Bible Old Testament Problems
Another major issue always raise is those Old Testament problems.
The God of the Old Testament endorses Genocide, slavery, murder, and a slew of other evil things. The first thing we should do is ask a few questions to identify what specifically they are having trouble with. You can say, what are you specifically referring to. What part of the Bible says God endorses, XYZ. Once they have clarified what there actual issue is then you can address it with laser focus, instead with generals they will dismiss.
OBJECT LESSON- Toy owner use. I choose the use, the purpose, and I can change my mind. I can choose because it belongs to me.
First, is typically genocide. When Israel enters the promised land, God tells them to kill every man, women, and child in a given city. Sometimes every the livestock. This seems to be genocide to a non-Christian. There are two parts of this we should address. First, God’s rights to decide who gets the land. I really like how Phil Vischer deals with this in his children’s series Buck Denver and What’s in the Bible. Phil calls this a “tricky bit” of the Bible. He says if you have a toy and you tell a friend they can play with the toy. It’s your toy, you have a right to decide. But when you decide you want another friend to play with the toy, you take it from friend #1 and give it to friend #2. Friend#1 might not like it, but it’s still your toy. And as such you get to decide who can play with it. You own it. God made everything. That means God owns everything. God allows people to use the land for a while but if God wants to give his land to someone else. Well it’s God’s land, He chooses. Because it is his.
Next, genocide. The talks about God wanting the Israelites to kill men, women and children. This is even trickier. First there are verses in the Bible that allude to the evil these people were doing in the land. Sexual immorality, worshiping false gods, and the worst of all was child sacrifice. A common practice was to sacrifice your child the false god Molek. The idol of Molek would be heating red hot. Then the parents would put their child on the idol. The priests would beat drums so loud they couldn’t hear the child crying out in pain, and then the parents along with other would do a variety of detestable sexual things at the foot of the idol. God had judged these people for their evil, and the Hebrew people would be the tool God used to punish them. Effectively destroying them and their practices. Later in the Bible God used the Assyrians then Babylonions to do the same to Israel and Judah because of their detestable practices. God has a right to judge and punish any way He sees fit.
Okay but why the children? People say those poor innocent children. We don’t get it, because we fear death. Let me ask you something. You say this is a fallen world, its hard to live under the sun. Then why is death bad? As a Christian death is just a graduation, not the end. I don’t fear death, because I trust God.
Okay you are unconvinced. Imagine for a moment what would happen to a child from a city Israel destroyed. The father, mother, all adults are judged, punished and killed. Now you have children, with no way to take care of themselves. They would slowly die, starve, exposure, wild beasts, you can imagine it would be horrible. Is it better to let them live only to die slowly or would you rather have them be taken as slaves. Those are the options. Whether our modern western sensibilities like it or not. Death is sometimes mercy. Plus if you believe in the age of accountability, then those children went to heaven which is better than life under the sun. So is God wrong? Fast death His way or your way which would be tortured agonizing slow death. I’m not in a position to say but there was no other alternative. You have to honestly make that choice because the children today and in times past pay the price and consequences of their parents bad choices.
I get it, you don’t like it but really is a life of slavery or slow death any better.
Next let’s talk slavery. Slavery is not going to be any easier to hear about. Here in America we have an image of slavery. The horrors and brutality of slavery in Europe and the Americas. I don’t think any of us in modern society would condone such practices. So how do we reconcile this with the Bible. First, slavery is still present in our modern world. It is hidden, but it is still sadly very common. In the middle east, in Africa, in Southeast Asia. Even right here in the USA. If you haven’t seen the sound of Freedom movie, watch it if you doubt what I’m saying. So yes, this slavery is detestable.
Now for a history lesson. In the Ancient world slavery was normal. When you conquered an area the inhabitants often were forced to be slaves. Forced labor and the slaves got nothing more than the minimal food, shelter, and clothing. People were often thought of as property. Women were typically thought of as property even wives. This is just history.
When the Hebrews were rescued from 400 years of slavery in Egypt, they were given rules to live by. This included how to treat slaves. Slaves were supposed to be treated with dignity. Why slaves at all? This is were it get sicky because there were lots of kinds of slaves. Some sold themselves into slavery. This was the poor, two choices in the ancient world starve or become a servant or slave. A second type was someone you bought for service in you house (Leviticus 22, Deuteronomy 24). I don’t know if this kind of slave is actually spoken of in the laws of Moses or not. But assuming they are, then the treatment of slaves would apply. Harsh task masters was never condoned (Colossians 3). There are cases in the Bible were whole cities or regions, agreed to server the Jews as slaves forever. Slavery instead of death.
Paul tells us that to God there is no free man or slave (Galatians 3:28). We are all slaves to Christ. And as such we should serve others as if Christ, no matter the circumstances.
I personally do not think another man should ever own another. But let me give you a real example that happens all over the world today in Christian churches. Let’s say you are abandoned by your family on the streets as a child. Maybe 6-9 years old. If a church pastor sees you and picks you up. You can stay in the church, eat with the pastor but you are expected to do chores. Sweep the church, do the dishes. As you get older, you get more tasks. You are not paid a wage as a maid. Instead you work and do task the pastor asks of you, in return you can live at the church, eat from the pastors table. Are you a slave.? I don’t think so, you could always leave. But I think this is a closer approximation of the slavery we see most commonly in the Bible. It is not so much forced labor against your will. It is a social means for taking care of the poor.
I get it. Its is not in all cases. But we should not be so quick to judge the cultural directive within the context of 1500BC communities.
You don’t have to like the history, but it shows how if done properly what God defined would have resulted in a form of social welfare for the poor and needy. Death was the only other option at the time.
What about murder. Right at the start of this discussion. The ten commands clearly say murder is wrong. Killing someone intentionally is wrong. That is murder.
However, wars and battle and fights are not murder. People are killed which is bad, but murder is not what this is. This is humans being the terrible creatures we are. And okay, God says go attack and kills those people. It’s God. He created everyone, He cannot be accused of murder because He controls how many breaths we take. He does not need our permission to take a life. And He does not need anyone else to do it either. He could use disease, accidents, or just take your breath away. Any of these ways you are dead. So, you can not by definition accuse God of murder.
Historical accounts no matter how horrific are just history. The Bible is full of awful history, bad kings, bad people, torture, and death. This is not shown in the Bible as if God condones this behavior. In fact in most cases God says He is against the people that do these things. These are the effect of free will and the selfish nature of man.
In other cases, God directs people to kill as His divine judgement on that other person. Again, God can kill you. He made you. He controls your next breath. You can not reasonable accuse God of murder, any more than if you kill ant you are guilty of murder of the ant. No reasonable person talks this way. We are just ants in the grander scheme of things. God has bigger plans than we can imagine. God is God, and we are nothing but ants.
I get that we don’t like some of this information. It offends our sensibilities. Dully noted. Bottom line is people may be unreasonable, but then there is no reason or logic that will change their minds. Do I read some things in the Bible sometimes and go whoa. That seems harsh or that’s not right. Okay, don’t stop there. Dig deeper. Learn the context of those scriptures. The history, culture, circumstances. Take the time to build a Biblical perspective, so you can better evaluate those scriptures. If we stop with whoa that’s wrong then what. We owe it to God, to read and study and read and study and read and study until we understand. We need to talk with each other, search together, spend time in groups like this. That way when someone asks you. Can you trust the Bible. Kip, can I trust my Bible. I can say simple. Yes. But I need to be ready to address their concerns and objections is a sensitive way. They have issues, we as Christians should be able to help them work through their objections in a way that leads them to Christ.
So I know it was quick but I hope you get my point. We can do this for pretty much any issue they toss at us. The three we discussed are the big ones most use against Christianity.
This is the end of How to Defend your Faith Session 8: Can U Trust the Bible (Part 3 of 4)
