One thing I would like to clarify is that when I say that God only expected execution for the crime of murder, I include offering one’s children to idols as murder as well. I define murder as the shedding of innocent blood, which in this country would include the crime and sin of abortion.

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. God bless. Rachael

Like you said, even though none of these men were executed, none of them escaped punishment altogether.

You said, “Moses – was a case of defending another man who was being beaten; this was a case of defense, not of murder.”

This is how I view it, for the most part, but I am not sure if Moses killed the Egyptian while he was in the process of beating the Hebrew man. I cannot tell if he had followed him somewhere and then killed him since he looked around to see if anyone was able to see him slay the Egyptian. Also, I’m not sure Moses was totally justified in killing the Egyptian since the Egyptian wasn’t actually killing the Hebrew man but was only beating him. It seems to me that Moses could have simply stopped the Egyptian from beating him rather than killing him. I feel that God saw Moses’ heart and knew it was not a true case of murder (i.e., evil or malicious); rather, it was a crime of passion. Moses despised the mistreatment of his brethren. There is more to be said, but I will leave it at this.

You said, “Paul – misguided zealousness, but acted with the permission of the leaders and within full accord of his civil law; not a murderer.”

Hmmm. I agree that Paul honestly thought that he was doing the will of God, but still he did murder the people who were actually innocent of any crime and that was wrong, even if you are the apostle Paul. I think that God probably did take Paul’s motives into consideration (I Timothy 1:12-13), not to mention the plan He had for Paul’s life. Like you stated, Paul was following the law and so was never in any earthly danger of being tried for murder.

We don’t always know why God has mercy on some and not others, but we sometimes have a very good idea as to why He does some of the things He does. On the other hand, look at Annanias and Saphira! He certainly made an example out of them. YIKES!

You said, “David – repented for his actions and got a stay of execution from God, but did not by any means escape punishment, paying for his crimes by losing 4 children.”

Yes, David suffered much during his lifetime due to the consequences of his sin. Also, David did not follow God’s law when raising his own children which caused him even more grief.

You said, “I would say that Biblically the only crime which God seemed to demand blood for from both Gentile and Jew alike was murder.

“If I made the laws of the land, I’d also want that those who commit sex crimes to see the death penalty, especially those who violate children.”

I agree on the sex crimes issue and I think that is the way God wants it. However, on the Jew/Gentile issue, I would disagree; not everyone who dwelled in Israel was a Jew. There were Gentile sojourners in the land and they were expected to obey the laws of the land as well and were subject to the appropriate punishments. Certainly, both Jew and Gentile will be judged by the universal moral law of God, so why would the punishments be any different between the two? In other words, why would a Gentile be spared his life for committing adultery and not the Jew? I do not see the distinction made in scripture. The universal moral law is for all. The Jews just so happened to be the ones chosen to be the writers/recorders and the keepers of God’s word for all mankind and were the first to truly establish the law. I do not see where the law was exclusive to Israel (i.e., Jews only) in the sense that they were the only ones “allowed” to enforce the law and expected to obey and be punished for breaking the laws. So far, no one has been able to prove that from the scriptures.

I just feel it is a stretch to say that “biblically” the only time Gentiles were/are punished by death was/is if they took/take a life. Again, the law of God is for ALL. It is just that the law of God wasn’t completely recorded and fully enforced until the time of Moses.