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The Giver of Life on the Penalty of Death

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To the Romans who were under the rule of the iniquitous Nero, Paul wrote, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God” (Romans 13:1). While God does not approve of every decision made by human governments, He has ordained them to be a terror to evil works, administering punishment to curb evil (Rom. 13:3; 1 Peter 2:14). Paul went on to write, by inspiration of God, concerning government, “he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil” (Rom. 13:4). The sword was an instrument of death in the first century. Paul is referring to the exercise of capital punishment. As early as Genesis 9:6, when God was explaining to Noah and his descendants the difference between shedding animal blood and human blood, we find the injunction, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” Man is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). God gives humans an eternal spirit. This is what separate man from the animals. God forms the spirit of man within him (Zechariah 12:1). In God we live, move, and have our being (Acts 17:28). What does the giver of life say about taking life? To take innocent life is such an insult to God and man that the perpetrator under these instructions in Genesis was to have his blood shed by man. This seems to be the origin of God-ordained governmental punishment in the biblical record.

For human government to carry out capital punishment on the murderer was not itself murder. The law of Moses likewise showed this distinction in giving the command, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13), while also commanding, “He that that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death” (Exodus 21:12). It is not murder to put murderers to death. This is why the NKJV highlights the distinction by translating Exodus 20:13, “You shall not murder.”

In the teaching of the New Testament, Jesus acknowledged that God gives power to human governments to put evildoers to death (Romans 13:1-4). Pilate asked Jesus, “Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?” (John 19:10). To this Jesus replied, “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin” (John 19:11). To unjustly put an innocent man to death would be a sin, but Jesus did acknowledge the power of Pilate to crucify criminals was given by God. When he stood before Festus, the apostle Paul declared, “For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar” (Acts 25:11). Instead of arguing against the death penalty under all circumstances, Paul stated that he would take that punishment if he were guilty. Festus found that Paul “had committed nothing worthy of death” (Acts 25:25).

While Paul instructs Christians in Romans 12:19 not to seek personal vengeance, he goes immediately into the role of civil government in exacting vengeance in Romans 13:1-4. A society that promotes the shedding of innocent blood while prohibiting the death penalty on those who have shed innocent blood is diametrically opposed to God’s revealed will.

-Mark Day

Esther’s Defining Moment

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While the Jews were in captivity under Persian rule, Esther, a Jewess, was selected by the Persian king Ahasuerus to be his queen (Esther 2). Mordecai, a relative of Esther’s, looked after her and advised her to keep her race a secret, “Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it” (Esther 2:10). It seemed as if all would go well for the Jews until a law was passed that was essentially a death sentence for God’s people. Laws of the Medes and Persians could not be revoked after they were made (Esther 1:19; cf. Daniel 6:8, 12). Haman, the enemy of God’s people, had convinced Ahasuerus to grant him the sanction of his signet ring to sign an unalterable law into edict to kill all Jews, both young and old, even women and little children, in one day (Esther 3:10-13).

Mordecai counseled Esther that she must make a supplication before the king on behalf of her people (Esther 4:8). Esther responded, “All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days” (4:11). Perhaps the most famous words of the book of Esther come next in Mordecai’s prompting: “Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (4:13-14). Mordecai had confidence that God would deliver His people one way or another, but he saw Esther was at a unique time and position to have an opportunity to save the Jews. Though she would do so at the risk her own life, Esther decided to be identified with God’s people and appear before the king uninvited to plead for her people. What would you and I do in this situation? Christ has called us to fear God more than men, being willing to confess Him before others even on pain of death (Matthew 10:28-33).
It is at this point in the narrative that Esther’s courage is revealed with great energy. Instead of fearfully waiting for Mordecai to tell her what to do, we read, “Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.”
She was successful in her request of the king. Haman was hanged on the gallows he had prepared for the Jews (Esther 8:7). The Jews were allowed by the king to defend themselves and thus survived as a people through whom Christ would come (Esther 8:11). Today, when one is baptized, one is identifying oneself with Christ’s death by burying the servant of sin and being raised to a new life (Romans 6:3-7; Colossians 2:12-13). As Esther was energized when she was willing to die to be identified with the people of God, so giving ourselves to Christ in baptism means we are choosing to serve a purpose greater than our own concerns. We are dying to ourselves to serve Christ as our Lord in hope of life beyond this earthly existence. Baptism is that defining moment when the selfishness of past sins are washed away and a bold pledge is made that one will henceforth be identified as belonging to Jesus Christ (Acts 22:16; Galatians 3:26-27). Have you died to self in order to serve the Lord Jesus Christ?

-Mark Day

The Old Testament Part II

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The previous installment of this study considered the implications of the phrase “old testament” in 2 Corinthians 3:14, including Jesus’ acknowledgement of a closed catalogue of inspired books that began with Genesis and ended with Second Chronicles (Matthew 23:35). This installment will consider books outside of this catalogue that some have attempted to add to the canon—those books which measure up to the qualifications of being inspired, thus authoritative and to be included as part of God’s word.

While additional books, sometimes known as the Apocrypha, can be found in Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Bibles—each of these differ in what additional books they include—these were not considered inspired Scripture by Jesus or the Jews in general. Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian, mentioned what the Jews considered to be from God:

For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another, [as the Greeks have,] but only twenty-two books, which contain the records of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine; and of them five belong to Moses, which contain his laws and the traditions of the origin of mankind till his death. This interval of time was little short of three thousand years; but as to the time from the death of Moses till the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, who reigned after Xerxes, the prophets, who were after Moses, wrote down what was done in their times in thirteen books. The remaining four books contain hymns to God, and precepts for the conduct of human life. It is true, our history hath been written since Artaxerxes very particularly, but hath not been esteemed of the like authority with the former by our forefathers, because there hath not been an exact succession of prophets since that time; and how firmly we have given credit to these books of our own nation is evident by what we do; for during so many ages as have already passed, no one has been so bold as either to add any thing to them, to take any thing from them, or to make any change in them; but it is become natural to all Jews immediately, and from their very birth, to esteem these books to contain Divine doctrines, and to persist in them, and, if occasion be willingly to die for them (Against Apion 1:8).

Photo by Janko Ferlič

While Josephus mentions 22 books, he is referring to the same content of our 39 books of the Old Testament. The Minor Prophets were all one book known as “The Twelve”; First and Second Samuel were one book; so were First and Second Kings, as well as First and Second Chronicles. Ezra and Nehemiah were together as one book. Ruth was combined with Judges and Lamentations with Jeremiah.

The Apocrypha is not inspired of God. Apocryphal books have errors in them unlike inspired Scripture. Some of them also attest to not being divine. First Maccabees was written during an acknowledged time when God was providing no new revelation, “It was a time of great trouble for Israel, worse than anything that had happened to them since the time prophets ceased to appear among them” (9:27). What a contrast to the first-century apostles and prophets who were revealing the New Testament, inspired of God to replace His former testament. While NT writers often quoted from the OT, they never quoted from the Apocrypha to give any indication that those books were from God. As previously mentioned Jesus did not recognize the Apocrypha as part of God’s word and neither did His apostles.

The OT warnings about adding to God’s Word mentioned at the end of the first installment of this study are complimented by a similar admonition at the end of the last book of the New Testament, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Rev. 22:18-19). It is clear that God has given us all the written revelation we need (2 Pet. 1:3), and we should not add to it.

-Mark Day

Does God Exist?

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Upon reading the above title many will reply “Don’t be so silly, of course God exists.” There is no greater question of greater importance than whether or not God exists. The answer to that question affects all other questions. We, our children, relatives, and friends have been exposed to the General Theory of Evolution (a fiction that all matter and life came about by purely natural processes). If the God of the Bible exists, there is no need for the evolutionary hypothesis in accounting for all things that exist. So, the universe is here, it must be explained. At some point in everyone’s life, every sane, rational human is going to have to ask and answer this one question, “How did the universe get here?” There are three options to consider. That…

I. THE UNIVERSE (MATTER) IS ETERNAL. To be eternal would be, by definition, existing without beginning or end. However, we know that the universe will end. This is proven by the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics (Law of Increasing Entropy) which states that everything is running down or wearing out. Energy is becoming less and less available for use. The universe is running down like a clock. If the universe is running down like a clock, there had to be a time when it was “wound up” and is slowly winding down. The 2nd Law points to 2 things when applied to the universe: 1) A beginning and 2) An end in the future when no more energy is available (referred to by scientists as a “heat death”) If the universe had a beginning and looks toward an end, it cannot be eternal.

That is exactly as the Bible teaches. BEGINNING: Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”.  END: 2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Clearly the universe is not eternal according to science and the Bible.

II. THE UNIVERSE CREATED ITSELF OUT OF NOTHING. For this to be the case would contradict the 1st law of Thermodynamics which states that neither matter nor energy can be created or destroyed in nature. It is a self-evident truth that if we start with nothing, we get nothing. Someone may question, “To say matter cannot be destroyed, what if I burn a piece of paper, have I not destroyed the paper?” Nothing has been destroyed, it has only changed form. The paper, just laying there has energy known as potential energy. When the paper burned the energy became Kinetic Energy. What happened to the paper? The paper is ash lying where it was burnt, some went into the air as smoke, and some was converted to heat and light. The paper did not go out of existence, it only changed form. Again, matter or energy cannot be created or destroyed in nature. The universe (matter) could not have created itself out of nothing.

III. THE UNIVERSE WAS CREATED. If matter is not eternal, and the universe did not come from nothing, the only option left is that the universe was created. It is absolutely certain that something has always existed; otherwise we would be forced to say that something came from nothing. (Point #2) Since it is an observed truth that something now exists, it demands that something has always existed. Otherwise one would be forced to argue that something came from nothing – a position that is illogical and irrational. Since matter is not eternal (Point #1) the only option left is that God created the universe and all things in it. The Bible tells us that God has always existed. Psalm 90:2, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” The Eternal God created the universe, just as the Bible affirms.

The unavoidable conclusion that can be drawn from the arguments of where the universe came from, is that it was created by God. Any other conclusion is irrational.

Psalm 33:6, “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

 

  • Jerry D. Sturgill

The Old Testament

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Before the book of Genesis, the publishers of most Bibles include a title page with the designation “Old Testament.” The term “old” is relative, implying there is something newer; the term “testament” involves the expression of one’s will in a contract.  This designation is supported by the words God used in communicating through inspired men. In writing to the Corinthians about how most of his fellow Jews were blind to Jesus Christ’s fulfillment of Scripture, Paul stated, “But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ” (2 Corinthians 3:14). Notice Paul used the phrase “the old testament” with the Corinthians. They were familiar with the expression. There was an understanding even among the earliest Christians that they were living under the New Testament of Jesus Christ and the former testament was thus old (cf. Hebrews 8:13; 9:15-18). The weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper reminds Christians of Jesus’ blood of the New Testament (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25). Paul had written earlier in this chapter to the Corinthians about how God had selected his work, “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” (2 Corinthians 3:6). Thus, Paul and other apostles and prophets were aware that God was using them to reveal a new testament that replaced His former testament (Ephesians 3:4-5; 1 Corinthians 14:37). In this context (2 Corinthians 3), Paul is contrasting their ministry with the ministry of the Old Testament by Moses. It is evident from verses such as 2 Peter 3:16 and 1 Timothy 5:18 that New Testament writers considered each other’s writings Scripture, inspired by God as the Old Testament was (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

Photo by Aaron Burden

When Christ came to earth, the Old Testament had been a closed catalogue of books for years. Jews would often refer to it by its twofold division: the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17-18; 7:12; 11:13; 22:40; Luke 16:16-17; John 1:45; Acts 13:15; 24:14; 28:23; Romans 3:21). Christ Himself, in prophesying of the destruction of Jerusalem, said of that generation God would require the blood of all Old Testament martyrs, explaining, “That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar” (Matthew 23:35). The first one murdered was Abel in Genesis 4. The account of king Joash killing Zecharias son of Barachias is found in 2 Chronicles 24:17-22. Second Chronicles is not the latest stage of the recorded history of the Jewish people in the Old Testament; however, even though it was not the last book written, it did occupy the last place in the order of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew Bible begins with Genesis and ends with Second Chronicles. Jesus is referring to the two ends of the Old Testament library in Matthew 23:35, the first book to the last book. The Jews accepted only these as divine.

Within these Old Testament books, God warned man not to add to His words (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Proverbs 30:5-6). It is obvious that if God has gone to the care of expressing His will to man in a written testament, then He disapproves of anyone tampering with it. Alleged additional books, or lost books, of the Old Testament will be the focus of the second installment of this study on the Old Testament.

-Mark Day