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HopeLives365

Mark Finley

Why So Much Killing in the Old Testament

During my more than 50 years of ministry, I've heard this question asked again and again and again.

Pastor, why is there so much killing in the Old Testament?

People have said I can identify with Jesus in the New Testament, but the God of the Old Testament, he's rather harsh, rather cruel, rather vindictive, and very difficult, they've said, for me to relate to.

Come on, pastor, how can you justify the killing of men, women, children in the Old Testament?

And the Bible does give us some very positive information in how to understand the answer to these questions.

Now we might never fully comprehend it until eternity, but the Bible does help us a great deal.

The first principle that we have to look at is this.

If you look at God's actions and do not look at God's character, you'll misunderstand his actions.

But if you look at God's character, you then will have a clue to understanding his actions.

In his best-selling book, The God Delusion, atheist Richard Dawkins refers to the God of the Old Testament as vindictive and as a bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser.

Journalist Christopher Hitchens complains that the Old Testament contains a warrant for, can you believe it, indiscriminate massacre.

Other critics of Christianity have leveled similar charges accusing Yahweh of crimes against humanity.

The problem with all those arguments is that they fail to take in view the total picture of the Old Testament and they fail to understand the character of God.

What is God's character in the Old Testament?

Is he a vindictive judge, a wrathful tyrant?

Jeremiah the prophet pictures God totally differently.

Jeremiah chapter 31 verse 3, the Lord has appeared to old to me saying, yes, I've loved you with an everlasting love.

Therefore, with loving kindness, I have drawn you.

So the God of the Old Testament, as outlined by the prophets, is a God of everlasting love.

He's a God that draws us with loving kindness.

In fact, you'll recall in Exodus chapter 34, When Moses sees God in the burning bush, God speaks to Moses, Exodus 34, you're looking there at verse 6, and the Lord passed before him, that's Moses, and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious.

He's merciful, he's gracious, long-suffering and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgressions and sin.

So the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi presents a God of loving-kindness, a God of graciousness.

Love is the basis of all God's actions in the Old Testament.

Now it was God's desire that the nation of Israel reveal his love to the heathen nations around them and be his ambassador.

As Jesus later said to the New Testament church, they would be the salt of the earth.

It was God's intent that the Canaanite religions, the Amalekites, and the other heathen religions be so impacted, so influenced by Israel that they too come to the ancient sanctuary and worship.

We find that in the book of Isaiah, chapter 56, verse 6 to 8.

Once we understand that God's character is loving, that with loving kindness he draws, that it was his goal to save humanity, all humanity, Jew and Gentile, and have all humanity, the foreigners and the outcasts, come to the sanctuary, and that Israel was to be their ambassador, then we begin to be able to understand some of God's actions.

Isaiah 56, look, and the sons of the foreigner, who are the sons of the foreigner?

They're the Canaanites, they're the Amalekites, they're the Egyptians, the sons of the foreigner, who join themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love the name of the Lord, to be a servant.

Everyone who keeps from deviling the Sabbath, them will I bring to my holy mountain.

For my house, verse 7, last part, shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, the Lord God who gathers the outcasts of Israel, yet I will gather to him others beside those who are gathered to him.

So God's intent to gather all of the outcasts of Israel.

And you remember Ezekiel the prophet, chapter 33, verse 11, Ezekiel says, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

As Israel came into possession of the Promised Land, God's intent was through his loving kindness manifest in them to win the Canaanites, to win the Amalekites over to the side of his program, over to the side of his way, over to the side of his religion, over to the side of his love, his grace, his kindness, his goodness.

Now you have to notice a number of things about the Old Testament.

When Israel entered the Promised Land, they were to go through that land and on their way to the Promised Land, before they ever arrived there, they were to pass through and not enter into war with the heathen tribes.

So they were to enter their land and you read the Old Testament again and again.

Israelites sent messages, we'll pass through the land.

Again and again, the Canaanites did not accept Israel's invitation to pass through the land peaceably and they attacked Israel.

In that posture, God led Israel to protect the true religion, to fight against them.

So we see that war was never God's intent.

It was his reaction against the rebellious Amalekites, the rebellious Midianites, the rebellious Canaanites, so war was a secondary act of God, not a primary act of God.

Now God would have used many, many other means of defending his people beside war.

You remember God was leading Israel out of Egypt.

Why did God slay the firstborn of all of Egypt?

Moses went to, and Aaron went to Pharaoh.

And they pleaded with Pharaoh, let my people go.

And God sent warning after warning after warning to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh hardened his heart.

And eventually the firstborn of the Egyptians were slain, because if God didn't do something dramatic, and Israel would have stayed in bondage in Egypt, the pagan Egyptian religion of its idolatry and immorality would have so influenced Israel that all righteousness, all goodness would have been stamped from the earth.

He sent message after message after message to Pharaoh.

But as the Egyptian armies attacked the Israelites, there's an interesting principle outlined in Exodus chapter 14 and verse 14.

It says, the Lord will fight for you and you will hold your peace.

He was gonna place fear, incredible fear in the hearts of the Egyptians and he was going to take charge.

So as Egypt, the Egyptian armies attempted to attack Israel, God opened the Red Sea.

Israel went through and then the Red Sea crashed in on the Egyptian armies.

Had they never pursued Israel, that never would have happened to them.

Had Pharaoh allowed Israel to go free earlier, the slaying of the firstborn never would have taken place.

Israel's on its way to the promised land.

They send message after message to the heathen tribes.

1 thing he did was send hornets because he wanted to avoid war.

And 3 places in the Bible it says that God will drive them out with hornets.

Look, Deuteronomy chapter 7, Deuteronomy chapter 7 and you're gonna look at there at verse 20.

Moreover the Lord your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left who hide themselves from you are destroyed.

You won't be need to be terrified of them for the Lord your God the great and awesome God is among you.

So God said to Israel look I'm the great and awesome God don't worry about it you move through that land and I'll protect you, I'll send the hornets if necessary.

You find that too in Exodus 25 23 verse 28, Exodus chapter 23 verse 28.

So God had a lot of creative ways to protect his people.

Exodus 23 verse 28, And I will send the hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hivite before you.

So look, God's intent was never, never, never to kill men, women, and children.

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Why So Much Killing in the Old Testament

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