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CONNIE: Is God interested in the “Right to Life?” Well, wherever your sentiments fall on the issue of abortion, one thing is for sure, God does want us to protect human life. In fact He wrote His intentions in stone!

Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for 75 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery,

LONNIE: and I’m Lonnie Melashenko. We’re glad you’ve joined us today as we continue our series looking at the ten laws that God wrote in stone up on Mount Sinai. Today we’ll be looking at the Sixth Commandment, “Thou Shalt not kill,” as it reads in the King James Version.

CONNIE: Some of the more recent Bible versions substitute the word “murder” for kill in their translation, don’t they Lonnie?

LONNIE: Yes, they do, and I’ll be discussing that a bit in my sermon today. The point is that the Hebrew word does refer to homicide or killing another person with premeditated malice, not to all killing.

CONNIE: Well, I noticed you’ve titled your message “The Right to Life.” Of course that’s a popular phrase used by people opposed to abortion. Do you think that’s one of the things prohibited by the Sixth Commandment?

LONNIE: I definitely see the Commandment expressing God’s interest in preserving human life. After all, God didn’t create life just to have us destroy it. I think that any situation where we find ourselves taking other human lives, no matter how large or how small, demeans the value of life that God created.

CONNIE: This can happen in war as well. We have a fascinating interview lined up for today, with a man who studied for pastoral ministry, actually was a pastor, then left that behind and went off to be a war correspondent. He brings a unique perspective to the Sixth Commandment in his book Losing Moses on the Freeway. Ken Wade spoke with Chris Hedges, let’s listen in.

KEN: I want to welcome Chris Hedges to our program today. Chris is a senior fellow at the Nation Institute…Chris, a book I read recently made me want to speak to you particularly about the sixth commandment. Welcome!

CHRIS: Thank you very much!

KEN: Chris, as I was working on the programs on the Ten Commandments, I read a review of your book, Losing Moses on the Freeway and ran right out and got a copy. I want to tell you that I really enjoyed it!

CHRIS: Thanks.

KEN: There are some fascinating stories in there and you reveal your own life experience and in particular, growing up in a conservative environment, going to seminary, working for the poor while you were in seminary and yet becoming somewhat disillusioned with that and becoming war correspondent. Chris, out of all those different experiences you had, as you look at the sixth commandment, Thou Shalt Do No Murder, how has that impacted you?

CHRIS: Well, it’s impacted me profoundly because I spent almost 20 years of my life covering conflicts as a war correspondent for the New York Times for 15 years, the Dallas Morning News, and the Christian Science Monitor, and National Public Radio. So this was something that I had to grapple with whether it’s been in El Salvador, Algeria, the Persian Gulf, Sarajevo or Kosovo.

KEN: You’ve seen a side of life that most of us will never see except through our televisions. Although highly edited.

CHRIS: It is highly edited! I think the only people who finally actually see what war is like are the people who are actually there. It is so horrifying, disgusting and frightening…

KEN: …Demoralizing?

CHRIS: Certainly depressing and dark. You understand the capacity the human beings have for atrocity and how easy it is to commit that in the heat of battle.

KEN: I know you say that in your own experience there in Roxbury, that you kind of peered into the darkness of your own soul as well.

CHRIS: You know, I walked into the urban ghettos and I’m pretty much an idealist with a vision of myself as somebody who had come to help and serve, but I think also along with that, that it entailed a kind of veneration and respect as time went on, that I’m not sure I deserved. I had to confront the things that many of us who come out of a religious tradition have to confront at some point. That is, that I was attending church in many ways to worship my own goodness, my own virtue, and I had made an idol out of that.

KEN: Now, particularly in reaction to the commandment that say, Thou shalt not murder, but that doesn’t exclude going out and spraying Napalm all over people…..From you experiences how would you react to that?

CHRIS: I draw a distinction between murder and killing. There are many biblical scholars who, in the translation from Hebrew argue that we should perhaps look at the commandment as we shall not murder, rather than, we shalt not kill. I think that distinction is real in the sense that when someone is trying to do you harm, when somebody is armed and powerful. When you respond with force and take their life you are killing them. Murder is something else. Murder is the snuffing out of lives of those who are defenseless, those who have no capacity to do you harm. Of course, any war entails both murder and killing. In some of the wars that I covered in the Balkans or El Salvador, there was more murder than killing, which is often the case with insurgencies which often take place in the civilian areas.

KEN: What I hear you saying, because I recommend the book, because the stories are powerful, is that there are a lot of innocent lives snuffed out in any situation and we really need to look at this commandment a little bit more carefully then we perhaps have.

CHRIS: I certainly focus much of my discussion around a bishop who was a platoon leader in Vietnam. He goes to seminary after he gets back from Vietnam and resolves to spend the rest of his existence affirming and protecting and nurturing life in a kind of open atonement for his experience in Vietnam. I would express that neither Bishop Packard or myself are pacifists, but at the same time war unleashes darkness. There’s a Catholic writer I quote and he says that war is almost a of pure sin with its twin goals of hatred and destruction. There are times that when human society’s, in order to survive and in order to protect themselves, their communities have to resort to violence, but that doesn’t save us from the pernicious effects of violence. It’s that kind of moral quandary that I try and grapple with.

KEN: You certainly do and I really appreciate it, thank you for taking time to speak with us today.

CHRIS: I’m happy to do it.

“Take My Life”, Paul Madden and the Dreamers, from Return to Hymn CD.

CONNIE: Amen! That was Paul Madden, sharing a familiar song with a message that follows up nicely on our interview today. I was especially intrigued by the story of the man who returned from Vietnam and studied for the ministry—dedicating his life to bringing healing and forgiveness after having participated in just the opposite during his time as a soldier.

LONNIE: We don’t always get a chance to decide what we’ll dedicate our lives to—sometimes those choices are made for us—but I think it’s significant that this man, when he got into a situation where he could make his own choices, chose to serve others. A very good choice! Far more satisfying than always looking out for number one!

CONNIE: It’s not always easy to know what to give your life to, but the Bible has some good counsel for those who are seeking, doesn’t it?

LONNIE: Yes, it sure does. And that’s why we preach from the Bible on our broadcast, and always encourage our listeners to get involved in Bible study on their own. We’ve made a great tool for that available on the Internet, as well as through the mail.
CONNIE: That’s the Discover Bible Lessons, of course.

LONNIE: Yes, and don’t forget the Focus on Prophecy course also.

CONNIE: These are both excellent courses, and you can check them out at our website at vop.com, or write to us and ask to be enrolled. We’ll have full details in about a dozen minutes, but right now let’s listen to Pastor Lonnie’s message for today, “The Right to Life.”

The Right to Life

Cartoonist Berk Breathed has a way of capturing the dilemmas of life in his cartoon strips. A classic Bloom County offering comes to mind as I think about the Sixth Commandment: Opus, the penguin philosopher, and some of his friends have somehow decided that they must carefully avoid hurting any life. They’re doing everything they possibly can to keep from killing anyone or anything.

In the opening panel we find them suspended in midair, dangling from a tree branch to avoid stepping on any ants or other living creatures.

But there’s a problem, and a question that won’t go away, no matter how conscientious or careful they are. What if they accidentally breathe in a tiny gnat? And then, what about the multitudes of bacteria and viruses floating in the air?

By cartoon’s end the dilemma is not solved. Simply staying alive demands that we take the lives of any microorganisms that would like to take over and destroy our bodies.

So, is it really possible to obey the Commandment “Thou shalt not kill”?

By the way, that’s how I remember reciting it in front of church as a boy, and that’s probably how you learned it too, if your church used the King James Version of the Bible. There are other translations that word the commandment a bit differently now, and we’ll get to that in a moment.

But however you read it, this commandment sets up one of the most powerful dilemmas found anywhere in the Bible. Is it possible to live on earth without taking the lives of other creatures?

Fortunately in this instance, referring to some modern translations can help us get a clearer picture of what’s intended in the original Hebrew. The New King James Version, for instance, translates Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.”

This helps to clear up the issue a bit. I don’t have to worry about every mosquito I swat, or the spider my wife Jeannie asks me to “dispose of.”

But another dilemma comes to mind as well. It comes up often in discussions about the stories in the Old Testament, and particularly about some of the other things that the Lord asked His people to do.

How could the God of the Commandments send His people on missions to destroy whole populations of Amalekites or Ammonites or Girgashites?

And the question becomes even more ticklish when we ask how could the God whom Jesus revealed in the New Testament be the same One who so often led His people to blood-soaked victories over their enemies?

In the early days of the Christian church, this question troubled some people so much that they came to the conclusion that the Old Testament God was different from the God that Jesus proclaimed. This led to various heresies that church leaders had to deal with.

But a careful reading of the Sixth Commandment reveals that there isn’t necessarily so deep a conflict between the commandment and the actions God led His people into.

Hebrew scholar David Noel Freedman explains the Sixth Commandment this way:

This prohibition has a far more restrictive meaning than simply forbidding the taking of another's life. [In Bible times], the intentional killing of human beings was at times both acceptable and encouraged. If the commandment had forbidden the killing of any human, violations of this commandment would abound in the Book of Judges. For example, in chapter three, Eglon, the Moabite king, dies at the hands of Israel's second judge, Ehud. The next two chapters report the more famous story of a Kenite woman named Jael who drives a tent peg into the head of Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army. In chapter seven, the Israelite men of the tribe of Ephraim kill two of the princes of Midian. Likewise, the most famous judge, Samson, kills thousands of Philistines in Chapters 14-16. However, as we shall see, none of these cases violates the commandment. They are all seen as righteous actions performed for the sake of the Israelite community and in accordance with the will of God.

It is important to recognize, therefore, that the commandment does not prohibit all forms of the taking of human life, but in fact prohibits an action that more closely corresponds to the English word murder. An even more accurate translation would be “You shall not commit homicide,” as the Hebrew word used in the commandment . . . is elsewhere used in the legal sections of the Bible to describe both voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. This is the same word used in Deuteronomy 4:4 that describes an individual who
“murders his neighbor unintentionally, and did not hate him in times before.”

You know, there’s one thing you have to admit about the Bible. It doesn’t mince words. It deals with life on a very real, very human level. And when it tells the story of the Israelite people trying to establish themselves in a new land—well, it’s not always a pretty picture. But it is very real. There were real enemies who would storm into town like a swarm of locusts, clean out your pantry and silo, and ride off into the sunset, leaving you to starve.

There were neighbors who worshiped other gods, and who would invite your teenage son or daughter to an orgy at their temple if you got too friendly with them.

Raiding bands from other areas would sneak up on small, unwalled settlements, put the whole place to the torch, and take the inhabitants off into slavery. When you read archaeologists’ reports from excavations in Israel, it seems like you never read about a city or village that doesn’t have at least one “destruction layer” indicating that the whole place was burned to the ground.

When God led His people into the Promised Land, those were serious times that called for serious measures if the people were to survive. And it’s not fair for us, living in a time of peace and prosperity, to look back and pass critical judgment on the way the Lord led His people. In all honesty, which of us—when the enemy is at the door—doesn’t pray for deliverance, even if it means our enemy will be harmed in the process?

But most of us don’t have to struggle with temptations to go out and become serial killers. We might feel like wringing a few necks now and then, but we usually get over it and get on with life without physically harming anyone.

So, maybe the commandment doesn’t meet us where we really live.

Or does it?

Jesus took the Sixth Commandment and brought it home to people in every place and every situation.

Remember His words, found in the Sermon on the Mount: “ ‘You have heard that it was said to those of old, “You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.” But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, “Raca!” shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, “You fool!” shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift’ ” (Matthew 5:21-24, NKJV).

Friend, I have to admit: That teaching of Jesus makes the Sixth Commandment applicable to my life. How about yours? Which of us has never been angry with someone else?

But I hope you noticed that I read a bit more of this teaching of Jesus than we sometimes include when we’re talking about anger and murder. Notice that He proceeds from His pronouncement about the bad results of getting angry and continues right on to give the solution to the problem.

He knows it’s impossible to go through life without becoming upset at others.

But rather than letting that anger and frustration build up inside until we reach the breaking point, we’re to go and seek reconciliation—get things worked out.

“If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you . . .” Jesus says—go first and be reconciled.

Now, maybe you’ve heard the old saw that goes, “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.” And maybe the corollary to that is “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than to control my temper.” But Jesus isn’t buying any of that. The reason people brought gifts to the altar was to ask for forgiveness. But according to Jesus, it would be much better to straighten out the problem that’s leading you to sin than to keep up an endless cycle of sinning and then bringing a gift to the altar to ask for forgiveness!

Break the cycle of sin, that’s what He’s saying.

Jesus knows that if you get rid of the anger that’s building up inside, you probably won’t be tempted to take that urge to “wring someone’s neck” to the next level.

So, the Sixth Commandment is a commandment against taking human life for the wrong reasons, and Jesus extends it further, to keep us from even wanting to do so.

But it doesn’t end there.

There’s something more involved in really keeping the spirit of this commandment. Those who are really preparing to be a part of God’s kingdom will go a step farther. Not only will they not kill others, they’ll do their best to help others live. In the parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25, the King, who welcomes the righteous into His kingdom, reminds them that, “ ‘ “I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in” ’ ” (Matthew 25:35, NKJV).

And those who aren’t considered worthy of the kingdom are reminded that they neglected to do those very same things. They neglected to help those who were struggling to survive. They neglected to do everything in their power to preserve life. And in doing that, they broke the spirit of the Sixth Commandment.

Because, you see, the commandment against killing isn’t just a negative command. It’s a law of God that grants the right to life to all of His children. The right to live without fear of their brothers and sisters taking advantage of them and stealing their life away from them either through murder, or through neglect.

The Sixth Commandment calls us to a high standard—in how we live, in how we react to life’s irritations, and in how we respond to those in need.

It challenges me. Look at your life, Lonnie. Look around you. Is there more you could do to bring life to others? Are there people I need to be reconciled with? If so, leave your gift at the altar, go do what needs doing, and then come back to worship God in the fullness of joy, knowing that you are in harmony with your brother, your sister, and your God!

It’s a challenge.

But it’s one worth taking.

“If Any Little Word of Mine”, Connie Vandeman Jeffery, from It’s Beginning to Rain CD.