Hi Pastor John!
If a person attempted to murder another person but did not succeed, or that person survived, was that person guilty under the law of Moses as if he actually killed the person and was put to death? It seems to me the motive was there in their heart.
Billy
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Hi Billy.
Good question.
The motive, under the law, was not the standard for judgment. In the law of the Spirit in this New Testament, on the other hand, Jesus said the motive is the standard by which we all will be judged. For example, “You’ve heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that every man who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt. 5:27–28).
The law punished a man according to what he did, not what he wanted to do. If a man tried to kill someone, but only wounded him, then, “And if anyone causes a blemish in his neighbor, as he did, so shall it be done to him: injury for injury, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he made a blemish in the man, so shall one be made in him” (Lev. 24:19–20).
Thanks again for the question.
Pastor John