Exodus 20:13,15 (You must not...)
Last week had a great response. In fact, the best response I've yet had to a post. Thank you to all who took time to read and consider the post. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. I plan to take time to look into how to make the Sabbath holy in our modern times and hope to post more on my findings at some point in the future.
This week we return to our series on the Ten Commandments and the relationship aspect of them. The next two commandments deal with our relationship to society. I'm going to look more closely at verse 14 next week.
Exodus 20:13,15
“You must not murder.
“You must not steal.
All members of a society have a right to feel safe and to be safe.
As we read or watch in the news nearly everyday, this safety is not something we can take for granted. Violent death is an unfortunate part of our daily news consumption. And yet this flies in the face of God's will for our lives.
Murder first entered the world in Genesis 4 when Cain killed his brother Abel in jealousy. In fact, the Bible records just over 2.8m people killed up to and including Jesus. And I find this quite troubling in the face of the commandment given by God.
I suspect there is no easy way to reconcile these two quite opposite events. As such, it is something I'll be taking to God in prayer in the hopes He can show me an answer as to how He reconciles the deaths in the face of His command in Exodus.
Today, though, I feel it is much more clear cut. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines murder as "the act of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought." I would argue that the lawfully allowed murder of a person is also wrong. That is, state sanctioned executions are wrong. The concept of an eye for an eye is outdated and not something a thinking person should subscribe to.
To murder someone robs the world of that person with all their talents, skills and possibilities. It is also a crime for which the victim is no longer in a place to forgive and this can mean that the guilty party may be saddled with the guilt for the rest of their lives. Thankfully, although there will always be repercussions for actions, Jesus is able to forgive us of any sin, even murder.
Although he didn't put the actual nails in the hands of Jesus, Judas is still responsible in part for His death. Had he sought forgiveness from Jesus, rather than the priests of his time, the outcome for him may have been different.
All life is precious and it is never our place to decide if someone's should end.
And so we continue on to verse 15: "You must not steal"
To steal is deprive someone else of something they have or deserve. I don't believe stealing is limited to physical objects. You can steal someone's idea, someone's thunder, even someone's joy.
It's simple not to steal a 'thing'. You just don't. You call on self control, look to your moral compass and realise that it doesn't belong to you, so it's not yours. However, I find it's incredibly easy for me to steal in other ways.
I've delivered sermons, or parts of sermons that are a straight copy from someone else, without crediting them. I've blundered into conversations and taken over without realising it. I've taken credit when it wasn't due.
Very few of these things were ever done on purpose. I don't set out each day to steal ideas from people, but it does sometimes happen.
In a way, preventing someone from receiving something they are due is stealing They may never know it happened, but it's still stealing.
Society is governed by a social contract that says that we will treat each other well, deal fairly and do our best to help others. The social contract relies on each person in it having a moral basis to operate from. These bases are not the same for everyone and can often be polar opposites. Consider the view of the church versus secular society when it comes to same sex marriage. Even within each distinct group in our society there are differing views. And this is only one example.
For any person who calls themselves a Christian, the moral basis for our operations is not our own. It belongs to, and is dictated by God. With our free will we can choose to follow it or not at our choosing. Yet I feel that there are basic elements that we cannot, in good faith, choose to ignore. The ten commandments are a major part of these.
Murder and stealing are the same thing with different focuses. Murder robs someone of their potential future, their family of a loved one, and society of a level of richness it will never know. To murder is to steal from both one and many.
This week we return to our series on the Ten Commandments and the relationship aspect of them. The next two commandments deal with our relationship to society. I'm going to look more closely at verse 14 next week.
Exodus 20:13,15
“You must not murder.
“You must not steal.
All members of a society have a right to feel safe and to be safe.
As we read or watch in the news nearly everyday, this safety is not something we can take for granted. Violent death is an unfortunate part of our daily news consumption. And yet this flies in the face of God's will for our lives.
Murder first entered the world in Genesis 4 when Cain killed his brother Abel in jealousy. In fact, the Bible records just over 2.8m people killed up to and including Jesus. And I find this quite troubling in the face of the commandment given by God.I suspect there is no easy way to reconcile these two quite opposite events. As such, it is something I'll be taking to God in prayer in the hopes He can show me an answer as to how He reconciles the deaths in the face of His command in Exodus.
Today, though, I feel it is much more clear cut. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines murder as "the act of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought." I would argue that the lawfully allowed murder of a person is also wrong. That is, state sanctioned executions are wrong. The concept of an eye for an eye is outdated and not something a thinking person should subscribe to.
To murder someone robs the world of that person with all their talents, skills and possibilities. It is also a crime for which the victim is no longer in a place to forgive and this can mean that the guilty party may be saddled with the guilt for the rest of their lives. Thankfully, although there will always be repercussions for actions, Jesus is able to forgive us of any sin, even murder.
Although he didn't put the actual nails in the hands of Jesus, Judas is still responsible in part for His death. Had he sought forgiveness from Jesus, rather than the priests of his time, the outcome for him may have been different.
All life is precious and it is never our place to decide if someone's should end.
To steal is deprive someone else of something they have or deserve. I don't believe stealing is limited to physical objects. You can steal someone's idea, someone's thunder, even someone's joy.
It's simple not to steal a 'thing'. You just don't. You call on self control, look to your moral compass and realise that it doesn't belong to you, so it's not yours. However, I find it's incredibly easy for me to steal in other ways.
I've delivered sermons, or parts of sermons that are a straight copy from someone else, without crediting them. I've blundered into conversations and taken over without realising it. I've taken credit when it wasn't due.
Very few of these things were ever done on purpose. I don't set out each day to steal ideas from people, but it does sometimes happen.
In a way, preventing someone from receiving something they are due is stealing They may never know it happened, but it's still stealing.
Society is governed by a social contract that says that we will treat each other well, deal fairly and do our best to help others. The social contract relies on each person in it having a moral basis to operate from. These bases are not the same for everyone and can often be polar opposites. Consider the view of the church versus secular society when it comes to same sex marriage. Even within each distinct group in our society there are differing views. And this is only one example.
For any person who calls themselves a Christian, the moral basis for our operations is not our own. It belongs to, and is dictated by God. With our free will we can choose to follow it or not at our choosing. Yet I feel that there are basic elements that we cannot, in good faith, choose to ignore. The ten commandments are a major part of these.
Murder and stealing are the same thing with different focuses. Murder robs someone of their potential future, their family of a loved one, and society of a level of richness it will never know. To murder is to steal from both one and many.
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