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nakedness both of them shall surely be put to death their blood shall be upon them if a Man Lies with his daughter-in-law both of them shall surely be put to death they have committed perversion their blood shall be upon them if a Man Lies with a male as he lies with a woman both of them have committed an Abomination they shall surely be put to death their blood shall be upon them if a man marries a woman and her mother it is wickedness they shall be burned with fire both he and they that there may be no wickedness among you if a man mates with an animal he shall surely be put to death and you shall kill the animal if a woman approaches any animal and mates with it you shall kill the woman and the animal they shall surely be put to death their blood is upon them if a man takes his sister his father's daughter or his mother's daughter and sees her nakedness and sees and she sees his nakedness it is a wicked thing and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people he has uncovered his sister's nakedness he shall bear his guilt if a Man Lies with a woman during her sickness and uncovers her nakedness he has exposed her flow and she has uncovered the flow of her blood both of them shall be cut off from their people you shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister nor of your father's sister for that would uncover his near of kin they shall bear their guilt if a Man Lies with his uncle's wife he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness they shall bear their sin they shall die childless if a man takes his brother's wife it is an unclean thing he has uncovered his brother's nakedness they shall be childless you shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my judgments and perform them that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out and you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out uh before you for they commit all these things and therefore I abhor them but I have said to you you shall inherit their land and I will give it to you to possess a land flowing with milk and honey I am the Lord your God who has separated you from the people you shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean between unclean birds and clean and you shall not make yourselves abominable by Beast or by bird or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground which I have separated from you as unclean and you shall be holy to me for I the Lord am Holy and have separated you from the peoples that you should be mine a man or a woman who is a medium or who has familiar spirits shall surely be put to death they shall Stone them with stones their blood shall be upon them amen as I said lots of similarities with what has preceded this uh prescribes the particular punishments or the penal sanctions that are involved in terms of the body politic relative to criminal activity in their land so as I said just a brief overview of chapter 20 and then a bit of a detailed treatment on the Bible in the death penalty but first notice the introduction again we see that this is God commanding through Moses this isn't the Civil State this isn't the judges this isn't the priests or the prophets but God spoke to Moses saying again you shall say to the children of Israel so we always need to make sure that we Ponder the reality that if we're anti- capital punishment then in some respect we're anti- good because God prescribes it here now again there are some things unique to the old Covenant nation of Israel that I don't think necessarily translate into the New Covenant situation but the principle of capital punishment is Thoroughly biblical it is mandated by God and as we find in the Book of Numbers it is absolutely crucial in the matter of murder there is no Ransom to be paid there's no prison to be served rather a murderer is to be executed by the Civil state so if we have a problem with capital punishment or we have a problem with the death penalty in principle now there may be some problems in terms terms of application there may see be some problems in terms of who's actually wielding the sword for my own part I'm actually kind of glad that Justin Trudeau has suspended that or it's suspended presently in Canada because I think that can open up a whole can of worms when political uh dissident may be uh punished by the sword because of their wrong think so there are applicational issues but the doctrine of capital punishment is certainly biblical so there's that introduction where God reminds them who it is who is the lawgiver and then notice in verses 2B to6 you've got first table offenses those things that are specifically against God when you look at the Ten Commandments typically we break them into two tables you've got the first four which is man's duty to God and then you've got the last six which is man's duty to man uh to man so when we look at these first table violations it shouldn't surprise us the things that are brought up in the first place we have the worship of moak now that would certainly include all forms of idolatry any false god any sort of Baal or ashra or any of the pagan gods that would be condemned but moak was especially nasty because what it involved was child sacrifice the worshipper would bring their child to moac throw the baby up into the arms of moak the baby would bounce out into the fire that was at the base of that Idol and we see this already announced as bad and Wicked in chapter 18 and verse 21 here we see that it's a capital crime it deserves execution on the part or by the part of the Civil state for those who engage in this violation but two things that are noteworthy in this particular section notice that the punishment is executed by the people of the land according to verse two you see that in the principles concerning Witnesses in Deuteronomy 17 and Deuteronomy 19 as well and I think that would mitigate false witness or false Tes Tony if you knew you were going to be tasked with picking up stones to throw at your neighbor probably somebody that you knew very well you would want to make sure that you were speaking truthfully and you were speaking in order so the gravity involved in this so again it's the people of the land it's those children of Israel it's not just the elders and the judges but the ordinary citizens are involved in inflicting this penal sanction against Molech worshippers but then as well notice in verse 4 and if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man when he gives some of his descendants to moak and they do not kill him then I will set my face against that man and against his family and I will cut him off from his people and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with molak uh whenham in his commentary makes the good observation in terms of enforcement in the in the civil polity and old Covenant Israel we we read through these lists and we see the capital punishments attached and we see the the sanctions involved and we might ask the question how rampant were these crimes I would suggest they probably weren't that rampant when you knew from God through Moses this is the way you were supposed to tow the line when you lived in smaller communities and pretty much everybody knew everybody when you lived in smaller communities that were very conservative in principle and authoritarian you had a Theocratic system where God is speaking through Moses so so most likely these crimes were not rampant you know when we look around in our own generation people get away with what they can get away with that's usually the way it goes when you look at countries where there are strong laws against say graffiti or strong laws against litter or strong laws against whatever and you you know they're cleaner environments there there're places where if you're a woman you can leave your purse on a on a bus stop bench and go back seven hours later and it's still there so so people will get away with what they can get away with and so when we look at these passages it probably wasn't the case that they were off the charts rampant in terms of criminal activity they probably had a pretty decent enforcement system and because it was an authoritarian structure where God is speaking directly to them where persons were very close in terms of proximity it probably wasn't the case that this was an everyday occurrence where some new guy was being executed by the civil government so when it comes to this particular prohibition against idol worship notice again the language that is utilized there at the end of verse 5 and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with molak there is the temporal in the physical act of prostitution or adultery but then there is that spiritual application and God uses that language with reference to the nation of Israel when they go after other gods it is to engage in prostitution it is to engage in uh uh spiritual adultery as Gil says to go a whoring after them for to consult them the idols is to forsake the Lord and have recourse to Satan and his instruments to relinquish their trust in God and put confidence in them and attribute such things to them as only belong to God even the knowledge of things future and this is to commit idolatry which is spiritual adultery and so that's the emphasis there specifically with that first table violation and then the second one is there in verse six we see a PR the practice of Witchcraft notice and the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits to prostitute himself with them I will set my face against that person and cut him off from his people if you look at verse 27 the chapter ends on that note as well a man or a woman who is a medium or who has familiar spirits shall surely be put to death they shall Stone them with stones their blood shall be upon them I don't know why it's repeated the the the the chapter is very clear you've got the introduction you've got first table offenses and then you've got an exhortation then you've got second table offenses and then you've got an exhortation and then you've got this last statement again that repeats the prohibition against uh uh witchcraft probably because the likelihood of them when they get into the land of Canaan is very high that they're going to go a horing from God and they are going to go After idols and they are going to go s seek out soothsayers and witches and warlocks and necromance answers and all the things that the land has to offer because Yahweh doesn't answer in the way that you think he should you might just go with your friend to the bail Services because bail when he's prayed to it it rains the next day so there might have been that pragmatism that God is heading off at the past to try to tell them don't turn that way because that is an act of spiritual adultery so after these first table offenses you've got an exhortation in verses 7 to 8 notice consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy for either the Lord your for I am the Lord your God and you shall keep my statutes and perform them I am the Lord who sanctifies you so it's not just them resisting The Temptations or Tendencies around them it's not just them separating themselves from the Heathen but it's God at work in their midst that is cleansing them and sanctifying them and fitting them for his service and then the text addresses second table of fenses in verses 9 to 21 you got the cursing of parents in verse 9 the act of adultery in verse 10 and then the act of incest all throughout the section verses 11 and 12 verses 14 17 19 to 21 and then you've got the act of homosexuality in verse 13 the act of beastiality in verses 15 and 16 and the act of intercourse during menstration the emphasis there is on the ACT okay that is very crucial when we get into matters concerning the death penalty mind you God will punish your sin God will punish your internal problems God will deal with you on that great at that great Tribunal for every Wicked thought you've ever had the civil government is not supposed to punish sin it's not supposed to punish wrong thing it's supposed to punish acts of criminal Behavior we'll see that later when we move through scripture and its treatment of the C of capital punishment specifically in Romans chapter 13 so what we have here is not persons thinking about this what we have here is not persons in their closets you know fomenting this sort of rebellion what we have are acts of criminal activity engaged in by persons in the body politic and when it is found out then they are executed according to the rules of due process there needs to be Witnesses every Capital crime needed two or three Witnesses in order to prosecute that that case and so all those rules apply everything will be fleshed out later in the book of Deuteronomy in terms of due process and the way that you go terms of Courts and higher courts the Supreme Court all that sort of thing is there but when there is criminal activity that Criminal activity must be punished so notice in verse 9 the cursing of parents we've already seen that in 193 notice every one of you shall rever his mother and his father and keep my sabbaths I am the Lord your God so here we see the emphasis on execution for the child that engages in lawlessness at this point so for everyone who curses his father or his mother now this isn't just the odd you know cross word from Junior because he doesn't want to eat his peas that's not what's in view here this is uh an abject rebel against the authority of his parents so verse 9 for everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death he has cursed his father or his mother his blood shall be upon him turn to Deuteronomy chapter 21 Deuteronomy chapter 21 where we see this in detail and again we need to appreciate this isn't your 2-year-old who doesn't want to eat his broccoli this is an adult Rebel Son an adult son that is a rebel against God ultimately and against his parents notice in Deuteronomy 21 at Verse 18 if a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother and who when they have chastened him so they've exercised parental discipline they've exercised the pressure of loving discipline they have worked with this lad they have have pressed his conscience with the law of God but he will not heed them then his father father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the Elders of his City to the gate of his City and they shall say to the Elders of this of his City this son of ours is stubborn and rebellious he will not obey our voice now notice he is a glutton and a drunker again he's not five he's not eight he's not 10 he's not some little kid that didn't come home because the you know he he came home after the street lights were on he is an an adult Rebel Son he's a glutton and a drunker then all the men of his City shall Stone him to death with stones so you shall put put away the evil from among you and all Israel shall hear and fear got two quotes here that I want to share first is Gordon Wenham in his commentary on Leviticus 20 he says the sanctity of Parental Authority implied by this law is striking when he speaks or when when we see in Deuter uh Leviticus 20:9 everyone who curses his father his mother shall surely be put to death he says the sanctity of Parental Authority implied by this law is striking whereas in certain respects Old Testament penal law was much more lenient than that of neighboring contemporary cultures that's true there's only one instance of punitive amputation in the Old Testament that's when a woman in involves herself in a man in in men are fighting and she grabs one of them by the private parts she her hand is supposed to be cut off the pro the particular issue there probably has to do with seed has to do with the ability to reproduce that's the only instance of punitive amputation the Nations around you cut their hand hand off for a whole host of things so what he says here is Right whereas in certain respects Old Testament penal law was much more lenient than that of neighboring contemporary cultures it was more strict with regard to offenses against religion and family life cursing father or mother is singled out for special censure partly out of a determination to maintain the structure of the family I like this part and partly because the parents represent God's authority to the child to curse them as almost tant amount to blasphemy that's very important we live in a a decade and age in terms of Parental Authority and what parents expect from their children and lawlessness and criminal behavior and activity on the part of kids it's absolutely Wicked B uh Vern pois in a book called shadow of the shadow of uh of Christ and the law of Moses comments on that passage in Deuteronomy 21 because as Christians we hear that and we say that's not right bring your son to the elders and the The City Gate and have them execute him okay I'm not suggesting that we do that you know one for one in the New Covenant situation but let's watch ourselves before we we start to engage in that kind of judgment about how right it is or isn't he says the death penalty for wholesale violation of Parental Authority may seem harsh to Modern sentiments and I would suggest it most certainly does outside the church and within the church that's my gloss he says but I would argue that it is not only just but realistic parental Authority even if very imperfectly exercised takes place in the context of personal relationships and the natural pressures in the direction of Love parents have many advantages over the state if a person does not receive instruction from parents the chances of receiving instruction from the state's more impersonal discipline are nil the person who rebels in wholesale fashion against parents will also rebel against the state and create General destruction and disorder until eliminated it is mere sentimentality to refuse to come to grips with this reality again whatever we decide in terms of application of the fifth commandment and persons that curse their parents I I I would just suggest we need to caution against this idea that oh that's just terrible well I'm not sure what's more terrible you know 18y olds and 20 year olds on city streets where you can't even walk around at night for fear of getting mugged or robbed I mean if there was some parental Authority exercised Junior's life somewhere along the line then maybe that would have been a a great remedy for the the situation that we now face notice secondly verse 10 the act of adultery again we see the the the woman here is complicit this isn't rape this is a woman who is agreeable to this so in verse 10 the man who commits adultery with another man's wife he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife the adulterer and the adulteress that again shows that she's compliant shall surely be put to death that's something we see back in Leviticus 18 excuse me condemned and then in Deuteronomy 21:22 and then the incest we see it all over Leviticus 18 as well and we see the penal sanction attached here in chapter 20 and then the act of homosexuality again it's been condemned and here we see again it's not a a situation of rape it's a situation where there both partners are compliant so if a Man Lies with the male as he lies with a woman both of them have committed an Abomination they shall surely be put to death their blood shall be upon them and then uh the last one or the the next to last one is the act of beastiality in verses 15 to 16 doesn't need a lot of comment it is intriguing that the animal must be killed as well uh probably because it's just a doubly unclean thing at that particular point and then the the situation with menstration there in verse 18 this is repeated from chapter 18 but as well chapter 15 and chapter 15 envisages The Man not knowing that this was the case so there could have been an accidental case of this and and in that case I think it's about 1526 the man is counted as unclean so he's not executed if he makes a mistake they're not executed if they they they they they are ignorant they're executed if they knowing the law specifically follow a path that is prohibited and forbidden by by God and then notice the exhortation in verses 22 to 26 something we have seen before you shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my judgments and perform them that the land where I'm bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out now from the subsequent history we know that that's exactly what happens so God is Not capricious God is Not arbitrary he's not simply anti- Canaanite when Israel goes into the land and they AE the conduct of the Canaanites they get vomited out of the land it's just that simple simple so you can't say well that's not fair God's going to just kill these Canaanites well he kills Israelites too when they engage in the same activity when they follow the same pattern when they go a horing from God they reap the same consequences that's how the Book of Leviticus ends basically in chapter 26 that's how the book of Deuteronomy ends at ver uh chapters 27 and 28 I know it goes farther than that but the Covenant curses cap off uh Covenant blessings and Covenant curses cap off the Covenant document so so this is not arbitrary on the part of God the land vomits out Wicked Behavior whether it be Canaanite or whether it be Israelite and then notice in verse 23 you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation uh which I am casting out before you for they commit all these things and therefore I abhor them but I have said to you you shall inherit their land and I will give it to you to possess a land flowing with milk and honey I am the Lord your God who has separated you from the peoples now notice you shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean with we go from capital punishment in cursing parents to Capital Punishment to beastiality back to these laws concerning the diet remember it was everything in Israel's life calculated to show them their difference from the Nations around them their laws concerning penal sanction and their laws regulating their diet and their clothing and all that sort of thing and then as well I think we ought to notice is that when God calls them to live in a particular way he doesn't leave it up to them to try to f figure it out he says don't do what the pagans do sanctification and Holiness it ain't that hard Brethren it's to obey What God Says and to not do what the pagans do so there's not this esoteric connection where I got to go seek the mind of God to figure out how to be holy in the land of the Canaanites no just don't AE the conduct of the Canaanites don't go after their gods don't go after their their their witchcraft don't go after their s don't don't don't do that just do what what God calls you to do so he doesn't leave it up to guesswork it's not esoteric it's not mysticism it is clearly and objectively defined and again I think that goes a long way to help regulate the conduct in this body politic when you know what the rules are you know what the laws are and you know what the punishments are for those when when when all that stuff is clearly specified I'm not suggesting it it tames man's heart I'm not suggesting it regenerates man I'm not suggesting that it makes man perfect or it makes societ perfect but it goes a long way to exercising some degree of restraint upon a body politic look at Ecclesiastes chapter 8 Solomon alights on this Ecclesiastes chapter 8 I think that you know this is the principle that we see at play here Ecclesiastes 8:11 he says because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in that to do evil what's that mean well it must surely mean that knowing if I engage in a particular crime I'm going to be apprehended I'm going to be arraigned I'm going to be indicted and I'm going to be punished and if that never happens then why not roll the dice and go out and engage in criminal activity if the the the likelihood or the chances are that I'm not going to get caught one and if I do get caught I'm not going to be arrested but if I am arrested I'm probably not going to get indicted I'm certainly not going to get prosecuted when there's that absence of restraint you end up with societies that look very much like our own now again the law is powerless in terms of changing Arts wasn't the case that everybody in the body politic was regenerate there needs to be a mechanism in place that God has ordained for the Restraint of evildoers at the level of civil society and that that's simply his law and we ought to be about that we ought to to be pro-law in terms of the Restraint of evildoers we think well you know we can't save people so what's the difference well we can perhaps spare our children from being shot in the head on you know chillak Central because some G well not chilak Central probably more likely to happen downtown because there's no law restraining it so we need to be very careful about this reflex Christian attitude say well that's just barbaric I don't know what's more barbaric the societies that we have created or the society that God spoke to here now in terms of the Bible and the death penalty there's lots to say we're not going to say it all tonight so we won't be too late getting to bed but you can turn back to Genesis Genesis chapter 9 that's the first place we look at if we ask the question does the bible teach the death penalty the answer is yes the Bible does teach the death penalty the Bible First teaches the death penalty in Genesis 9 and this is very interesting because Genesis 9 is not the old Covenant see opponents of the death penalty will take a passage like Leviticus 20 and they'll say well you know that's the old Covenant the old Covenant was fulfilled by Jesus we're now in the New Covenant and therefore no death penalty well that's bad bad logic bad bad logic that we'll address as we move along but but the NOA Covenant is still binding the noic Covenant is a universal Covenant the noic Covenant is a common Grace Covenant it's not a Redemptive Covenant the noic Covenant sets the parameters in in the Earth for the preaching of special Grace in other words God promises he'll never again destroy the Earth that means go therefore and preach the gospel and seek to make disciples so the noea Covenant as a common Grace Covenant is still binding upon mankind today there's no suspension of it there's no obliteration of it there's no removal of it it is binding as long as there's Sun as long as there moon is there there's Moon as long as there's life on Earth the noic Covenant is binding so when when we come to the noea Covenant we see very specifically a few things it is in the context the PO postf flood situation go back to Genesis chap 6 to see the pre flood situation or the pre flood context notice in Genesis 61 and 12 the Earth also was corrupt before God and the Earth was filled with violence so God looked upon the Earth and indeed it was corrupt for All Flesh had corrupted their way on the earth see there's nothing new Under the Sun whenever you have Sinners you have sin it you know it's an impossibility you you're never going to have Sinners and no sin you're going to have Sinners and there's going to be sin what I said you know the Restraint of the law doesn't solve the problem but it can impo you know uh imply some or or or Levy some penalties against criminal Behavior but the world prior to the flood was corrupt before God it was filled with violence so what do you think is one of the marks of coming out of the Ark EST establishing as it were a new world uh uh Noah's functioning here as an Adam likee figure uh what do you think would be important well the propagation and protection of life and that's precisely what you find there in Genesis 9 you've got propagation of life in verses 1 and 7 so notice in verse one so God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth and then in verse 7 and as for you be fruitful and multiply bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply in it it's again an Adam likee figure Adam was given that mandate in the garden the garden and the the the the world rather pre flood's been obliterated now Noah emerges from the ark with his family and he's given that command to propagate life notice as well he's given a command with reference to the provision for Life notice in two and the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the Earth on every bird of the air on all that move on the earth and on all the fish of the sea they all are given into your hand every moving thing that lives shall be food for you I have given you all things even as the green herbs so we've got the propagation of life and we've got provision for life and then notice the protection of Life the protection of Life verse 2 a the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth that doesn't mean there'll never be a lion attack but for the most part the animals won't get you uh as well notice in verse four it says uh but you shall not eat flesh with its life that is its blood I'm sorry that's not the right verse uh uh protection of Life yeah you shall not eat flesh with its life that is its blood and then notice specifically verse six excuse me with reference to the protection of life it's the death penalty whoever sheds man's blood by man his blood shall be shed for in the image of God he made man it's very clear so whatever one says about the death penalty we have to affirm that the death penalty is lawful for the act of murder okay is it is it lawful for other crimes I would argue yes but on a different level or a different basis but you just have to appreciate verse 6 in Genesis chter 9 in terms of universal Universal in scope common Grace Covenant made with all creation whoever sheds man's blood by man his blood shall be shed for in the image of God he made man so the offense is obvious whoever sheds man's blood the unlawful taking of another man's life now the the the old Covenant specifically the books of uh Exodus and Deuteronomy make the distinction between man Slaughter which is accidental homicide and murder which is intentional when there's premeditation malice of forethought so there is that distinction in terms of the shedding of blood so here we assume based on the the penalty that is given that this is murder that this is an unlawful homicide so whoever sheds man's blood that's the offense notice the punishment by man his blood shall be shed okay when it says his blood shall be shed that means he must die because later again in Old Covenant law we see that the punishment must fit the crime and we specify the punishment must fit the crime and what's called The Lex Talus the law of retaliation or the law of Retribution the eye for eye tooth for tooth stripe for stripe burn for burn life for life and again we hear that language we language and we go horror of Horrors it simply means the punishment must fit the crime we'd all agree to that your kid that steals a Snickers bar out of Walmart should not have his hand Cho off that should never happen to your child if he steals a candy bar at Walmart now you should give him a good tanning that that's definitely necessary or whatever the case may be but he shouldn't get his hand chopped off because he stole the Snickers bar the punishment doesn't fit the crime in that instance but a man who goes into a a school and you know willy-nilly and arbitrarily shoots down and kills you know 25 people in Cold Blood that man should be executed because the punishment must must fit the crime again it's a principle of jurist prudence that we all agree upon but when we see it in the Bible somehow it's barbaric eye for eye tooth for tooth again this was published law there was no question there was no well I'm wondering what's going to happen if I poke that guy's eye out you knew absolutely positively what was going to happen and as a result you probably thought twice before poking his eye out because the squad might come and poke your eye out in in retribution so whoever sheds man's Blood by man is his blood shall be shed so the the the punishment is his blood shall be shed but notice the agent in the punishment by man it's not by God it's by Man by man his blood will be shed so Luther said this was the first command having reference to the temporal sword by these words temporal government was established and the sword was placed in its Hand by God I think that's a good observation Calvin says likewise God so threatens and denounces Vengeance against the murderer that he even arms the magistrate with the sword for the avenging of Slaughter in order that the blood of men may not be shed with impunity other words there needs to be consequences when we emerge from the ark so that we don't return to that situation that obtained prior to the flood when the Earth was exceedingly corrupt and filled with violence there's going to be an agency now that has as its task to punish criminal offenders and if that criminal offender is engaged in Murder then that criminal offender must give his life that is just that is the consequence that's how we're going to do it in this post-fall world now notice the argument or the rationale verse six again whoever sheds man's blood by man his blood shall be shed if we ask the question the text answers if we ask why it tells us for in the image of God he made man this is why it is horrific to take the life of another human being if you kill a dog today you're probably going to be on the front page of the progress but you can kill your baby or your old people and probably not even make it on the back page now I'm not suggesting we should just willy-nilly kill dogs I'm not into that I I mean if they're coming after you yeah it's either them or you you got to win that exchange but but to just kill an animal there that's not good but it's not murder they're not image bearers they're not rational beings they're not created in the image of God man is however for in the image of God he made man Vos says in life slain it is the image of God I.E the Divine Majesty that is assaulted now some argue that there's one of two ways to take this this explanatory clause for in the image of God he made man some suggest that's the reason for capital punishment for a murderer some others suggest that's the reason for the human agent that sheds the blood of the criminal offender so in the image of God he made man so man therefore as the agent of God functioning lawfully in a magistrate as a magistrate executes that Judgment of God Klein says this could explain both the enormity of murder and the Dignity of man that justified assigning him so grave a Judicial responsibility so it either a grounds the principle in the image of God as to why the man should lose his life or B grounds the principle as to why he loses his life at the hands of another man for the image of God he made man either way Genesis 9: 6 teaches the death penalty for the crime of murder now when we move from Genesis into the rest of the pentat when we move into the old Covenant you see some additional things going on in Old Covenant Israel I've already mentioned one of them it is the distinction between accidental homicide and murder and probably a clear statement of that is in Numbers chapter 35 Numbers chapter 35 numbers 35 specifically at verse 16 but if he strikes him I I'm sorry uh let's see verse 9 then the Lord spoke to Moses was saying speak to the children of Israel say to them when you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan then you shall appoint cities to be Cities of Refuge for you that the manslayer who kills any person accidentally May flee there it's an accident okay but it's an accident that he shouldn't do and so there's this discouragement there if you accidentally kill your neighbor you're not going to be executed for murder but your life is going to be messed with a bit why so you learn not to do stupid accidents so you make sure your ax head is tightly fastened onto the handle and it doesn't fly off and bury itself in your neighbor's head your your life is going to be disrupted if you're a careless individual in the body politics so it's not the crime of murder but you are going to be inconvenience to a degree because you were negligent and caused homicide so it says they shall be Cities of Refuge for uh for you from the Avenger that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment and of the Cities which you give uh and of the Cities which you give you shall have six Cities of Refuge you shall appoint three cities on this side of the Jordan three cities you shall appoint in the land of Canaan which will be Cities of Refuge these six cities shall be for refuge and for uh for the children of Israel for the stranger and for the Sojourner among them that anyone who kills a person accidentally May flee there so there's accidental homicide okay you're a reckless individual you accidentally ran over somebody with your car okay you didn't do it on purpose you didn't gun it cuz you saw your enemy and you wanted to you know let him have it there's no malice of forethought there was no premeditation but you accidentally did that you caused death to an individual by your own negligence you got to leave you got to leave life and happiness at least for a time and then you can come back but notice in verse 16 but if he strikes him with an iron Implement so that he dies he's a murderer the murder murer shall surely be put to death and if he strikes him with a stone in The Hand by which one could die and he does die he is a murderer the murderer shall surely be put to death or if he strikes him with a wooden hand Weapon by which one could die and he does die he is a murderer the murderer shall surely be put to death the Avenger of blood himself shall put the murderer to death when he meets him he shall put him to death if he pushes him out of hatred or while lying in wait hurls something at him so that he dies or in enmity he strikes him with his hand so that he dies the one who struck him shall surely be put to death he is a murderer the Avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him so there's a distinction in the old Covenant between homicide or accidental homicide and murder it's not the same thing when the Old King James says you shall not kill that's not the best translation the sixth commandment prohibits murder there are three instances authorized in the Bible for killing there are three instances for justifiable homicide one is self-defense you see that in the book of Exodus in Exodus 22 the second is holy war you see or L just just War you see an example of that in Deuteronomy 7 and then you see uh uh soldiers in the New Testament treated favorably when they come hear the preaching of John the Baptist he doesn't say you know turn in your guns get rid of your clubs get you know stop being a catapult guy you you you can't kill any no he doesn't say that he says don't extort people be happy with your wages just do your job Cornelius when he meets up with Peter in Acts chapter 10 Peter doesn't wag his finger at him and say you got to put down your weapons stop leading troops into battle there is a place for a military to defend the body politic so killing in war is justifiable homicide now what is a just and necessary war is another huge question that's very difficult to answer but self-defense uh uh uh uh just war and capital punishment if your job was an execution in the Civil in the civil government that's a legit job you can have that job as a Christian oh no horor of why not somebody's got to do it you don't work much it's probably good pay I'm just kidding but the bottom line is is that it is mandated by God in fact if you look at the end of this chapter look at what it says at verse 29 these things shall be a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations and all your dwellings whoever kills a person the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty almost as if they God anticipated well we can't use the death penalty because the potential of somebody being a an in an innocent victim well it has to be two or three witnesses there were no capital offenses the there was no death penalty apart from two or three Witnesses but then notice in verse 31 moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death but he shall surely be put to death and you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his City of Refuge that he may return to dwell in the land before the pre death of the priest so you shall not pollute the land where you are for blood defiles the land and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it except by the blood of him who shed it therefore do not defile the land which you inhabit in the midst of which I dwell for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel so in the old Covenant in Old Covenant Israel you have the distinction between accidental homicide and murder as well you've got the identification of additional capital crimes so murder Genesis 9: 6 no dispute nobody in the New Covenant should ever say well you know that was an Old Testament Mosaic thing no not the noic Covenant the the the Mandate for capital punishment in Genesis 96 has never been suspended it's never been abrogated has never been fulfilled and if What God Says in numbers 35 is still uh uh uh applicable we're in a bad State of Affairs we got a whole lot of blood guiltiness in Canada a whole lot of blood guiltiness in America a whole lot of blood guiltiness throughout the world so identification of additional capital crimes you've got murder for sure you've got adultery and sexual immorality beastiality homosexuality rape incest the incorrigible son again not your 2-year-old old who doesn't eat his peas but the adult Rebel Son uh Sabbath breaking kidnapping solicitation to apostasy witchcraft sorcery and false pretension to prophecy and blasphemy so a distinction made in terms of what is murder and what isn't you've got the identification of additional capital crimes and then the Declaration here concerning its necessity in numbers 3531 to 34 money cannot Ransom a murderer that murderer must be executed well that seems a good place to stop at this point and then God willing next Wednesday night we'll pick up on what the New Testament teaches with reference to the death penalty so I'll close in a word of Prayer