God is Not a Cold-Blooded Killer!
I recently read an article accusing God of murdering (and of condoning the murder of) children, the unborn, and otherwise innocent people. However, in each of the instances cited this was not the case! The author cited many prophesies concerning the judgment of certain wicked (and therefore not innocent) nations and also God's commandments in some instances to kill all of the enemies, including women and children. What the author failed to notice was that God was not actually killing the people. Rather, He foreknew and purposed that the people should be punished for their wicked sins. God does not ever condone the simple murder of a person. We must understand that judgment is of huge concern within the Old Testament. Before Christ, the only way to get rid of sin was to get rid of the sinner (though this is a bit of a generalization). Furthermore, these killings were done by the command and will of God. Perhaps there is a better way to look at it. If the humane society let all of the wild, rabid, dangerous animals run around alive and reproducing, things would be a lot harder for the good ones, right? The good ones might not even survive!
Another example which the article's author gave was 2 Kings 2:23-24. In this story, 42 children were attacked by bears for mocking Elisha and calling him a “bald head”. The first thing that can be understood by this is that God expects us, especially those of us who are His chosen people, to hold His prophets in high regard. He expects us to respect and obey them. We are also not to look merely at the outside (i.e., a person's bald head), but rather at the inside. We should also know that God sees the heart and knows the purposes, motivations, and intents of all people. The children likely had hatred, disobedience and rebellion in their hearts, and may have been planning even worse. A group of Muslim children in the Middle East attacked and killed their schoolteacher because they believed that she had torn pages from the Koran.
Yet another accusation is the murder of all the firstborn of Egypt. However, these children were under the responsibility of their parents, and their parents were free to prevent this plague by simply painting their door-post with the blood of a lamb. The choice was up to the parents.
The only true situation of God condoning murder (for any reason other than judgment) that this author could give was the situation described in Judges 11:30-40, in which a man, bound by a vow, sacrificed his daughter unto the Lord. This situation shows how seriously the Lord holds (or at least men at that time) the promises and vows given by man. It was never intended that the girl should be killed, but once the vow was made the man could hardly go back. The vow was considered that important. This is similar to the situation in which Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac. God was never pleased for the death of Isaac; it was rather a test of Abraham's obedience and devotion.
See Also:
"How Can God be Good if He Created Evil Things?"
