Does God Favor the Death
Penalty?
If you believe in the existence of the living God,
can you think of a greater opportunity or obligation than to serve him every
hour of every day? The wise man Solomon sought
happiness and fulfillment in money, power, wine, women and song. He denounced all of these as “vanity of
vanities” (Eccl. 12:8). By divine
inspiration, king Solomon wrote: “Let us hear the
conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is
the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret
thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Eccl. 12:13-14). The word “duty” does not appear in the
original text. Solomon did not say, “This
is the whole duty of man”; he said, “This is the whole of man; this is all that
matters.” The significance of this
expression should not be overlooked.
Man’s very reason for being is to do God’s will
from the heart.
Jesus Christ has told and shown us how to live so as
to please our heavenly Father. He said
to his disciples, “My meat is to do the will of him who sent me, and to finish
his work” (John 4:34). Our Lord explained his mission to some of his
Jewish listeners. “He who sent me is
with me: the Father has not left me alone; for I do always those things that
please him” (John 8:29). On the occasion of Christ’s healing a man
born blind, Jesus said, “I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is
day: the night comes when no man can work” (John 9:4). Every moment of Christ’s earthly life was
devoted to the will of his Father. He
has left us an example that we should follow in his footsteps (John 13:15).
The apostles of Christ had learned from him to get
their priorities in order. They knew
that serving God was the greatest blessing and achievement possible. That was Paul’s reason for telling the
Corinthians: “Whether you eat, or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the
glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31). In his beautiful letter to the Philippians,
Paul says he counted all things but loss for Christ. “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but
loss for the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord...Brethren, I
count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things that are behind, and reaching forth unto those things that are before, I
press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:7-8,
13-14). Not fame, not power, not money,
not earthly pleasure could compare with knowing Christ and doing the will of
our Father who is in heaven.
Ray Waddle, Religion Editor, of
The
Tennessean wrote an article entitled, “Does God favor
the death penalty” (Sunday, October 31, 1999)?
The article provides different views on the death penalty from some
Nashville prison chaplains and from
some theologians. Before I review some
of the views expressed in the article, I have a very important question for you
to consider. How do you know what God
favors? Some people claim to have a
special pipeline into the very mind of God.
Charismatic preachers are constantly boasting of God’s direct revelation
to them. If God speaks directly to them,
they have no need to read and study their Bibles. Others seem to think they can arrive at what
God wants by simply examining their own thoughts and experiences. These and similar approaches mean absolutely
nothing. There is one way and only one
way to know what God approves: Consult his word to learn what he demands of
us.
Paul teaches the full inspiration of the
scriptures. “All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be
perfect (or full grown), completely furnished unto every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17). The apostle Peter denied that his message and
that of the other apostles were “cunningly devised fables.” Please listen
carefully. “We have a more sure word of
prophecy (or more literally, a word of prophecy made more sure); whereunto you
do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until
the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: knowing this first, that
no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the
will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit”
(2 Pet. 1:19-21).
If men and women really want to know what God
approves, they must turn to the Bible.
The Bible alone furnishes us completely unto all good works. All we need to know and all we will ever know
about the will of God must come from the inspired word of almighty God. I am fully aware that many liberal
theologians and modern charismatics may dispute that
conclusion, but our concern is not what liberal theologians and charismatics think, but what God has revealed in his
word. So I invite you to think with me
today about whether God favors capital punishment.
God ordained the death penalty for those who commit
what we would call “first degree” murder.
Barron’s
Dictionary of Legal Terms (New York: Barron’s Educational Series,
Inc., 1983) defines “first degree” murder as follows: “Unlawful killing that is
deliberate and premeditated” (p. 284).
If a killing were accidental, the law of Moses provided cities of refuge
where the killer could go until a hearing was held. Numbers 35 and Joshua 20 have lengthy
discussions of these cities of refuge. I
shall read just three verses from Joshua 20.
“An they appointed Kedesh
in Galilee in
mount Naphtali, and Shechem
in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath-arba,
which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. And on the other side of Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain of the tribe of
Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of tribe of Gad, and
Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of
Manasseh. These were the cities
appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger who sojourns
among them, that whosoever kills any person unintentionally may flee there, and
not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the
congregation” (Josh. 20:9-11).
Long before these arrangements were announced
through the various books of the Old Testament, God had said through Moses:
“Whoso sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of
God he made man” (Gen. 9:6). Bible
interpreters generally agree that the plain meaning of a passage must be
accepted--unless there is a good reason for not doing so. Genesis 9:6 could hardly be simpler. If a man kills another, the killer is to be
killed. Properly constituted authorities
were to investigate the case. If the
person were found guilty, the government was to put the guilty man to death. It was not a matter of personal revenge, but
the law of almighty God.
There are two lines of evidence from the Old
Testament I shall pursue in this study today: God’s authorization for executing
murderers and other vicious criminals and his commands to engage in warfare
against God’s enemies. Did you know
that the Old Testament mandated the execution of sexual sinners? I know it sounds cruel and intolerant, but
God had his reasons for those arrangements under the Jewish covenant. Will you please give careful attention to
these words from the book of Leviticus?
“And the man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he who
commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress
shall surely be put to death. And the
man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness: both
of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. And if a man lie with his daughter-in-law,
both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. If a man also lie with mankind, as he lies
with a woman, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put
to death; their blood shall be upon them.
And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be
burned with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you. If a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be
put to death: an you shall slay the beast.
And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, you shall
kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood
shall be upon them” (Lev. 20:9-11).
We do not live under the Jewish covenant. There is no authorization for killing the
sinners listed in Leviticus 20 and in other passages. But can anyone read these passages and argue
that the death penalty is inherently evil?
How can any sinful mortal accuse the God of holiness of being wrong
about any teaching or action? One
three-star letter to The Tennessean (Monday, October 25, 1999) expresses the wish
that the controversy surrounding the death penalty would simply go away. The author says that the death penalty will
not make our state safer, more beautiful and more moral. He apparently thinks the death penalty is
state-sanctioned murder. He calls it the
most terrible crime (p. 14-A). Is it a
more terrible than the one Timothy McVeigh committed when he murdered 168
people in Oklahoma City? How
in the name of common sense can anyone be so illogical? Killing murderers is God’s arrangement.
God not only ordained the death penalty for
murderers and other criminals, but he also commanded his army to destroy some
of the nations surrounding Israel. When God commanded Joshua, Saul and other
kings to fight against pagan nations, he knew hundreds and perhaps thousands of
people would die in conflicts. We might
not think of warfare as involving capital punishment, but it actually
does. God did not arbitrarily choose for
the Israelite army to fight against the pagan nations. God had reasons for eliminating some of the
nations in Palestine. He knew some of those nations were deeply
involving in idolatry with all its accompanying evils, such as, greed, sexual
immorality and violence. He also know there was the danger that the Israelites would become
like the nations around them.
The book of Joshua tells of the spies who were sent
out to view the land of Palestine. Why would Joshua send spies into the land of
promise? The answer should not elude any
student of the scriptures. They were
sent to ascertain how the Israelites would have to prepare for the battles
ahead. I shall mention only one battle
that the Lord enabled his army to win.
God instructed Joshua not to be afraid of the Amorites. “I have delivered them into your hand; there
shall not a man of them stand before you.
Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night.
And the Lord caused panic among the Amorites, and slew them with a great
slaughter at Gibeon, and chased then along the way
that goes up to Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makedah. And it came to pass, as they fled from before
Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon,
that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more that died with
hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword” (Josh.
10:8-11).
The stories of warfare in the Old Testament should
lead us to ask: Does a nation--any nation--have a right to defend itself
against aggressors--against those nations that would take another nation’s
property and their freedom? If China were to attack the United States--and she will when she has
gained enough of our military secrets to give her confidence to attack--does
the United States have the right to defend
her people? If we do--as much as we may
abhor violence--will there not be hundreds of thousands of people killed? We may not like to call such warfare “capital
punishment,” but that is precisely what it is.
Warfare means that a nation has decided to bring death and destruction
on its enemies. Is a nation ever
justified in engaging in warfare? If it
is--and it certainly happened under the law of
Moses--then capital punishment is not inherently evil. Would God endorse that which is inherently
evil?
A number of liberal theologians have expressed doubt
about the stories of warfare in the book of Joshua. One west coast theologian denies that God
commanded Joshua to march against the cities of Palestine, such as, Ai and
Jericho. If God did not authorize Joshua and the
Israelite army to conquer the promise land, there are serious problems with the
inspiration of the Bible. It would mean
that the Bible cannot be completely trusted.
It would also impugn the integrity of Jesus Christ. If Jesus did not know the Old Testament
stories about warfare, is he really the Son of God? How can he be the Son of God and not know the
word of God? If he did not know about
those wars in which the Israelites engaged, how can we be sure he knows what
men must do to be saved? If he knew the
wars were wrong but did not speak out against them, was he completely without
sin, as the Bible explicitly teaches (Heb. 4:15)? If Jesus endorsed those wars of the Israelite
people--and he most certainly did--then he cannot oppose capital punishment
when it is administered fairly and legally.
Are the opponents of the death penalty aware of these facts? Ray Waddle’s newspaper article
that I mentioned a few minutes ago tells of one prison chaplain who opposes the
death penalty. The article also says
that religious leaders in our state “have a new issue to face.” And what is the new issue that religious
leaders face? Leaders in most religious
organizations have struggled for years over the legitimacy of the death
penalty. There is nothing new about
that. Waddle says that an interfaith
group asked the governor’s office to stop some looming executions. Those religious leaders who oppose the death
penalty on principle either do not know what the scriptures teach or they
prefer to ignore its teaching. I am not
talking about opposing one particular execution--but opposing all executions
because they are thought to be inherently sinful.
Ray Waddle mentions one
preacher who visits one of the prisons in Tennessee. Waddle says the preacher loves the souls of
men, but believes the state has a right to kill those who deserve to die. The preacher believes--and so do I--that God
forgives murderers, but he demands that they suffer the consequences of their
crimes. He believes that God sanctions
states, like Tennessee, to execute convicts. The preacher prays for the men on death
row. He baptizes the convicts and holds
their hand until they are actually put to death. The preacher says, “I believe the Bible is
the word of God, and the Bible certainly endorses capital punishment (p. 1-B).
Ray Waddle lists biblical
passages that both the opponents and the supporters use to prove their
positions. Those who oppose the death
penalty list Genesis 1:27 which reads: “So God created man in his own image, in
the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Did you know that the Bible uses the fact
that man is created in the image of God to justify the death penalty? “Whosoever shed’s man’s blood, by man shall
his blood be shed: for in the image of God he made man” (Gen. 9:6). Another passage the opponents of the death
penalty use is Exodus 20:13: “You shall not murder.” Is capital punishment murder? If it is, why did God command it under the
Jewish covenant? And why did not Jesus
explain that the Old Testament was wrong when it authorized both capital
punishment and carnal warfare?
Ray Waddle reports that a
prominent liberal theologian from Nashville asked, “What would Jesus
do?” The liberal theologian asks, “Would
Jesus, a victim of capital punishment, pull the switch? My conclusion is that he would not, and
therefore I cannot.” We know what Jesus
would do only by what he did. As I have
pointed out, Jesus Christ totally endorsed the word of his heavenly
Father. The word of God records
incidents of people’s being executed and of wars which god commanded. God favored capital punishment and warfare;
so did Jesus Christ. I ask you again, If
Jesus knew that both capital punishment and carnal warfare were always wrong,
why did he keep it a secret from those who would be his followers? The sad truth is that many liberal theologians
simply repudiate the teaching of the Old Testament and that of Christ.
Ray Waddle quotes an anonymous
preacher who said, “Violence perpetuates violence.” I wonder why the Old Testament writers, Jesus
Christ and the apostles never thought of that?
I have no doubt that all of these despised violence. I despise violence. But were there never circumstances that
demanded violence, such as, capital punishment and warfare? If you are a Bible student, you cannot be
unaware of the many times men under the Jewish covenant had to be put to
death. One man was even put to death for
picking up sticks on the Sabbath. Nor
can you be ignorant of the necessity of warfare. Capital punishment was always tragic, but
sometimes absolutely necessary--at least, from God’s viewpoint. And how in the name of all that is holy and
sacred can we harshly judge God or Christ for approving of the death penalty?
I
close today with sadness in my heart that anyone has to be executed. Taking pleasure in the loss of life--even
when the person losing his life deserves to die--brings grief to all who love
God and the creatures made in his image.
May God hasten the day when men will seek the glory of God and turn from
their wickedness to the gospel of Jesus Christ!
And may God bless us as we walk in the light of his word!
Winford Claiborne
The
International Gospel Hour
P.O. Box 118
Fayetteville, TN 37334
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