A loving God? Does the Bible say that?

[polonius]

"Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves." (Numbers 31:16-18)

Question: Does the "God breathed" Bible accurately describe God's command?

What does God plan to do with he virgins?

[JehovahsWitness]

Question: Does the "God breathed" Bible accurately describe God's command?

Yes, I believe so.

What does God plan to do with he virgins?

Incorporate them into Jewish society.


JW

[Elijah John]

Question: Does the "God breathed" Bible accurately describe God's command?

Yes, I believe so.

What does God plan to do with he virgins?

Incorporate them into Jewish society.


JW

I dunno, those commands sound more like the projections of the ancients onto YHVH, than they do commands from YHVH, who commanded us to "love our neighbors as ourselves"..

How, in any way, are those commands loving? How are they are they in character with the God of love?

[amortalman]

"Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves." (Numbers 31:16-18)

Question: Does the "God breathed" Bible accurately describe God's command?

If one believes that the Bible is indeed "God Breathed" then one must believe it is an accurate description of God's command. The problem with picking and choosing what is God's command and what isn't his command presents serious theological problems in that one does not know which are true and which are in error. Accepting all scripture as inspired by God presents a new set of problems for Biblical literalists. They are in the unhappy position of trying to explain some pretty weird stuff like a talking serpent and talking ass along with a myriad of very strange "miracles." And then there are the contradictions to try and make sense of. On the other hand, there are many of us who don't believe any of it is inspired by a God and that solves a multitude of problems.

What does God plan to do with the virgins?

JW might be right on this but it certainly looks suspicious at face value. At the least, it must have been a test for Israel's soldiers with all those virgins running around.

[Tcg]

Question: Does the "God breathed" Bible accurately describe God's command?

Yes, I believe so.

What does God plan to do with he virgins?

Incorporate them into Jewish society.


JW

I dunno, those commands sound more like the projections of the ancients onto YHVH, than they do commands from YHVH, who commanded us to "love our neighbors as ourselves"..

How, in any way, are those commands loving? How are they are they in character with the God of love?

What "God of love", I thought this was a discussion about the God of the Bible?

That God loves only those who love it back. Be one of his chosen, and you're fine. Be outside of that, and your family gets murdered and as a virgin you are given as a gift to God's chosen murderers.

Clearly a very conditional "love". It most cases that kind of love is spelled, "hate". Of course I am basing this on what the Bible actual says. I am not using white-out to ignore any of it.

[postroad]

[Replying to post 5 by Tcg]

He loves his chosen ones so much that authority is given to this individual to destroy them.

Revelation 13:6-8 King James Version (KJV)

6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Although Jesus himself must have given the actual authority for all of this.

KJV And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

[JehovahsWitness]

True love does not tolerate infinitely wickedness. The nation's that were judged as wicked, like those individuals today that Jesus will kill off at Harmageddon, thry were to be exterminated because a loving God cannot forever tolerate the suffering caused by the wicked.

Love is not incompatible with punishment, indeed punishment is a facet of JUSTICE. Jehovah is described in scripture as slow to anger but not as someone incapable of anger. This is because righteous anger and jealousy are fitting reactions to certain situations. If a loving father found a criminal raping his baby girl it he would hardly passively stand by and just watch because he didn't want to deny the criminal the pleasure of intercourse.

Jehovah (YHWH) is the judge of the universe and and it is his love compels him to act against the wicked and take the measures necessary to eliminate suffering. As He is loving and just he will always see that there is sufficient warning before he acts and as he is merciful, those that repent and abandon their ways will be shown favour. (Another aspect of Jehovah's mercy is seen in the fact that General Joshua was instructed in certain Caananite battles to spare the young girls, so they could be assimilated into Hebrew society).





JW


RELATED POSTS

[b]Is KILLING compatible with LOVE?[/b]
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 39#p952839

[b]Is God more "killer" than kind?[/b]
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 54#p959154

[b]Does God delight in killing people?[/b]
viewtopic.php?p=1085955#p1085955

[b]Does the bible promote mindless violence?[/b]
viewtopic.php?p=1091422#p1091422

[b]Is God violent ?[/b]
viewtopic.php?p=978440#p978440

[b]Why did God destroy the Nephelim?[/b]
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 90#p875690

[b]Does the global flood prove God a "baby killer"?[/b]
viewtopic.php?p=979190#p979190

Why did God destroy the Canaanites?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 58#p906458

Why did God command the destruction of the MIDIANITES?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 42#p359442

What does the bible say God will do to wicked people?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 37#p920037

Does the bible really say Jesus is one day going to kill people?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 09#p942409

[b]Is God more killer than kind?[/b]
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 54#p959154

[b]Is the God of the old testament angry and vengeful while the God of the new is kind and loving?[/b]
viewtopic.php?p=1033461#p1033461

0

[postroad]

[Replying to post 7 by JehovahsWitness]

Seems a bit primitive putting God behind the eight ball at all times. What did it mean when Jesus indicated that all authority in heaven and earth was given to him?

And those girls that God so lovingly intigrated into Hebrew society are part of national Israel. The same Israel who God promised to conform to obedience but actually hardened against salvation as was his plan all along.

I suppose that little boys could have been lovingly included as sex slaves if the prohibition against homosexuals hadn't existed?

[JehovahsWitness]

What did it mean when Jesus indicated that all authority in heaven and earth was given to him?

♦ANSWER: It meant that after successfully completing his mission on earth, he (Jesus) was rewarded by being elevated to a superior position. Rather than simply returning Jesus, as he (Jesus) had request to his original position in heaven as Gods chief spokesperson and chief of Jehovahs army, God "promoted" his son giving him the position of head in a kingdom ( a government) as well as authority to judge both the living and the dead.



JW




RELATED POSTS

Who is the archangel Michael?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 86#p780486

If Jesus received "all authority" in 33 CE, how can it be said he didn't start ruling until 1914?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 55#p829355

Did Jesus ever become a king?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 36#p930936



NOTE All posts I write represent my personal faith based beliefs as one of Jehovah's Witnesses

[ttruscott]

He loves his chosen ones so much that authority is given to this individual to destroy them.

Sinful believers are never under condemnation to be destroyed, only unbelievers: John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

BUT they may suffer greatly due to their stubbornness against HIS call to get them to fully repent of their idolatry of the unbelievers, sticking to their ideas that they should not be damned as they just are not that evil etc etc.

The only reason the unbelievers have not yet been judged is that some of HIS elect (good seed) are sinful in their idolatry of the evil ones and if the judgment were called, they too would be damned so the judgment had to be postponed while the good seed lived with the unbelieving tares until they repent and come into full accord with GOD's call for their judgement. This is taught in Matt 13:28 An enemy did this,’ he replied. So the servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 ‘No,’ he said, ‘if you pull the weeds now, you might uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest.

Just like Job was recruited to play the goat to expose Satan's willingness to monster the most holy old man on earth merely because YHWH liked him and he was staying true to YHWH, so too these evil governors etc are allowed to destroy the church and hunt the Christians to prove to them that the antagonism of the unbelievers is not just a passing phase (here we go again) but is the heart and soul of their eternal intent and it is time to get in accord with YHWH to fulfill HIS promise ito judge them and banish them to the outer darkness.