply saying that everyone should be able to live in peace is a complete disregard of the intent of others who refuse to recognize their evil. We have been unsuccessful in convincing terrorists to stop their jihad; we have been unsuccessful in stopping the sex trade of children; we have been unsuccessful in stopping the suppression women in Muslim countries and on and on and on. We can’t just SAY “people should live in peace” and expect that everyone follows suit. They won’t, because, simply put – there are those who have selfish or evil intent. Whatever their goal, if it disrupts the peaceful life of another human being to the point they can’t live normally, that goal can be considered evil. It is simplistic to think that because we wish it to be so, that others will follow suit.
No amount of negotiating will convince evil people that they should give up their evil goals. They believe in it, just as surely as Christians believe Jesus died on the Cross. The difference between what they believe and what Christians know to be true is, God does not condone murder. Whomever these evil people are worshipping is NOT God.
The sixth commandment is, Thou shall not kill.
The real translation from Hebrew is, thou shall not murder. There’s a huge difference between killing in times of war and murdering someone, including self-murder (suicide) and murdering an unborn child (abortion). The short answer to those who resent the bloody wars in the Bible and war that occurs in our present time is, that is not murder. It is war, and war is recognized by God as a necessity sometimes to eradicate evil. Biblical Christians were not going from town to town murdering people for no good reason simply because God told them to do so. The intent was always to eliminate evil, just as it is today. We need to recognize what the evil is, and call it evil. Some cult religions require their followers to kill anyone who doesn’t believe as they do. Christianity however, does not require such a thing from believers. God reveres life, and expects us to do the same.
We fought the Germans in World War II to eradicate the evil of Hitler’s regime. How many thousands of people were murdered in that war as a result of Hitler’s evil intent? When the U.S. became engaged in that war, it was after much soul-searching and prayer that our leaders believed they could no longer turn away and ignore the atrocities that were occurring in Nazi Germany and Poland.
Let’s be clear on what the bible says about it. Murder is the sin. The eradication of evil is God-ordained when good, bible-believing men and women seek His face and act according to scripture. We need to pray for our leaders who seem to be baffled by their responsibility to humanity. God expects them to act.