The Death Penalty: Pros and Cons. Numbers 35.

The death penalty is controversial, but it is not unbiblical. The United States is not ancient Israel. We do not enforce the 613 laws of the Old Testament, nor should we. We pick and choose among them, using them only as guidance and a role model. We clearly do not follow dietary laws, sanitation rules, or even the Old Testament tort laws embodied by the phrase, “an eye for an eye.” Instead we pay for lost eyesight with monetary damages. Similarly, we are under no Biblical orders to exactly follow the Old Testament law on capital punishment. But because it is in the Bible, it remains worthy of our consideration.

Some arguments against the death penalty: As it is practiced in the U.S., capital punishment is not the deterrent it once was—death may be delayed by twenty years of appeals. Criminals know that and are (presumably) less afraid to commit capital crimes. “Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil” Ecclesiastes 8:11.

In addition, the years of appeals are paid for by the taxpayers, so the death penalty is actually many times more expensive than life imprisonment. (Think of that–it costs more money to execute a man than to lock him up and feed him for fifty years.) There is also the small but not-insignificant risk that an innocent man might be put to death. Believing it to be “cruel and unusual punishment, ” or at best, “uncivilized,” many nations have simply abolished the death penalty.

Yet, there are also arguments in favor of the death penalty: To begin, the U.S. Supreme Court has restricted the death penalty to murder cases only. We no longer hang horse thieves.

Second, you might argue the U.S. is “modest” in its use of the death penalty because there are nations that put more people to death than the United States, including North Korea, Vietnam, Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, and others. China executes many thousands every year, putting to death more people than the rest of the world combined. (Sadly, this is not a convincing statistic–what civilized nation would proudly compare itself to China, North Korea, or Syria?)

A more persuasive argument is that the states have safeguards in place to ensure innocent people are not put to death. For example, in addition to providing free appeals to the convicted, our system cannot execute those guilty of “only” murder. Most capital cases must be what lawyers call “murder plus.” That is, a murder alone will not result in a death sentence. Criminals must be convicted of committing a murder while in the commission of an additional felony, such as murder plus rape, or murder plus robbery.

Another argument is that some criminals are so dangerous that the death penalty can appear to be the only way to ensure the public’s safety. Finally, it can be unsatisfying to know your child is dead but his murderer is in prison watching TV in the day room. Sometimes victims deserve the justice that only the grave can give.

In my opinion, there are valid arguments on both sides.

Consider what God told Moses about murder in Numbers 35:

“Do not defile the land where you are, for bloodshed defiles the land and there can be no atonement for the land because of the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the person who shed it” Numbers 35:33.

BLOODSHED DEFILES THE LAND.

That sounds serious to me. Murder soils the land. It pollutes it. If our nation tolerates murder, our land will become defiled. Perhaps a wise and merciful use of the death penalty is exactly what God expects of a righteous nation.

It is interesting that the shedding of blood dishonors the land, and only the shedding of blood can restore it.

Our hearts are the same way. Our sin defiles us. Only the shed blood of Christ can atone for us.

ΑΩ