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Okay so I am a believer but I am really struggling with something. Like I said in a previous thread, I am in a Bible Study and we just studied Rehab. There is a place in the reading where it says everything in Jerrico was killed..children, men, women, sheep..... and that the Gold, silver, and iron were saved from the town for the kingdom of God.
My trouble is one I know I am not the first to say....but how can the God I know and love, have wiped out all these people and animals.... Its so hard for me to understand. Small children who had no crime but to be born where they were born....
Does anyone else struggle with this? For those who don't can you tell me why you don't? I really appreciate it!
It really contradicts with "For God so loved the world.." doesn't it?
In the OT He is an angry, jealous God who favors one ethnic group above all others on the planet. In the NT he is a loving, forgiving God who accepts all to him who believe. What's the connection? I have my own ideas, but they're too complicated (or maybe I'm just too lazy) to type them here.
Perhaps you should ask God and not us for your answer.
Okay so I am a believer but I am really struggling with something. Like I said in a previous thread, I am in a Bible Study and we just studied Rehab.
I see another "typo correction" coming up!
(And for the record... From my take, we were both laughing about it.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by little_thirsty
There is a place in the reading where it says everything in Jerrico was killed..children, men, women, sheep..... and that the Gold, silver, and iron were saved from the town for the kingdom of God.
My trouble is one I know I am not the first to say....but how can the God I know and love, have wiped out all these people and animals.... Its so hard for me to understand. Small children who had no crime but to be born where they were born....
Does anyone else struggle with this? For those who don't can you tell me why you don't? I really appreciate it!
It sounds harsh, but God didn't mess around...
When a place was evil enough, he smote it.
Someone here will give you a much better explanation than this...
Okay so I am a believer but I am really struggling with something. Like I said in a previous thread, I am in a Bible Study and we just studied Rehab. There is a place in the reading where it says everything in Jerrico was killed..children, men, women, sheep..... and that the Gold, silver, and iron were saved from the town for the kingdom of God.
My trouble is one I know I am not the first to say....but how can the God I know and love, have wiped out all these people and animals.... Its so hard for me to understand. Small children who had no crime but to be born where they were born....
Does anyone else struggle with this? For those who don't can you tell me why you don't? I really appreciate it!
God was carrying out severe judgment against the wickedness of the Canaanites. This threat to the right kind of living that God required had to removed. God's purpose here and was to keep peoples faith uncontaminated
Sin has severe consequences and sometimes the innocent are affected.
I don't struggle with this because I trust God completely, I don't always understand everything, but I always trust Him.
This wasn't the only time either, for example Sodom & Gomorrah. Punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. - Genesis 50:30, Exodus 20:5, Exodus 34:7, Numbers 14:18, Deuteronomy 5:9
The 10th plague in Egypt
I don't struggle with this simply because the Gods says for no one is without excuse all have sinned, that includes children. But God is just and is serious about sin.
That is why the God says, it is by grace that we are saved, and not of ourselves it is a gift.
But if you noticed all these references are OT. In the NT, God poured out his wrath on His only Son, because Christ died for the sins of all the nations of the world.... the world includes the children.
What would you rather prefer, God pouring out his wrath on your children or on His only son? Therefore, since God chose to do it to his own Son, Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?" James 2:5
little thirsty, this reconciling of the Old Testament to the New Testament is a difficult thing. It appears on the surface that we have a schizophrenic God who is all wrath and judgment and then suddenly becomes all love and affection.
I applaud you for this thread. It's obvious that you are indeed in the Word and that it is falling on fertile soil. It's the great masses of people who say they've never considered this stuff that concern me.
I'm going to try and make this quick and then let you respond and have more of an ongoing discussion rather than some lengthy post for you to read.
First, God is God. He's just and His ways are far beyond ours. Yes, the complete destruction of these people is something hard for us to fathom. But God indeed has a plan. I also know that He would never condemn or judge someone unfairly, so even if the earthly lives of these people came to an end, His eternal plan for those that were innocent would be grace and mercy.
It's important to realize that the application for us in these stories is how we are to judge and handle sin in our lives. That it requires an utter obliteration of all things not of God to walk a life God desires. That this is a picture of holiness in the believer. These were people who had rejected God and turned their backs on Him.
I'd also like to add that while similar stories are absent from the New Testament, one very glaring similarity remains. This same wrath and rejection of sin was poured out on Christ Jesus for those that embrace Him. Jesus took the brunt of God's judgment regarding sin in the New Testament. An innocent, sinless, blameless Individual who bore the price for my sins.
So when I read the Old Testament, I first let God be God and He alone has to answer for His actions. I also praise God for Christ Jesus as I read through what the punishment for my sins would look like without my Messiah.
I don't know if this helps, but let me know your thoughts. It's a great question. I love it when people get into the Word and realize there's always a call to higher level of faith. It takes a commitment to God to realize there's some things we, as humans, can't quite get our heads around, and still love and serve God through it. Kudos to you!
My trouble is one I know I am not the first to say....but how can the God I know and love, have wiped out all these people and animals.... Its so hard for me to understand. Small children who had no crime but to be born where they were born....
Does anyone else struggle with this? For those who don't can you tell me why you don't? I really appreciate it!
Hi, I believe that all things are in the hands of God, who is good and who is described as agape and I believe that all of these judgments will result in a higher purpose for these individuals. The babies, the children, are all God's creatures, His children and He loves them and holds them in the palm of His hand even as He carries out His judgments. He is the taker and the author of life. He kills and He also makes alive. God bless.
Last edited by ShanaBrown; 02-25-2008 at 05:23 PM..
Reason: typos
Thank you all so much for your answers. I really am a little stuck on this so I appreciate others insights. And TheComputerGuy I did find a lot of humor in my mess up and thank you for pointing it out. I just didn't want to offend anyone!
Alpha I appreciate your post because sometimes I feel like I am the only one "questioning" in the group I am most involved with. This one is so hard for me. I do believe God is loving, full of mercy, and grace. It is hard to read the OT for me because his punishments were so harsh. I think I would be a pillar of salt, maybe my city would crumble under me. Its like you said Alpha, I am thankful that Jesus died so that I don't have to.
And the other component that grabs my attention, after destroying the entire city, they collected the gold, silver, and iron...while everything else was destroyed to include innocent animals. Why? I am lost with that? Thanks again for your posts.
Okay so I am a believer but I am really struggling with something. Like I said in a previous thread, I am in a Bible Study and we just studied Rehab. There is a place in the reading where it says everything in Jerrico was killed..children, men, women, sheep..... and that the Gold, silver, and iron were saved from the town for the kingdom of God.
My trouble is one I know I am not the first to say....but how can the God I know and love, have wiped out all these people and animals.... Its so hard for me to understand. Small children who had no crime but to be born where they were born....
Does anyone else struggle with this? For those who don't can you tell me why you don't? I really appreciate it!
Little, it's a story and not actually what happened. Look for the moral or point of the story. People in those times told stories as part of their oral history to make a point or illuminate a truth.
I'd also like to add that while similar stories are absent from the New Testament, one very glaring similarity remains. This same wrath and rejection of sin was poured out on Christ Jesus for those that embrace Him. Jesus took the brunt of God's judgment regarding sin in the New Testament. An innocent, sinless, blameless Individual who bore the price for my sins.
I had never looked at it from this perspective. This paragraph really grabbed me and has given me much to think about.
Thank you for sharing your wise thoughts!
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