So welcome back to the Decalogue series. Now the reason why we are studying the Ten Commandments is that the Ten Commandments are God’s requirement of us. They are a summary of the moral laws of God. So we are duty-bound to observe every one of the Ten Commandments. Now we have so far studied five of those Ten Commandments and to try to find out what is it that God demands of us in each of these commandments.

And so today we are looking at the sixth commandment. So please turn with me in your Bible to Exodus 20:13, and there we find the sixth commandment. Exodus 20:13, and it reads: “You shall not murder”. You shall not murder. So what we are going to do is that we are going to look at what does it mean, and why is it wrong, and how do we violate or break this commandment alright. So just those three things to focus on. So let’s begin by looking at what does it mean. What does it mean?

Now the sixth commandment, as recorded in Exodus 20:13, in the original is only two words alright. In your Bible is “you shall not murder” or in the King James Version “thou shalt not kill”. But I say in the Hebrew it’s just “don’t kill” alright- don’t kill. Now, so that is our title this morning. Now we know that killing is wrong. How many of us here believe that killing is right? I think there is no dispute alright about this matter. Now killing is wrong, and it is a universal acceptance alright sort of agreement on this.

Now we know that not every culture is in agreement about perhaps polygamy. Now some culture believes that a man can have many wives, but others don’t. So there is no universal agreement on this. And maybe there’s also no universal agreement about lies. There are people who believe that well you know those big lies they shouldn’t tell, but there are those small, white lies, it’s okay. There’s no universal agreement about lies. And there is no universal agreement about idol worship.

You see, there are no universal agreement about many of these other things, but when it comes to killing, it looks like every society believes that killing is wrong. So killing is not acceptable in a civilised society. However, as I say, we want to understand what does it mean. This commandment is about killing humans, so that is something that we need to clarify from the very outset.

It is not about killing mosquitoes. It is not about killing chickens or pigs. Now we know that there are of course some people who think that we should not like the Buddhists. They believe that we shouldn’t even kill mosquitoes or ants. But this is not what this commandment is about, it’s not about killing those other creatures. In fact, it is okay alright for some of you to smack alright a cockroach. That is okay alright. Don’t feel guilty alright and say: Oh, I’ve broken the sixth commandment, I killed a cockroach last night. It is okay.

Now the word ‘kill’ here, now to understand what it actually means as you try to understand the word ‘kill’, and we actually understand that in the Hebrew, actually there are eight different words for killing alright. And the word used here is a special word, a word that is never used for hunting. Now you go hunting and you shoot a deer alright and you killed a deer, but the word used here is not killing a deer alright, not used for hunting any animals.

Nor is it a word used in the legal system alright. So here is a man sentenced to death, and then you have someone to execute that sentence alright and kill this criminal. And so that is killing a person, but this is not the word used for that kind of execution alright in the legal system. Now, this is also a word not used in the military. So when you send your soldiers or your troops to the battlefield and fight and they kill other people alright- kill their enemies, the word ‘killed’ there is not the word used here alright.

And therefore, “you shall not kill” or “don’t kill” is not about all these things alright in the legal system or in the military or the hunter go and hunt and killing animals. They use different words. And so the word here (the word used here) is therefore perhaps more precisely translated in the other modern translation. So here therefore the King James Version is not so helpful by using the English word “thou shalt not kill”.

But rather, as I believe in your translation it says, “you shall not murder”. I think the word ‘murder’ is what the Hebrew word implies or means here. So it is about murder. And therefore, you don’t murder a chicken. Now you don’t accuse that ah, you murder the chicken. No, you don’t say that because you’re not murdering a chicken alright. And you don’t murder I say a cockroach. And also, you don’t murder your enemies in the battlefield.

So you see, that is not the concept. And so murder is different. But we know that while we do not murder an animal or the enemies, but we murder. What we do murder? People, like people murdering children these days. And that is what is commandment is about: You shall not murder. And we know that murder is happening alright and people do it all the time. So that is the meaning alright- that is the meaning of this commandment “You shall not murder”.

Now then let us move on alright to talk about the second thing. Now, why is it wrong? Murder here refers to killing other humans like murdering other people or murdering children, and we say murder is wrong alright. Now, why is it wrong? Let me give you three reasons why murder is wrong. Now murder is wrong because we are made in the image of God. So we must not kill other people in a sense of murdering them because or in a sense murder is unlawful killing alright. Now there is in the sense there is lawful killing alright in the legal system or in the battlefield, but here is an unlawful killing.

So when we take another human’s life, we must remember that it is wrong because these humans, these people, they are made in the image of God. And therefore, every life is precious in the sight of God. Now we understand that way because they are made in the image of God. Then it is regardless of what kind of life, meaning in the sense what kind of human, regardless of a man and a woman, a boy and a girl, they’re all made in the image of God regardless of their race. So we do not say that it is not okay to kill the Chinese but it’s okay maybe to kill another race.

No, we say every human is made in the image of God. Because of that, it is wrong to kill any human regardless of race. And regardless of age. Like I say that sometimes we think that you know maybe it’s okay to kill children. No, no, no, it’s not okay to kill children. It’s not okay to kill adults. It is also not okay to kill old people. Sometimes we say you know people are old, ninety years old, ninety-five years old, all of them are useless people you know. Maybe a young person is more useful. We can kill them. They’re of less value.

No, we don’t measure value based on all these things because they’re all made in the image of God. And also, they’re equally precious now regardless of their health. Now sometimes we think that a sickly person we can kill them. Now I mention all these things, I believe that there is this mentality in a lot of people’s minds that begin to differentiate values of people by either race or age or health or wealth. So poor people, they’re of less worth, and so it’s okay to kill poor people.

Now we see this mentality I say in such an obvious manner in how people treat people. Now we think of the Rohingyas, we say all those are worthless people. Then we think of the Americans, maybe they are the more worthy people. Now, this kind of measurement is a failure to understand that every human is made in the image of God. So in God’s eyes, they are all equally precious, regardless of anything, of all these other factors.

So turn with me to Genesis 9:6. Genesis 9:6, and so this is what God says here. In verse 6 of Genesis 9, it says: “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed”. Why? “For in the image of God He made man.”. So what this verse is saying is this: That God says you don’t kill another human because that human regardless I say of race or age or wealth or education or whatever, he is made in the image of God, and therefore he is precious. So therefore God says you shall not murder or kill this person.

And so that is reason number one why it is wrong alright to take another human’s life unlawfully. Now there’s a second reason why it is wrong alright to murder or to take another human’s life. Now turn with me now to Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17, and here we have Paul speaking to those philosophers in Athens. And he said this to them about God and about life and about creation. So notice what he says here in verses 26 through 28.

Verse 26: “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him (verse 28) we live and move and have our being”. So what these few verses are saying is this, and that’s what Paul is saying to them about God and about life that God is sovereign over everything. It is God who made every one of us.

In fact, He created the whole universe, that’s what Paul is saying here. And He, therefore, is the one who determined when we live, how long we live. God is sovereign over our lives in other words. That’s why he says in verse 28: “for in Him we live and move and have our being”. Everything about us is dependent upon God. In fact, the author to the Hebrews said the same thing, Hebrews chapter 1, that it is indeed by His power He preserved us, that we live because of His preservation, and we cannot live one day longer than He has determined and we cannot also live one day shorter than He has determined.

It is in His hand. It is His right. It’s not our right to take life; It is God’s right to take life. And so when we murder, when we take another human’s life, we are actually violating God’s sovereignty, God’s right over life and death. So we, therefore, want to be God when we take lives. And so, therefore, God only alright- only God has the right to give life and to take life. And therefore to break this commandment alright is wrong. Now why is it wrong? Because we are made in the image of God and because it violates God’s sovereignty over life and death.

But there is a third reason. There’s a third reason why it is wrong to murder, and the third reason is this: That it is a sin against God Himself. To murder, to take another person’s life is not just a sin against another person but it is a sin against God Himself. Now turn with me to Psalm 51 alright to see that connection he said how is that I’m sinning against God or violation against God. Psalm 51, and look at verses 3 and 4. Psalm 51:3, it says here: “For I acknowledge my transgressions”.

See, here is David crying out to God, acknowledging his transgression. “And my sin is always before me”. What is that sin that David is talking about here in verse 3? What is that sin? Well, from the superscription you know that it is about his sin against a woman, against Bathsheba alright. That is the sin that he’s talking about here. But then David as he thinks about his sin against a human, against Bathsheba here, now he says in the following verse (verse 4): “against You”.

Now you see, he doesn’t say but to follow that up alright, I say he knows that he’s thinking about the sin against Bathsheba. He doesn’t say here against her and her only have I sinned. Notice that? So in verse 4, he says: “against You”. Who is the ‘You’? The You is God. He says: “against God and God only have I sinned and done this evil in God’s sight”. Now you see the connection here. So how David understands his sin is this: That when he sins against a human, he is sinning against God Himself.

So why is it wrong to break this commandment? Because it is a sin against God Himself. Now let me help you to make that connection. Some people say okay I’d like to see the connection between sinning against a person and sinning against God. Now to see the connection is to remember again that the Ten Commandments, remember they may be put under two categories alright or summed up in the two, now they say under two tables.

Now in the first category or the first table are the first four commandments that have to do with our duty towards God. In the second category, the second table that is the next sixth commandment, they have to do with our duty towards our fellow men alright humans. So those are in the way we sum up the Ten Commandments that way. And that’s how Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments.

He says well the Ten Commandments is about what? You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your soul and with all your might. So that sums up the first four commandments. The first table is about loving God. What is the next six commandments? It’s about loving men. You shall love your neighbour as yourself. That is how Jesus sums up the Ten Commandments under these two categories- duty towards God and duty towards men.

Now, however, now we must understand the connection between these two tables. They are not two separate tables that are aliens and got no relationship with one another. The way we should understand the second table of the Ten Commandments is this: That the second table is based and grounded upon the first. We will have no duty towards men if we have no duty towards God. It’s only because we have a duty towards God that we have a duty towards men. So you see the connection? So the second table is based and grounded upon the first. So they are not unrelated; They are connected.

In other words, without God and without responsibility to God, everything in our relationship to men is subjective. Everything in our relationship to men is subjective. It depends on us alright because it’s not God who governs our relationship. It’s like we will govern our relationship with other people, so it becomes subjective. Who is to say what is the objective truth here?

So in other words, we say that who is to say for example that polygamy is wrong? Who said that? Who said that we cannot commit adultery or cohabit or divorce or lie? Who says it’s wrong? It’s wrong because God said is wrong. We must not do these things. Why? Because God says we must not do because we have a duty towards God. If we have no duty towards God, why not? Why not kill? Why not lie? Why not commit adultery?

For that reason, I believe that the atheist (those who do not believe in God) has got no case. They cannot find a reason for morals. There’s nothing to you know to stop them from killing other people if they don’t know God. I believe that the psalmist makes the same connection in Psalm 14 when the psalmist says in verse 1 that “the fool said in his heart that “There is no God.””. And what happens after that? What are the following verses saying about that? Therefore they are abominable alright; Therefore they are corrupt; Therefore they do not seek after God.

You see, atheism in a sense is a very you know kind of root cause for all chaos. To reject God’s authority is anarchy. It’s like you can do anything you want alright- you can do anything you want. And so we see the connection between the second table that is our duty towards our fellow human being and our duty towards God are connected.

So is as we understand our duty towards God as I say that we see the second table as a summary of how we are to relate to one another if we are to glorify God alright. So why love one another? Why show kindness? Why not steal? Why not kill? Because. It’s because. You must give a reason. You must have a reason why. It cannot be because of yourself, it’s because of God. And that’s the reason why David puts it this way. I have done wrong. I’ve sinned against Bathsheba.

Why is it wrong to do that to Bathsheba and to her husband? Because it’s about God. That’s why he said it’s “against You, You only have I sinned”, and David understood that connection. So why is it wrong? So here are the three reasons because we are made in the image of God; because we are violating God’s sovereignty over life and death; because we are sinning against God Himself when we break this commandment.

Now that leads us to the third thing. So how is it violated? What does it mean? Why is it wrong? And thirdly, how is it violated? In other words, who are the murderers? Who are those people who violate this commandment? To whom is this law speaking? To whom? Now here is the problem alright- I mean here is the big problem with this particular commandment, and that is most people do not see that this commandment is talking about them.

We can see when we look at all the other commandments- you shall not steal, you shall not lie, you shall not commit adultery, and we, you know, look down and say: It is talking about me. But when we look at the sixth commandment, we look up and say it’s not about me. God is talking about somebody else. I say most of us cannot see how this commandment is applicable or relevant to us.

In fact, it is easy for us as we come to this particular commandment to think of ourselves as kind of distant from this commandment. After all, we ask: How many of us this morning or how many murderers are there here this morning in this hall? How many murderers? I can see two or three of you. No, I can see every one of you. It’s not you know those minority. I want to just show that it is about all of us. If you understand how this law can be violated, then we will see that it is about all of us.

Now let us think for example about this sin- murder or killing, and we know that it is happening all around us and all the time. Don’t you feel- don’t you feel that we live in a very violent world that killing is taking place all around us and all the time? In fact, someone said that we are living in a culture of death. Think of killing that’s happening every day all over the world. People are killed in such a massive scale that we have to invent words to describe them, words like homicide, infanticide, suicide, genocide, ethnic cleansing, carnage, massacre.

You see, we have the think of words because they’re just so much killing going on alright and that this is on a big scale alright- on a big scale. And we read of killing every day- killing on the street, killing in our neighbourhood, and killing in our own homes. Killing by strangers, killing by friends, and killing by our own loved ones. And that is what this commandment is about: Thou shalt not kill or murder, and it is happening everywhere and by people who are closest to us. Mothers killing their own babies every day by the tens and hundreds of thousands or perhaps million.

And we dare say that this law has got no relevance? You can see all the other laws you know that we people break them all the time, but this one maybe not so? It is about us because who really are the murderers? Now who really are the murderers? Now I say it is about all of us. And to see that alright- to see that it is about all of us, again I want to show how each commandment is to be understood. Now it is only as we realise how each commandment is to be understood, we see how this commandment is related to us.

Now so how are the commandments, the Ten Commandments. Each of the Ten Commandments, how are they to be understood? Now three things alright I want to point out here. First, they are to be understood this way that each commandment alright- each of the Ten Commandments covers a whole family of sin. So each commandment covers a whole family of sin.

In other words, the sin mentioned in each of these commandments, they are the chief of the family of sins. What do I mean by that? Now let’s just turn now to Exodus 21 alright- Exodus 21 to see how Moses kind of expands on that. So in Exodus chapter 20, now Moses recorded alright the Ten Commandments. And then the following chapter in Exodus 21, he kind of elaborates on that or he gives a commentary on that (on those commandments).

And so in Exodus chapter 21 kind of elaborating, expanding on this law against killing or against murder, he says in verse 12: “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.”. So if you kill somebody, you should be killed. That’s what he says. Verse 14: “But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbour, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.”. That is also killing, now also against this law.

Verse 15: “And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.”. You see, they all have the same punishment, implying that they all are committing the same sin. They’re all killing alright committing this sin of killing or murder. And then verse 16: “Now he who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.”. Kidnapping is also included under this law alright.

And verse 17: “And he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.”. So it includes cursing. Now you see what Moses is saying that well when I say you shall not murder, murdering, when you actually take a knife and stab another person to kill that person, now that is the chief of all the other sins that belongs to this what we call a family of sin. Kidnapping, cursing, you say is that the correct understanding? How did Jesus understand it?

So turn with me now to Matthew chapter 5 alright- Matthew 5:21-22. Verses 21 and 22 of Matthew chapter 5, now here is part of the Sermon on the Mount, and here Jesus is coming to the law. He says that it’s important for us to keep the law. Why is it important? Now I started off by saying that the reason why we should be studying the Ten Commandments or the Decalogue is because it is God’s holy requirement of how we ought to live our lives. So why is it important?

In fact, Jesus points out its importance in verses 19 and 20, where He says: “Whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”. In other words, the measurement, the benchmark, or the way Jesus says we measure is your obedience to the law.

Now was He talking about the Ten Commandments? Well, he goes on alright in verse 20: “For I say to you, unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”. Now of course using the scribes and the Pharisees, they boast alright in being people who actually observe perfectly the laws of God, the Ten Commandments.

He says if you want to do that, you want to kind of enter the kingdom, you have to do better than them. Now, what is Jesus talking about? What Jesus is saying here that although they boast alright-they boast that they are actually obeying the Ten Commandments, they are not. They are not because they have wrongly understood the Ten Commandments. They thought that they were obeying, but they were not.

But obeying is important. That’s what He means. Then He says alright in the following verse (verse 21): “Now you have heard that it was said of old, ‘You shall not murder’”. Now you see He’s thinking about the Ten Commandments right? That’s why He now quoted one of the Ten Commandments, and here’s the sixth commandment which we are considering here this morning.

So Jesus says so do you remember the sixth commandment? I hope this morning if you have forgotten all the other commandments, remember the sixth commandment alright. Now I say we do memory verses alright. This verse is not very hard to remember. Now if you find that you have difficulty with memory verse alright, now let me tell you: Do it in the Hebrew because Hebrew only two words alright (in the English got four words). Don’t kill. Alright, easy? Exodus 20:13.

But anyway, back here. Now Jesus is obviously thinking about the Ten Commandments. He’s now quoting the sixth commandment. But the question is: How did Jesus understood the sixth commandment? Well, He says here: “Now you have heard it was said of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’”. Then He says in verse 22: “But I say to you”.

What is it that the Pharisees have gone wrong? That means they didn’t understand this. “But I say to you”, Jesus says in verse 22. “Whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. Whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell.”

Now you see what Jesus is saying that actually taking a person’s life (killing) is the chief of this family of sin which includes cursing and hating and getting angry with people for no reason and so on and so forth. So there is a family of sin that we ought to see in each one of these laws, and that is how Jesus understood that, and that’s how we must understand alright.

So that is the first principle about the way we should understand the Ten Commandments. Each sin alright mentioned covers a whole family of sin alright. The sin mentioned is the chief. Now second thing here is this: That the law, each law alright are internal as well as external. We call it what we call the inside-outside rule alright. It’s internal as well as external. 

In other words, it is not just about the action but it’s also about the attitude. It’s not just about the outward but also about the heart. Is that also the way Jesus understands the law? Well again if you are still looking at Matthew chapter 5, now you look at verse 27. Now you see what Jesus says: “You have heard that it was said of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’”. So He’s now moving on to the next commandment: You should not commit adultery. But how is that to be understood?

Verse 28: “But I say to you (He says) that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”. Not just action but also the heart. So there is outside-inside rule about this law. So the law, each of the laws is not just about the action but also about the heart or the attitude.

And then there is the third principle here, and that is this that where a sin is forbidden, the corresponding duty is required. Where a sin is forbidden, the corresponding duty is required. Now, what does that mean? You’re still at Matthew chapter 5 alright, look at what Jesus says in verse 43: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you”.

Now you cross-reference, where was Jesus quoting from actually? He was actually thinking about the Old Testament. Now there’s a consistency in both Old and New Testament understanding the law here. So if you flip over to Leviticus chapter 19 alright- Leviticus chapter 19, and look at verses 16 through 18. Leviticus 19:16-18.

Now in verse 16 it says here: “You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbour: for I am the LORD.”. Now you shall not kill, that’s what it means. You shall not murder. Then verse 17: “You shall not hate your brother in your heart.”. And so now it’s including the family of sin. “You shall surely rebuke your neighbour, and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, you shall not bear grudge against the children of your people”.

See the family sin? Grudging, vengeance are all included. Then there is the opposite. Now, this is the third principle here that where a sin is forbidden, the corresponding duty is required. What is the corresponding duty of murder? What is the duty? Well, it says here in verse 18: “But you shall love your neighbour as yourself”. So that is implied in that commandment. When God says you shall not murder, He is also saying that you shall love your neighbour as yourself.

And not just your neighbour, but as Jesus kind of pushing that even further and He says it’s not just your neighbour because when you think of neighbour, you only think of good neighbours. What about bad neighbours? What about your neighbours who are your enemies? It includes that. You shall love your enemies and do good to them and pray for them. Now you see therefore what this commandment is about? So how do we violate the commandments?

Well, we will understand how we violate this commandment when we understand what this commandment requires. That’s what Jesus is saying about the Pharisees and the scribes. They don’t understand, and therefore they think that they have not violated. But I say to you, Jesus says, unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribe and the Pharisee, unless you do better than them, you shall by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

We ought to be better than them. How better? Through this, to understand this. Therefore the Pharisees alright, they think that they should hate their enemies. They don’t understand alright when they think. And many people, maybe most people think like this that we should hate our enemies. And that means that we don’t understand the sixth commandment and what it actually requires.

So what does this commandment requires? It requires that first of all, we do not kill. We do not commit homicide and suicide and genocide and infanticide and hate and angry with people for no reason and being bitter in our heart and quarrel and fight and hurt, and the list goes on alright- and the list goes on. Then we begin to say: Surely one of these hit one of you alright. If it is not grudge, it might be bitterness. If not bitterness, it’s unforgiveness. Surely one of these hit you if you understand the family of sin.

But it also requires that we love people, even our enemies that we do good to them that hate us, that we pray for them that persecute us, that we forgive seventy times seven times, that we love one another as Christ has loved us, that we show affection and esteem and kindness and patience and gentleness and mercy, that we are peacemaker rather than troublemakers.

Do we now still see that this commandment is so distant there’s no relevance to any of us? How many murderers are there here this morning? Is there anyone who dare say I am not a murderer because I’m such a loving person? I love my enemies, I pray for them every day, I show kindness, I have no grudge, never say a bad thing about other people. Never? This is what this commandment is about. Let us pray.

“Our Father in heaven, we know that it is so easy for us to think that this commandment has nothing to do with us but because of our failure to understand what it actually is. And so we pray that this morning You might convict us and show us indeed we are sinful creatures. We have that propensity to do all these things: To hate, to slander, to quarrel, to fight, to hurt not just with action but with words and the failure to love people as we ought to, even to love our brothers and sisters in Christ the way Christ has loved us.

Lord, we pray that You’ll help us and to see our sin and that we may constantly turn back to You and pray, O Lord, that You might give us the grace indeed to keep this commandment, not to be murderers but to be kind and gentle and be peacemakers, to show affection to our loved ones, to our neighbours, to people because we know that every man and woman, boy and girl, they are all made in Your image and they’re all precious in Your sight, for this, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.