All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others
*Questions about God*
I've spend most of my life-time reading the New Testament and I believe that God is Omni-present, Omni-potent, Omni-benevolent and Omni-scient however I've just started reading the Old Testament and it appears as if some of God's actions contradict his Nature. For example:
2. When Abram went to Egypt he told Sarai to say she was his sister so that he would not be killed. The king took Sarai and because of this, God sent a terrible disease on him and on the people in his palace. The king didn't know Sarai was Abrams wife so doesn't it seem that God was being unreasonable in punishing the king?
3. This one doesn't necessarily have to do with God's actions but when Lot was instructed to leave Sodom, he says the following:
And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my LORD:
19Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the
mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
20Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
21And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.
Wouldn't have God known that Lot would not have been able to run to the mountains because the disaster would have overtaken him? To me, this part implies that Lot knew what was best for him more than God did.
4. When Isaac was old and blind, he wanted to give a blessing to his eldest son who was Esau. Rebecca overheard their conversation and when Esau was gone, she told Jacob to dress like Esau and do what his father instructed Esau to do in order for him to be given the blessing. Jacob deceived his father yet he is the one who seems to be highly favoured by God. I can empathise with Esau because I know I wouldn't be happy if someone else was given something that was rightfully mine. I understand that when Rebecca was pregnant with the two God said " 23And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be
separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the
other people; and the elder shall serve the younger." but doesn't it seem unfair that God had already planned Esau's downfall even before he was born?
And finally the last verse that has bothered me for a couple of years is this one:
9And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.
Why would God try to kill Moses? I know circumcision was part of God's covenant with Abraham and Moses' son was not circumcised but why did God need to try to kill him? Why would he kill the prophet who was going to lead the people of Israel to the Promised Land? Aso the Bible states that God does not change (Malachi 3:6) so why would God change his mind about killing Moses?
I'm not trying to say God is a liar nor am I questioning His character but I just find the OT confusing. It seems as if God was angry in the OT and he was loving in the NT. I believe the Bible is infallible so there must be an error in my understanding of the verses I've quoted above so if anybody could shed some light on their meanings, I would appreciate it.
God bless
- "3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 3:10 And he said, I heard thy
voice in the garden,
and I was afraid, because I was naked;
and I hid myself. 3:11 And he said, Who told thee
that thou wast naked?
Hast thou eaten of the tree,
whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
3:12 And the man said, The woman
whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree,
and I did eat. 3:13 And the LORD God said
unto the woman,
What is this that thou hast done? And the woman
said, The serpent
beguiled
me, and I did eat."
2. When Abram went to Egypt he told Sarai to say she was his sister so that he would not be killed. The king took Sarai and because of this, God sent a terrible disease on him and on the people in his palace. The king didn't know Sarai was Abrams wife so doesn't it seem that God was being unreasonable in punishing the king?
3. This one doesn't necessarily have to do with God's actions but when Lot was instructed to leave Sodom, he says the following:
And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my LORD:
19Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the
mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
20Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
21And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.
Wouldn't have God known that Lot would not have been able to run to the mountains because the disaster would have overtaken him? To me, this part implies that Lot knew what was best for him more than God did.
4. When Isaac was old and blind, he wanted to give a blessing to his eldest son who was Esau. Rebecca overheard their conversation and when Esau was gone, she told Jacob to dress like Esau and do what his father instructed Esau to do in order for him to be given the blessing. Jacob deceived his father yet he is the one who seems to be highly favoured by God. I can empathise with Esau because I know I wouldn't be happy if someone else was given something that was rightfully mine. I understand that when Rebecca was pregnant with the two God said " 23And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be
separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the
other people; and the elder shall serve the younger." but doesn't it seem unfair that God had already planned Esau's downfall even before he was born?
And finally the last verse that has bothered me for a couple of years is this one:
9And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.
20And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his
hand.
21And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine
hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.
22And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
23And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
24And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.
Why would God try to kill Moses? I know circumcision was part of God's covenant with Abraham and Moses' son was not circumcised but why did God need to try to kill him? Why would he kill the prophet who was going to lead the people of Israel to the Promised Land? Aso the Bible states that God does not change (Malachi 3:6) so why would God change his mind about killing Moses?
I'm not trying to say God is a liar nor am I questioning His character but I just find the OT confusing. It seems as if God was angry in the OT and he was loving in the NT. I believe the Bible is infallible so there must be an error in my understanding of the verses I've quoted above so if anybody could shed some light on their meanings, I would appreciate it.
God bless
Views: 59
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on
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Angel,
God knew exactly where Adam was, had been and will be. Just as He knew exactly why Eve did what she did. God is our father and as such wants to hear the reasoning of His kids, though He knows.
An Earthly father would ask His kid the same thing, where were you last night, when the father knew that the kid sneaked out, so the father knows the kid was not in his room, yet he asks his kid, he may have known which party or with who they were with or at and still he asks, where were you?
God knows what we need before we ask Him, but He wants us to ask Him. He wants a relationship that is formed through communication.
The question you asked about Moses is a good question and we have discussed that in the past, i will look for the discussion and give you the link later so you can have the opinion of many.
God has many attributes. Among which He is Holy, just, Wrath and Love. Their is no contradiction on God being a God of Wrath and Love. We are saved from His wrath. His wrath is not like our wrath.
If God was not indignant and angry about sin, than God would not be the God of the bible.
The Wrath of God is moral, not evil. Wrath is the exercise of justice. There will be no one in hell who does not deserve hell. But there will be only one in heaven that deserves to be there
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Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on
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I think that the reason that Esau was removed from his heritage had to do with the fact that He would end up chasing other gods. He was disobedient to God's Word and he was punished for it. God knew before he was born that this was the way he would be. This is where we see God's "Omni-" traits in action as well as where you spoke about in Genesis with Adam and Eve, and God meeting with Moses in the wilderness. God knows our lives and what we will do with them as He is able to see everything from beginning to end.
One of the most dangerous things that we can do, is disobey God. Esau was raised to follow God, but he grew up to go his own way. He married a foreigner with her belief in "foreign gods" and he picked up that belief. He didn't follow his own family but rather joined another family. God couldn't allow a nonbeliever to inherit the blessings that He bestowed upon the Israelites.
It comes down to considering how BIG God is in comparison to the smallness of man. It is near impossible to grasp WHO GOD IS. We have no idea, even in our wildest dreams, how great He is.The wisdom and power that He has.
We have to remember that all things happen for good, for those who are in Christ Jesus. We can't feel sorry for Esau because he lost his inheritance. Rather we need to consider where we would be if he HAD NOT lost his inheritance.
We also need to realize that God uses what is available to acheive what He has planned from the beginning.
Moses had his times of disobedience as well. God met with Moses to give him a chance to do what God needed done. I
think when the Bible says God sought to kill Moses, that time was an ultimatum so to speak.
Who would refuse God in such a circumstance, meeting up with Him and actually having Him talk to one? God knew before the meeting that Moses would comply. Moses didn't know it though. It was a decision making time for Moses. He would either follow the Lord and obey His commands or he would die. From that meeting on, Moses followed God. Did he make mistakes? Yes. That's why he ultimately wasn't allowed to enter the promised land, but none the less, he was a man after God's own heart.
He was one of many godly men during those times that removed the wants and needs of himself to follow God.
The Old Testament is a history of the Jewish nation and how it progressed down through time. God chose the right nation to be His own.
Romans 8 in the first 8 verses gives understanding as to where the Jew stand with God. You will notice that God rejects Ishmael and his line. and goes to Isaac's line because Ishmael's line was tainted because of his mother being a foreigner.
However, God did bless Ishmael's line with size and longevity, as we see in the Islamic followers of today. But their line did not inherit the one thing that they need and that is God's eternal blessing.
I hope this helps you, Angel.
Blessings!
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Angel, I misquoted something and I need to make a correction. The verses i wanted you to look at referring the passage in Romans, it is Romans 9 not Romans 8. Sorry for the confusion.
Rita
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Permalink Reply by Bill Evans on
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Angel - 1) has your parents ever asked you a question to which the answer they already knew?? Of course they did. And the reason is to give you the opportunity to reflect on whatever it was you were doing to provoke the question from them in the first place. And, to provide you the chance to 'come clean' and be honest with your answer. The higher learning objective is honesty more than prohibited behavior.
2) To better understand this account, you need to know something about the culture of that time & place. Even though this was a pagan land, there were social rules to follow. To be able to (ethically) take Sarai into his harem, Pharaoh would have had to kill Abram first. This Abram knew well and served to influence him to lie about Sarai's relationship to him. My take-aways on this story are: a) this man Abram was a man under God's protection, b) God's authority trumps anything or any god the pagans in Eqypt worshipped, c) there are always consequences to sin - and sometimes others (innocents) suffer as well. In this case Abram, rather than trust in the strong right hand of God who called him out of Ur to come to Canaan, decided to leave Canaan & go to Eqypt (a pagan land and not the place that God promised him). I am reasonably sure that God would have provided for him even in the midst of the famine that was in the land. In addition to that act of independence, he turned to the telling of a lie for his protection from Pharaoh over Sarai.
3) again, I see everywhere in the OT where God gives His people the opportunity to step out in pure faith - totally trusting in Him & not their own senses. Many times the ones given that chance failed the test as would most of us today. By not some. Did Samson ask God first for a real sword (Judges 15:14-17) when attacked by the Philistines? No. He moved out in faith and full of power & slew a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey. And David as a boy before Goliath. The record shows no fear or hesitation in David. He didn't even take the usual weapons of his time...just his great faith in his God. This story of Lot, to me, is more of God's taking the measure of a man...a man who had lived for some time in one of the most wicked places on earth. He passed the test on everything up to the point of this issue. Would he trust God to handle the details?
4) did God plan Essau's demise or did God demonstrate His omnipotent nature? Which one turned out to be worthy of the birthright & blessing afterall?
5) I think both testaments are consistent in their revelation of God's character, plan, and message for the ages. Jesus didn't say He came to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. So the Plan remained the Plan. As to God's dealing with Moses on circumcision of his own son - I wouldn't call this God's attempt on Moses's life. God doesn't attempt anything. God was simply dealing with his child not unlike we as parents do with our children. Sometimes we have to threaten them with the "wrath of God' to get compliance. And God was revealing His holy nature again. His laws are equally applied to all regardless of station. This applied to even Moses. And even Moses eventually fell under the weight of God's punishment for his disobedience - and never was allowed to enter the promised land. When you look at stories in the OT of God's dealing with the children of Israel, try to see parallels in His actions and motives to how we train and correct our own children. It's very illuminating!
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