Objection #4: GOD ISNT WORTHY OF WORSHIP IF HE KILLS INNOCENT CHILDREN
When attention is focused on little-mentioned Old Testament stories of massacres and other broad-scale bloodshed, suddenly God is seen in a different light. Like Bill Clinton whose carefully crafted public persona fell apart once credible stories of extramarital dalliances were documented, God’s image as a loving and benevolent deity gets called into question by stories of seemingly cruel and vengeful behaviour. Do these brutal accounts disclose the true character of God? And if they do, does he deserve to be worshipped?
Lee Strobel
The difference between what the Bible records and what the Bible approves
1) Raping of women, cutting it into 12 pieces, sending to 12 tribes of Israel (Judges 19:25-30, 20: 4-6, 21: 11-12)
2) David committing adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11: 1-5, 26-27, 12: 9-14)
- Does God approve of adultery?
- David commits adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Bathsheba becomes pregnant and David sends for Uriah, who is with the Israelite army at the siege of Rabbah, so that he may lie with his wife and conceal the identity of the child's father. Uriah refuses to do so while his companions are in the field of battle and David sends him back to Joab, the commander, with a message instructing him to abandon Uriah on the battlefield, "that he may be struck down, and die." David marries Bathsheba and she bears his child, "but the thing that David had done displeased the Lord." The prophet Nathan confronts David, saying: "Why have you despised the word of God, to do what is evil in his sight? You have smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife." David repents, yet God "struck the [David's] child ... and it became sick ... [And] on the seventh day the child died." David leaves his lamentations, dresses himself, and eats. His servants ask why he wept when the baby was alive, but ends his mourning when the child dies. David replies: "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, who knows whether Yahweh will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me."
3) Total destroy of the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15: 1-3)
- The Amalekites are one of the peoples dwelling in the southern part of Canaan. When the Israelites left Egypt and set out toward Canaan (see Exodus 17:8), they were one of the first nations the Israelites encountered. This is one of the surrounding nations with which Israel has continual conflict. The Amalekites attack the Israelites, who disobediently seek to possess the promised land after their unbelief at Kadesh-barnea (see Numbers 14:25, 43, 45). They join with the Midianites in attacking and plundering Israel, and are one of the nations which pose such a serious threat to Israel that Gideon needs reassurance of God’s presence with him in battle (Judges 6:3, 33; 7:12). This is the nation David attacks, which overruns the city of Ziklag and captures the families and goods of David and his men (see 1 Samuel 27:8; 30:1, 18; 2 Samuel 1:1).
- Deuteronomy 7: 1-5, 9: 4-6 (repetition in the Bible emphasis)
- Israel destroy a nation not because they are righteous but because of the country’s wickedness
God does not change. He is the same God both in Old and New Testaments
- Isn’t there a big difference between the often-cruel God of the Old Testament and the loving God of the New Testament?
- The word “mercy” in KJV occurred 261 times in the Bible and 72% in the Old Testament (3:1)
- The word “love” in KJV occurred 322 times in the Bible, about half in each testament
- “ I the Lord do not change…”Malachi 3:6
- God’s character: Holy and He cannot look upon sin, loving, merciful, gracious, compassionate, forgiving
God’s judgement is just because He has to judge sin
- 1 Samuel 15:1-3 (Total destroy of the Amalekites)
- Deuteronomy 7: 1-5, 9: 4-6 (repetition in the Bible emphasis)
- Israel destroy a nation not because they are righteous but because of the country’s wickedness
- God took action not only for the sake of the Israelites, but ultimately for the sake of everyone through history whose salvation would be provided by the Messiah who was to be born among them
- Whoever has repented, God has been willing to save
o Joshua 2: Rahab (prostitute) betrayed her own people. The Israelites were seeking to take Jericho, and Rahab had the opportunity to stop them, but she didn't. Rahab found herself in a position where she had to decide between God's plan and the plans of earthly authority. (vs. 9-10)
God’s sovereignty to take life as He is the giver of life
- He give and takes away (Job 1:21). God allowed Satan to strip Job of EVERYTHING: his material security, his family, his health, his reputation. But it is for a greater good.
- The Lord rejected Saul as king (1 Samuel 15:26-29)
No one is innocent, we are born in sin (Psalm 51)
Can the Bible be trusted??
- The Bible’s unity- 66 books written in different literary styles by perhaps 40 different authors with diverse backgrounds over 1500 years and yet the Bible amazingly unfolds one continuous drama with one central message (Jesus the Messiah).
* The archaeological confirmation of its reliability
- Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t appear to us and write to us letters? (pg. 197)
- The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands…Psalm 19:1 (it’s written across the heaven so vividly)
* The miraculous confirmation of its divine authority
- The evidence is there if people will be willing to see it. It’s not for a lack of evidence that people turn from God; it’s from their pride of their will. God is not going to force anyone into the fold. Love never works coercively, it only works persuasively.
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