13 “You shall not murder.
Murder is taking judgment into your own hands. You act in the place of God. You determine that a person deserves to die, and you carry out the sentence. There is no impartial, outside person involved. You don’t wait for the jury to return. In fact, you don’t wait for the judge to even meet. You take the life because you want to. Murder is the act of an individual independent of God or an institution empowered by God. There is a proper place for taking a life, but it is not up to an individual to determine that. Governments are established by God and carry out justice on His behalf. Sometimes that includes taking a life as a punishment. Sometimes it means going to war and taking lives. But it is not an individual act. Murder is an act carried out after thought. It is not a spur of the moment act. We are not to contemplate and then carry out the taking of someone else’s life. We are to allow God to exercise His right as Judge. When we commit murder we are usurping the authority that belongs solely to the Lord. We are taking His place, pushing Him aside. Since He gives life, He is the One who is allowed to take it. Now most of us are not facing the possibility of murdering someone too frequently in our lives, so this commandment does not present a very large challenge to us. But Jesus explains the intent of this commandment to include hatred, which is the seedbed of murder. Can you say that you have never been so angry in a moment of time that you wanted to kill someone? I know I have been intensely angry and wanted someone dead. I’m not talking about road-rage, but about seeing intense abuse of another human being and wanting justice. As Yoda in Star Wars says, “Your thoughts betray you.” We are responsible for what we do with our thoughts, whether they get carried into action. Murder is stepping into God’s role as final judge. Don’t step into His place.
The Arnold Journey 