6 – You shall not murder
Nesse exército, o exército de um homem só! (in this army, the one-man army) Todos sabem que tanto faz, ser culpado ou ser capaz (everone knows that it doesn’t make any difference, whether you’re guilty or if you would have the guts to do it)
During a nostalgia session on my Spotify this song from ‘Engenheiros do Hawaii’ happened and it reminded me of the next commandment. From the 6th to the 10th Commandment, Yahuah instructs us on how we deal with our brothers and sisters. The word ‘murder’ has different translations depending on the Bible, which brings a lot of confusion to this topic, because if the word used was only ‘kill’, then Yahuah would be contradicting his orders also of killing the Canaanite, killing animals to eat and for burned offering.
The Hebrew word used in this commandment is ‘ratsach’ with the strong 7523. Ratsach can mean: put to death, kill, manslayer, murderer - A primitive root; properly, to dash in pieces, i.e. Kill (a human being), especially to murder -- put to death, kill, (man-)slay(-er), murder(-er).
Before Cain, killing an animal that was not being sacrificed for the Creator was unheard of, let alone a human being! He was driven by envy, pride and wrath. Since Cain and Abel, so much has happened!
A common question believers hear is: ‘But if Yahuah is all peace and love, how could He ask the Hebrews to kill the Canaanite?’ First things first: Yahuah is not only love (and He is definitely not always peace) - He is also justice, stability and coherence. And Yahuah hates. He loved Jacob but hated Esau, He hates idolatry and He asked us also to hate sin. And while He does love His creation and mankind above all, He will not accept corruption of His work nor disobedience. And that’s the way it has always been:
“For I am YHWH, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6)
'Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end.' (Psalm 102:25-27)
Still some of us may feel that the bloodshed performed by the Hebrews under the orders of Yahuah in the Old Testament is a little overkill, so let’s understand it in more detail. I already mentioned in a previous post the Genesis 6 mess caused by the fallen angels. Their seed survived the flood – meaning their DNA. There is an important book excluded from the Bible by the Roman Catholic church called ‘The book of Enoch’, which is crucial to connect the dots between the events in the book of Genesis.
According to Enoch, the offspring of the angels who mated with human women, also called Nephilim (or Giants) carried in themselves a corrupted DNA that ended up mixed with the DNA of other humans and animals, spoiling all the creation except Noah’s family. After the flood it's also implied that somehow their DNA survived and human hybrid tribes started developing again. This is the reason Yahuah gives strict orders to the Hebrews not to take Canaanite women in marriage.
The corruption of the DNA in itself was already problematic, however these tribes also had ‘knowledge’ of the fallen angels about forbidden activities such as necromancy and sorcery. On top of that, they worshiped several ‘gods’ and sacrificed not only animals to these demons, but also children. A quick research about 'Moloch' will tell you what you need to know. There was no negotiation to be done with them, their DNA was corrupted beyond restoration. This is the reason the Hebrews were instructed by Yahuah to kill ‘men, women, children and their animals’. Even the animals were corrupted – for these tribes, the hybridization of heavenly with earthly creatures would ‘improve’ our genetic material. The hybrid-humans were much bigger than the Hebrews and they had angel skills mankind was not supposed to have, such as spiritual talents and divination.
With the undisputable premise that Yahuah knows what He is doing, we see that while He knew when He needed to exterminate evil, He also instructed that we should not kill/murder our brothers and sisters under our own judgement. I invite you to go meditate with me on what exactly this means.
We know that the Canaanite were killed by the orders of Yahuah, it was not Moses or the other prophets who decided out of their heads what to do. They trusted 100% the instructions of Yahuah and had within them the Ruach Ha’Qodesh (Holy Spirit) governing them. Every time in the Bible that men decided out of their own decision to kill someone not following the wise and strict instructions of the Torah, there was a mistake. Just to name one example, Joab killed Abner for personal revenge after the later killed his brother during the battle of Gibeon. Joab trapped Abner on the road on his way back from a meeting with David. Joab’s revenge was clearly murder and disrespected the Torah and the 6th commandment.
We are limited on our judgment capacity. Only Yahuah knows our hearts and has all the information in order to give a fair assessment. The Torah given to Moses had strict instructions of when a person in the community should be killed as a consequence of murder. It was required at least two witnesses to confirm it was not an accident. While the decision was being taken, the person accused of murder would need to stay in a ‘safe zone’ which was not a prison, but a place outside the community where no one could kill the accused before the formal verdict. Moreover, the objective was never vengeance, but to ‘remove evil’ from the group and educate the tribe of consequences of inequity.
Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for Yahuah’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says Yahuah. (Romans 12:19)
We all might find ourselves one day in a situation where we kill another human being by accident. It can be a car accident, we can bump into someone who falls on their head or we can also defend ourselves and end up killing the other person. In this case it’s not intentional, it happened because it was the other person’s time to go. Murder on the other hand, involves planning and thinking about someone’s death. This is where the song in the beginning of this post comes. To be capable, to have the guts to do it or to plan it in your head is just as bad as actually doing it, reason we should be vigilant also with our thoughts.
But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. (Matthew 15:18-19)
The commandments for our relationship with our brothers and sisters involve not only law, but most of all, love and civility.
The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Romans 13:9)
Yahusha during the last supper asks his Apostles to go even further. We should actually love one another the way Yahusha loved his sheep. Would you give your life for people who do not deserve it, the way he did for us?
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.(John 13:34-35)
And loving one another will not always be easy (and it’s getting harder everyday). How easy it would be if we could love only the people we like! Although we should indeed hate sin and inequity, who are we to decide to hate another sinner like us? It’s a trap - which we can easily fall - to think we are better or more righteous than others. Indeed, that could be possible to know (maybe) if we could see each other’s hearts, however that’s only possible to our Father. And not to be too unnecessarily philosophical, but what if the enemy is not really the enemy?
That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love them who love you, what reward have you? do not even the tax collectors the same? (Matthew 5: 43-48)
Why is this Commandment more important now than ever: Because respect for life is what makes us decent and human!
My mother was a police officer and she told me about how police officers needed to keep serenity when dealing with bad guys and not just feel like they could take justice into their own hands. ‘because once you start, you will eventually lose control.’ I imagine this is also the case for doctors. Do they have the right to ‘end someone’s misery’ only because they can? Or do I have the right to interrupt a pregnancy because it’s inside my body? Is that life mine to take? Even your own life is not yours to take...
And it all boils down to our capacity to love. The Bible warns us that as the end times approaches, love will turn cold. We see this happening right now, don’t we? Division and growing hate between people. To love someone who is good and fair to us is easy! Yahusha does not make things easy for us, we should love our neighbors, love also our enemies and even love them like Yahusha loved us. It’s hard, I know…
Love your enemies!
May the Ruach Ha'Qodesh make us more like Yahusha Ha'Mashiach ;)
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