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Date: February 17, 2000 10:46 AM
Author: Colonel O'Truth (Alonzow@usa.net)
Subject: Not Merely Revenge, and Not a Blood Sacrifice

I think I can add one thing which has not been mentioned yet: the purposes of civil executions are clearly stated over and over in the book of Deuteronomy. Check 13:5; 17:3,12; 19:19-20; 21:21; 22:21-22,24; 24:7.

"so you shall purge the evil from your midst; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. "

Execution is the God-ordained method of purifying the population of evildoers. It is that simple, direct, and uncomplicated.

And this is to have a secondary effect on the rest of the population in making them fear to do the evil which is in their hearts.

Not as is done today, where every effort is made to create sympathy for the one executed and disgust and loathing for the act of execution by dwellling on the gory details, and continual appeals and stays of execution to delay the execution of justice and prolong the agony and make it more offensive and less effective, and bizarre methods of execution to bring the practice into greater disrepute.

And THEN, the Believers who practice the virtues of the Sermon on the Mount, are to win the hearts, minds and souls of the unregenerate people to Christ.

COT

(http://freebooks.forums.commentary.net/forums/Index.cfm?Message_ID=39760)


I like the Colonel's idea of looking at Biblical texts and discovering patterns.

And I agree with him that the media tries to create sympathy for the criminal. But I believe that executions should be gory. Those who testify against someone in capital case and secure a conviction should be the first ones to cast the stone, and ordinary citizens should finish the job, not anonymous executioners in a sterile and isolated environment. It should be public. There should be a bloody pile of bones and intestines where a human being once stood.

And I totally disagree with this conclusion:

Execution is the God-ordained method of purifying the population of evildoers. It is that simple, direct, and uncomplicated.

These passages are far from "simple, direct, and uncomplicated." And the implication is that because these passages are so simple, it's obvious that they should be brought right into modern penal codes. "Execution is the God-ordained method of purifying the population of evildoers. It is that simple, direct, and uncomplicated." This staggering assertion knocks the breath out of the legal mind. Frankly, it makes me grateful that Secular Humanists are in charge of our legal system rather than Reconstructionists. If our penal code was laced with metaphors like "purify," we would be left defenseless against ethnic cleansing demagogues.

I spent a few moments studying the word "purify," and I hope it turns a light on for the Colonel. I expect the Colonel will read it, and even look up most of the verses. I'm afraid, however, that many people who were lurking on this "pacifism" discussion will bow out. Flag-waving is a whole lot easier than exegesis. One can be a patriot in front of the boob-tube, but not a Berean (Acts 17:11).

Execution is (or I should say, "was") the (or I should say "a") God-ordained method of purification. But God's means of purifying changed with the coming of Christ. In the Old Testament I see three ways of purifying.

By blood

Lev 8:15 And he slew it; and Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar, and sanctified it, to make reconciliation upon it.

Lev 12:4 'She shall then continue in the blood of her purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled.
Lev 12:5 'But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her customary impurity, and she shall continue in the blood of her purification sixty-six days.

By Fire

Psa 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times.

Mal 3:3 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the LORD An offering in righteousness.

By Water

Num 8:7 "Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purification on them, and let them shave all their body, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.

But Not Just ANY Water -- with ASHES

Num 19:9 'Then a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the water of purification; it is for purifying from sin.
Num 19:17 'And for an unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin, and running water shall be put on them in a vessel.

By pooping

If you eat unclean meat, there's an easy way to make it clean,

Mark 7:19 "Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the privy, thus purifying all meats?"

By faith

Acts 15:8-9 "So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, {9} "and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

Hebrews 9:13-14 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, {14} how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 9:22-25 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. {23} Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. {24} For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; {25} not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another;

Heb 10

1 Pet 1:22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,

Purifying for Conscience

Paul underwent ceremonial purification for the consciences of others.

Acts 21:24-27 "Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law. {25} "But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality." {26} Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them. {27} Now when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him,

Acts 24:16-18 This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. {17} Now after many years I came to bring alms and offerings to my nation, {18} in the midst of which some Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with a mob nor with tumult.

The Colonel says executions "purify."

Indeed they do.

They performed the shedding of blood necessary to make atonement before Christ.

'So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.
Numbers 35:33

The word translated "make atonement" is also translated "purge"

Psalm 65:3 Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.

Psalm 79:9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.

Proverbs 16:6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

Isaiah 6:6-7 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: {7} And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Isaiah 22:13-14 "let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die." {14} And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

Isaiah 27:1 In that day the LORD with His sore and great and strong sword shall visit leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
Isaiah 27:9 By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged;

Ezekiel 43:20 And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it.

Ezekiel 43:26 Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves.

Blood, fire, and the sword were God's ordained means of purging evil.

I think when the Colonel points out that executions "purged" or "put away" the evil from among Israel, the Colonel wants us to think that executions merely got criminals "out of sight, out of mind."

I think more is involved than that.

The word translated "put away" in the Colonel's verses usually means "burn."

1197. ba'ar, baw-ar'; a prim. root; to kindle, i.e. consume (by fire or by eating); also (as denom. from H1198) to be (-come) brutish:--be brutish, bring (put, take) away, burn, (cause to) eat (up), feed, heat, kindle, set ([on fire]), waste.

The Colonel gives us a short list of verses where executions are said to "purge the evil from your midst." But there are many other similar passages. Here is a complete list of verses with the word "purge" as found in the Colonel's verses. The word translated "purge" or "take away" in the Colonel's verses is in red below. I'll comment on the ones I think are relevant.

Exodus 3:2-3 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.

Exodus 22:5-6

Exodus 35:3 "You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day."

James B. Jordan has a stimulating paper on this subject. He believes the law against picking up sticks pertained to the "strange fire" of false offerings. There is a great deal of information in that monograph which is relevant to this discussion. Anyone attempting to draft modern penal codes on the subject of sabbath violations MUST read that paper.

Leviticus 6:12 'And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.

Numbers 11:1,3 Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.

Numbers 24:22
Deuteronomy 4:11
Deuteronomy 5:23
Deuteronomy 9:15

Deuteronomy 13:5 "But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall burn away the evil from your midst.

Deuteronomy 17:7 "The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 17:12 "Now the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall burn away the evil from Israel.

I'm not saying these verses actually commanded burning. I'm saying the executions accomplished the same thing burning does: atonement.

The Colonel omitted the next verse from his list. What it shows is that executions did not rid the land of potential (future) criminals; they put away guilt.

Deuteronomy 19:13 "Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.

The person being executed was not "innocent blood." He had caused the guilt of shedding innocent blood to rest on Israel. And the law was clear:

'So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.
Numbers 35:33

Thus, executions did not rid the land of physical threats to our personal peace and affluence. They made atonement for guilt.

Deuteronomy 19:19 "then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 21:9 says the same thing as Deut 19:13, but the facts of the case are more illuminating. In the case of an unsolved homicide, the elders and Levites were to shed the blood of a heifer.

Deuteronomy 21:9 "So you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD.

Notice that the crime was unsolved. The killer still walks the streets. But the shedding of blood has purged the guilt from Israel like fire purges dross. Have we made the mistake of being more concerned that our material possessions might be threatened by a criminal than we are that the holiness of God might be offended by our sin? God commands us to "put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you". The question in the New Testament is, how can we atone for guilt?

Deuteronomy 21:21 "Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall burn away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.

Deuteronomy 22:21-22 Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you. {22} If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.

In the vernacular, "put him away" is sometimes accompanied with "and toss the key." It means imprison. It didn't mean that in ancient Israel. It meant "make atonement."

Deuteronomy 22:24 Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 24:7 If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you.

The Colonel did not cite the following passage, even though it seems to have little to do with our "atonement" theory and seems to support his "removal" theory.

Deuteronomy 26:13-14 Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them: {14} I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.

There are other words for "remove." I wonder why "burn" was used. See also 1 Kings 14:10; 1 Kings 22:46; 2 Kings 23:24; 2 Chronicles 19:3.

Judges 15:5
Judges 15:14

Judges 20:13 "Now therefore, deliver up the men, the perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and put away the evil from Israel!"

If all that were needed were to "put away" geographically, why not exile rather than kill?

2 Samuel 4:11-12 How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth? {12} And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.

Two observations:

(1) "Take you away from the earth" certainly sounds like geographical removal. But the impetus was to "require his blood" in order to atone for the evil.

(2) Did David get carried away? Does the law require amputation? Are the actions of Biblical characters like David (here) and Abraham (Genesis 14) always infallible guides as to our own practice?

2 Samuel 22:9 Smoke went up from His nostrils, And devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it.
2 Samuel 22:13 From the brightness before Him Coals of fire were kindled.

Not literally. This Psalm (18) is fulfilled in Christ alone. Likewise the only way we can burn away evil is through Christ.

1 Kings 16:3
1 Kings 21:21

2 Chronicles 4:20

2 Chronicles 13:11 "And they burn to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense; they also set the showbread in order on the pure gold table, and the lampstand of gold with its lamps to burn every evening; for we keep the command of the LORD our God, but you have forsaken Him.

2 Chronicles 28:3 He burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

Nehemiah 10:34 We cast lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for bringing the wood offering into the house of our God, according to our fathers' houses, at the appointed times year by year, to burn on the altar of the LORD our God as it is written in the Law.

Esther 1:12
Job 1:16
Psalm 2:12 
Psalm 18:8
Psalm 39:3
Psalm 79:5
Psalm 83:14
Psalm 89:46
Psalm 106:18
Isaiah 1:31
Isaiah 4:4
Isaiah 6:13
Isaiah 9:18
Isaiah 10:17

Isaiah 30:27 Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar, Burning with His anger, And His burden is heavy; His lips are full of indignation, And His tongue like a devouring fire.

Burning accomplishes the same thing as the two-edged Sword of the Lord (Heb 4:12; Rev. 19:15).

Isaiah 30:33

Isaiah 34:6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
Isaiah 34:9 Its streams shall be turned into pitch, And its dust into brimstone; Its land shall become burning pitch.

It is the fat that is burned (Ex 29:13; Lev. 3:16; 4:19, 26, etc.). Executions burn criminal fat off.

Hebrews says the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin. Isaiah says,

Isaiah 40:15-16 Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. {16} And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering.

The word could have been translated, "not sufficient to put away," as it is in the Colonel's verses. But the idea of sacrifice was much clearer to the translators in this passage.

Isaiah 42:25
Isaiah 43:2
Isaiah 44:15
Isaiah 50:11
Isaiah 62:1
Jeremiah 4:4
Jeremiah 7:18

Jeremiah 7:20 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place; on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. And it will burn and not be quenched."

Jeremiah 20:9
Jeremiah 21:12 'O house of David! Thus says the LORD: "Execute judgment in the morning; And deliver him who is plundered Out of the hand of the oppressor, Lest My fury go forth like fire And burn so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings.

Jeremiah 36:22
Jeremiah 44:6
Lamentations 2:3
Ezekiel 1:13
Ezekiel 5:2
Ezekiel 20:48
Ezekiel 39:9-10
Hosea 7:4
Hosea 7:6
Nahum 2:13
Malachi 4:1

Admittedly there is a word used for burning of incense and fat that is not used in these verses. But the context makes it clear that sacrifices are in view.


There is another translation of the word translated "take away" in the Colonel's verses. It describes those who continue to defend the State even after it has murdered nearly half a billion people in the 20th century.

Psalm 49:10 For he sees wise men die; Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish, And leave their wealth to others.

Psalm 92:6 A senseless man does not know, Nor does a fool understand this.

Psalm 94:8 Understand, you senseless among the people; And you fools, when will you be wise?

Proverbs 12:1 Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, But he who hates correction is stupid.

Proverbs 30:2 Surely I am more stupid than any man, And do not have the understanding of a man.

Isaiah 19:11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools; Pharaoh's wise counselors give foolish counsel. How do you say to Pharaoh, "I am the son of the wise, The son of ancient kings?"

Jeremiah 10:8 But they are altogether dull-hearted and foolish; A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine.

Jeremiah 10:14 Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image; For his molded image is falsehood, And there is no breath in them.

Jeremiah 10:21 For the shepherds have become dull-hearted, And have not sought the LORD; Therefore they shall not prosper, And all their flocks shall be scattered.

Jeremiah 51:17 Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved image; For his molded image is falsehood, And there is no breath in them.

The idea is "burned-out brain." The wheels may have been spinning, but all they did was create friction and burn out wisdom, love of God, and good sense

Ezekiel 21:31 I will pour out My indignation on you; I will blow against you with the fire of My wrath, And deliver you into the hands of brutal men who are skillful to destroy.



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