Expert: Thurman C. Petty, Jr. - 3/23/2007

Question
What passages in the Bible could I refer someone to that is wishing death on a person? Not because they are sick and in pain, but because they hate the person and are praying for death for that person.

Answer
Dear Charlotte,

Thank you for your question about the “death wish.” I’m sorry your friend has this difficulty. There are many Bible passages that treat this very subject.

Mat 22:36  "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
Mat 22:37  Jesus replied: "'LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
Mat 22:38  This is the first and greatest commandment.
Mat 22:39  And the second is like it: 'LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'
Mat 22:40  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Mat 5:43  "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
Mat 5:44  But I tell you: LOVE YOUR ENEMIES and PRAY FOR THOSE WHO PERSECUTE you,
Mat 5:45  that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Luke 23:33  When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the other on his left.
Luke 23:34  Jesus said, "FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

If God wants us to love Him and our neighbors; if He wants us to love our enemies, and even pray for those who cause us trouble; if Jesus on the cross prayed that God would forgive the people who were literally killing Him; why would your friend want to pray for God to cause someone to die?

When your friend has such a hatred for another person, it hurts him/her worse than it does the person they hate. It’s like taking poison and waiting for the other guy to die!

Prayers that others may die will receive the answer “no,” for God will not be a party to murder. God’s character in this respect is explained in the simple sentence of His 10 Commandments: “THOU SHALT NOT KILL.” But God is not a God of revenge. GOD IS A GOD OF LOVE. Listen to the counsel of the Apostle John in his first letter:

1 John 2:9  Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.
1 John 2:10  Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.
1 John 2:11  But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

1 John 3:10  This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is NOT A CHILD OF GOD; nor is anyone who DOES NOT LOVE HIS BROTHER.
1 John 3:11  This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
1 John 3:12  Do NOT be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous.

1 John 3:15  Anyone who HATES his brother is a MURDERER, and you know that NO MURDERER HAS ETERNAL LIFE IN HIM.
1 John 3:16  This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR US. And WE OUGHT TO LAY DOWN OUR LIVES FOR OUR BROTHERS.

1 John 4:7  Dear friends, let us LOVE ONE ANOTHER, for love comes from God. EVERYONE WHO LOVES HAS BEEN BORN OF GOD and knows God.
1 John 4:8  Whoever does not love does not know God, because GOD IS LOVE.
1 John 4:9  This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
1 John 4:10  This is love: not that we loved God, but that HE LOVED US AND SENT HIS SON AS AN ATONING SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS.
1 John 4:11  Dear friends, SINCE GOD SO LOVED US, WE ALSO OUGHT TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Charlotte, take the counsel of Scripture and fall on your knees and ask forgiveness for the hate that dwells in your heart. Let God replace that hate with His love. You will not find peace of heart until you do this. If the offender has hurt you, forgive Him. This may not be easy and it may take a while for your forgiveness to become a reality in your life. But it is vital to your personal salvation. In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus explained to us that God cannot forgive us unless we forgive others:

Mat 6:12  FORGIVE us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Mat 6:13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'
Mat 6:14  For if you FORGIVE men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also FORGIVE you.
Mat 6:15  But if you DO NOT FORGIVE men their sins, your Father WILL NOT FORGIVE YOUR sins.

You may find help in reading the little book entitled STEPS TO CHRIST by Ellen G. White. You may obtain a copy of the book at www.adventistbookcenter.com, or you can read it online at www.nisbett.com/research/default.htm.

I’d also like to invite you to visit my web site www.PettyPress.com where, besides 16 books I’ve written, you’ll find 40 Bible lessons and over 100 Bible questions answered. I’d particularly suggest you read the book QUEST FOR THE SUPER LEADER which gives an in depth look at what Jesus did for us on the cross.

If you have further questions feel free to write me directly at my personal e-mail address, petty@hyperusa.com.

Thurman C. Petty, Jr., Instructor
Allexperts.com

P.S. You might find the book FORGIVENESS OF DEAD MEN WALKING of help, for the author, who herself was terribly violated, explains how she came to forgive the one who did her such wrong.