The killing of “innocents” in the Bible
1. Most are aware that people sometimes have some negative things to say about God and the Bible.
2. We have heard people say the “God of the Old Testament is not the God of the New Testament.”
3. We may have heard people say God has approved of the slaughter of innocent people in the past.
4. Or, the charge may have been made that God commanded that innocent people be slaughtered.
5. Christians may be asked how they can reconcile God’s command to kill people with divine love.
TODAY WE WANT TO EXPLORE SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT PEOPLE ASK ABOUT GOD, ESPECIALLY QUESTIONS THAT RELATE TO LARGE GROUPS OF PEOPLE WHO WERE KILLED IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES.
a) As we approach this study there are some things to keep in mind.
b) First, not everything mentioned in the Bible is information that God endorses.
c) Before I explain that statement, I will illustrate it.
d) At most police stations there are records of various crimes.
e) In a police computer or filing cabinet there may be information on a murder.
f) The police have a record of that crime, but that record does not mean they approve of it.
2) This is also true with the scriptures; the Bible records many things.
3) Not every action recorded in the scriptures has God’s approval.
4) David was illicitly involved with Bathsheba; God wanted that information recorded.
5) Although this information is
part of the Old Testament record, God did not approve of what David did.
6) A second consideration is to be sure that we understand what a passage is saying before being critical.
a) For our scripture reading we heard the final verses read from 2 Sam. 12:26-31.
b) This passage describes something done by David.
c) Verse 31 makes it sound like David was a very cruel man.
d) The text says David “put them under saws, and under harrows of iron and axes of iron.”
e) The final verse in 2 Sam. 12 says David made people pass through the “brick kiln.”
f) It sounds like this was torture. It might look like to us that David was killing people.
g) This is not what is being described.
7) I am not a fan of the New International Version, a translation commonly referred to as the NIV.
8) Translators of the NIV give the “equivalent” of a passage instead of a translation.
9) What translators call an “equivalent meaning” can be very different from what God meant.
10) In 2 Sam. 12:31 I agree that the NIV does a good job of rendering the text.
11) It says David “consigned” these people to “labor.”
a) David did not torture these people; he made them work.
b) The ASV and KJV, in this instance, are not as clear as some other versions.
c) David not only made these people work, he made them work hard. It was hard labor.
d) The labor he required from
them was, however, quite humane compared to how these people had acted.
e) Sometimes passages that seem to make God sound bad are not properly understood.
f) This and the first principle quickly and easily answer some of the questions posed by critics.
12) A third thing to consider is
the false idea that God in the Old Testament is different from God in the NT.
13) Many think and act as if the first section of the Bible has a mean and cruel deity.
14) When we come to the New Testament, God changes into someone who is pretty decent.
a) One fellow who is a pretty bright guy (the case for faith, p. 165) decided to study out this matter.
b) Here is what he found.
c) The word translated “mercy” in the KJV occurs 261 times in the Bible.
d) 72% of the time this word is found, it occurs in the Old Testament—a three to one ratio.
e) Then this same fellow studied out the word “love” and found it 322 times in the Bible.
f) About half the 322 “love” is used in the Bible it occurs in the Old Testament.
g) These are just two ways to illustrate the idea that we are not dealing with two different Gods.
h) The God of the Old Testament is exactly the same as the God of the New Testament.
15) If people try to say the God of the Old Testament is stricter, we could turn the tables on them.
16) In the New Testament there is more said about everlasting punishment than in the Old Testament.
17) Because everlasting
punishment is severer than punishment in life, the New Testament is actually
stronger.
WHEN WE TAKE AWAY THESE POINTS FROM THE CRITICS THEY ARE USUALLY THEN READY TO RESPOND WITH THEIR “BIG OBJECTION.”
a) This is, of course, is the destruction of the Canaanites.
b)
In Deut. 7 God told the nation of
c) Not only was an order given to exterminate the Canaanites, the order extended to six other nations.
d) God said to show “no mercy” to these people. God said to not make a covenant with them.
e)
If God is a God of love, compassion and mercy, how
could He tell
2) Many skeptics sit back and think this is a clear cut proof that God does not exist or He is unloving.
3) In addition to the Canaanites, skeptics could add some other examples.
a)
What about the death of the firstborn in
b) What about the cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys that belonged to the various “ites”?
c) Skeptics say the command to kill these make God a brutal and cruel deity.
4) As people make this charge they overlook a couple of things.
a) First, the people under divine condemnation did have a chance to escape.
b) Think of Rahab in Josh. 2:10.
c)
She said she and others had “heard” about
the nation of
d) Those in her community did not want to submit to the God of heaven.
e) Rahab and her family sought refuge among the Hebrews and it was granted.
f) A similar thing was true for the people of Ninevah. Compare Deut. 20:10-11.
g) When people suggest that God wiped out people without any warning, they are not truthful.
h) This allegation also overlooks another little point.
i) Righteous men like Abraham had lived among these heathen people for many years.
j) Righteous men lived among wicked and vile people for nearly 400 years.
k) Those involved with wickedness we cannot image did not want to alter their lifestyles.
l) People like Canaanites went from bad to worse to extremely awful.
m) God is a righteous and holy being.
n) A time comes when He says “enough.” After hundreds of years, enough was enough.
5) Nations such as the Amalekites were not only very wicked, they wanted to wipe out Israel.
6) The nation that was chosen to bring the Messiah into the world (Israel) was being threatened.
a) Suppose that our entire nation was under the threat of a nuclear attack.
b) Some country had a device that could wipe out the entire U.S. population.
c) Would we want our government to sit back and let everyone literally disappear?
d) Or, would we insist that our government take action?
7) We would insist that steps be taken to prevent a rogue nation from destroying America.
8) This is, in many respects, what God had to do with the various “ites.”
9) Because these heathens were a threat and would not change, action finally had to be taken.
10) Sometimes things are so bad, destruction has to be carried out and it must be total.
a) Suppose that next week we find termites beginning to attack our house.
b) We call out two different companies that specialize in termite treatment.
c) One company says they will deal with all the termites for $2,000.
d) A second company says they will spray a bit and kill 70% of the termites and only charge $100.
e) Which company would we choose?
f) Because we are dealing with
creatures that can destroy our house, we would not take the bargain price.
11) When it comes to termites, we don’t want them controlled 50%, 70%, or 90%.
12) They are able to regroup and come back again in force.
13) We need a solution that fully controls the problem.
14) This was also the case with the pagans that were a threat to Israel.
15) If a certain percentage of these people had been removed, they would have eventually come back.
16) Israel would have again been under threat so God commanded that the “ites” be removed.
a) If God had not removed these nations and Israel had been destroyed, there would be no New Testament.
b) There would be no church, there would be no Jesus, and there would be no salvation for us.
c) We would all be on the road to Hell.
d) Getting rid of the various “ites” was an essential part in the salvation of the world.
17) Many agree that these things make sense, but they struggle when it comes to the children.
18) Why would God include children in His order to wipe away all things?
19) We are able to offer some answers for this question as well.
a) If children grew up in these homes, they would contribute to the problem.
b) We recognize in our world
that some parents are “unfit” and children need to be removed from
homes.
c) People like the Canaanites were not just bad parents; they were completely unfit.
d) People like the Canaanites engaged in child sacrifices.
e) They would go to an idol which had been heated with fire and burn their children to death.
f) They were not ripping children out of the womb like people do today.
g) Think of children who were well past the time of birth.
h) When large numbers of people are willing to burn their born babies to death, they are corrupt.
i) The rottenness is so deep there must be a cleansing.
20) Over the past couple of years we have seen a variety of floods.
21) When flooding is very bad, an area needs to be completely destroyed.
22) Things are so bad that nothing can be salvaged – things are a complete loss.
23) We understand that some things are so bad everything has to go.
24) This
was true with the people who were living in
25) There was no hope of reformation, change, or making things better.
26) Everything needed to be cleaned out for a fresh start.
27) There is also this consideration.
a) If those children had been allowed to grow up, they would not known the God of the Bible.
b) They would have lived and died as heathens.
c) By departing this life early, they did not reach the age of accountability.
d) Although their physical lives were cut short, they will be saved in eternity.
e) If we merely look at things from an earthly standpoint, we only get part of the picture.
f)
The “big picture” is that God’s order
to
28) One more quick point.
29) When fighting occurs in a country, a lot of people flee.
30) Those who stay behind are usually soldiers or people hard enough to fight.
31) There was a chance for women, children, and some men to escape.
32) Those who remained behind were those who committed to continuing the course they had selected.
33) The God of the Old Testament is the same God in the New Testament.
34) He is a God who loves people and wants to save people.
35) Sometimes people have hated His ways so much they God has finally had to turn away from them.
36) Some did have to leave this world early so the entire world could be saved.
37) God carried out a magnificent plan so you and I could be His people. Are we?