This question is asked a lot by many people, but it stems from an ignorance of the full teaching of the Word of God. When you read both the Old and New Testament you see both God’s Glory and God’s wrath. But His relationships with people differ from what we see today, why? Well because the people were different from what we are today, you see one of the amazing things about the Bible is something called specific revelation, in that the things in the Old Testament were meant only for the people living in the Old Testament days. The only things that we follow from the Old Testament are the things that were carried over to the New Testament. As for who God is, that never changed God showed loving kindness in both the New and Old Testament. And also showed His Holy Wrath in both the New and Old Testament. God does what is specifically best for each nation. Now for some individual cases.
“Why does God say not to kill (Thou Shall not Kill Exodus 20:1-2) but then instructs Israel to turn around and kill men and women to take the promised land?”
First a history lesson, when you read the Bible and read about the Amalekites you read that they are not God’s people. In 1 Samuel 15:20 Saul lied and told everyone that he had killed all the Amalekites. Decades later the Amalekites grew and took David a man of God and his family hostage. David’s men finally defeated the Amalekites and set David and his family free but 400 Amalekites escaped. If Saul would of listened to God that wouldn’t of happened to David. Fast forward if Israel didn’t fully eradicate the Amalekites they would come back to cause harm on God’s people so that is where the command comes from. Now to discuss the clear mixing up of terms here, God tells us not to murder Exodus 20:13 but there is a difference in the word murder and kill as there is a difference in murder and kill in the Hebrew (trə·ṣāḥ , אֶת־ עֲמָלֵ֗ק וְהַֽחֲרַמְתֶּם֙ אֶת־ כָּל־ respectively). Murder is unjust at the hands of humans. Just war where people die is killing, and given the Amalekites were not God’s people and were causing harm to God’s people and were not going to see Heaven God instructed the Israelites to wipe them out. Now the question of the children who were too young, God knows the future and knew the young children would grow up and attack the Israelites exactly like they did before when Saul disobeyed God.
“Why does God let Job suffer horrible things just to win a bet with satan?”
First mentions, the format of this question is incorrect, there is no “bet” in terms of the all knowing God He already knew what was going to happen. This is one case where God used evil and harnessed it for good, the book of Job is very inspirational in that in suffering you realize what really is important not riches or servants but God and this strengthened Jobs faith in God, in the trials we go through today we are reminded by Job to look to the LORD for our salvation. Furthermore you may ask, was what God allowed to happen to Job just? Well the answer goes back to the garden and sin in our own lives we shouldn’t even be alive but it is by miracle of God that we live until our last day set forth by the will of The sovereign God.
Why would God tell Abraham to kill his son and then say “just kidding That was a test.”
Commonly the way people ask this question is if as if it was a joke when it wasn’t. Issac was promised several times from God. From Abraham’s own body would come a nation as multitudinous as the stars in heaven Genesis 12:2–3; 15:4–5. Later, Abraham was specifically told that the promise would be through Isaac Genesis 21:12. Abraham had faith in God in which he believed that God would keep His promise and raise Issac from the dead Hebrews 11:17–19 so his reaction to the command was just to do what God had said. Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:6
Of course not to insult anyone’s intelligence, but questions like these commonly stem from ignorance. That is not an indictment on the new believer, rather, its on the skeptic who seeks bad argument or surface level argument backed by feelings rather than fact (such was my former self before Christ) with that being said God is never changing in His Infinite Glory Hebrew 13:8
All text was written by Kwabena Duku sourced from God’s expressed word the Bible July 2020
Bible Answers by Bra Kwabena 