One of the reasons many find it difficult to accept the God of the Bible is this: How can a loving God command the killing of people and even entire nations, including women and children? How can God condemn murder in the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:13), and then endorse ethnic cleansing? “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass” (1 Samuel 15:3).
How can we make sense of this? What sins did the babies have that they had to be killed? How can we reconcile this with the biblical teaching of God’s grace and love?
What is the number one reason many felt this way about God – that He is cruel and does not deserve their worship?
I believe many felt that way about God because, to them, suffering and death are the worst evils that could happen to any man. They fail to realise that earthly suffering and death are not the worst things that could happen to man; eternal damnation is the worst. “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” (2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9).
Where would those wicked folks be even if God did not end their lives prematurely on this earth? They would still go to the place where the fire is not quenched: “Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12).
But what about the babies and children; what evil had they done?
It is difficult for human beings to accept the death of young children. They can readily accept it when old people die. But, as mentioned earlier, physical death is not the worst thing that could happen to anyone. Everyone on this planet will die sooner or later (Hebrews 9:27). However, they forget to see the eternal bliss when children die: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him” (Ezekiel 18:20).
Do not forget that the children killed lived in a depraved environment. They would become like their fathers when they grew up. Though it is painful to lose a child, that innocent soul goes to Paradise. King David grieved and prayed when his son was dying. But when the boy died, King David said: “But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23).
David received consolation that his son was released from his state of suffering and had now gone to Paradise. As children are born sinless, those who die enjoy heavenly bliss.
What about those who were innocent?
Even when an entire nation is destroyed, at Judgment Day, God differentiates the righteous from the unrighteous. For example, Rahab and her family were spared from the destruction of Jericho (Joshua 2). The righteous God would do what is right and judge righteously: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
Though their lives might be shortened on this earth, they live in eternal bliss in the spiritual realm.
I would like to point out the hypocrisy and inconsistency of those who say God is merciless in killing children – why are they supportive of abortion which is nothing less than the true slaughter of innocent children by the millions?
Those who reject the God of the Bible should ask themselves this question: Does atheism offer a superior morality to that found in the Bible? The evil in this world is not caused by godly people but by godless people. Atheists have no right to criticise the morality of God when their lifestyle is immoral. ATHEISM HAS NO MORAL QUALMS ABOUT KILLING PEOPLE, YOUNG AND OLD. God and His children restore morality to this world.
Those who said God should never have created humans knowing they would sin and then send them to Hell should never use knives, fire, or computers, because these things all have the potential to harm another human being.
God is the sovereign Lord and has absolute right to exercise His power in any way that He chooses. He is the Creator of all things, therefore, He has full rights of ownership over everything. Paul wrote: “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction” (Romans 9:20-22).
Note these words in bold: “endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.” What does it tell us?
When God promised Abraham that his offspring would inherit the land of Canaan, He said it would not happen until the fourth generation after Abraham because the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full (Genesis 15:16). God waited 400 years for the Amorites to repent. The Amorites (representatives of all the nations called the Canaanites) practised such things as child sacrifice, incest, adultery, temple prostitution, and various other horrible acts. God did not destroy them immediately and give the land to Abraham. God was longsuffering. For the next 400 years while God was preparing a nation called Israel, the Canaanites had plenty of time to repent.
A question we need to ask: Did God command Israel to annihilate an entire ethnic group or to drive them out of the land? Consider these verses:
Exodus 23:28: “And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.”
Exodus 23:31: “And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.”
Numbers 33:52: “Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places.”
Deuteronomy 9:3: “Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.”
It could seem that God destroyed those nations by driving them out of Canaan. They were being driven out and not eradicated. This is revealed in the following verses:
Joshua 3:10 “And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.”
Joshua 17:13 “Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out.”
Judges 1:19 “And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.”
Judges 1:21 “And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.”
Judges 1:27 “Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.”
Judges 1:29 “Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.”
Judges 1:30 “Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries.”
Judges 1:31 “Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob.”
Judges 1:33 “Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them.”
The children of Israel did not perform ethnic cleansing on the inhabitants but drove them out and possessed their lands. Yet, they did not utterly drive them out. Those nations arose and afflicted them as seen in the Book of Judges.
Love and punishment are not opposed to each other. When we cane our children, does it mean we do not love them? Hebrews 12:9 says: “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?” Just as we accept our parents’ punishment, we should accept God’s punishment too.
God in His mercy has given man a way to be saved, but it is up to us to make the decision that will ultimately lead to either torment or salvation. God said: “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11). Unfortunately, many refuse it and prefer death instead!
If God is unloving, we would all go to Hell and no one would get to live in Heaven. But God has made it possible for imperfect people like us to live in His perfect kingdom beyond death (John 3:16).
Why did God create people, knowing they would sin? The answer: “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).
All we need to know is - God loves us and wants us to enjoy eternity with Him in Heaven. The choice is with us – spend eternity with God in Heaven or with the devil in Hell.
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