Acest site s-a nascut din dorinta si dor; dorinta de a fi de folos si dorul dupa oamenii cu care impartasim comuniunea de limba si credinta. Va invit sa treceti dincolo de aceasta prima pagina introductiva si sa descoperiti pe site o seama de materiale pe care vi le punem la dispozitie.

Freitag, 25. Mai 2012

Is the God of the Old Testament a Merciless Monster? (PART 3)



Is the God of the Old Testament a Merciless Monster? (PART 3)


Critics of God’s actions in the Old Testament specifically cite the following verse as a perfect example of ‘overkill’ in how God dealt with Israel’s enemies: "They [Israel] utterly destroyed everything in the city [Jericho], both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword" (Joshua 6:21). How, they ask, could God look with approval on the death of women and young people? Richard Dawkins, chronicling what he believes to be crimes committed by God, says that the taking of Jericho is “morally indistinguishable from Hitler’s invasion of Poland, or Saddam Hussein’s massacres of the Kurds and the Marsh Arabs.”1 Is this really the case?

The answer to that question, and the overall justification for the destruction of Jericho, becomes more clear when one does a little research on the Canaanites who populated the city.

Canaan, who was a descendant of Ham (cf. Gen. 10:6), was cursed by Noah for an act that Scripture is not too clear about (cf. Gen. 9:20-25). His descendants became an incredibly sinful people who practiced extreme cruelty, incest, idolatry, bestiality, homosexuality, cultic prostitution, and child sacrifice (by throwing their own children into altars of fire). God warned Israel to not mimic Canaan’s ways: “When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer” (Deut. 18:9-10).

And yet, unfortunately, Scripture records that Israel failed to remove Canaan fully from the land given to her by God and suffered the consequences of their disobedience: "They did not destroy the peoples, as the Lord commanded them, but they mingled with the nations and learned their practices, and served their idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with the blood. Thus they became unclean in their practices, and played the harlot in their deeds" (Psalm 106:36-39).

The consequences of not removing such a people from the land God gave Israel was seen very clearly in the Psalmist’s words, so there is no need to wonder ‘what if’ with respect to allowing the Canaanites to remain in Jericho. Only a complete removal would do, with even the animals needing to be killed, likely due to the practice of bestiality.

The only ones saved were the prostitute Rahab and her household, which helped Israel in the attack on Jericho. This is an interesting point in that Rahab knew of Israel’s victories and the blessings of God upon the nation. If she knew of Israel’s fame, then it is reasonable to assume the rest of the city knew it as well. They could have easily escaped their destruction, however they stubbornly chose to remain and fight Israel instead.

The Judgment against Amalek

The book of 1 Samuel contains the account of God’s orders for Saul to destroy the people of Amalek. The Amalekites were descended from Amalek (whose name means ‘plunderer’), who was the son of Eliphaz and grandson of Esau. They were a wicked and warlike people and were the first to oppose Israel after her liberation from Egypt (cf. Exodus 17:8). As descendents of Esau, they were likely aware of God’s promises to Jacob, but rather than honor God’s choice of Israel, they instead elected to be their enemy.

The Amalekites were particularly cowardly in their attacks on Israel and would deliberately murder the weak and elderly who sometimes lagged behind the core group of Israelites who were making their way to the land promised them by God (cf. Deut. 25:17-19). The book of Judges (6:3-5) records that they consistently allied themselves with other nations to commit genocide against Israel.

Amazingly, God chose not to destroy the Amalekites until some 400 years had elapsed from their first sinful acts against His people. Such an incredibly long period of time shows the patience of God and dispels any notion that God is quick tempered and rushes to judgment against those who are sinning before Him.

Scripture also contains God’s warnings to the Kenites, who were a people living among the Amalekites, to depart so they would not be caught up in the coming judgment (cf. 1 Sam. 15:6). Such a warning had to have also been heard by the Amalekites and it is reasonable to assume they could have fled the land as well, however they chose not to.

Although God commanded Saul to completely destroy the Amalekites, he disobeyed and did not completely do as he was told (cf. 1 Sam. 15:9-26). Some were allowed to live, an outcome that ultimately resulted in another attempt of genocide upon Israel. The book of Esther records that a man named Haman – who was of Amalek descent – tried to have all the Jews killed in the land of Persia, but he was ultimately stopped by Queen Esther herself.

Samson and the Sons of Ashkelon

Bible naysayers decry Samson’s murder of 30 men of Ashkelon descent, which is recorded in Judges 14:19. However, they overlook a number of important things.

First, Ashkelon was a city of the Philistines, a people who persistently oppressed and brutalized Israel. The Philistines were notorious for their idol worship and worshiped the false gods Dagon, Ashtoreth (the spouse of the false god Baal), and Baalzebub. The rituals of Ashtoreth typically included temple prostitution.

The thirty ‘companions’ of Samson were of Ashkelon descent and clearly lived up to their reputation for violence and cruelty. When challenged by Samson’s riddle and bet, they threatened to murder his fiancée and destroy her father’s home by fire if she did not get Samson to reveal the riddle’s answer to them (which she did).

The acts that Samson carried out were simply an act of judgment by God upon the people of Ashkelon, and are part of a larger sweeping story of God using Samson (and others) as His weapons of justice against a blasphemous and evil people. The story of Samson ends with him killing thousands of Philistines by causing the building they were in to collapse. Samson was also killed in the act, although he himself was saved by God as evidenced by the fact that he is recorded in the ‘heroes of faith’ section in Hebrews 11 (cf. vs. 32).





Leave a comment and / or appreciate the article!

CLICK HERE to read more:» http://www.radio-elshaday.de/

CLICK HERE to read more:» http://www.radio-megapower.de/

CLICK HERE to read more:» http://christliche-radiosender.blogspot.com/

CLICK HERE to read more:» http://radiomegapower-nonstop.blogspot.de/

Posted by: Daniel Ioan Notar *DJ_DANY*

Keine Kommentare:

Kommentar veröffentlichen