On Tuesday, July 14, 2020, a convicted killer, Daniel Lewis Lee, was executed at the U. S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. He had been convicted of three counts of murder, in particular, William Mueller, 52, his wife, Nancy, 28, and an eight-year-old daughter. Lee had been sentenced to death on May 13, 2002. He was the first federal death row inmate executed since 2003. Then again on Thursday morning, July 16, 2020, Wesley Ira Purkey was executed in Terre Haute, Indiana, This was in spite of the ACLU’s efforts to prevent his death.
For years there has been an ongoing debate on the right of the civil government to execute individuals who have committed murder. Some have argued that the government is committing murder when it executes a murderer. Some have said it would be cheaper to commit murderers to a life sentence with no parole than to execute them because of the cost of continued appeals. Usually, there are those on both sides of the issue who are demonstrating outside the grounds when executions take place. What does the Bible teach?
One of the arguments that I have heard is that Cain killed Abel, yet God did not have him put to death. He made him a fugitive and a vagabond. God said to Cain after he slew his brother: “And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.” (Gen. 4:10–12.) In the first place, it was God who sentenced him. Even if there had been a law against murder, God, not man, had the right to make the exception. Second, those who oppose capital punishment because God did not have Cain put to death, do you suppose they would be in favor of allowing the murderer to become a fugitive and vagabond in the earth as was Cain? In other words, just let him go free? It seems if one is going to support the murderers not being put to death, as Cain, then by the same token, one would have to allow them to become vagabonds in the earth as was Cain. If not, why not?
After the flood, God made this statement to Noah and his descendants: “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” (Genesis 9:6.) God made man in his image (Gen. 1:26-27). As long as man is in the image of God, it will be right to put an individual to death who has murdered another. This principle is true in every age: Patriarchy, Mosaical, and Christian.
The law of Moses taught that the murderer was to be put to death, but there was also a provision for one who had accidentally killed another. Moses wrote, “He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.” (Exodus 21:12–14.) Again, “And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.” (Leviticus 24:17) Once more, we read: “These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither. And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.” (Num. 35:15–16.) An individual could not be put to death based on one witness (Num. 35:30) An individual could be put to death at the mouth of two or three witnesses, but they had to be credible witnesses.
Someone might say, “Yes, but that was the Old Testament, and we live under the New Testament today.” However, it is a principle that runs throughout the Bible. Remember Genesis 9:6? Moses wrote, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.”
The New Testament teaches the right of the civil state to put the murderer to death. Turn to Romans 13: 1-4: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” The sword represents death. It is right for the civil authorities to put the murderer to death. Until he is executed, the blood of the innocent cries out for justice.
Often those who oppose the execution of a murderer will demonstrate outside the gates of the facilities, charging the government with murder. They want mercy to be shown to the murderer. However, the thought that echoes through my mind is: What about his unfortunate victims? How much compassion was shown to them? According to the record, Lewis’ three victims were taken prisoners, bound with plastic bags taped over their heads, and dumped in a bayou. I wonder if they cried for mercy? What about the families of the victims? They have to live the rest of their lives without their loved ones who did not deserve to die.
The apostle Paul did not reject capital punishment. As he stood before Festus, the governor, he said, “Then said Paul, I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.” (Acts 25:10–11.) Paul said that if he had committed any thing worthy of death, he refused not to die. Thus, the apostle Paul gives his stamp of apostolic approval to capital punishment.