“The Violent God”

• The God of the Bible is a God of violence. Why would I want to follow a God like that?

• Religion is responsible for so much violence in the name of God. Surely the world would be better if religion didn't exist.

• Why does the God of the Old Testament seem so different to the God of the New Testament?

Richard Dawkins – Atheist author

The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.

Old Testament violence

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit..

Judges 17:6, 21:25

Old Testament Violence and God

• A God of Justice

Because of the unfaithfulness they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die. …

Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord.

Ezekiel 18:24, 30

• A God of Grace

Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Exodus 32:14

Old Testament Violence examples

• (1) Invasion of Canaan

However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you. Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshipping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 20:16-18

Old Testament Violence examples

• (2) The Amalekites

Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”

1 Samuel 15:1-3

A God of Justice

• (1) Invasion of Canaan

it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you.

Deuteronomy 9:4

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.

Deuteronomy 18:9-12

A God of Justice

A God of Justice

• (2) The Amalekites

The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim

Exodus 17:8

Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.

Judges 3:13

Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country.

Judges 6:3

He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.

1 Samuel 14:48

A God who takes evil seriously

Concern (1) – ethnic cleansing?

• Morally motivated, not racially motivated

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”

Joshua 5:13-14

Concern (1) – ethnic cleansing?

• Israel faces the same justice for the same evil

They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshipped Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practised divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger. …

2 Kings 17:16-17

Concern (1) – ethnic cleansing?

• Israel faces the same justice for the same evil

… So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left, and even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced. Therefore the Lord rejected all the people of Israel; he afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers, until he thrust them from his presence.

2 Kings 17:18-20

Concern (1) – ethnic cleansing?

• God uses nations as the instruments of his justice

After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you.

Deuteronomy 9:4-5

Concern (1) – ethnic cleansing?

• Taking the land, and then stopping

‘This will be your land, with its boundaries on every side.’

Numbers 34:12

Concern (2) – genocide?

• Exaggerated language of Conquest

So Joshua took the entire land, just as the Lord had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions.

Joshua 11:23

“But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you.

Joshua 23:12-13

Concern (2) – genocide?

• Exaggerated language of Conquest

Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt. He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.

1 Samuel 15:7-8

Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites.

1 Samuel 27:8

David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it.

1 Samuel 30:1

Concern (2) – genocide?

• A combination of conquest and driving out

On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places.

Numbers 33:50-52

Concern (2) – genocide?

• “man, woman and child” = everyone there

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.”

Joshua 6:2

They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

Joshua 6:21

A God of Grace

• God is patient with evil people

In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

Genesis 15:16

A God of Grace• God allows opportunities to repent and change

Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt … When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

Joshua 2:8-11

A God of Grace

• When people repent, God is merciful

Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. …

When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

Jonah 3:4-5, 10

Gwyneth Paltrow - actor

Religion is the cause of all the problems in the world. I don’t believe in organised religion at all. It’s what separates people. One religion just represents fragments, it causes war. More people have died because of religious conflict than any other reason.

Frank Sinatra - singer

Christ is revered as the Prince of Peace, but more blood has been shed in His name than any other figure in history. You show me one step forward in the name of religion and I'll show you a hundred retrogressions.

Example one – Crusades

Example two – Inquisition

Example three – Witch-hunting

General approval of war?

• Old Testament

King David rose to his feet and said: “Listen to me, my fellow Israelites, my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.’

1 Chronicles 28:2-3

General approval of war?

• New Testament

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:10-12

Violence and human history

The solution – the gospel of Jesus

• Jesus and oppression in the name of God

Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. …

Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practised the latter without leaving the former undone. …

And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.”

Luke 11:39, 42, 46

The solution – the gospel of Jesus

• Love your enemies – the path to peace

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:43-45

Two Gods? Why the difference?

• Old Testament

Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them.

1 Samuel 15:3

• New Testament

Blessed are the peacemakers,for they will be called children of God.

Matthew 5:9

Gods Justice and Gods Grace

Gods Justice and Gods Grace

• An act of Justice

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. … he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Romans 3:25-26

• An act of Grace

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.

Ephesians 1:7-8

God's last Holy War

A God of Justice and Grace

At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:10-11