Genesis 9:6, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.”

Yes this verses supports capital punishment. Man was made in the image of God and as such has immense value to God. The blood (life) of man is God’s alone and to take human life is to usurp God’s sovereignty over life and death-thus meriting death itself. Life is precious; the one who willfully takes another’s life must suffer death at the hands of man. Exacting retribution is not a personal matter but a societal obligation. Certainly we live in a day when there are judicial abuses, and the death penalty is sometimes politically and even racially motivated. Such abuses are an abomination. Woe to a system that wrongly administers the death penalty. Woe to the society who allows that to happen. Woe to judges who are culpable. God will not be mocked!

Dr. Kent Hughes says, “To argue against the death penalty on humane grounds is to argue against God’s Word. It exists precisely because of God’s humane concerns. To ignore it is to despise life. This was, and is God’s word to a violent world. This was meant and is meant to protect human life. To ignore God’s teaching is to descend ever more into a society of violence.” 1

To take human life unlawfully is to usurp God’s authority over life and death. Without the possibility of divine purging by flood, societal conditions jeopardizing human life would escalate to intolerable proportions. For just reprisal God delegates the authority to carry out his vengeance (‘by man”). Dr. Matthews points out, “In accordance with the principle of lex talionas, Israelite law recognizes, as did ancient law in general, that particular circumstances such as involuntary manslaughter (Exo 21:20-2;Deut 19; Num 35), mitigate the consequences of lesser degrees of homicide.” 2

The question then becomes, “How can the divine directive at the same time exact killing the criminal who is also created in the divine “image”?” Capital punishment is not to be viewed as a threat to the value of human life but rather is society’s expression of God’s wrath upon anyone who would profane the sanctity of human life. The New Testament speaks to the issue of capital punishment as a necessary function of society, where the state is defined as a divinely designed servant that administers retribution (Romans 13:1-5; 1 Peter 3:13-14). Genesis removes personal vengeance and restricts blood feuding that leads to reckless killing.

In our own day this is expressed by the prosecutor who represents the “people” of the State, not the victim per se. Mosaic law limits the excess of personal and family vengeance as attested in the ancient Near East by the imposition of lex talionis (Lev 24:17-21) and the restrictions placed upon the blood-avenger. As humans we are driven because of sin towards the destruction of ourselves, our neighbors and even the nations we reside in. As a result of this our desire apart from abiding in Christ is to destroy the world and those in it. God places societal boundaries in the created order for the sole purpose of protecting man but not to inhibit his free will. God knows what man is capable of in sinning, for He created all humanity. The Lord God is neither the author of sin, nor the approver of sin itself. Man sins not because of God’s gift of free will but rather because He is predisposed towards sin itself because of the fall. One of the results of the fall is that society will suffer violence through crime. Sin itself is a choice and as with each choice, one must decide whom they will serve. Our decision is not whether we should support capital punishment but rather why not. When one makes a decision to murder someone they should be punished appropriately and justly. The issue of capital punishment is a biblical issue however, and we can only use the Bible to support cases where premeditation and intention to murder can clearly be substained by clear evidence, reason and logic.

Dr. Matthews points out, “Mosaic law emulated the Noahic provision by protecting human life. Exodus 20:13, “You shall not murder.” The Hebrew rasha (murdef) is commonly used for premeditated killing and death by execution is prescribed in the Torah for those who transgress this prohibition (Exo 21:12-14;Num 35:16-32). A high view of human life is stressed in the Torah. Those who kill men are executed in the same was as the human murder is punished-by stoning (Exodus 21:28-32). The value of human life is extended even unto the unborn child who in the case of injury merits reparations.” 3

Genesis 9:6 doesn’t just teach us about capital punishment but also about the rightful punishment that each one of us deserves because of our sin. Each one of us deserves to experience the flames of hell. We cannot classify one sin above another and then in the next breathe say that we are any better than anyone else despite our greatest wishes. We elevate ourselves and our sin at our own peril, for we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Without Christ we are lost forever. As a result of what Christ did in offering His life as a substitute for us, we can be pardoned from our sins. This is all made possible because of His sacrifice on the Cross. Only because of that sacrifice we can live radically new lives empowered by God’s grace.

If God can change the heart of Saul the persecutor into Paul the Apostle, then surely the Lord can forgive the sins of those who have sinned against God, and others. The only way this is possible is if they repent, and believe in Christ; turning from being slaves of sin to servants of the Most High. The Gospel is the power of God to forgive depraved sinners and offer them the one thing they don’t deserve-forgiveness, redemption, and a new life through Christ to the glory of God.

In Christ Alone,

Pastor Dave

1 R. Kent Hughes, Genesis: Beginning & Blessing, (Crossway, Illinois, 2004), 146-147.

2 Kenneth A. Matthews, The New American Commentary: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture: Genesis 1:11:26, (Broadman and Holman, USA, 1996), 405.

3 Kenneth A. Matthews, The New American Commentary: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture: Genesis 1:11:26, (Broadman and Holman, USA, 1996), 405.