Seeing how some here believe that "murderers" ought to be put to death and seeing how some here quote "the law" when it is convenient for them to do so, I thought that I'd post the following:
"And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares. And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment. And of these cities which ye shall give six cities shall ye have for refuge. Ye shall give three cities on this side Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge. These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither. And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him. But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait, that he die; Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him. But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait, Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm: Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments: And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil. But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled; And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood: Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession. So these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death. And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest. So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it." (Numbers 35:9-33)
Under "the law", the LORD instructed Moses to designate "cities of refuge" to which someone who killed someone "unawares" or without premeditated intent or accidentally might flee to be free from the revenger of blood until the death of the high priest. After the death of the high priest, the one who killed unintentionally was free to return back to his own city without any fear of retribution. What of the premeditated murderer? He was granted no such asylum, but instead he was to be put to death without any "satisfaction" or ransom. "See!", some here would exclaim, "God is for the capital punishment of murderers!" Under "the law", such certainly seems to be the case. Here's the thing, though...
Jesus described for us the actual intent of the law in His "Sermon on the Mount" and, in doing so, He described for us exactly who "murderers" are in God's sight:
"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." (Matthew 5:21-26)
When Jesus said, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill (or literally "Thou shalt not murder"); and whosoever shall kill (literally "murder") shall be in danger of the judgment", He quoted unto them "the law" as was given to Moses. However, when Jesus continued on to say, "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire", He not only explained how that the true intent of God's law was to deal with matters of the heart and that unwarranted hatred constitutes "murder" in God's eyes, but He also established the principle for "judging" under the New Covenant. Yes, unwarranted "hatred" in one's heart constitutes as "MURDER" in God's eyes and John later taught the very same thing:
"Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." (I John 3:15)
Here then is my question for everybody here:
Judging by God's standard, who among us hasn't been (or presently isn't) guilty of MURDER?
If all murderers should be put to death, then why are you still alive? Isn't your very life a testimony against your own stated beliefs? Ought you not be turning yourselves in and submitting yourselves to "capital punishment"?
Nah, it's always easier to kill "the other guy", right? This whole conversation reminds me of an analogy that I heard Ray Comfort give many years ago:
"A little girl saw a sheep lying in the green grass and she said to her mother, "Mommy, look how white that sheep is." Then it began to snow. The little girl then said to her mother, "Mommy, look how dirty that sheep is."
Same sheep. Different background. Ray's/my point? It's so easy for the self-righteous to look "clean" when they compare themselves to the "serial killers" of this world. However, against the snow white backdrop of Christ's righteousness and the type of righteousness which He demands, there's really no difference at all between the "serial killers" AND OURSELVES. Be careful that while you're busy condemning others you're not busy condemning yourselves:
"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." (Matthew 7:1-5)
Having mercifully been forgiven of my own "serial murders" when I repented of the same and having had my own physical life spared, I'm more than willing to seek the same type of mercy for other "serial murderers".
