Mankind is created in God's image and likeness. - Gen. 1:26-27 - Murdering a human being, therefore, is a serious crime and must be punished. - Gen. 9:6 - One of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament states, "You shall not kill/murder" - Ex. 20:13; Deut. 5:17 - This commandment is quoted several times in the New Testament. - Matt. 19:18; Luke 18:20; Rom. 13:9 -
Although a compensation - a 'ransom' or payment of money - could be made for some crimes, this was not so in the case of murder or killing. The "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot" law held that an appropriate punishment must be given for a crime, but that the punishment must not be greater than the crime.
In any case of homicide, the evidence of witnesses must determine whether the murderer is to be put to death; but the evidence of a single witness is not sufficient to uphold a capital charge. You are not to accept ransom for the life of a murderer condemned to death; he must die. - Num. 35:30-31 - Deut. 19:21 - Ex. 21:22-25 -
In the Old Testament, and in according to the Law of Moses, the person responsible for carrying out the death penalty, in revenge for a murder, was called the go'el or Kinsman Redeemer. He was the able bodied male most closely related to the person who had been murdered. The normal means of execution apparently was stoning; the body was then hung on a tree. A person who had accidentally killed another might flee to a City of Refuge for safety and protection.
Then all his fellow citizens shall stone him to death. You must banish this evil from your midst. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid. If a man guilty of a capital offence is put to death and you hang him on a tree, his body must not remain on the tree overnight; you must bury him the same day. for one who has been hanged is accursed of God, and you must not defile the land that Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance. - Deut. 21;21-23 -
In the New Testament, Jesus deepened the Old Testament teaching about murder or killing by giving it a spiritual dimension. Whoever harbors anger and hatred against his brothers/sisters is in danger of God's judgment. Murder begins in the heart - one's thoughts and meditations - and proceeds out of the heart.
Can you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes through the stomach and is discharged into the sewer? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and it is these that make a man unclean. For from the heart come evil intentions: murder, adultery, fornication, theft, perjury, slander. - Matt. 15:17-19 -
For it is from within, from men hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. - Mark 7:21-22 -
By the grace of God, even murder can be forgiven. Before his conversion of heart, Saul of Tarsus launched threats and murder against the disciples, followers, believers of the Lord Jesus Christ, but by the forgiveness and grace of God he was converted and became Paul the apostle, missionary to the Gentiles.
He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. And I tell you, everyone of men sins and blasphemies will be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And anyone who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but let anyone speak against the Holy Spirit and he will not be forgiven either in this world or in the next. - Matt. 12:30-32 -
'I tell you most solemnly, all men sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies; but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of an eternal sin.' - Mark 3:28-29 -
Everyone who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. - Luke 12:10 -
... The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul........ Saul then worked for the total destruction of the Church: he went from house to house arresting both men and women and sending them to prison. - Acts 7:55-60, 8:1-3 -
Meanwhile Saul was still breathing threats to slaughter the Lord's disciples............ - Acts 9:1-30 -
The fact is, brothers, and I want you to realize this, the Good News I preached is not a human message that I was given by men, it is something I learnt only through a revelation of Jesus Christ.............who had heard nothing except that their one-time persecutor was now preaching the faith he had previously tried to destroy; and they gave glory to God for me. - Gal. 1: 11-24 -
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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