Wednesday, March 14, 2007

God instructs his people to commit genocide

Deuteronomy 7:1-4 When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you- and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.

PERSONAL COMMENTARY


"... then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy."

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't forget verse 6 "For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

Rom 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

Anonymous said...

Here we have a bunch of wanderers all of a sudden being "above all people that are upon the face of the earth." Don't you find that a little self-serving that the authors of this are the ones saying this? I find this concept hard to grasp.

Anonymous said...

"For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth."

God chose them to be His people. That's just the way it is.

A little "self-serving"? I'm not sure, do you find it self-serving for the same authors of these books to describe in detail how they turned their backs on God, or when they sinned and were punished, or how many times they were led into captivity for their refusal to turn to God?

Anonymous said...

I can't understand why children were such a threat to the Isrealites. It gives the impression that God was not capable of handling the situation in a manner where the killing of women, children, disabled, elderly was not called for. Perhaps God was low on compassion and strenght that day.

Anonymous said...

Now I finally understand what israel is doing in Palestine.