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Stand up against ‘spiritual gravity’ — aka ‘the flesh’ (Deuteronomy 1:1–3:22)
In this study
How can a God who ordered the deaths of young and old be good and just?Don’t fall for giants of persuasionA well of insight into the TorahWhy are the historical accounts in Deuteronomy and Numbers slightly different in details?Are we free, or are we in chains?Tisha b’Av (9th of Av): Memorials of the ‘abomination of desolation’Move forward, rather than going in circles
How can a God who ordered the deaths of young and old be good and just?
“We utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women and children of every city. “But all the animals and the spoil of the cities we took as our booty.” Deuteronomy 3:6–7 NASB
This verse at the beginning of the Torah reading דברים Devarim (“words,” Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22) is one of those tough texts in the Bible to explain to non-believers. How is it a good thing to kill the men, women and children and only allow the animals to survive?
One point is that for God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, death is not the end for a human being. If you believe in God, you believe in resurrection and we have the Bible as a record of God’s reassurance that all the humans on earth will be resurrected and brought back to life. For Him the death of a person is not permanent.
We are taught that children are malleable and that regardless of how they are indoctrinated to evil, that they can be deprogrammed, but sadly that is not always the case.
God had removed the children of Israel from an oppressive culture, a culture that did not treat human life as sacred and He did not intent to insert them a culture that was even more repulsive and oppressive than Egypt.
We know from sad experience that child soldiers, for example, are often more vicious and bloodthirsty than the adults who trained them. We have seen this in the past with groups Hitler Youth. And in our current times, the Taliban and ISIS create child soldiers who are more bloodthirsty and lacking in empathy for human life than the adults. They have a very difficult time returning to civilian life after being trained to indiscriminately taking life.
All cultures are not equal. A culture as depraved and bloodthirsty as the Amorites could not be allowed to perpetuated their evil to future generations. God wanted a clean slate for His people to inhabit. He did not want His people exposed to such abominations like human sacrifice and sexual violence masquerading as divine worship. Their culture was rotten from the top to the bottom.
God had told Abraham that there would be a time when the sins of the Amorite tribes would be so egregious that the land would vomit them out. Now, in Deuteronomy, we see that this is the time when the land is ready to vomit the Amorites out.
Don’t fall for giants of persuasion
When we read about the giants, it’s an important lesson for us today. We instinctually gravitate to leaders who are taller than average people, who are naturally assertive and who have a loud...
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By Hallel FellowshipIn this study
How can a God who ordered the deaths of young and old be good and just?Don’t fall for giants of persuasionA well of insight into the TorahWhy are the historical accounts in Deuteronomy and Numbers slightly different in details?Are we free, or are we in chains?Tisha b’Av (9th of Av): Memorials of the ‘abomination of desolation’Move forward, rather than going in circles
How can a God who ordered the deaths of young and old be good and just?
“We utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women and children of every city. “But all the animals and the spoil of the cities we took as our booty.” Deuteronomy 3:6–7 NASB
This verse at the beginning of the Torah reading דברים Devarim (“words,” Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22) is one of those tough texts in the Bible to explain to non-believers. How is it a good thing to kill the men, women and children and only allow the animals to survive?
One point is that for God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, death is not the end for a human being. If you believe in God, you believe in resurrection and we have the Bible as a record of God’s reassurance that all the humans on earth will be resurrected and brought back to life. For Him the death of a person is not permanent.
We are taught that children are malleable and that regardless of how they are indoctrinated to evil, that they can be deprogrammed, but sadly that is not always the case.
God had removed the children of Israel from an oppressive culture, a culture that did not treat human life as sacred and He did not intent to insert them a culture that was even more repulsive and oppressive than Egypt.
We know from sad experience that child soldiers, for example, are often more vicious and bloodthirsty than the adults who trained them. We have seen this in the past with groups Hitler Youth. And in our current times, the Taliban and ISIS create child soldiers who are more bloodthirsty and lacking in empathy for human life than the adults. They have a very difficult time returning to civilian life after being trained to indiscriminately taking life.
All cultures are not equal. A culture as depraved and bloodthirsty as the Amorites could not be allowed to perpetuated their evil to future generations. God wanted a clean slate for His people to inhabit. He did not want His people exposed to such abominations like human sacrifice and sexual violence masquerading as divine worship. Their culture was rotten from the top to the bottom.
God had told Abraham that there would be a time when the sins of the Amorite tribes would be so egregious that the land would vomit them out. Now, in Deuteronomy, we see that this is the time when the land is ready to vomit the Amorites out.
Don’t fall for giants of persuasion
When we read about the giants, it’s an important lesson for us today. We instinctually gravitate to leaders who are taller than average people, who are naturally assertive and who have a loud...