Protecting Life (9:5-6)
From instructing Noah about the shedding of animal blood, the Lord proceeded to discuss an even more important topic: the shedding of human blood. Thus far, mankind didn’t have a very good track record when it came to caring for one another. Cain had killed his brother Abel (4:8), Lamech had killed a young man and bragged about it (vv. 23-24), and the earth had been filled with all kinds of violence (6:11, 13). God had put the fear of humans into the animals, but now He had to put the fear of God into the humans lest they destroy one another!
Those who kill their fellow human beings will have to answer to God for their deeds, for men and women are made in the image of God. To attack a human being is to attack God, and the Lord will bring judgment on the offender. All life is the gift of God, and to take away life means to take the place of God. The Lord gives life and He alone has the right to authorize taking it away (Job 1:21).
But how did God arrange to punish murderers and see that justice is done and the law upheld? He established human government on the earth and in so doing shared with mankind the awesome power of taking human life. That’s the import of God’s mandate in Genesis 9:6. Human government and capital punishment go together, as Paul explains in Romans 13:1-7. Government authorities carry the sword and have the right to use it.
Under Old Testament law there was no police force as we know it. If a murder was committed, it was up to the family of the victim to find the culprit and bring him to justice. There’s a difference between murder and involuntary manslaughter (Ex. 21:12-14), so the Lord instructed the nation of Israel to establish six cities of refuge to which an accused murderer could flee for safety (Num. 35:6-34; Deut. 19:1-13). The elders of the city would protect the accused until the case could be investigated, and if the accused was found guilty, the family of the deceased could proceed with the execution. Since the murderer had shed blood, the murderer’s blood must be shed.
Government was established by God because the human heart is evil (Gen. 6:5) and the fear of punishment can help to restrain would-be lawbreakers. The law can restrain but it can’t regenerate; only the grace of God can change the human heart (Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8:7-13). But if individuals, families, or groups were allowed to deal with offenders in their own way, society would be in a state of constant chaos. Human government has its weaknesses and limitations, but government is better than anarchy and people doing what’s right in their own eyes (Judg. 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).
God ordained and established three institutions on this earth: marriage and the family (Gen. 1:26-28; 2:18-25), human government (9:5-6), and the church (Matt. 16:13-19; Acts 2). Each has its sphere of responsibility and one can’t substitute for the other. The church wields the sword of the Spirit (Heb. 4:12), not the sword of justice (Rom. 13:4; John 18:36), but if the government interferes with matters of Christian conscience, believers have the right to disobey (Acts 4:18-20).
Opponents of capital punishment ask, “Does capital punishment deter crime?” But does any law deter crime, including parking laws and speed laws? Perhaps not as much as we’d desire, but the punishment of offenders does help society to honor law and justice. Nobody knows how many people learn about convictions and think twice before they disobey the law. The law also helps to protect and compensate innocent people who are victims of lawless behavior.
Not everything that’s legal is biblical. Regardless of what philosophers, parliaments, and courts may say, God’s mandate of capital punishment begins with “whoever.” It was given by God to be respected and obeyed by all people.