Nahum 1:3 (KJV)
The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked:
the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
what about capital punishment? murder and the death penelty?
The Old Testament of the Bible speaks on the issue of capital punishment:
“He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death” (Exodus 21:12).
Genesis 9:6 ,Leviticus 24:17, also give full authority to those sitting in judgment to
execute a murderer. Deuteronomy 19:11-13 commands unsparing punishment for
such a killer: “…deliver him into the hand of the AVENGER OF BLOOD, that he may die.
Thine eye SHALL NOT PITY HIM, but thou shalt PUT AWAY THE GUILT
of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.”
In the New Testament book of Romans, God REAFFIRMS that authority:
Hebrews 12:5-6 that for our own good those who commit wrong must be corrected.
“Let every soul be subject unto the governing authorities. For there is no authority except
from God, and the authorities that exist [speaking of man’s governments and courts] are
appointed by God.… For he [a government or court official] is God’s minister [“servant”
or “magistrate” in some translations] to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he
does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an AVENGER TO EXECUTE
WRATH on him who practices evil” (Romans 13:1-4; New King James Version).
“Punishment, when meted out in the proper manner, and at the proper time,The reason is
that if we do not receive correction, we will proceed on a course to our own destruction
(Proverbs 14:12).
Through correction, God can steer us in the path toward a happy, fulfilled life.
The criminal mind does not respect authority or correction.
In Proverbs 19:18, God gives us the principle that applies to disobedient children, juvenile
delinquents or hardened criminals. We are told, “Chasten thy son while there is hope, and
let not thy soul spare for his crying” (Proverbs 19:18).
There comes a point for an undisciplined child when there is no (or very little) hope of correcting
bad behavior. Often, a delinquent—and finally a hardened criminal—will result because the
parents were too soft during their child’s early years, when they had the greatest hope of curbing
the child’s self-centered and destructive ways.
As parents and as a society, we are not to “spare for his crying” by lessening the punishment.
Proverbs 13:24 admonishes us, “He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him
DISCIPLINES HIM PROMPTLY” (NKJV). For the good of society and the individual, swift,
stern justice must be meted
out when wrongs are brought to light.
Ecclesiastes 8:11 tells us the importance of swift punishment when it says, “Because sentence
against an evil work is not EXECUTED SPEEDILY, therefore the heart of the sons of men is
fully set in them to DO EVIL.” How clear and wise! When wrongdoing is not immediately
punished, then all or almost all of the deterrent value to any subsequent punishment is lost!
As for determining a person’s guilt, there is only one biblical rule: “Whoever kills a person, the
murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient
testimony against a person for the death penalty” (Numbers 35:30; NKJV).
Deuteronomy 17:6 agrees: “Whoever is worthy of death shall be put to death on the testimony
of two or three witnesses, but he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness” .
In God’s eyes, repeated reprieves and appeals—and now, insistence upon DNA testing
to verify guilt—should not be necessary for death-row inmates.
People who commit crimes are promised a fair trial—NOT a perfect trial.
Ezra 7:26 (KJV)
And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king,
let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death,
or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.
The book of Proverbs states, “When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise,”
and “Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware” (Proverbs 21:11; 19:25). People can
learn vicariously from the experiences of others!
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The “day of the Lord” - a year-long punishment that culminates with the return of Christ.
Zephaniah 1:
16A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
17And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men,
because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out
as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
18Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of
the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy:
for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
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18And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they
should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets,
and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great;
and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
