God kills 70,000 innocent people because David ordered a census of the people (1 Chronicles 21). God also orders the destruction of 60 cities so that the Israelites can live there. He orders the killing of all the men, women, and children of each city, and the looting of all of value (Deuteronomy 3). He orders another attack and the killing of “all the living creatures of the city: men and women, young, and old, as well as oxen sheep, and asses” (Joshua 6). In Judges 21, He orders the murder of all the people of Jabesh-gilead, except for the virgin girls who were taken to be forcibly raped and married. When they wanted more virgins, God told them to hide alongside the road and when they saw a girl they liked, kidnap her and forcibly rape her and make her your wife! Just about every other page in the Old Testament has God killing somebody! In 2 Kings 10:18-27, God orders the murder of all the worshipers of a different god in their very own church! In total God kills 371,186 people directly and orders another 1,862,265 people murdered.
So my question is: Is this true? This is scientific research. But I'm a believer and I don't think that's true. What's your opinion?
Thanks for this question. When we are faced with such bold claims, we often find ourselves doubting our Christian faith. However, if we carefully examine these claims, we'll find that they are not as rock-solid as they appear to be. Your friend's quote comes from a website - www.evilbible.com, so it's not his/her own writing. This is a clear example of propagating something that sounds true, but is untrue if you carefully examine the facts. The good news is there are plenty of sites that have already refuted the claims presented on this website. For instance, take a look at this website.
Since this particular quote talks about the God of the Bible and the killing of "innocent people," let's focus upon this issue. The first thing you'll notice is that you can really make the Bible say whatever you want it to say if you don't read things in CONTEXT.
For instance, the quote mentions 1 Chronicles 21 - God kills 70, 000 innocent people. If you actually read this passage, it tells us that though God did allow for sickness to come upon 70,000 men, he spared the rest of the city ("...but as he was about to destroy [Jerusalem], he relented" - v. 14).
- Rape (Dt 22:25-27)
- Prostitution (23:17-18)
- Sex outside of marriage, whether consensual or not (Ex 22:16-17, Dt 22:28-29)
- Sex with a slave who was betrothed or married to someone else (Lev 19:20-22)
Therefore any forced intercourse would have been against both the letter and the spirit of the law.
The lesson here is to always make sure you read the passage in historical context, instead of picking verses of your choosing to support your idea. This is exactly what the authors of www.evilbible.com have done!
---
That being said, we must acknowledge that there was killing in the Old Testament and it was allowed, condoned and commanded by God. There are several important things to understand:
1. As the universal Creator God is also the universal judge, to whom all people are accountable. This means that god has the right to bring whatever judgement he wants on people.
2. Since all people are sinners, we are all subject to the God's perfect judgment/justice. The folks at RationalChristianity.com offer this explanation:
The primary reason was punishment for wrongdoing. The populations of the destroyed cities had long histories of grievous sins (Gen 15:16, Dt 25:17-19), which often included sacrificing their children to false gods (Dt 12:29-31). Their consciences should have told these people they were doing wrong. Had they listened and changed their ways, they would not have been destroyed. God has said that if any nation is about to be destroyed as punishment but repents, he will forgive them and not destroy them (Jer 18:7-8). In fact, this occurred in the city of Ninevah (Jonah 3:4-10).
In the cities that were given to the Israelites as their inheritance, there was a secondary reason: totally depraved cultures were destroyed so that they would not corrupt the Israelites into committing the same evil acts (Dt 7:1-4,20:16-18). This did in fact occur: when the Israelites didn't obey God and destroy cities, they too began practicing child sacrifice (Ps 106:34-40).
Additionally, the destruction of wicked nations served as an instructive warning to contemporaries (Josh 2:1-11) and future generations (1 Cor 10:1-11).
3. There is a tension between God's sovereign will and human freedom. Just because God allows for things to happen does not mean he approves of these actions. Matt Slick (from CARM.ORG) writes:
It is worth noting that the Old Testament records many atrocities. The fact is that God allowed people their sinful desires and he worked within their culture, even as he does now, as he permits all kinds of bad things to happen. Nevertheless, God introduced what is called the Apoditic Law (Exodus 21:24): an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The Apoditic Law was instituted to prevent the increase of blood revenge, a practice where revenge would escalate out of control between two parties. Since the hearts of the fallen are so wicked and the harsh environment and culture produced difficulties for survival, God has a few options to counter their proclivity towards evil. He can run roughshod over their free will and force everyone to obey him, or he could wipe them all out (he had already done this with Noah's flood), or he could work within the situation at hand. In the case of this psalm, and it's Babylonian captivity context, God chose to work with people and through them instead of violating the freedom he had given them and forcing them to act in a manner that he instructs.
---
Hope this helps. Friend, don't buy into these false claims. Again, they may seem credible, but if you really do some research, you'll be able to refute them as many have done in the past. So I encourage you to do your research, and articulate your points well if you do encounter someone who has been influenced by these claims.
Lastly, remember to look at the person and work of Jesus. Jesus came to pay the penalty of sin FOR US. On the cross, Jesus absorbed the rightful judgment of God. And he did it because he loves us. That is a God worthy of our worship!
Pastor HM
For more information, please do read the following articles carefully. They have much more detailed explanations than I can provide and are worth your time!
1. Genocide in the Old Testament
2. Why would God order the destruction of men, women and children in the Old Testament?
