Devine Law and Capital Punishment

God's law of capital punishment is stated clearly and concisely in Genesis 9:6. In God's own words the law reads: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: For in the image of God made he man". According to this, as long as man is in the image of God, then this law of God is in effect and valid, as I shall show.

The Ten Commandments— "Thou Shalt Not Kill"
God continued his sanction of capital punishment under the law of Moses. In the ten commandments, God said, "Thou shalt not kill". (Exodus 20:13). Some have tried to use this commandment to FORBID capital punishment. Such arguments just have to be either the grossest if ignorance, or the worst of hypocrisy. First, there is a difference in Murder and Capital Punishment. And second, a law is only as strong as the penalty imposed on its violation. All killing is not murder; some may be accidental. The New American Standard version translates this commandment, "You shall not murder". Young's concordance lists ten Hebrew words and six Greek words for the English word "kill" as used in the King James version of the bible. The Hebrew word "ratsach", means "to murder" and this is the word used in the ten commandments. In Matt 5:21, when Jesus quoted this commandment, He used the Greek word which means "murder". Furthermore, the sophistry of such an argument is exposed by reading in the next chapter God's penalties for violating His commandments. In Exodus 21:12, God tells us that the murderer was to be punished by death. Any law, if it is to be respected and obeyed, MUST have an appropriate penalty for its violation. If there is no penalty, or and an inadequate penalty, the law becomes anemic and meaningless. God enforced His law against murder by imposing the penalty of death on the violator. Immediately following the giving of the ten commandments, there follows a series of penalties, among which is the death penalty for murder. God said, "He that smiteth a man, so that he dieth, shall surely be put to death". (Exodus 21:12)




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