Steve Nearman Supporter A sinner saved by grace. Fredericksburg, VA

Only God can answer that question correctly.

There is not enough information given to make that judgement. His flight out of Egypt would indicate he was guilty of a crime but God never, as far as we know, penalized Moses for killing the Egyptian.

Rom. 14:4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. 

James 4:11-12 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? 

This is referring to judging another's service. It is not saying we should not make righteous judgements pertaining to each other. We are to make judgements and point out sin in each other's lives.

Matt. 7:1-5 Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Hypocrite do not make righteous judgements, first get right with God then you can judge. (Rom. 2:1-2; Mat. 23:27)

John 7:24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. (2 Cor. 5:12, 10:7)

1Cor. 6:3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?

February 22 2015 • 6 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Vincent Mercado Supporter Skeptic turned believer, Catholic, father of 3

Murder is evil. (Exodus 20:13) It is not right for Moses to strike down the Egyptian. We can be sure that Egyptian has a family who mourned for his death and demanded justice.

Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end. Every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake in the image and likeness of the living and holy God. The murder of a human being is gravely contrary to the dignity of the person and the holiness of the Creator.

February 23 2015 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Ezekiel Kimosop Supporter

It is a yes and no. 

Exodus 2:11-12 says " And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

Yes we can argue that Moses was right in defending the Hebrew slaves. It appears that the Hebrew man was not actually killed because the Hebrew word used for "smite" also means to beat, strike hit or beat [cf. 1 Kings 20:37, Micah 6:13 regarding the use of the same word].

Moses was however not entitled to kill the Egyptian. This explains why he made sure no one was watching him when he committed the act and later fled to the wilderness to escape the reprisals that would have followed had he returned to the palace. 

On the flipside, one can argue that by killing the Egyptian, Moses was showing solidarity with his kith and kin and that God used his importunity to achieve His divine purposes. This was perhaps why the writer of Genesis sought to depict in the story that Moses was no angel. He committed sin just as King David did yet both men are counted as heroes of the Bible and God used them to do great things.

The Bible clearly teaches that God does not approve of murder (Mathew 5:21) [except of course against God's enemies during war] but we know that He does not stop his plans for us just because of our inadvertence or disobedience. We can then argue on that basis that the incident "triggered" circumstances under which Moses was taken through his "desert experience" to prepare him for the divine assignment of rescuing and leading the children of Israel out of Egypt (Romans 8:28-29). This is certainly true of God's word concerning our lives. God lifts us from our valleys to take us to the palace. 

However killing people without judicial authority even if in response to grievous harm done to others is always wrong just in as much as abusing one's position to achieve selfish purposes is. Moses knew that it was against the law to kill but went ahead to do it. 

The consequences were dire but God preserved him as he fled to the wilderness of Midian and continued to work out His plans for Moses' life. Some scholars argue that when Moses finally returned to Egypt 40 years later to deliver God's people, there was a new administration and his crime had been forgotten.

February 22 2015 • 5 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Kenneth Heck Supporter

Moses killed one man and left Egypt. When he returned, God hardened the pharaoh's heart so that many more Egyptians were killed by God himself in the deaths of the first-born and the deaths during the parting of the Red Sea.

We do not know if Moses knew the Egyptian beforehand and so was balancing the scales for all the misdeeds that the Egyptian had committed in the past. Before the 10 commandments were given, each case had to be decided individually on its own merits. It is possible that Moses was under a divine urge or impulse to do what he did.

Normally, I would believe Moses was wrong to kill the Egyptian and flee to the wilderness. If he had only injured him he might have stayed in Egypt and helped to lessen the hardships of the Israelites. 

But it might have conceivably been God's plan to withdraw Moses from Egypt so the Israelites were unable to escape the full force of their slavery. This was necessary so the extreme events of the coming exodus would furnish an unforgettable narrative for the Israelites. 

The Mosaic revelation, which still is vitally important today, occurred during these extreme and miraculous events, and in the process created an eternal distinction between Egyptian and Israelite. This prevented the Egyptians from ever reconquering the land of Canaan and enslaving the Israelites again. 

God does work in mysterious ways in fulfilling his plan for humanity.

February 23 2015 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report