No, God Did Not Break the Sixth Commandment
Clearing up a persistent misconception
Back in the 1970s, as a kid in Sunday school at our family’s church in Warrenton, Virginia, I learned the Ten Commandments. When we came to the Sixth Commandment…
Thou shalt not kill
…I had a question.
If it’s wrong to kill, why did God…well…kill?
Apparently, many adults today still wonder this. In fact, it’s something that’s often thrown out by skeptics or critics of the Bible.
Indeed, right here on Medium, an anti-Christian writer (there are several) has repeatedly tossed out this objection. Here’s a quote from one of her latest articles: “One of the Ten Commandments is ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ yet there are many times God killed people in the Bible — both innocent and guilty people.”
Let’s set aside, for now, the allegation that God killed “innocent” people. If we’re going to use the Bible to judge the Bible, then we should be fair about that. And the Bible makes clear that no one is really “innocent.” But let’s set all that aside for now.
You may not agree with the God of the Bible. But to accuse Him of violating the Sixth Commandment displays an ignorance of the Commandment itself.
