To Kill, Or Not To Kill?

Real Life presents the Jack Hibbs Podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints, and impact our culture. Hey, we're going to be talking about the death penalty. Where's that in the Bible? Is it in the Bible? Is it something that's made up? Should we do away with it? Because listen, Luigi Manjoni is about to face the death penalty, I think. We shall see. Let's dive into this. You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com slash podcast. Today, if this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled life in Christ, then make sure you leave us one of those five star ratings. To us, that's like saying amen or yes, then that rating will encourage others to listen. Now, open your hearts to what God's Word has to say to you. Here is Jack Hibbs. We're here, everybody. Welcome to this segment of the Jack Hibbs show. It's the Jack Hibbs Podcast, but we are renaming things. We have to rebrand some things. I don't want to get into all the purposes to why, but you're going to start seeing a change up of stuff. And so nothing's changed. I mean, you're you and all the content, normal presentation, but it's going the way of the Jack Hibbs show. But just remember this, it's the Jack Hibbs Podcast. So that said, lotta, lotta news. In fact, it always has been news, but it's now front page news because of what's going on right now. And that is the death penalty. Yes, the death penalty. The death penalty, by the way, is something that is actually debated in some cultures and countries and in other cultures and countries. It is the law. Most nations of the earth have some form of litigating a death penalty case and or sentencing. It's not it's not a freaky topic. It is a passionate topic. And I think it should be actually, I think it should be a passionate topic. It's one that is obviously that deals with someone who has been tried and convicted and sentenced to death for some heinous crime that they've committed that is worthy of death based on their culture. And so every culture and every society has its standards and its morality that it sets and all that is fine. But before we talk about this, let's take a deep breath and let's go with what we know and it is this that even in the most remote or ancient or barbarous culture. If somebody does something like, for example, let's say you are in ancient North Africa. And so you're in the region of a culture and of the world where Islam rules. So it's sometime after the year, I'd say to be safe, 800, 850, 900 and a woman is raped. The rapist is put to death. If somebody in Europe murders someone, and I stress the word murder, they murder someone in a heat of passion or in cold blooded premeditated murder, they then were taken and they were tried. And then sentence are convicted and sentenced to death. And ancient England used to hold that individual for I do believe it was two weeks where every day of the week, every day, a minister from the Church of England would come in and recite Scripture, post to give them the gospel, I don't know if they did that or not, but that's what they were supposed to do. And do that for two weeks. And then at the end of two weeks, the minister would ask the convicted, the condemned to repent of your sins and to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, that he died on the cross for your sins, and he rose again from the dead and that and confessing your sins and believing that he is the Lord and Savior, do you want to accept Jesus Christ or not? And they were given the mercy to accept Christ before death. It was their choice. Regardless of their choice, Jesus or no Jesus, they went out to the gallows and they were hung. Practicing capital punishment or the death penalty is nothing new. It would only be new to people who are not educated. But now we just fixed that. Granted, it was the cleft note version, but still you can look in it more and more. Wherever there is strong laws that deter crime, there's no greater deterrent than that of the death penalty. Where did that come from? That's a very deep question because number one, obviously for the Jew, for the Christian. And even I would think for a reasonable Muslim who has read Moses, the first five books of the Bible, they would say that God says thou shalt not murder in the Ten Commandments. And that's exactly, exactly true. Why did God say that in the Ten Commandments? Listen, when God said it in the Ten Commandments, was it after God wrote the Ten Commandments or Moses the second time had to write it down because of the breaking of the Ten Commandments the first time? Was that when they knew that murder was wrong? Of course not. The law was given to reveal what was in the heart and thereby render us guilty. So the Ten Commandments, for example, is like a road sign posted on the highway that has the speed limit. You probably know you're not going to speed limit, but you're not sure, but you know you're probably going faster because it feels great. You know, if it's great, then we got to be going too fast. And then all of a sudden you come around the turn and there's a 55 mile an hour speed limit. And then you know you, you slow down and you, okay, if you go over this speed limit now that you know what it is, that's called transgression. It's not, it's no longer a sin. It's greater than a sin. It's called transgression. So I've even said that every human since Adam and Eve, since can enable for that matter, right? They knew internally that you shall not murder even before the Ten Commandments were given because God has written his truth on the heart of the human who's been creating the image of God. That's why the, that's why a little kid who doesn't know about the Ten Commandments knows when they're stealing a little kid knows when they're lying. And they've never even seen a sign that says don't lie. So I want to lay that foundation. So the question is this, is it, is it right or is it wrong to implement or to exercise the death penalty? And the answer is according to the scriptures, it is right, it is proper, it is justice, and it is righteousness to implement the death penalty. And somebody might say, well, how can you say that? Because aren't you a New Testament Christian? I'm a Bible Christian. I don't think anybody is a New Testament Christian. To be a Christian is to believe in God's word from Genesis to Revelation. Now grant it. Listen carefully. Theologically, are there certain things that pertain in the Bible strictly to the Jewish people, his chosen people? Yeah, of course. For example, you probably had bacon if you're a Gentile. Jews, Jews are not keen on that. Can a, can a Gentile Christian eat bacon? Yes. A Jew would have a hard time doing that. Now I do know some Jews who are born again and they know the Bible and they know that God made pork and they go for it and they have no problem. So, but regarding God's revelation to the Jewish people, he makes it very clear that they are a special people, a chosen people, a select people that he has chosen to be really, frankly, the ambassadors of his word to the ends of the earth. Now the church has been doing that and the church is soon to end that. Pretty soon the God, the Lord will call the church home and Israel will pick up and run with the mantle of evangelism after they are converted to Messiah to Yeshua as Messiah, Jesus as Messiah. And they will preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. That's called the seven-year tribulation period, topic for another day. So the big thing right now is this talk about the death penalty and where we are with that. Why? Because a man by the name of Brian Thompson was at a medical convention, a insurance convention. And he was the CEO of United Health and he was walking to a meeting publicly, broad daylight in the streets and a guy by the name of Luigi Manjone. Luigi Manjone came up behind him, by the way, listen to me carefully, came up behind him, dressed like a criminal. You see, how does a criminal dress? Well, in the middle of the day, he's wearing a hoodie tightly pulled around his head, looking like somebody is going to rob you in the first place. He puts the bullet of his pistol within unable to miss his own range, a very close and blows the head up and murders murder murders Brian Thompson. And so then Luigi fled the scene and took off. He was caught later. I do believe, forgive me if I don't, I think Pennsylvania, not sure about that. So watch this was was Luigi Manjone guilty. Well, first of all, look at his apparel. He dressed for the crime. Number two, after he shot and killed assassin style, assassin style, premeditated, premeditated assassin hit. He flees the scene of the crime and he flees across state lines. Why? Because he's guilty. He knows he's guilty. And by his actions, he admits that he's guilty. Period. All that said, you say, Jack, you know, you don't know, you don't know. I know this that there are multiple, of course, it was used and is being used in the court of law. There were multiple cameras that caught the assassination in detail in live in real time. The evidence against Luigi Manjone is irrefutable. So the question is attorney general Pam Bundy is calling for the death penalty because of the special circumstances that surrounds listen to me carefully. I'm going to be sarcastic in a moment deliberately for you for your attention and for your remembrance. This is part of a teaching tactic, by the way. So Luigi Manjone, she's calling for him to be executed because of the special circumstances surrounding his crime because he conducted himself as an assassin. Okay, an assassin, which pay attention, an assassin does not fall under the category of kill an assassin, an assassin falls under the category of murder. There is a difference. We'll get to that if I remember. So here's the deal. The reason why special circumstances are being sought after and the death penalty applied to Luigi is because for him to do what he did, it was a premeditated political act to assassin. His political act was that he was disgruntled about how health care insurance companies are ripped people off. Okay, who hasn't experienced the chagrin of being ripped off by your health insurance company, join the club, get in line, but Luigi is insane. I don't mean he's insane. He can't handle himself. He's not insane. He perfectly knew exactly what he was doing and he took a hit to Brian Thompson. So the issue to discuss is the death penalty, which as of this moment, 27 states in the United States have the death penalty, 27. So half the states have the death penalty. Did you know that the United States Department of Defense has the death penalty for any military personnel that commit a crime worthy of the death penalty, the United States government, the Department of Defense exercises the death penalty. Did you know that president, excuse me, not before before was president, did you know that general George Washington of the revolutionary forces, the colonial army of the colonies. Did you know that he had his court of martial and those that were found guilty of crimes such as treason, they were spies, a cowardice. Did you know that when they were tried and sentenced and condemned that they were executed. It's nothing new, everybody, but there's a lot of people getting real mushy right now. And here's the deal. They see that they some say Luigi Manjone is a hero because he's making a statement for us little man, little men, the little man, because we're being taken advantage of. If you think that's normal to go bump people off to make a statement, you're sick. Okay, and God sees your heart and it's black as coal. Okay, that's really weird. To make a political statement, you're going to shoot somebody in the back of the head. You don't need to do that if you're a coward. But Luigi Manjone knew exactly what he was doing and he's worthy of being put to death. But some so-called religionists say that we can't do that. You can't do that. Who says you can't do that. Your emotions say your emotions say you can't do that. But let me ask you this. If Luigi Manjone is not executed, where's the justice? You know the people crying and moaning and griping about, where's the justice? We want justice, justice. Okay, then. Here's the justice. He dies. He dies. You see, well, you shouldn't... If he committed murder, you shouldn't murder him back. No one's going to murder him. He's going to be killed. That's justice. Murder is something that the Bible says thou shalt not do. The Bible nowhere said thou shalt not kill. You need to know the difference. Thou shalt not kill. For example, when King David or the US Marines or the Navy seals or the US Air Force, you name it. Or how about this? When a citizen is at the grocery store and there's a robbery taking place with guns every which way. This is going to shock some of you. A lot of people in California may be more by population than any other state. That some guy standing in line at the grocery store sees these robbers brandishing weapons and holding somebody hostage. And this guy pulls out his handgun because he has a concealed weapons permit as a Californian and takes out the bad guy with all these guns blazing left and right and all the stuff that's going on. Do you think for a moment that that Marine, that engaged citizen or that Air Force pilot, when they took out people in that type of a setting, do you think that's murder? Well, you don't know your Bible very well, do you? Because that's a kill. A kill in warfare or in self defense is sanctioned by God. That's why the Bible does not say thou shalt not kill. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that thou shalt not murder. Now shalt not murder. Luigi Manjone is guilty of murder. And so the issue is this. Aren't we supposed to be forgiving as Christians? Absolutely. Yes. What in the world does that have to do with anything? Listen, if somebody kidnaps God forbid, if somebody kidnaps your child and takes your child's life, are you going to go to the judge and say, listen, I'm a Christian, I forgive the guy, just let him go. That cannot happen. God would be insulted. You would be violating the will of God and the word of God. And the judge is going to probably luck you up for being stupid. You can't do that. When a crime is committed, the crime has to have its payment. The crime has got to make it right. When someone's life is taken, how do you make it right? The ancient code of Hamarabi, which is by the way reiterated in the Bible, an eye for an eye, a tooth for the tooth, right? A life for the life. This is moral law that is written on the human heart, which is why even Hamarabi knew this. And so when God made it clear in Scripture that these are the crimes, and you can look at them later, by the way, I can't exhaust it, but there's a lot of scriptures, but start an Exodus, for example, the book of Exodus, chapter 21. It starts reading off the list, for example, if you're a rapist, you are to be executed. If you are a murder, you're to be executed. If you sleep with an animal, you are to be executed. If you're a pedophile, you're to be executed. If you are a prostitute, you're to be executed. Do you remember when, in fact, you know this already? Do you remember when Jesus, the Pharisees caught a woman in the act of adultery, which is totally blows my mind? How did they know? Why were they watching? How did they know this? I think it was a setup, but that's beside that's another point. They caught her. I only hear, by the way, they're supposed to bring both of them, the man and the woman. They just bring the woman, because they probably gave the guy 50 bucks. Hey, thanks. Get out of the way. We're going to go try to bust Jesus in this conundrum. We're going to create. They bring her, throw her down at Jesus' feet, and says, Moses says she's to be put to death. Why? Because she committed adultery. Jesus said, right on. That's true. Here's the deal. Whoever's without sin, let him throw the first stone at her. The Bible says they were convicted. The oldest was convicted first, and then eventually all the way down to the youngest, which is brilliant. You want to know why the oldest person was convicted first and set down the rock and walked away, because people who lived longer are more aware of their sins, because they've lived longer. They've committed more sins. Young people have a hard time realizing that anything they've done is sinful, but the Bible is so accurate always. Friends, as believers and as Christians, the death penalty is just, it is right, and it is good, and people are freaking out today. And by the way, here's some of the reactions. People are saying that Luigi Manjone's handsome. He is really a good looking guy. He looks like a model. There's some real amazing people here in America. There are women who have expressed their desire to marry him. Okay, that's a disease in the brain. There are people that have little clubs and shirts and pictures and shrines of Luigi. But about Brian Thompson, what's wrong with people? You see, listen, the Bible says that when there's no God in the culture, then every man will do what is right in his own eyes, so that the perpetrator becomes the hero. And the victim becomes a no name. Everybody knows who Luigi Manjone is, but you probably don't remember Brian Thompson, in fact, they had a wife and kids. A lost, messed up, godless, woke culture. It cries justice, but it really doesn't want justice. And I'll approve it to you. Many of the same people who are demanding that Luigi Manjone not be put to death are the exact same people who literally defend the murder of unborn children, murder the babies. Even after the babies born, if it's not wanted, let it die in the delivery room. Isn't that fascinating? Really what they are declaring is that they are debased in their thinking. There's no God thoughts in their world. It's not a baby, but save Luigi. So, friends, listen, I know the arguments will be something like, but if, but we're supposed to forgive one another. Yes, we are. We're supposed to forgive those who persecute us and say, oh man, our evil against us. Yes, we are. All this is true. And we are to forgive. And, listen, the widow of Brian Thompson, Mrs. Thompson, she is called upon by God to forgive Luigi. This has nothing to do with civil law. This has nothing to do with the laws of the land. Nothing. In fact, the jury could say, we forgive you. We forgive you. You're a messed up guy. You're a strange duck. We forgive you. However, the state of New York doesn't forgive you. The state of New York is not a person. It's the law. And the state of New York says, you're going to be shot or you're going to be hung or you're going to be electrocuted. Okay. That's justice. Roman chapter 13, beginning in verse one, talks about that very thing. So, do we as Christians say, yeah, let's just round them up and kill them all. Of course not. Our hearts should break. We should be, it's what a sad, pathetic life. Luigi Manjone, not only apparently lived, but how he brought his life to an end. What a waste, right? It's tragic. But outside of that, God's word does not change. Now, it is God's prerogative, not yours, not mine, not even the Supreme Court of the United States. Nobody has the prerogative that God has. Because technically, if you think about it, why in the world would Jesus save that girl from stoning? In fact, aren't you and I guilty of committing crimes against God? Lust, anger, pride, violence, temper, jealousies, love of other things rather than God? We're all guilty. All of sin and come short of the glory. God. That's why the Bible says all of us are condemned. That's why all of us need Jesus Christ as our rescuer, our savior. But friends, very importantly, the Bible does not condemn the death penalty. It's actually a book that records the need of it and the need for it. Because it's the execution, it's the implementation. It is the doing of righteousness, which is justice. That if somebody murders and rapes a child, that person is to be put down. It's perfectly, perfectly fine. My thing is this, if I were the attorney general of the United States, I would issue a decree that we are implementing. We're calling for all states to implement the death penalty, not just 27 of them, all of them, that the United States federal government, the Department of Justice, will commence the death penalty. Only after the gospel has been given to the convicted for two weeks. Every day, the gospel will be presented. The person will be given a Bible or at least the gospel of John so that they might read it and get saved. And no matter what their decision is, at the end of two weeks, they will be either electrocuted or they'll be hung or shot. That's what a merciful culture would do against someone who committed such a crime by playing God, pretending to be God. Because anytime someone takes someone else's life, they're pretending to be God. And so a life for a life. And so people, this is, I'm just scratching the surface, obviously. And there's always going to be people who, because of their emotions, they're going to make emotional arguments to what God's word is declared and what even a natural law declares. That somebody, somebody who God forbid, I just heard this not too long ago, somebody, it was someone's boyfriend, and I think it was in Los Angeles, took a single edge razor blade and cut the eyes out of a two year old child. What do you think should be done to him? Nothing? What if it was your child? Nothing? Let him go. I know this. If he was in some Muslim country, they would hold him down and they would cut his eyes out with that same razor blade. That's justice. Wow. See, I'm going to end it this way, you guys. So many people, especially in America, I don't think this is going to last too much longer, but in America, we have the luxury of having really dumb ideas. Because we get to live theoretical. We don't have to live in a reality. We mown and gripe about this and about that. And we're arguing from the position of theory. You want to know why? Because we weren't the victim and we were not related to the victim. So in our callous cold hearts, because everything now is viewed through this through the synthetic screen of a phone that what I'm videoing right now, instead of me putting the phone down and rescuing that woman or that lady. Wow. Lisa and I were at dinner a couple of nights ago. And we were talking to the waiter. This is a new port beach. And the waiter, who was a Christian, we found out. It turns out that we had a famous waiter. So how can you have a famous waiter? What kind of waiter be famous for? This waiter tried to stop a robbery that was taking place. And in doing so, when the bad guys, he was wrestling with the waiter knew, jujitsu. When the bad guys saw that they couldn't prevail, they got in the car and they drove away. And as they were driving away, they ran over a 70 something year old woman who was on vacation in California from New Zealand. They had gone to fashion island, famous fashion island, a new port beach to go shopping. And that car struck her down and to make things worse for whatever reasons they backed up. And it was she was dead by the time they drove away. She was dead. And her husband was standing there. And this waiter that we were speaking with told us the whole thing. And he was honored by the city. And of course, he was in the in the case and the trial and all of that stuff. They did find the guys. They found the guys in Los Angeles. And they were convicted of murder among other things. You have a problem with that? If you have a problem with that, I fire you. I take a real close look at yourself in your eyes. If you think those guys should have gotten off for that, you need to open up the Bible to find out how incredibly condemned you are. And you need the rescuing of Jesus. You need to repent. You need to fall on your face and own up to the crimes that you've committed against God and his court. And so these are very, very real life topics, real life issues that are not popular in the Christian community. Because Christians like to put their head most often in the proverbial hole in the ground and hum kumbaya and pretend none of this bad stuff is going on. So folks, listen up. The death penalty is justice. It is right. It is to be implemented by civil governments, not you, not me. And it's what God has ordered until he comes again. And so pray for Brian Thompson's family. Pray that Luigi Manjone repents and accepts Jesus Christ. And I'm going to pray that Attorney General Pam Bondi has success in getting the death penalty through the federal system over these United States because the authority who has been appointed by God does not bear their sword in vain. Romans 13. Strong stuff. Listen, let's stay tuned. Let's live out real life. You know the jingle that we have. It's time for us to live out what we believe in. It's time for real life. And that's what we're all about. And so listen, if this has meant anything to you, give us a review. Give us the stars. Give us the thumbs up. Tell others about it. That's the best thing. Notice. We're not here pleading for your money. We're not, you know, sin does help keep us on the air or you want to help me feed my dog. Click here. We don't do that. Right. Maybe we'll do that someday. I don't know what's going to happen to this thing. But right now we don't. You know how you could help us out. Tell other people. Share it. That would be great. Until next time. Keep your eyes on Jesus. This Jack Kibs podcast as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities are listener supported. Will you consider partnering with us through a special gift? Go to jackhibs.com to learn more and stay connected.