Is God A Murderer?


Ex 20:13 "You must not murder."


The definition of murder is:the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law. In the U.S., special statutory definitions include murder committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious crime.

The Old Testament records God killing multitudes of people, and some people want to believe this makes Him a murderer.It is true that God has intentionally killed many people.Some would argue that executing the innocentismurder; thus, when God wipes out whole cities, He is committing murder. However, nowhere in Scripture can we find where God killed “innocent” people. In fact, compared to God’s holiness, there is no such thing as an “innocent” person. All have sinned, and the penalty for sin is death. God has “just cause” to wipe us all out; the fact that He doesn’t is proof of His mercy.

Even in the dire judgments of the Old Testament, God offered mercy. For example, when God was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, God promised Abraham that He would spare the whole city in order to save ten righteous people there. Though God did destroy those cities (ten righteous people could not be found), He saved “righteous Lot” and his family. Later, God destroyed Jericho, but He saved Rahab the harlot and her family in response to Rahab’s faith. Until the final judgment, there is always mercy to be found.

Does the fact that everyone experiences physical death make God a “killer”? In the sense that Hecouldprevent all death, yes. He allows us to die. But He is no murderer. Death is part of the human experience because we brought it into the world ourselves.


Rom 5:12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 


One day death shall be no more. God, in His grace, has conquered death for those who are in Christ, and one day that truth will be fully realized. The last enemy to be subdued and abolished is death.


2 Pet 2:9 So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. 

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