people want to believe this makes Him a murderer. The misconception
that "killing" and "murder" are synonymous is partially based on the
King James mistranslation of the sixth commandment, which reads, "Thou
shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13). However, the word kill is a
translation of the Hebrew word ratsach, which nearly always refers to
intentional killing without cause. The correct rendering of this word
is "murder," and all modern translations render the command as "You
shall not murder." The Bible in Basic English best conveys its
meaning: "Do not put anyone to death without cause."
It is true that God has intentionally killed many people. (God never
"accidentally" does anything.) In fact, the Bible records that He
literally wiped out entire nations including women, children, cattle,
etc. In addition to that, God killed every living creature upon the
face of the earth with the exception of eight people and the animals
on the ark (Genesis 7:21-23; 1 Peter 3:20). Does this make Him a
murderer?
As already stated, to kill and to murder are different things. Murder
is "the premeditated, unlawful taking of a life," whereas killing is,
more generally, "the taking of a life." The same Law that forbids
murder permits killing in self-defense (Exodus 22:2).
In order for God to commit murder, He would have to act "unlawfully."
We must recognize that God is God. "His works are perfect, and all His
ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is
He" (Deuteronomy 32:4; see also Psalm 11:7; 90:9). He created man and
expects obedience (Exodus 20:4-6; Exodus 23:21; 2 John 1:6). When man
takes it upon himself to disobey God, he faces God's wrath (Exodus
19:5; Exodus 23:21-22; Leviticus 26:14-18). Furthermore, "God is a
just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If [man] does
not turn back, He will sharpen His sword; He bends His bow and makes
it ready" (Psalm 7:11-12).
Some would argue that executing the innocent is murder; thus, when God
wipes out whole cities, He is committing murder. However, nowhere in
Scripture can we find where God killed "innocent" people. In fact,
compared to God's holiness, there is no such thing as an "innocent"
person. All have sinned (Romans 3:23), and the penalty for sin is
death (Romans 6:23a). God has "just cause" to wipe us all out; the
fact that He doesn't is proof of His mercy.
When God chose to destroy all mankind in the Flood, He was totally
justified in doing so: "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man
was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5).
During the conquest of Canaan, God ordered the complete destruction of
entire cities and nations: "But of the cities of these peoples which
the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing
that breathes remain alive, but you shall utterly destroy them: the
Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the
Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the LORD your God has commanded you"
(Deuteronomy 20:16-17). And Joshua did what God had told him (Joshua
10:40).
Why did God give such a command? Israel was God's instrument of
judgment against the Canaanites, who were evil, almost beyond what we
can imagine today: "Every abomination to the LORD which He hates they
have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters
in the fire to their gods" (Deuteronomy 12:31). Their utter
annihilation was commanded to prevent Israel from following their
ways: "Lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations
which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the LORD your
God" (Deuteronomy 20:18; also Deuteronomy 12:29-30).
Even in the dire judgments of the Old Testament, God offered mercy.
For example, when God was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, God
promised Abraham that He would spare the whole city in order to save
ten righteous people there. Though God did destroy those cities (ten
righteous people could not be found), He saved "righteous Lot" and his
family (Genesis 18:32; Genesis 19:15; 2 Peter 2:7). Later, God
destroyed Jericho, but He saved Rahab the harlot and her family in
response to Rahab's faith (Joshua 6:25; Hebrews 11:31). Until the
final judgment, there is always mercy to be found.
Every person dies in God's own time (Hebrews 9:27; Genesis 3:19).
Jesus holds the keys of death (Revelation 1:18). Does the fact that
everyone experiences physical death make God a "killer"? In the sense
that He could prevent all death, yes. He allows us to die. But He is
no murderer. Death is part of the human experience because we brought
it into the world ourselves (Romans 5:12). One day, as John Donne put
it, "Death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die." God, in His
grace, has conquered death for those who are in Christ, and one day
that truth will be fully realized: "The last enemy to be subdued and
abolished is death" (1 Corinthians 15:26).
God is faithful to His word. He will destroy the wicked, and He holds
"the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their
punishment" (2 Peter 2:9). But He has also promised that "the gift of
God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23b).
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