The Death Penalty-Who Pulls the Switch

THE DEATH PENALTY: WHO PULLS THE SWITCH?

              In our current study of Old Testament I, specifically the sections concerning the Mosaic Laws provided to the Hebrew Nation, the question of how to apply these laws into today’s world and specifically to today’s Christian needs to be addressed.  Specific to this discussion is Capital Punishment and the Death Penalty.  If we are in the New Testament era who if anyone has the authority to “pull the switch” in the fulfillment of the governmental laws, capital punishment and execution?  Is there justification for the death penalty and who has the authority to enact, judge and complete the death penalty?

              Our first step in answering these questions is to understand the terms of murder and kill. James Eckman writes,

     Many Christians do not see a difference between these two terms but the Bible does. The King James Version renders Exodus 20:13 as, “Thou shalt not kill, while the New International Version renders the same verse, “You shall not murder.” The Hebrew term in this case, rasha, does mean to kill, but it is never used in relation to animals and is always associated with murder. Furthermore, it is never used of killing an enemy in battle.1 Therefore, not all life-taking is murder.

    Two examples exist in the Old Testament.  First Genesis 9:6—“whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man.” God gave this to Noah before the Mosaic Law and was restated in Numbers 35 as part of the Mosaic Code. As Charles Ryrie states, “ One can conclude that when the theocracy [of Israel] took the life of a murderer (i.e., one who violated the sixth commandment) the state (and particularly those who actually perform the execution) was not guilty of murder.”2 The second example is the conquest of Canaan. In Deuteronomy 20:10-18, God revealed His rules for war. It is clear from these regulations that Israel was not guilty of murder because they were the instruments of God’s holy judgment.[i]

Therefore we can determine that when one murders that they are taking a life from God not mankind.  As Genesis 1:27 states, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” [NIV]  Killing a human being is a direct attack on his Creator God and by doing so he rejects God’s sovereignty over the creation of human life.  But how do we as modern world survivors and followers of Christ put into action this command?

              There are basically three passages that provide us with insight into this supposed dilemma for modern man Genesis 9:6; Exodus 21:12; and Romans 13:4 In Genesis 9:6 we read, “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.” The uniqueness of this scripture is that it was provided before any commandments or laws were provided to the Hebrew nation, therefore, it is a divine command provided to all nations and mankind.  God establishes this command in Genesis 9 after delivering His justice on mankind by flooding the world and bringing all but His chosen to death for their insidious sinfulness. By providing this command for a response to murder He moves His justice to human government not personal revenge or emotions or personal thoughts.[ii]

     [i] James P. Eckman, Christian Ethics in a Postmodern World, (Wheaton, IL: Evangelical Training Association, 1999) p. 59-60. He cites Peter Craigie, The Problem of War in the Old Testament, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978), p. 58. & Charles Ryrie, You Mean the Bible Teaches That…(Chicago: Moody, 1974), p. 30.

    [ii] Ibid, p. 66