the roadmap to national restoration 2014 apr 04
learning righteousness and wickedness from the ten commandments 2012 nov 19
1st commandment: have no other gods before God 2012 nov 20
2nd commandment: you shall not make idols 2012 dec 09
3rd commandment: do not profane YHVH’s name 2012 dec 18
4th commandment: honor the Sabbath day 2012 dec 21
5th commandment: honor your father and mother 2013 jan 07
God will do three things — hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land — after His people do three things — humble themselves and pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways (2 Chr 7:14). The cooperation of atheists and the ungodly is not required. We are examining the summary of Torah, God’s definition of righteousness and wickedness, in the Ten Commandments, in order to understand what He considers wicked about our ways, from which He is waiting for us to turn.
The Ten Commandments are given in Deu 5. The 6th commandment, Do not commit murder, is explained in Deu 19:1-21:9. Following is the summary of what Deu 19:1-21:9 teaches ‘Do not commit murder’ means. Please visit the links for the fascinating in-depth analysis. But the real reason for the in-depth analysis, is so that we can recognize any wicked way among us, in falling short, and repent of it! As His people do so, He will hear us from heaven, will forgive us these sins, and will heal our land!
The Hebrew paragraph divisions are:
Deu 19:1-10 {p} Three cities of refuge
Deu 19:11-13 {s} The murderer shall not find refuge
Deu 19:14 {s} Do not remove or change boundaries
Deu 19:15-21 {s} Justice in the case of false witnesses
Deu 20:1-9 {s} Who shall serve in the army
Deu 20:10-18 {s} Waging just warfare
Deu 20:19-20 {p} Do not destroy fruit trees in warfare
Deu 21:1-9 {s} Atonement for unsolved murder
Stay with me, these all have to do with murder in one way or another. The strong theme begun in Honoring authority ends squarely in Do not commit murder, and teaches us that authority, which is charged with determining cases of murder, shall temper the execution of justice with mercy. That the Lord provides for cities of refuge in the case of accidental death, teaches us that manslaughter is not murder. However, when true murder has been committed, authorities must see to it that the murderer does not find refuge, lest the authorities become complicit in creating innocent victims, and bloodguiltiness increases in the land. Furthermore, when warfare is inevitable, Scripture teaches us how to wage war justly, so that we do not commit murder by warfare. We must have such a great respect for life, in fact, that when a murder remains unsolved, and no murderer may be brought to justice, that we avail ourselves of God’s atonement. The chiastic structure for the 6th commandment furthermore reveals amazing wisdom.
The studies on ‘Do not commit murder’ linked in this explanation:
justice tempered with mercy (deu 17:8-19:10) 2016 jul 03
cities of refuge (deu 19:1-10) 2013 jan 17
the murderer shall not find refuge (deu 19:11-21) 2013 jan 21
murder and warfare (deu 20:1-20) 2013 jan 21
unsolved murder (deu 21:1-9) 2013 jan 22
6th commandment chiastic structure (deu 19:1-21:9) 2013 jan 23
This series is continued:
7th commandment: do not commit adultery (deu 21;10-23:14) explained 2013 jan 24
8th commandment: do not steal (deu 23:15-24:7) explained 2013 feb 13
9th commandment: do not bear false witness (deu 24:8-9) explained 2013 feb 25
10th commandment: do not covet (deu 24:10-26:15) explained 2013 feb 28
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