Our reading will be the first
seven verses of Genesis 9, and in it we meet with a matter of
capital punishment. And God blessed Noah and his
sons and said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the
earth. And the fear of you and the dread
of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every
fowl of the air, and upon all that moves on the earth, and
upon all the fishes of the sea, into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that lives
shall be meat for you, even as the green herb have I given you
all things. But flesh with the life thereof,
which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood
of your lives will I require. At the hand of every beast will
I require it, and at the hand of man, at the hand of every
man's brother, will I require the life of man. and you be fruitful and multiply,
bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply therein."
I guess it is no secret when I say that social mores are changing. They have been for quite a few
years in our society. things that used to be prohibitive
now are being looked upon favorably and are even being introduced
and are being practiced. And I could give you two or three
examples of that. One, of course, would be the
sin of homosexuality. Now, we're beginning to look,
so the polls say, More and more people now are in favor of allowing
them to do what we call marry. Then another issue, of course,
would be abortion. And once when grandma would have
abhorred any such thing, now it is becoming more and more
acceptable in our society. Another one might be feminism,
or the effect of that has been that there are now women female
preachers in many churches in our nation. And another one certainly
would be the matter of the death penalty. And I know that views
are changing on that in our day and time. Part of the reason
is I fear an innocent one might be. Part of the reason is that
the justice system is so corrupt until many people don't trust
it. There's so much corruption in it until many people just
don't trust it to that degree. But we make our opinion based
upon What sayeth the word of the Lord in each of these issues
it is for us. What does the Bible say? What
does the Bible teach on this matter now to consider the matter
and I need to shorten it down a little bit we have to read
and the place or passage where it is instituted we have read
that Genesis chapter 9 not only instituted but It is instituted
here, not by human legislators or a human judge or a human king,
but by God Almighty Himself. It was a direct fiat of Almighty
God, and we read that in verse 5 and verse 6. The bloods of
your life will I require, what notice, whether shed by a beast
or by another man. Whosoever sheddeth man's blood,
by man shall his blood be shed. Now before we proceed, let's
get our contextual bearing as we're tracing out the scripture
and the development of human history. After the flood, some
people called it a new beginning, a new beginning in the earth
and for the human family. We know that because of the wickedness
of man God sent the flood and that in that he spared only Noah
and his wife and their son and their wives in the ark. So we
must make the connection that the flood was sent because Genesis
chapter 6 and verse 5 the wickedness of man was great in the earth
and every Imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil Continually, and I think the margin said every day so
in Genesis chapter 6 and verse 7 God vowed to destroy man from
the face of the earth and he did this with the exception of
Noah and His house our family and when the floodwaters were
abated off of the face of the earth Noah and his family came
out upon the earth a new earth and Noah gave a sacrifice unto
God and Worshipped God by the altar and the sacrifice that
he'd made but let's notice something back in Genesis chapter 8 and
verse 21 and If we flip back there, we read, So, we have that,
uh, Connection that is made in the
scripture. God will not destroy it in a
great worldwide Catastrophe anymore and the things that are to be
noted here are number one He would not again curse the earth
for man's sake number two neither would he again smite or Every
living thing or creature, that is, there would not be another
cataclysmic judgment to come upon the earth like that of the
flood and in the proportion of it. And note in the middle of
Genesis 8 and verse 21, and let this enter into our mind. For
the imagination of man's heart is evil and that from his youth. What is he saying? Well, it is
this, I will never again anymore curse the ground for man's sake,
for or because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his
youth up, that nothing cures the depravity and the evil and
the wickedness in the heart of man. And you may notice that
in some versions, for is rendered though. Though man's heart is
evil from his youth up. The New Geneva Bible, King James
Version, has it right there in the text. It has it although. Although man's heart is evil. I will not visit the sins of
man in such a way ever again, nor destroy every living thing
as I have done, although man is continually and fully inwardly
depraved, and that from his very youth up." And thus it is, if
God dealt with the race as he dealt with that one in the flood,
then he should deal with every generation in that way, because
every generation is wicked and is full of evil. Now, this is
not to say that God would withhold all judgment off of the earth
and the people and the wickedness of it, because there are evidences
all throughout the scripture of God bringing judgment upon
the sin and the wickedness of the people, particularly upon
Israel in their many sins and departure from God. After the
flood, God declares, Genesis 8 and verse 21, that man's imagination
is evil from his youth. And if we look at verse 22 and
what it has to do with the overall context and how it fits in, verse
22, while the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvests, cold and
heat, summer and winter, the day and the night shall not seek. So as the Geneva Bible note,
this does not qualify This does qualify what is in verse 21. I will not again do that. And
then verse 22, the earth is to remain in its appointed order
throughout that time appointed by God. The seasons shall revolve,
and they have done so. all these thousands of years,
so that all the days of the earth we will not see a repetition
of the wrath of God wrought out in the flood and the destruction
of all the people upon it. So why is this mentioned? Why
is this put into the context or the flow of thought? Well,
I think because, as Calvin noted, the deluge had been an interruption
of the order of nature. There had been no seed time.
There had been no harvest for the past year, for example, while
Noah was in the ark. There had been no growth of vegetation.
There had been no bringing forth of new life, either in the human
or in the animal or in the vegetable kingdom. But now the promise
of God is that the normal course of the world was no more to be
broken up like it was by the flood. And the promise of God
is well stated, I think, by Matthew Henry in his commentary, quote,
as long as the earth remain, God's providence will carefully
preserve the regular succession of the times and of the seasons
and cause each one of them to know their place and such like,"
unquote. Now the question is, what does
all of this have to do with the present subject of capital punishment
that we read for our text? In this presentation is, if this
presentation were in a court, in a court of law, If it were,
for example, a Perry Mason moment or an adventure, someone would
say, Your Honor, I fail to see the relevance of this. Where
is this going? What does this have to do with
the subject at hand? Now, are you thinking that the
flood and such has to do with capital punishment. How is it
that the connection is made? Now, I said we were considering
the issue of the death penalty. So how does all of that that
goes before relate unto it? Now, where the great sovereign
God reveals to man with Matthew Henry called the Magna Carta,
Magna Charter of the human family and the governing law, the design
and order of the new world and of the new people. And we notice
some modifications now from this time and earlier time that are
to be noted. As for example, things were modified
after the sin and the fall of Adam. Number one, where prior
to the flood, the diet of man was herbs. Every living herb
that grew that was good for food. Genesis 1 and verse 29. Every
green herb in Genesis chapter 9 and verse
3. But now God adds the meat of
animals to their diet in Genesis chapter 9 verse 3 and verse 4
as he gives man total control over the animals upon the planet. Secondly, there was the enactment
for the safety and the preservation of human life, which taught the
sanctity of life, because God will no longer, God will not
again destroy the wicked in an all-consuming judgment like he
did in the days of the flood. Therefore, the sovereign God
and creator after the flood and for the running ages ordained
other measures for the protection of life. And the most drastic
of those measures, I think we could say, is the execution of
murderer or capital punishment for the crime or the sin of murder. So that the taking of a human
life required a corresponding death that it might be stopped. Even if an animal killed a human
being, that animal was to be put to death. And wasn't that
inculcated also into the Mosaic Law? Suppose, I mean, that a
man's ox gored him to death, or his donkey kicked him in the
head, or his cow or his bull ran over him and therefore caused
his death. The beast was to be killed. And, you know, in some instances
we still do this today. They call it putting down the
beast that killed an individual. But also, the man who slew another
man, that is, who deliberately, with willful intent, maliciously
killed another, who murdered, whether it be for hate or robbery
or anger or jealousy, such was to be put to death, he was to
be executed, he was to die for having put or taken the life
of another. So let's note it. This was a
modification of the way that God dealt with Cain, who rose
up and killed his brother Abel, Genesis chapter 4 and verse 8. And in Genesis 4 and 14, the
Lord took measures to keep Cain from being put to death by some
other man who was insulted at what he had done. But here After
the flood, the power of the sword is instituted, if we may say,
and put in the hands of the magistrate, and the manslayer was himself
to be brought and was to be put to death. And since depravity
is the same after the flood as it was before, and since the
earth will again be filled up with violence and wickedness
and the depravity and the violent action, violent deeds of men
and of women. And since God would never again
destroy all mankind in one fell swoop, then as Robert Canlis
wrote in his Genesis commentary, quote, a new kind of government
was to be introduced into the world and among mankind, unquote. There was to be a sterner rule
than just home discipline. There was to be a sterner rule
than that. The law of human government was
to protect one thing, the sanctity of life and retribute for its
loss by a murderer upon a fellow member of the human family. Now there's something else that
makes murder to be so wicked in the sight of God that it is
deserving of the death penalty. And that is in Genesis chapter
9 and verse 6. He deems himself violated in
their person. That man is made in the image
and the likeness of God. And that originally, you see
it in James chapter 3 and verse 9 in the New Testament. Genesis
chapter 1 and verse 27. For man is not the product of
evolution. Man is not that at all, nor is
he only a higher form of an animal, nor is he soulless, for he became
a living soul, so that to kill a man is not the same as to kill
a dog, or a lion, or a beast, or a horse, or a cow, for they
are not made in the likeness and the image of God. But though
it was greatly marred in the fall, Yet some of it, there is
a remnant in man, and God would have, therefore, the death or
murder of one to be avenged. So every government used to have
and ought to have a provision in their law for the just condemnation
and execution of a wanton slayer. For as Paul teaches us in Romans
chapter 13 and verses 1 through 6, that the power of government
is ordained of God. It is the ordinance of God in
that second verse, and that the magistrate bears not the sword
in vain. But now let's broaden ourselves
out a bit and consider some objection. and then make some application
of the matter before us today. One of the first and the strongest
objections which some professing Christians are heard to make
is that Jesus abolished the death penalty when he came in the flesh,
and they usually cite the woman in the 8th chapter of the Gospel
of John taken in adultery, a death offense under the Mosaic Law
as their proof text. Now, they may build upon this
and use this as an assumption, and that being that the death
penalty came in with the Mosaic Law and therefore was abolished
with the Mosaic Law would be the thinking of some Christian.
We answer the death statute was prior to the Mosaic Law, and
altogether distinct from the provisions of the Mosaic Code,
was in place before the Mosaic Code, and yet was then inculcated
into the Mosaic Code, but then also included the death of penalty
for some spiritual sins as well. Blasphemy, that kind of thing,
carried the death penalty. I find agreement with the expositor
who wrote that the original statute remains in force independent
of any special or temporary enactments as binding upon all governments
ordained by God." Now there is a precedent I believe for this.
in that the promise that was made unto Abraham was enforced
before the Mosaic Law and was still enforced during the Mosaic
Law and is yet enforced after it's abolished by the death of
Christ. So therefore, the promise to
Abraham still stands for those who are the seed of Abraham. Now, some Christians are queasy
about capital punishment until they have thought it out, read
the scripture, and realized. We know that the woman's accusers
in John chapter eight appeal to the Mosaic law that such as
she was accursed and qualified to be stoned to death by and
under the statutes of the Mosaic law. However, not under the original
statute in Genesis chapter 9, only murder we see in that particular
place. Now, another argument we hear
all the time is no man and no government and no jury and no
judge has the right to take away the life of another human being,
not even the life of a murderer, so that some are against it In
every case, no matter how heinous, even like the kind that we have
seen recently in our society. But the scripture said, if a
man kills a man, then his blood is to be avenged and the blood
of the murderer is to be shed. And then Solomon writing in Proverbs
20 and verse 26, a wise king scatters the wicked and brings
the wheel over them. Another agreed, an innocent person
might be executed. Well, yes, this is a concern
and we never, never, want that to be the case, especially, as
I mentioned, in light of the corruption that exists in law
and judges and what we call the justice system of our country,
that it has been subverted and perverted. We agree with that. When lawyers and judges and police
and district attorney may be corrupt, when witnesses lie under
oath and people lie all the time in the court, they get by with
it. Another said it is cruel and
unusual punishment. It is barbaric. It is sadistic. Even to execute the murderer
himself is a sadistic act. What we answer is What is barbaric
and sadistic and cruel is one who murders an innocent person
or takes multiple lives simply because he's crazy or he's mad
or he got fired or something of that nature. God instituted
it. Is that barbaric? Has God done
a barbaric thing in instituting the death penalty? Now, let's
say a word about our present society, when the justice system
is now too much, very too much, under the influence of psychology
and political correctness and many other things. They advocate
banning our weapons and banning guns for the number of murders. say that's a justification for
doing it. But I wonder, I wonder if they
have ever stopped to think of all the people who drink, get
drunk, drive a car, and kill somebody or multiple people,
yet we never hear banning cars or banning beer or those kind
of things. In Numbers chapter 35, you have
laws concerning murder and you have the weapons which might
be used in the murder or the taking of the life of another.
Such as, and I'm just going to point them out, in verse 16,
all of these are in that chapter, number 35. In verse 16, it was
possible an instrument of iron, an axe, or a hammer, Etc might
be used as a murder weapon in verse 17 a stone or a rock Can
be used as a murder weapon in verse 18 a hand weapon of wood
a club in verse 21 a Yes, some people have been killed by the
bare hand of the murderer. But no matter the weapon used,
in each case we read this, the murderer shall be put to death. So that they did not ban the
weapons. They did not ban the weapons
that were the most prevalently used in acts of murder. They executed the murderer. according to the law of God. Israel executed by stoning. That was their way. Should they
ban stones now because of that? Or should stones have been registered
and regulated and have a four-day waiting period before you can
have a stone? Israel executed by stoning. But
other societies have used crucifixion as the Roman Empire And that
was the ordained way that God would have our Savior to die.
Some abused the guillotine, hanging in the old way. Firing squads
were lawful in the United States. I think Utah maybe was the last
state to have it. Electric chairs called old sparky,
the gas chamber, lethal injection, and down the road you go to those
that have the death penalty in their state. Now, in order for
us to end on a high note, let's go back to the institution of
the original ordinance as we read it. And the words of the
Lord in Genesis chapter 9 and verse 5, surely your blood of
your lives will I require. And in the end of the verse,
the words are repeated, will I require the life of man. Murder is the highest crime that
one person can commit against the other. It is the ultimate
or the most extreme infliction that one may inflict upon another. Just as the crucifixion of the
prince of life was the highest crime that the Jews could commit
against him that God sent into the world. And that for two reasons. Number one, Men are brothers. I mean that just by general relation. See, it is written, of every
man's brother will I require. Of every man's brother. Secondly, man was made in the
image of God. Thus, a man that murders another
forfeits his own life by the statute of God. Calvin said this,
God so highly esteems life, it being his great gift unto man
that he would not suffer murderers to go unavenged and declares
that he will avenge our murder At the hand of man or a beast
will he do so, the words of Calvin. Now to require it is to seek
it, to demand it, to make a venge, to take satisfaction for one
murdered, to require a life for a life. It is the life of the
murderer in lieu or in place, in the stead of the one that
he has without cause and without any good reason, has taken their
life. The avenger of blood, we read
of him in Deuteronomy chapter 19 and in Joshua chapter 20. Remember the avenger of blood,
some next of kin to kill the manslayer which led to the appointment,
you remember, of the cities of refuge. They had six cities of
refuge scattered about Israel. And if a man had killed one,
intentionally or unintentionally, he high-footed it to the city
of refuge, lest the avenger of blood could overtake him and
there kill him in the way. And then he was brought before
the priest and the magistrate, not delivered if he was innocent,
delivered if he was guilty. It's the original purpose of
God was to check the wild depravity of man and to restrain them in
lieu of the fact that God would no more visit the earth because
of man's iniquity with an exterminatory wrath or judgment, as some called
it. And if not avenged by civil government,
it will in due time be directly taken care of by the authority
and the providence of Almighty God. And this is a very powerful
tool to check sin and depravity and violence that God has given
unto human government. A powerful tool. God is its giver,
and this law is made by God and stood then, stood through the
Mosaic Institution, and I believe even today. Now, we don't want
an innocent man or an innocent person being put to death. God
forbid. We'd rather see ten guilty go
free than one innocent be wrongly put to death. That would be our
desire. But it is a scriptural when we
think about it and when we look at it. And then they say it doesn't
work. Well, yes, that person will never
murder again. I saw something on the internet
the other day. It said facts prove that once
a criminal has been shot, he commits less crime. And I think
probably that's a good say.