Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
"These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination
to Him."
David, to his young son Solomon, in Proverbs 6:16
This is the third of the seven things King David told his son Solomon that God especially despises.
Life is precious. It is a sacred gift from God, to be cherished and protected. To rob someone of his life from God is a very great evil. To murder is to hate not only the life that is taken but also to hate the Giver of that life. Murder is an arrogant challenge to the Almighty; it is an affront to His authority and power. The murderer assumes an authority over another's being that rightly belongs to none but God, and in doing so, causes some people to leave off the fear of God and to fear men instead.
The fear of God is wisdom (Job 28:28); the fear of men is foolishness. The fear of God enables one to hate evil (Prov. 8:13); the fear of men compels one to hate to displease men. The fear of God prolongs life (Prov. 10:27); the fear of men shortens life. The fear of God is clean (Ps. 19:9); the fear of men leads to all manner of evil. God abhors hands that murder innocent people because the kind of fear that murder injects into the hearts of people is not good.
God does not despise the earthly government that executes murderers. It is good for an earthly government to execute those who cruelly slay innocent people. For the crime of murder, God Himself instituted capital punishment among men (Gen. 9). When a government executes a murderer, it is giving earthly expression to heaven's great displeasure at that sin. For any earthly government to fail to execute murderers quickly is for that government to fail in one of its most solemn responsibilities.
One of God's first ten commandments to Israel was, "Thou shalt not kill [murder]." But what were Israel's judges to do if someone in Israel disobeyed that commandment and committed murder? God's prescribed punishment for the murderer was unequivocal: death without mercy (Dt. 19:11-13). The judges in Israel were commanded to execute the murderer, once his guilt was firmly established, and they were absolutely forbidden to allow a murderer to escape his due punishment by any means (Ex. 21:12-14; Num. 35:30-34). Every nation on earth would do well to follow God's wise standard for the punishment of murderers, and the closer that the government of any earthly nation comes to abiding by God's ancient standard for Israel, the more security and peace that nation will enjoy.