Exodus 21: 12-21: “He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die. And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death. And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death. And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed: If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed. And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.”
On the sixth day of creation the Lord God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground and they He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life so that Adam became a living soul (Gen 2: 7). This was only only specific action the Lord did to bring life. We find that the Lord commanded the earth to bring forth living creatures but that He created man in His own image and breathed into him the breath of life. This specific activity on God’s part makes life sacred. We can kill animals for food but to kill another person is to undo the Lord’s specific activity. When a person treats the Lord with such disrespect and destroys another life then that person forfeits their own life. However, there are some instances where the rules are not so specific. Sometimes a person dies in an accident. The killer is, in many ways, a victim of the circumstances as well and had not deliberately sought to undo the Lord’s work. Under these circumstances a person can find security. However the Lord also established an ordered world and that includes lines of authority. To kill your parents is to violate the lines of authority in the Lord’s ordered world and openly attack his wisdom. Sometimes a person attacks another person and they are injured then the attacker must bear the responsibly of the damage they have done.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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