Subject: kill or not to kill?
Exodus 20:13 says, “Thou shalt not kill.” In 1 Samuel 15:3, God commanded Saul to kill. So, is Exodus 20:13, ‘thou shalt not kill,’ applicable, with the exception of except Saul, in 1 Samuel 15:3? Is that what I am reading? Malachi 3:6 says, “For I am the LORD, I change not,” yet to me, it appears as if He changed his mind about killing.
I know God kills with the flood, somewhere in the Book of Acts, he killed a man and a woman, I don’t have a problem with that; He's God, so He can do what he wants right? God is omnipotent, meaning He is all-powerful; He can do anything that pleases Him, but His actions will always be in accord with the rest of His character (Revelation 19:6; Jeremiah 32:17,27).
Is commanding us not to kill and commanding Saul to kill in accord with the rest of his character?
The grace of the lord Jesus be with you.
Jeremy
Jeremy,
There are many other things in addition to killing that, “changed,” (for lack of a better term) with the coming of Christ. For example, in the Old Testament, circumcision was required for a male to be in right standing with God and was to be a sign of God's perpetual covenant with Israel, yet with the death and resurrection of Christ circumcision is no longer required. To eat unclean meat made one ritually impure yet in the New Testament one is free to eat whatever meat one desires. Touching one's wife during her menstrual period also rendered one ritually impure and one could not participate with the rest of community in worship until one performed the necessary rituals to make oneself clean again.
I've struggled with such questions myself and don't pretend to have all the answers especially to such difficult questions. I think the best way to look at this is with an understanding of progressive revelation. That is, the idea that God has progressively revealed himself to his people over a long period of history culminating in his final and ultimate revealing of his nature in his Son, Jesus Christ, especially in Christ's death and resurrection.
Paul spoke frequently of God's mysteries that were hidden in the past but are now made known in Christ (the Greek noun, “mysterion,” refers to something that is hidden and unknown and not as our English word does, to something that by its nature is mysterious or esoteric). There are hints and glimpses throughout the Old Testament including many indications that God is a God of mercy who takes no delight in the death of any man or woman. It also appears to be the case that God deals with people on the basis of where they are at, (not to excuse their sin, but try to imagine a first century Roman trying to accept many ideas we today take for granted).
Regardless of whether we understand all the issues involved in such questions there is the more relevant question of how we as Christians are to behave and think in the light of what God has done in Christ. Paul holds up Christ crucified, an innocent man who went willing to the slaughter, as the paradigm for Christian conduct despite the fact that the very idea of God rendering victory by means of the (apparently) impotent death of his messiah is scandalous to Jews and foolishness to the world.
In my mind I find it impossible to reconcile the idea of killing (and other forms of violence) with either the teachings or the example of Jesus, who is the only one in whom God can be fully and truly known. As disciples of Christ we are called to bear witness to his teachings and nature, to turn the other cheek, to not retaliate, to judge not, to love our neighbor, to do to others as we would have them do to us, to pray for those who persecute us and to do good to our enemies, the latter being held up in Matthew chapter as a way to be, “perfect,” even as our Father in heaven is perfect and makes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. Again, such ideas are difficult to square with any notion of killing, violence or other acts of evil committed against friend or foe.
Anyway, I hope some of this is of assistance. If I have misunderstood your question, please let me know so I can respond more accurately (or if my words have raised other questions).
Thanks and best regards,
The Bible Answer Stand Ministry (www.bibleanswerstand.org)
1 Peter 3:15 Always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you, but do it courteously and respectfully.