God's Wrath and the OT

Dr. Bob,

Your response seems to separate the attributes of God from God's being. God is love--it is not that God has the attribute of love. God is holy--He does not possess the attribute.

If the ultimate revelation of God is found in Jesus, then love and holiness cannot be the polar opposites that you have described. In light of Jesus, God's holiness must be redefined in light of his acceptance of the outcast and the sinner--in light of the expression of God's love.

This leads me to question whether the OT writers were correct in stating that God demanded these acts.

Grace and Peace, Danny

 

True, God ordered the the extermination of the Canaanite religion and its devotees. He also destroyed the entire human race except for Noah and his family, He rained down fire and brimstone on wicked Sodom and Gommorah, He destroyed the firstborn of Egypt.

God knows best, we are His creation to do with as He pleases. Best to do as He says and avoid His wrath.

RE:The worshipers of Baalim, Asteroth, etc...

The Canaanite religion was a way of life and included the following:

Human (infant) sacrifice.

Ritual Cannibalism: The word "cannibal" comes from "kahn-i-baal" (priest-of-baal).

Every sexual perversion know to man. Many perversions practised by the Canaanites were considered a kind of "sacrament".

The flood, Sodom and Gommorah, were given as a witness to the world as to what He is willing to do when He runs out of patience.

The Canaanites were warned not only by these cataclysms but by the renown of the Israelites who Jehovah had delivered out of Egypt.

HankD

 

Bob,

Actually that's a favorite Baptist hymn. The Bible contains this phrase exactly ONCE in Rev 4:8:

Rev 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about [him]; and [they were] full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

 

ChurchBoy, Daniel --

In Genesis 15, God establishes a covenant with Abraham. At that time, God promises Abraham that the land where he is now will be given to his descendants after a period of slavery. In verse 16, we read, "In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."

In other words, they were not to be disturbed until their culture and society was so sinful that it was a 'full measure' -- with nothing left over for anything good. At this time, who would tell the children about the Lord? What child would ever hear of anything other than the abominations of that culture?

God Himself destroyed the antediluvian society when there was only one man and his family who were believers.

When there were not even ten men in Sodom who could influence the city away from their rampant violence and evil, God Himself destroyed the city.

As long as there is room in any society for good to have an influence, so that people have a choice where God is concerned, God will not destroy that society. But when evil has reached its full measure, and there is only evil present, then it goes. Whether by direct intervention from God or by war, it goes.

God will not tolerate evil forever. There will come a time when ALL of it will be wiped out forever. Until then, there are instances to remind of His anger where that kind of rebellion in the face of truth is concerned.

What kind of God would He have been if He had NOT ordered the destruction of totally evil societies.

"God is love" does not contradict that. When you love, then you will hate that which threatens that which you love. We read in the New Testament that God loved the world. When a society or culture is destroying part of what God loves -- that's it. What kind of love would He be showing for the little ones to let them grow up in that kind of culture? What kind of love would He be showing those who are believers to allow evil to propagate with impunity.

It is a sign of God's pure love as well as His holiness that He will not tolerate evil.