We're in a series exploring the Ten Commandments, and we're doing them one by one,

and we've just finished the first five, which are all about how we relate to God.

Today we'll move on to the last five, which are all about how we relate to others.

We'll begin with command number six, don't murder.

Or, as Tim will want us to translate it, don't kill.

The Hebrew word is Rassah, which can be premeditated murder, but it can also refer to just

accidentally killing someone, what we would call manslaughter.

It's a pretty broad word. So I

think our English word kill is probably the best. It overlaps the most. So don't kill. I mean,

of course, murder's wrong, but aren't there times when killing, even though sad and unfortunate,

is the right thing to do? This is a great example of the Bible's meditation literature. You hear Don't Kill. There's something intuitive. You're like, yeah, that sounds about right. But then you start to think, well, what about self-defense? What about protecting someone else? And the biblical authors have already beaten you to the punch. This is going to lead us on a trail that, of course,

is going to lead us back to Genesis 1 through 9.

The Sixth Command is a blanket prohibition.

Don't end a life, because life is of ultimate value in the Bible.

God is the originator and the giver of life.

He fills the world with living creatures. Then God

shares that responsibility to care for life, oversee it with human image. Today we'll look at the

first death in the Bible, which is a murder. Cain becomes jealous of his brother Abel and ends his life.

God confronts Cain and tells him that the blood of his brother is crying out from the ground.

Something cosmic has happened. Human life is an image of God, and it's so precious and valuable that you're causing a rupture in the cosmos to take a human life in an unauthorized way. It's not yours to take.

We'll also look at how kosher food laws

are connected to a deep respect of the life of animals.

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