very good explanation about amalakites i will add this to my explanation list.
i wonder why we are told in new testament to love our enemy? seems ot has better advice, take them out. new testament advice leads you to be abused and trampled on. you are guaranteed to lose in life. why is it?
maybe God wants christians to be like lambs, weak and sweet who are slaughtered in his name? to bring more wrath on enemies? i dont know. anyone got good answer? @Roughsoul1991
Without going in detail even if the other cities was commanded to be totally annihilated then the original post still speaks about God's role as justified.hmm I just read most of Joshua 10 and 11 there seems there was about a half dozen or more cities completely wiped out with no one left breathing, I assume that included the old, young, new born, mothers and fathers.
can anyone shed some light on that topic?
That’s interesting about not commanding humans to kill children, maybe not in the order you mentioned but in Joshua 11, I can’t say that the children were spared scripture does say not sparing anyone who breathed. that’s quite a thought about that makes me ponder about the children of that place.
Joshua 11
14The Israelites took for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but they struck down all the people with the sword until they had completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone who breathed. 15As the LORD had commanded His servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua. That is what Joshua did, leaving nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.
Amen. The Lord wants all of us especially our hearts Not Just hollow lip service. When we say Jesus is Lord it means his is our master. owner and commander too. scriptures wher a person humbles themselves and calls another person lord are plentiful But Lord refers to the Father or Jesus. lord does not."And, it is disturbing how the 'man-mind' of today attempts to interpret a time that was."View attachment 205518
Here is a quote from a leading New Age Atheist.
The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion
Due to confusion from other threads on this very issue. I will in detail speak on this issue.
Most Christians believe the Bible to be the Word of God. To be true. And God to have certain characteristics like all loving but also all just. This is the typical belief. And for the time being I will assume we do not need to go into Biblical evidence or on how we can know the Bible to be true. I will start with that conclusion that the Bible is 100% true.
So with this in mind it is intellectually honest for people to question scriptures that deal with the killing of woman, children, God causing miscarriages, or a raped woman is forced to marry the rapist, or even slavery is brought up by critics. Now remember we say the Bible is true and the Word of God.
I will list 1 example of each.
1 Samuel 15:2-3, 8 New International Version (NIV)
2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt.
3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.
Numbers 5:21-22 New International Version (NIV)
21 here the priest is to put the woman under this curse—“may the Lord cause you to become a curse among your people when he makes your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell. 22 May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.”
“‘Then the woman is to say, “Amen. So be it.”
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 New International Version (NIV)
28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay her father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.
Exodus 21:20-21 New International Version (NIV)
20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.
Those verses will fill your church pews wont they?
I'll start with 1 Samuel 15.
Let us remember God is Holy. A Holy being is perfect. God cannot sin but is all good and loving. But being Holy he must be just because sin cannot dwell with God. Adam cursed all of mankind.
Romans 5:12 New International Version (NIV)
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
Was the Amalekites innocent? In God's eyes no one is innocent in less you in the OT followed the ceremonial sacrifices or in the NT put faith in Christ who became the ultimate sacrifice.
This was a point in history, a season in history, where God is the immediate king of a people, Israel, different than the way he is the king over the church, which is from all the peoples of Israel and does not have a political, ethnic dimension to it.
With Joshua there was a political, ethnic dimension, God was immediate king, and he uses this people as his instrument to accomplish his judgment in the world at that time.
The Amalekites was heavily pagan and seeping so deep in demonic evil for a very long time and God patiently waited as he does with any nations judgement in the OT. Their time had ran out and when God decides to judge a nation he is Just for doing so.
When God takes life he isn't a murderer but is well within his resume as the creator of life. Dealing with the Amalekites, Saul failed to kill all as God commanded and the Amalekites just a couple of decades later, there were enough to take David and his men’s families captive (1 Samuel 30:1-2). After David and his men attacked the Amalekites and rescued their families, 400 Amalekites escaped.
If Saul had fulfilled what God had commanded him, this never would have occurred. Several hundred years later, a descendant of Agag, Haman, tried to have the entire Jewish people exterminated (see the book of Esther).
So, Saul’s incomplete obedience almost resulted in Israel’s destruction. God knew this would occur, so He ordered the extermination of the Amalekites ahead of time.
I will add in time 3 more explanations of the next 3 scriptures critics like to pick out. I'll post this first one. Feel free to add more details for the new in faith.
Well God is sovereign and never needs to explain anything to anybody. While conversely we must humbly and courageously obey. In some cases, we learned overtime why. Like, so many people have deadly allergic reactions to shell fish or get food poisonings eating improperly prepared pork so they were temporarily banned. Perhaps some of the early tribes of peoples had diagnosable and/or incurable STD's plus they were Idolaters. Perhaps it was actually more merciful to kill them than have the suffer a long protracted disease like AIDS or syphilis. They might have been worth risk of spreading what they may have had to others. It's ok to feel sorry for them and Judgement day is at least 1,000 years from now if he returns today. Remember that life and the first death are only temporary.
Merrill Unger's Masters thesis on Biblical demonology was about 1,000 pages as I recall. Who's got that much time or interest? All that we deed to know is in the Bible we don't need to know all of the whys and what if's to be saved. Everyting we really need to know is he is God we are not. He is sovereign. Our God is one, Jesus died for our sin's was Resurrected and still lives and he's comming back. If we wrote 1,00 or 1,000,000 more pages It wouldn't change those facts. The Bible is the story of mankinds relationship with God in a very short form. In john 21:25 it says;Could of been that’s a interesting take, I was pondering a thought as well these people who got took out could of been teaching their young their same tradition.
In scripture it says in
numbers 11
18‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion,a forgiving wrongdoing and rebellion. But He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’
so it may be possible that this statement in numbers 11 was carried out upon the cities that got wiped out.
That was the adultery test. If she failed it she could have legally stoned to death.Critic who says see God supports abortion!
Numbers 5:21-22 New International Version (NIV)
21 here the priest is to put the woman under this curse—“may the Lord cause you to become a curse among your people when he makes your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell. 22 May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.”
“‘Then the woman is to say, “Amen. So be it.”
In CONTEXT the Ancient Nation of Israel had ceremonial laws and civil laws for the nation. Each built on the other as in the cleanliness laws for the Priests would also be added to the people who each tribe had responsibilities to God and the Holy dwelling of God rather it be a fancy tent or a temple.
Numbers 5:21-22 was a example of God's laws that set his people off to be a holier nation than the pagan nations around.
Exodus 20:14 New International Version (NIV)
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
The man if he expected his wife of having sex with another man and she got pregnant. They would then take her to the Priest and basically let God decide. In context the ingredients of this drink the woman was to drink is essentially harmless.
So this puts all the power on God not man to cause a miscarriage. Keep in mind a miscarriage is not the same as abortion. And also this event was only for the ancient nation of Israel and should not be assumed that all miscarriages of today are Gods judgment on mothers sin.
Could of been that’s a interesting take, I was pondering a thought as well these people who got took out could of been teaching their young their same tradition.
In scripture it says in
numbers 11
18‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion,a forgiving wrongdoing and rebellion. But He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’
so it may be possible that this statement in numbers 11 was carried out upon the cities that got wiped out.
i cannot send pms sorry friend. im not a paying member. i can reply if someone start the conversation with meSend him a PM.
Could of been that’s a interesting take, I was pondering a thought as well these people who got took out could of been teaching their young their same tradition.
In scripture it says in
numbers 11
18‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion,a forgiving wrongdoing and rebellion. But He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’
so it may be possible that this statement in numbers 11 was carried out upon the cities that got wiped out.
Understanding Generational curses.
https://www.focusonthefamily.com/family-qa/understanding-the-generational-curse-of-exodus-347
you know lot of things. are there any bible verses on self defence?Understanding Generational curses.
https://www.focusonthefamily.com/family-qa/understanding-the-generational-curse-of-exodus-347
hahah....at the end of day, what man thinks of God, his character, what he does, has done, will do is irrelevant.....Men die, GOD is eternal and every knee shall crack, bow and confess to the GLORY OF GOD.....then, every lost man will be cast aside into the dlaming pit, like the fool that lip flapped about the God of the O.T.Atheists defining God in a negative manner are like fish criticizing fresh air.
you know lot of things. are there any bible verses on self defence?
It is strange how Richard Dawkins talks about the "character" of someone he thinks doesn't even exist. Its like a man who hates his father, then insults him, then says "I have no father".