In Genesis 18 God visits Abraham and Sarah to tell them that, even though he is 99 and she is 90, within a year they will have a son. Notice God's purpose for giving them the gift of their son, Isaac, revealed in Genesis 18:18-19. Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. FOR I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice.
Notice the word, FOR. The blessing of Abraham, by which all the nations of the world will be blessed is that Abraham, the head of the covenant family “commands his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord.” This is a form of God’s common grace. This series on the Ten Commandments addresses the ten building blocks of The Moral Law, the foundation for all human flourishing. The church has always viewed the teaching of these ten commandments to our children as part of every covenant father’s responsibility, with the help of his wife. We know this because all the catechisms include the teaching of the Ten Commandments, i.e. the Heidelberg Catechism, the Westminster Catechisms, and the New City Catechism. This podcast series is to equip dads and grandads to fully understand the depth of these commands so that he can command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, which is a blessing to all the earth.
A 17-year-old boy was a high school baseball star who never complained about his parents, never got into trouble at school, never showed evidence of having a temper—until one evening when he quietly murdered his mother, father, and brother in a violent outburst of rage. Why would a likable, small-town boy suddenly explode in this outburst of violence? His baseball coach couldn't answer that question. Nor could the police, his neighbors, the pastor, or anyone who else who knew this teenager, and we still don't know why. But we do know we live at a time in history that has been called the age of rage. There is an epidemic of violence towards I.C.E. officers who simply enforce laws passed by Congress, as well as shootings of police. Snipers are taking out their rage by murdering their political opponents. Meanwhile, in the background the most dangerous place to be in America, statistically remains inside the American home, since more police officers are killed in the line of duty trying to solve domestic disputes than for any other reason. Road rage is now an everyday occurrence in America.
Is such rage a new phenomenon? Hardly. The 4th chapter of Genesis records an event that took place 4000 years ago but sounds like it is from last night's news.
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.” Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” (Vs 1-9).
Here we have reported the first homicide committed in the history of the human race—the first violation of the Sixth Commandment, “You shall not murder,” a command that wouldn't come down from Mount Sinai for hundreds and hundreds of years but was written on the human heart. Interestingly enough, the first murderer turns out to be the very first child born into the human race, Cain. Put yourself in the shoes of Adam and Eve for a moment, as their first child was born to them. Remember that after Adam and Eve had sinned, they were promised that one day a deliverer would come to crush the power of Satan and sin. That deliverer was to be the seed of the woman. The evidence in the text strongly suggests that Adam and Eve expected their first son to be that deliverer, for the name they gave him was Cain, which means “here he is.” But instead of the Messiah Adam and Eve held in their arms a little murderer, The first child born into the human race turned out to be a cold-blooded murderer. And things haven't changed much in 4000 years. The bloodline hasn't improved very much! Part of our fallen human nature is to be easily provoked toward hostility, even murderous hostility, toward others who we see as somehow harming us. Just a cursory look into Scripture reveals at least three conditions that breed hostility in the human heart that can lead to murder.
- Jealousy. The text we just read reveals that Cain murdered Abel because he was jealous of the fact that God was pleased with Able’s sacrifice but not with Cain's. Jealousy can provoke hostility which ends in murder. Sibling rivalry is a reality today as it was 4000 years ago.
- Feeling Threatened. King Saul was threatened by David's immense popularity. He heard the women singing, “Saul has slain his thousands, David his tens of thousands” and so he tried to murder David his own son-in-law!
- Retaliation. Lamech, who is mentioned later in Genesis 4, is a murderer like Cain. In a little jingle that he writes for his wives he tells us why he went on the attack. “Ada and Zilla hear my voice, you wives of Lamech listen to what I say! I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain's revenge is seven-fold then Lamech’s is seventy-seven-fold.” When you've been wounded by someone, beware! It's human nature to reflexively hit back to settle the score.
There is a part of the fallen human heart that is like dry tinder, ready to instantly blaze into hostile actions and words. It is when that dry tinder ignites into hostility that we humans go on the attack. That takes us to the Sixth Commandment, “You shall not murder.”
I. Explicit Teaching of the 6th Commandment
“You shall not murder” prohibits the unlawful taking of human life.” The Sixth Commandment is sometimes mistranslated, “You shall not kill” and used as an argument against war or against capital punishment or even against killing animals. What is prohibited in this command, however, is murder not killing. God gives the state the power of the sword, meaning the right to execute justice by taking human life. And God, himself, reserves the right to execute justice by taking human life. There is no contradiction between this Sixth Commandment and the Children of Israel putting to death the Canaanites because Israel was executing God's judgment. (BTW the Canaanites not only practiced child sacrifice, but such extreme sexual perversions that venereal disease was rampant). “Murder” is the unlawful taking of a human life. There is a lawful taking of a human life when executing God's justice.
Note also that the word “murder” is used to describe the unlawful taking of a human life. Taking the life of a human being is different than killing a tree by cutting it down or slaughtering a cow so you can have a Big Mac or putting that 14-inch bass into a frying pan. This fact is perhaps obvious, but in today's culture it must be said. A few years ago, the animal response team at the Cincinnati Zoo was forced to shoot a £450 gorilla named Harambe to save the life of a boy who had slipped into the zoo's habitat. Zoo officials defended the decision not to use tranquilizers by saying the darts might have agitated the gorilla and might not have immobilized the animal in time to save the boy. They were roundly criticized but they were acting biblically. From a biblical worldview the decision was a no brainer. Gorillas are a wonderful part of creation; but they are not made in the image of God. I'm not saying that it's olay to ravage the environment or be cruel to animals. But we must understand the radical divide that God places between man and the animal kingdom. It's okay to step on a spider, slaughter a hog, or plop that chicken breast in your air fryer. It's okay to take the life of those living things; but not okay to take the life of a human being.
The sanctify of human life is grounded in humans being made in God’s image. The taking of a human life is distinctly heinous and evil. In fact, it is so evil that God makes murder a capital offense. In Genesis 9 we read, And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image (vs 5-6). Man is more than a blob of protoplasm that looks different from another blob of protoplasm that wags and its tail and barks. Humans have the unique calling to represent God on earth as God's Image-bearers. We represent God to such a degree that an attack upon us is seen by God as an attack upon Him. In a parallel situation, Osama bin Laden's attacks on the NYC Twin Towers and Pentagon, two images of American economic and military might, were rightly seen as an attack upon all of America.
From the murder of Abel by Cain to the murders last night on the news the human race has proven its inclination towards hostility, over and over again. But God has not abandoned us to our devices. He has a four-fold solution to the problem of human hostility.
God’s Solution to the Problem of Human Hostility—Restraining Evil
A. Training Children at Home.
- Children are taught not to hit back.
- Temper tantrums are extinguished because parents never reward them.
- Painful consequences drive moral foolishness from a child’s heart.
- Painful consequences for disobedience train a child to master his feelings like anger, instead of allowing them to control him
B. God’s establishment of civil government, to which he gives the power of the sword to restrain evil.
For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.
In Israel, the charge of murder had to be proved by the testimony of two eyewitnesses. When there was a conviction, the sentence was carried out swiftly and publicly, so punishment was a very powerful deterrent to crime.
C. A New Heart. In Romans 8, we read, “The law never succeeded in producing righteousness—the failure was always the weakness of human nature but God has met this by sending his own son Jesus Christ to live in that human nature which causes the trouble. We see this same solution to the problem of the sinful human heart in Jeremiah 31, which Hebrews 8 tells us was fulfilled in the coming of Christ:
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people (Jer 31:33). WE are empowered with the Holy Spirit to keep the Moral Law of God.
D. Christian influence through their vocation. Humans spend much of their awake time spread over earth in their vocational pursuit. As Christians who have this new heart cope appropriately with the conditions which provoke their own anger, jealousy, rivalry, and feelings of being threatened, they are spreading righteousness over the earth. We are also called to function as salt, light, and leaven—influencing culture with the truth about what justice requires and that every human must be treated with dignity as Glod’s image-bearer.
II. Implicit Teaching of the 6th Commandment
A. Jesus’ Teaching: God not only prohibits the physical murder of any of his image bearers, he also prohibits the verbal assault of any one of his image bearers. Jesus gave us the fuller, implicit meaning of the Sixth Commandment in Matthew 5.
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift (Matt 5:21-24).
Note that Jesus interprets the Sixth Commandment to prohibit not only harm to the body generated by hostility, but harm to the soul of another. Jesus prohibits three categories pf behavior that express hostility toward others.
- Anger. There is a kind of righteous anger. But most human anger reflects a wrong, impatient, hostile, attitude towards another. Impatient anger alone towards another brings harm to another’s soul. I know a man who to this day believes he is stupid when it comes to mechanical things. The reason is that he still remembers being sent by his dad to get a pair of plyers. Instead, this little guy brought the screwdriver by mistake. His father erupted in anger with the words, “Bleep Bleep- it, don’t you know the difference between plyers and a screwdriver.” He was a loving father, but the wound from his anger remains 60 years later.
- Attacking Another’s Intelligence. The ESV translates the Greek phrase in verse 22a “insults his brother.” The Greek word used is RACA. The most literal translation of Raca is “empty-headed,” or “breeze brain.” Jesus is describing harm done to another bearer of God’s image because you make him feel stupid. Such an assault on his soul is crushing.
- Attacking Another’s Character. The text next describes calling another “a fool.” To us this sounds also, like an assault on one’s intelligence. But the word, fool in Jesus’ culture referred much more to moral character, than intelligence. There is a place for correcting behavior as parents, bosses, and church leaders. There is also a place to speak to another brother in love about his blind spots. Behavior needs to be corrected. But assaulting a child’s or friends’ character inflicts a deep and profound wound. Here are examples of attacks on one’s character:
--"Why don’t you just admit you are too lazy to do it.”
--"You’re so self-centered, you never think of anyone else.”
--“You NEVER pick up your clothes.”
--“You ALWAYS spend too much at Christmas.”
The words always and never describe what is characteristic of another. In other words, they attack character.
B. James’ Teaching: James, the earthly brother of Jesus, address the implicit meaning of the Sixth Commandment, just as Jesus did, when he also addresses how our words harm others. Note also, they James links such harmful words to the identity of other humans as God’s image bearers.
The tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water (James 3:6-12).
Characteristics of the Tongue
A. It has enormous power to destroy. James says, “Think about a lush, green, beautiful forest. Now visualize that entire forest going up in smoke and flames and then the end result—a desolate wasteland with a few charged sticks still standing on a gray scorched earth. Now picture that tiny 2 1/2 inch match that caused all that destruction. That match is like your tongue and that picture of destruction is what you have the ability to do with your tongue.” James is just reinforcing what Jesus has already taught us about the ability of the tongue to destroy the inner self, one’s self-esteem, inner confidence, and sense of worth through our words.
B. It is untamable. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. Think back to the last time you went to Ringling Brothers or some other circus, where you saw all kinds of animals that were tamed—lions, tigers, zebras, elephants, seals, etc. But there is one critter that not even Ringling Brothers or PT Barnum could tame—the tongue. This beast is relentless and its bite is full of deadly poison. James is not saying that it is pointless to try to control this poisonous little beast, the tongue. Obviously, we should try to limit the damage this venomous creature does. James’ point is that it will never be totally domesticated. There will always be an uncontrollable wild streak to its nature or, as James puts it, it will always be inconsistent. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.”
Why is it impossible to totally domesticate this critter, the tongue? Why is it that it can look like it's totally subdued praising God in church Sunday morning but fifteen minutes after the service the wild streak shows up cursing at the reckless driver in front of us? Jesus gives us the answer in Matthew 15:18-19. But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart and this defiles a person. Or consider what Jesus taught in Luke 6:45. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. As one writer puts it, “The tongue is simply a neutral messenger boy that carries the words from the heart. It is the bucket that goes down into the well and dips what is there and dumps out of the mouth what it picks up.” So, the problem is the heart.
Our Words and Our Heart
- Show me a filthy tongue, and behind it is a dirty heart.
- Show me profanity in speech, and I’ll show you an irreverent heart.
- Show me a critical tongue, and I’ll show you a proud heart.
- Show me a complaining tongue, and I’ll show you an ungrateful heart.
- Show me a gossiping tongue, and I’ll show you an insecure heart.
- Show me a lying tongue, and I’ll show you a deceitful heart.
- She me an attacking tongue that reflexively lashes back when criticized and I will show you a selfish heart.
- Show me a blunt tongue, and I’ll show you a lazy heart that doesn’t want to put energy into how to communicate more sensitively.
- Show me an angry tongue, and I’ll show you a heart full of pain in one who hasn’t taken that pain to God to process.
- Show me a hostile tongue, and I’ll show you a heart empty of Christ-like love.
On a more positive note, I believe the inverse is also true. Show me someone with:
- an encouraging tongue,
- an edifying tongue,
- a grateful tongue,
- a gentle tongue,
- a truthful tongue,
- a careful tongue,
and I’ll show you someone whose heart is being redeemed by Jesus!
For Further Prayerful Thought:
- Why is it important to know that the 6th Commandment prohibits the unlawful taking of a human life?
- Which God-ordained restraints upon the evil of hostility towards other humans leading to murder most stood out to you?
- What do you most want to remember about the NT teaching that the sixth commandment not only prohibits harming another’s body, it prohibits harming another’s soul?
