Comatose_Factor
... Kind of depends really where we take it. Some of the things in the old testament are very upsetting to me, and I often find myself asking God why He did those things. But in the end, when I'm done with the daily assignment, I come to terms with the events I've read over. I'm pacifist by nature, sometimes a little overly so.
sweatdrop BTW...my bro-in-law and countless others wrestle with the same problem...how can a good and loving God demand that His followers wipe out entire nations and claim their land? (Deut. 31:3) God is love - how could He possibly order the deaths of millions, to destroy cultures? To our modern ears it sounds unbelievable, a justification of human greed and warfare.
But, we see what happens when God's word was not obeyed, over and over - the people whose lives they spared screwed them up royally, caused them to sin, and basically gave them a terrible future, wherein they were corrupted, tormented, enslaved, and eventually lost their land. (Psalm 106:34-42) More innocent blood was shed by
sparing the heathens, ironically enough. If they had obeyed and killed every heathen that God told them to, they would have had a much more peaceful future and maybe the world today would have been that much better.
Imagine if you had the chance to kill Hitler as a child, knowing that you would spare millions of lives in many countries. Would you do it? Would you think that the command to kill him could not possibly come from God?
That's rhetorical, by the way.
Short answer: God knows what he's doing and he is good, all the time.
Reply
