Restraining The Wicked

Purge from Israel the guilt of murdering innocent people; then all will go well with you.   Deuteronomy 19:13

Suppose someone “is hostile toward a neighbor and deliberately ambushes and murders him” (Deuteronomy 19:11). Here is an example of deliberate, premeditated, cold-blooded murder. If the murderer runs to one of the cities of refuge, he is not to be protected from the consequences of his actions. The elders of the town are to bring him back, and his life is to be taken (see 19:12).

This theme of purging evil is repeated like a refrain in Deuteronomy. In the case of perjury, where someone has deliberately lied in order to harm another person, God said, “You must impose on the accuser the sentence he intended for the other person. In this way, you will purge such evil from among you” (Deuteronomy 19:19). Or in the case of adultery, “If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the woman must die. In this way, you will purge Israel of such evil” (22:22).

In the case of kidnapping, “If anyone kidnaps a fellow Israelite and treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. In this way, you will purge the evil from among you” (Deuteronomy 24:7). False prophets who call the people to follow other gods “must be put to death. . . . In this way you will purge the evil from among you” (13:5).

This might give the impression that God’s people were in constant danger of capital punishment, but the number of offenses that called for the death penalty was remarkably few, and they related to three primary values: the worship of God (“you must not have any other god but me,” Deuteronomy 5:7), the sanctity of life (“you must not murder,” 5:17), and the sanctity of marriage (“you must not commit adultery,” 5:18). These are the central pillars of society, and God called the whole community to uphold them.

One way we can do this is through our parenting. God has given parents the responsibility of communicating the message that sin leads to painful consequences. Christian parents need to make it clear that the way of the sinner is hard. If we fail to do this, we will raise children who are unable to make the connection between sin and its consequences.

For further reading, see Deuteronomy 19