Hands That Shed Innocent Blood Part 2

Proverbs 6:16-19

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:

1.  Haughty eyes

2.  A lying tongue

3.  Hands that shed innocent blood

4.  A heart that devises wicked schemes

5.  Feet that are quick to rush into evil

6.  A false witness who pours out lies

7.  A person who stirs up conflict in the community

The hands that shed innocent blood is a bold statement; it sounds like the title of a thriller movie. It reminds me of Sid Phillips, the kid in the Toy Story movie who liked to rip apart toys for fun and wanted to blast Buzz Lightyear into space. I can see his evil little smile as he attaches Buzz to the rocket. Hollywood does a good job of portraying the wicked villain who has a black heart.

This is number three of the “Seven Deadly Sins.” Most of us get this confused with the shedding of blood in times of war and other theaters of conflict. If you have read any of the Old Testament, it describes in detail what the people of Israel were to do with the people groups in the Promised Land. In short, they were to wipe them out completely, men, women, and children, all of them. Also, in other stories in the Bible, God instructs His people to kill everyone, even the animals. So how does this play out when Solomon describes the third deadly sin as hands that shed innocent blood? One could ask, “Well, these people were innocent. Why kill them?”

There is a very deep discussion about why the Lord instructs His people not to spare anyone in the Promised Land, and it has to do with being led astray. For the time being, let us rest in the fact that we get to read the beginning, middle, and end of the Old Testament and learn why we as Christians need to purge anything not of God from our lives. This is not a one-time thing. No, it is an everyday thing, and the Bible tells us that His mercies are new every morning. We may not spend our entire lives in the Tree of Life, but the Lord is waiting for us when we fall to welcome us back into His loving arms. Praise the Lord.

The hands that shed innocent blood, on the other hand, are very different. This points to a heart posture rather than merely an act. No one can say that killing Hitler was a bad thing after all the horrible things he allowed under his command. Taking out the Nazis in WWII was the right thing to do, and millions of men lost their lives in the pursuit of stopping Hitler. If you talk to any WWII veteran or any veteran, they will say they served their country proudly.

The concentration camps that Hitler started were very different. Millions of Jewish people lost their lives in those camps. All the movies and books could not even come close to capturing what happened in those camps. When I watch any documentary or history show about them, I am on the edge of my seat, struck with awe and silence at what happened.

So what is the difference between the two? In both cases, people lost their lives in a time of war or conflict. In both cases, the people in charge saw fit to order the charge that sent millions of people into certain death, the shedding of innocent blood in both cases, you might say. You can take what Hitler did in those evil camps and compare it to the men who fought the war to stop him, and you come away with one truth. The heart posture of Hitler was pure evil, while men like Winston Churchill and Harry Truman were noble in their pursuit to stop a monster, the very man shedding innocent blood. Remember Sid Phillips and how he laughed in an evil way when he was destroying toys? Take that to the heart level, and you have the third deadly sin, the shedding of innocent blood.

We have laws in America to lock up people who do this and to keep them away from society. Their hearts are black and cannot be trusted. A jury of people and the long arm of the law make certain we lock up those who have this heart posture.

Matthew 5:28–30 says, “But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So if your eye, even your good eye, causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” Jesus makes the point that sin begins in your heart. Today, watch what you listen to and hear from the TV and the internet. Before sin sets in the heart, it is taken in by your mind. Acted upon, it moves to your heart and becomes sin. Hitler was not born with the idea of eradicating the Jewish people; he let his heart get blackened over time until his view of shedding blood was justified by his warped heart.

Most of us are not like Hitler or Sid Phillips. We genuinely care for people and wish the best for them. The warning Proverbs gives us in this deadly sin is that sin, unchecked, can turn into something very dark, even to the point of shedding blood. Genesis 4:7 tells us, referencing Cain, “⁷ You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” The first place you control sin is in your mind. Take the thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) and don’t let it master you.

Prayer: Father, I know most of us are far from shedding innocent blood. I pray that we master sin before it moves into our heart where it can grow into a deadly sin. I pray that we would capture those thoughts and cast them out of our minds in Jesus’ name, amen.