Continuing with Ecclesiastes 3, we are now starting in verse 3. "A Time to kill”. This one is a hard pill to swallow even for many devout Christians. This does not mean murder as is represented in the Ten Commandments. Let’s look at the definition of these words.

Murder:  Law. 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, as robbery or arson (first-degree murder, or murder one ), and murder by intent but without deliberation or premeditation (second-degree murder, or murder two).

Kill: To deprive of life in any manner; cause the death of.

Though both deprive the life, Murder is due to and linked with crime, or we can also view that in Biblical terms as sin. Killing in itself is not, for there are times we do have to kill. We will see in the scriptures that Killing will be done for many reasons. Protection, provision, and many other reasons. It could be view in many manners, Killing possible another person, animal, and so on. We are going to pick out a few instances in the Bible of these.

If we go all they back to Genesis, we will see the first killing in the Bible.

Genesis 3:21  Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

  Here we see that God made clothes for Adam and Eve to hide their nakedness. Though the scriptures do not go into detail that an animal was killed, you would make the conclusion that it would be the case being God made clothes using skins. I have heard many of time that God would have made woolen or possibly cotton, or something of the sort that possibly it was a woven clothing. There is nothing that I have read that would suggest that. The Bible clearly refers to skins. We Know for fact some of the earliest records of human remains wearing some sort of leather clothing. Here we see God killing an animal foe Adam and Eve’s provision, being now they were aware they were naked.

We know for a fact the large quantities of the animals that had to be killed for the atonement of sins in the Old Testament. Remember that this was ordered from God. When we read a lot in Exodus and Leviticus, we see very specifics from God on what to kill and how to kill, for sacrifices and atonements for sin. Here are a few.

Exodus 12:5-7  (5 )Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: (6) And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

Leviticus 4:4  And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head, and kill the bullock before the Lord.

So here comes the hard part of this subject. When is it a time to kill another person. Once again we will get specifics from God.

Exodus 19:12  And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:

Exodus 21:12  He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.

Exodus 21:15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.

Exodus 21:16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

Exodus 21:17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.

Exodus 21:29  But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.

Exodus 22:19  Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.

All through Leviticus chapter 20 we see so may other reason on why a person should be killed by the actions of another person. Go read it, very detailed.

We can be put to death/killed legally in God’s eyes by breaking the law or even . The Bible cannot be clearer about that. And, before we go and say well now that Jesus is here ,we are not under these laws but under God’s grace, so this no longer applies. I want to look at one more verse then we are going to the New testament and see what Jesus has to say.

Leviticus 24:16-17  (16) And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death. (17) And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.

Luke 23    (39) And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. (40) But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? (41) And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.

Here we find when Jesus was being crucified along with the two thieves. In verse 41 we clearly see that even by one of the own thief’s words it was their time to be killed by the hands of the people for the crimes he committed. Jesus Himself did not make any mention that they should not be killed for their crimes. It was the Law.  We find this hard to grasp at times. When we studied earlier about a time to die, at times it is at the hands of someone justifies doing the killing. As we go through this study in Ecclesiastes, we will see a lot of common denominators on there being a time for everything.

 There is so much scripture on this subject of Killing and dying. In a couple weeks we will be talking about a time for war. More killing and dying. This is life. This is God’s life. It is God’s law.

Let’s talk about self defense and protection of one’s property.

Exodus 22:2 If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.

Luke 22:36 Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one

  In Exodus we see that if we are trying to protect our property and the person is killed in doing so there is no offense. There is more to that if you keep reading in that chapter. In other words a property owner has the right to defend their property, but also must know when and how in certain situations. In Luke, Jesus is clearly telling His disciples that it is His time to be arrested and that they should take necessary measures to be able to protect them selves not Him. Just as he scolded Peter for lopping of the ear, because Jesus was not to be defended. He was supposed to be arrested as He had told His disciples. When it comes to self-defense, I do believe we need to act accordingly. Not all self defense needs to be dealt with in that manner. Jesus also did tell us to turn the other cheek in Matthew 5:39, that is usually on things we would find not life threating to us or anything else in the matter.

As hard as it is to perceive, there is a time to Kill or maybe send someone to be killed. But under God’s law and grace, it is permitted. This is when we need God’s guidance.

James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.