Bible Text: Deuteronomy 5:17 | Pastor: Eric Danielson | Series: For Our Good | Murder is a sin we want to deny any involvement in, so when we hear the command “You shall not murder” we quickly claim our innocence and move on. But in doing so we may be overlooking some things that God wants us to pay attention to.

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Undertones of Murder
Deuteronomy 5:17

One of the darkest shadows on recent human history is the Jewish Holocaust in Germany during World War II. The Holocaust refers to the Nazi persecution and slaughter of the Jewish people in the years leading up to and during World War II. At the beginning of the Holocaust, Jews in Germany were stripped of their citizenship and systematically ostracized and marginalized in their society by multiple discriminatory laws. Later on the Nazis incited the plundering of their businesses, stores, and synagogues as well as physical attacks and harassment against them. They were forced to live in small, segregated ghettos and prohibited from travel. They were then systematically gathered and sent by rail to concentration and extermination camps where conditions were horrible, and torture and execution were frequent. It has been reported that six million Jews – approximately 2/3 of all Jews living in Europe were killed, including an estimated 1.1 million children.

The disturbing details of the Holocaust are a well-known stain on the landscape of recent world history, yet surprisingly there are some who say it never happened. Even though there is overwhelming evidence to substantiate the details and scope of the Holocaust, there are people in some Middle Eastern governments, and racist groups who deny that these things happened. According to online resources these people say that “the Holocaust is a hoax or an exaggeration arising from a deliberate Jewish conspiracy designed to advance the interest of Jews at the expense of other people.” Holocaust deniers claim such things like: the Nazi’s “Final Solution” was aimed only at deporting Jews from the German Reich and not exterminating them. Or: the Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas chambers for the genocidal mass murder of the Jews. Or: the actual number of Jews murdered is only around a tenth of what is being reported.

Now I don’t know if you’ve watched any documentaries, or read any books, or been to any Holocaust museums – I’ve actually been to one of the camps when I was in college on a trip to Germany – but the evidence is staggering, disturbing, and very clear. The Jewish Holocaust really happened. When there’s that much evidence there’s really no way you can deny it, and if you do, the reality is that you’re living in denial.

Today we’re going to look at an area of sin that is so bad, most people quickly deny any involvement with it. It’s a sin that no one wants to be associated with, so we quickly claim our innocence and move on. But in our efforts to deny our involvement, we overlook many other things that if taken into account will point out that we’re not as innocent as we may think. So, many of us might actually be in denial when it comes to this sin, and I believe God wants us to take more of an honest look and come up with a more accurate assessment so that we deal with some things and don’t live in denial.

We will be looking at the sixth commandment today as we continue our series in the Ten Commandments.

Read Deuteronomy 5:17.
“You shall not murder.”

Now my immediate thought in beginning to prepare for this sermon was: How can I preach a whole sermon on that? “Have you been thinking about murdering someone? If so, don’t do it.” Boom. We’re done. Let’s pray…

When it comes to murder, we think of committing the act of murder itself, and I’m guessing since we’re all here and not in prison, none of us has done that. We’re not murderers. We’re not guilty of murder. So doesn’t that mean we’re good to go on this one? It seems pretty simple. But even though I’m sure that covers the immediate application of this command that God intended, I also think there’s a lot more to it than that. I think God had other things in mind than just the final act of murder.

The reason I think that way is because of how Jesus treated this command in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:21-22 he says: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” Similarly, the Apostle John makes this statement in 1 John 3:15: “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer.”

So in their minds, things like anger, insults, verbal abuse, and hatred were in the same wheelhouse as murder and need to be treated very seriously. So I think we need to take a closer look at this command. We need to look at why people commit murder, what other sins it includes, and who are the objects of these sins.

To begin I want to look at a passage in James that sheds some light on why people commit murder. James 4:1-2 says: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.”

James says, “You desire and do not have, so you murder.” Murder begins in the area of deprived desires. In this passage James is talking about sinful desires – fleshly cravings – worldly passions that are raging inside us. Deeply engrained in our human nature is the desire to live and to experience the fullness of life, but this desire has been corrupted by sin. So rather than trusting God and following his way, we reject him and fight to discover our own way. Each of us has a slightly different pathway of corrupted desires with which we are seeking to find fulfillment in life and the problem we run into is there are people that keep getting in our way and depriving us. We “desire and do not have” because someone gets in our way.

People become barriers to the things we desire. We desire peace and safety, but someone comes into our life that poses a threat. It might be a troublesome neighbor or coworker or abusive family member. We desire autonomy and freedom, but someone comes into our life that ties us down and holds us back. It might be a spouse or a boss or a parent. We desire money and possessions, but someone stands in the way. Maybe a business competitor or our kids or spouse. We desire power and praise, but someone holds us back. We desire pleasure and laughter, but someone steps in and ruins it. We “desire and do not have” because people get in our way – they deprive us of what we want and we turn against them to get rid of them. We feel enmity and hatred toward them. And this, James says, is why we murder… We have to get them out of the way.

Now, rather than just jumping to the ultimate act of killing someone to remove them as a barrier, we need to acknowledge that there are a whole bunch of other murderous things we attempt to do to achieve the same results that stop short of murder itself. These are what I’d call “undertones of murder.” These are the things we can overlook in our attempts to distance ourselves from the sin of murder. People almost always attempt other things to get what they want before finally resorting to murder.

We try manipulation and control first of all. We use any means at our disposal to force people to change or to get them out of the way. It might be intimidation or threats. Jesus mentioned outbursts of anger, insults, and verbal abuse. James mentioned fighting and quarreling. It might be the silent treatment or a guilt trip. It might be verbal or emotional abuse. It might be physical abuse or assault. It might be legal action or lawsuits. We do whatever we have to do to force people to change or get them out of the way so they no longer deprive us of what we want. We act out our hatred and we use whatever method we have to use depending on how strong or resistant the other person is, or how much of a threat they pose. These are all murderous actions.

Murder includes more than just the act of killing someone, it is the intentional effort to force them to change or get them out of they way so you can get what you desire. You hate that person because of the barrier they present and you want to “kill” them by changing them to be someone else, getting them out of the way, or actually murdering them.

If that’s what murder is, then there are three common recipients of our murderous actions. The first and most obvious is the murder of others. The very first murder of another person in the Bible is when Cain killed his brother Able. Cain was filled with sinful desires. It is apparent that he had the desire for wealth because when he gave an offering to God he kept the best for himself. But he also had the desire to be exalted above his brother because when God rejected his offering and accepted his brothers’, Cain was filled with bitter jealousy. Able became a barrier to what he wanted, so he got him out of the way – he murdered him.

There are all kinds of ways we commit murderous acts against other people. Sadly, a lot of these happen in the home. A parent who screams at and belittles their kids to force them to do what they want them to do, a parent who neglects a child or uses excessive punishment, a husband or wife who deliberately causes harm to their spouse – verbally, emotionally or physically – to gain control over them, a child who screams at and attacks a brother or sister to try to get their way. “I HATE YOU!!!” Have you ever heard that? These are all undertones of murder. Similar things also happen at work, school, in the neighborhood, in the car, at sporting events – threats, curses, screaming, assault, abuse, vindictive lawsuits, and the list goes on. I can’t say that I’m not guilty of some kind of murderous action on at least a weekly basis.

The second recipient is the murder of self. Taking one’s own life due to self-loathing and self-hatred is the ultimate end of this, but it also includes other self-destructive behaviors to punish yourself or try to force yourself to become someone else. It could be belittling or insulting self-talk, self-deprecating comments or behaviors. It could include drug or alcohol use to try to punish self, or cutting, or engaging in an eating disorder. These kinds of behaviors are not just because of mental illness but can also come from an unhindered self-hatred. Sometimes people think there’s some kind of religious virtue in thinking of themselves in this way, but it’s just as sinful as murder of others. It’s refusing to believe God’s truth about who he created us to be and who we are in Christ.

The last recipient of our murderous actions is the murder of God. I never thought about this before, but a friend brought it up to me this week. This is probably where all of our hatred and murder begins. The person that presents the first and greatest barrier to our corrupt, sinful desires is God. God deprives us by prohibiting us from carrying out our corrupt desires, but we don’t let that stop us. Instead, we try to force God to change or we try to get rid of him from our lives. We know we can’t kill him, but we can try to turn him into something he’s not or ignore him and bar him from having any influence in our lives. Romans 1 talks about how we suppress the truth about God by our wickedness. We refuse to believe what he has made plain to us and we go our own way instead. So man’s effort to ignore God or turn him into something he’s not because we hate who he actually is, are murderous acts against him.

These undertones of murder are widespread and far reaching and if we’re honest with ourselves we won’t be able to deny our involvement in them. There’s too much evidence. Someone would only have to look as far as how we’re treated our family to find out we’re guilty. It will do us no good to live in denial, but that doesn’t mean we have to wallow in guilt either – and we shouldn’t. Because even though we may be guilty of murder in one way or another, I was reminded by a friend this week about the incredible God we have, and the incredible hope and forgiveness he’s given us for all our murderous intentions. Our God who commanded us not to murder and then has watched as we disobeyed that command, became a man to live among murderous people like us and allowed us to actually murder him, and he did so as the very means by which he would forgive all of our murderous actions, change our hearts, and set us free. Isn’t that shockingly amazing!? What a merciful, patient, and compassionate God!

So we don’t have to go back and try to make up for all the mistakes we’ve made – that would be impossible. We simply need to confess our sins to God, put our faith in Jesus, and receive his forgiveness. God may be prompting you to take this one step further and confess your sin to someone you’ve harmed and seek their forgiveness. I encourage you to do that. And God now calls us to live in his forgiveness by walking in the newness of life that he’s given us. We need not treat other people, ourselves, or God with murderous intentions anymore. Instead, when we feel those tendencies rise up, we can turn to God, trust in him, and step forward according to his way. We have been called to be like him. To be people who give life and light in this dark and murderous world. When we respond in love rather than hate, we will demonstrate the glory of God and point people to him.