Faith,
We all love the fact that 1 John 4:16 explicitly tells us, “God is love.” And it is safe to assume we all believe that if God is love, we should love one another, right? As I have stated before, God gave His commandments to His people out of love for them. Last week, we even discussed how God called His people to “choose life” out of love for Him and for each other. It is out of all this love that God gives the Sixth Commandment: “Do not murder.” Implicit in this command is God’s high value on human life.
Then why, just twelve chapters after commanding us not to murder, does God say:
This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “Each man strap a sword to his side.
Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother
and friend and neighbor.” The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about
three thousand of the people died. Exodus 32:27-28
Is the God who commanded us not to murder a murderer Himself? “Of course not!” we cry. Then how do we justify what seems to be a contradiction?
We don’t want to be a church that turns a blind eye to the difficult passages of Scripture. That is why this month, as we explore the Sixth Commandment, we are going to tackle the hard questions head-on. I pray you won’t miss it!
In Christ alone,
Pastor Brad
*No sermon notes this week.
Some compelling videos to prepare for this week’s message: