Ten Commandments, P6: Don’t Murder
“You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20: 13, NIV)
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hellof fire.” (Matthew 5:21-22, ESV)
Seems a pretty open and shut commandment. Don’t murder. Easy enough. Most people don’t really get the urge to premeditate and act on the actual slaying of another life.
But when God says “murder,” what does He actually mean? The word used here is “rasah,” which is a Hebrew word specifically meaning a premeditated killing. This would not apply to accidental killing, death related to self-defense, or death as punishment by law. To kill in the context of this word, rasah, is reserved for a murder born out of hatred or malice towards someone else. This could include vengeful murder handled outside of lawful verdict, assassination, and murdering due to bitterness or vindictiveness towards someone.
The important aspect of this term is that it focuses largely on premeditation. What is interesting, is that in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus brings up this commandment and expounds upon it. In Matthew 5, Jesus harkens back to “Thou shall not murder,” but traces the evil in one’s heart that would lead to murder and brings it to its origins.
Yes, murder is wrong, but people don’t just go from neutral to murderous. There is something else that occurs far before someone comes to the decision to take a life: they get angry. The obvious, ethical, and moral idea put forth by society is that the taking of another life is wrong. But Jesus likens the original anger that spirals into murder to be just as worthy of judgment.
If you murder someone, you are liable for judgment, but if you harbor anger, bitterness, offense, and hatred for someone, you are just as liable. Whoever insults his brother will be just as guilty before a council as someone who drives a knife through him, and will be just as deserving of the fires of hell.
Sounds harsh, but I didn’t say it– Jesus did. That’s how seriously God takes unforgiveness. That’s how solemnly He regards hatred in our hearts.
“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (Mark 11:25, NIV)
We’ve all heard it before: sin is sin. There is no “big” sin and no “little” sins. We don’t get graded when we stand before God at the end of our lives on a sliding scale of how good or bad we were. There is no end tally of it all that determines where we end up. What we might deem as a big sin like murder, is just as bad as the unforgiveness or ill will we carry around for someone that we feel has wronged us.
So maybe we think to ourselves: “No murdering. Easy enough, I’ll be able to follow that command with no problem.” But Jesus holds us to a higher standard than just refraining from killing people. If that were the case, the bar for righteousness would be on the floor. Instead, we are to also confront, address, and refrain from the emotions and thoughts that would even lead to that outlandish action of premeditating and carrying out a murder.
Our anger? Our unforgiveness? These are things that we are commanded to not bear with either. The standard that God wants us to live in is much higher than not doing what even the unsaved wouldn’t consider doing. We need to be more like Jesus, who asks us to love our neighbor, not revile him. We need to be more like our Savior, who tells us that our unforgiveness discounts us from forgiveness from the Father. We should forgive others because God forgave us. We should let go of our anger towards others because God made a way for us to be saved from His wrath.
Even our anger needs to be submitted to God and forgiven by Him. Today, take a few moments to search your heart. Ask God to reveal any anger or unforgiveness you may be carrying around over past offenses from other people. Ask Him to help you let it go and bring you to a place where that bitterness can be forgiven and submitted to Him.
Nothing is worth holding onto more than God and what He desires for us.
