Thou shalt not kill. It is simple and straight-to-the-point: You shall not kill. This commandment is found in Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17; and reiterated and amplified in Matthew 5:21. Though brief, this commandment is very profound and speaks about the nature of God, the value of human life, and of a great evil that can destroy body and soul. As we continue our series on the Ten Commandments, we focus on the sixth command. Of course, we need to do a word study. The Hebrew word in Exodus for ‘kill’ is רָצַ×— ( ratsach ) which means to ’murder,’ ‘assassinate,’ ‘avenge,’ and ‘slay’ in a premeditated fashion. [1] So we can safely say that the sixth commandment means You shall not murder. Regarding ratsach, it is one of 7 Hebrew words for killing. When it comes to proactive, premeditated murder, this is the most active word that is used. In Hebrew and in English, there is a distinction between ‘killing’ and ‘murder.’ The former can include killing th...
'The Road Ahead' looks at some of the world trends issues and future forecasts from a Biblical worldview.