Horrors of the bible

[Yuckstine]

So I read the first 5 books of the bible and I have to say, I found a lot alarming. I need some advice on how to deal with this. I fee as I read the bible I will come across strong crimes.

 

[Kit Sigmon]

What be troubling you exactly?

 

[Yuckstine]

What be troubling you exactly?

some of things God commands and allows

 

[longwait]

If you are reading the Bible for the first time then I would suggest that you start reading from the New testament. Yes, the old testament might seem brutal. The early humans fell terribly. They fornicated with angels producing the Nephilim or giants. The Lord was so displeased with this. So He decided to wipe out any traces of this fallen race off the face of the earth. Even after the flood their remnants remained. Goliath was an example. God has His very valid, just and righteous reasons when He does and allows things.

 

[paul1149]

God was working with what He had back then - just as He still does today. I agree that it might be better to start with the New Testament, or at least blend some NT reading into what you're doing, in order to gain better perspective on God's nature and His motives in the OT, because it is the most full revelation we have of Him.

 

[Razare]

So I read the first 5 books of the bible and I have to say, I found a lot alarming. I need some advice on how to deal with this. I fee as I read the bible I will come across strong crimes.

You should start with the New Testament, the gospels, and then the epistles. The gospels start with Matthew.

The entire point of the OT, was to teach us and point us to the New Testament, but really, it was to point us to Jesus Christ. Genesis 1 through Revelation close, all the scriptures between point us to Jesus in one way or another.

So if you start with the OT and read, you will be confused because your understanding will be like a Jew of 300 BC, and yes, some Jews knew some things, but those are the ones who spent hours and hours studying the Torah to learn what God truly meant in them with the mysteries he hid in scripture.

So yes, you can learn the New Testament from inside the Old Testament, but you should expect to spend some 10 + years learning it that way.

For example, when genocide is enacted in the Old Testament, that genocide has to be seen through the lens of judgement of God brought through the hands of the Israelites. Saul was commanded to kill an entire people, but Saul did not and disobeyed God.

Yet the same law which condemned all those people in the eyes of God, also condemned all the Jews in the eyes of God. At one point in Judges, there is a bad crime in a Jewish town. So the Jews realize the problem, and according to what the law would prescribe as punishment, everyone in that village is killed, man, woman and child.

The Mosaic law's purpose was to point us to Christ, and in doing so, it condemns all men to death, man, woman and child. Curses to the 3rd and 4th generation for the sins of the parents, death and destruction all the days of our life. But on the cross, Christ has taken the curse, and taken the death prescribed by the law, justifying all men who receive him, justifying them by the law which previously condemned them, through his death, so we live according to greater laws, such as the law of faith and the law of love.

When you go back to the OT, you realize then a lot of the issues. For example, one reason you would have to kill whole populations is because the demons they had invited into their lives could not be eliminated. Those demons would visit their children to the 3rd and 4th generation, continuing sin and iniquity in the world. Christ's power had not come, so men would be bound by demonic powers they could not be free of. The only freedom available for those who did not sin, was to eliminate those who had by God's law which condemned all men.

That said, in the OT, they did not have to judge according to the law, if they knew something greater than the law... that would be faith:

Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone who sets their heart on seeking God--the LORD, the God of their ancestors--even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary." And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people. - 2 Chronicles 30

So we are to learn from people in the OT, but we are not to follow their example, unless they are operating as King Hezekiah did in this passage, where he recognized they had been disobedient to God's law which would bring judgement upon them, and in this recognition, they have faith that God is greater than their failures.

 

[sunshine456]

Many suggest first readings from the bible should be the new testament. I however believe that starting from the beginning with GENESIS is the best solution. That way as a hopeful new convert you will understand how GOD the heavenly father first and foremost as....

Mark 12:30King James Version (KJV)
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

And to validate the precepts and commands of love god instills in us and offers to us his children.

The old testament adheres to his love by examples, principles and values that we learn how he graced us, gifted us and blessed us...and even admonished us.

The wisdom of Solomon, the trials of JOB, and the rescue of LOT and cleansing of Sodom and Gomorrah should not be dismissed and there are numerous more that offer great insight.

Praise be to GOD the heavenly father and his son lord JESUS CHRIST forever>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[Goodbook]

Remember the OT was written before Jesus appeared on earth so yes, some of it is quite horrible. People were sinners! Thats no surprise. But the stories still point to Gods love and the coming messiah.

 

[Greg J.]

Yuckstine, post specific questions if you have them. It isn't God that is harsh, it is sin that is harsh. Sin reflects all that is contrary to God, who is 100% pure and good. He's also gentle, so things have to get extremely bad to drive him behave in an extreme way. The whole Bible is packed with incidents of God telling, warning, and even pleading for the people to turn from their wicked ways (without punishing them at that time). You could even say the Bible is the story of God trying to get people to be good and not evil, those people constantly refusing, and God finally saving them at enormous cost to himself without regard to whether they are good or evil, because he loved/loves us so much!

Some severity also exists because sinful people do not want to change their ways and it takes a lot to change their course. Also, the Lord was not just thinking of the people of the time, but also all their descendants. He didn't want to allow another pre-flood mankind to develop:

The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. (bold mine, Genesis 6:5, 1984 NIV)

Sometimes Scripture doesn't make a point of it, but God is longsuffering. (See Exodus 34:5-7 for one of the best possible concise descriptions of what God is like.) When he commanded something along the lines of killing a lot of people, it was the consequences of them sinning for many generations or, in the case of one group of people, four centuries of them choosing to harm themselves and others ("be evil") instead of good.

Also, it is important to recognize that the way God made the universe, the natural consequences of sinful behavior is death and destruction, even when God chooses to not pass judgment at that time (Romans 5:13-14) He gave us commands so, among other reasons, we would know what behaviors harmed us.

After the fall, God's goal has always been to save mankind, but how do you save people that don't want to be saved? In God's case, all He has to do is step back a millimeter and reduce the protection he gives all of mankind, and they get to experience more of the real consequences of their evil behavior. Except for God's forbearance and plan of salvation, Adam's sin should have been the end of mankind then and there.

 

[AgapeBible]

Greg J, I like what you wrote, so full of wisdom. I understand how people feel when confronting the not-so-pleasant parts of the Bible. Remember, God does not approve of the terrible things people do in the Bible. I come from a southern baptist background, I learned all the nice Bible stories and inspiring, wise verses from the Bible, but the unpleasant parts of the Bible were hidden from me until I started wondering about my Christian faith and why I was a Christian, I read mythology books and fantasy novels with magic, magic users as heroes. I found a book in the school library called "When God was a Woman," I got interested in feminism, a bit from reading history, but anyway, it was from books critcizing the Bible and the God of the Bible that showed me the places in the Bible that disturbed and shocked me. I started reading the Bible on my own, and I let non-Christians with all their nagging questions and complaints deceive me and turn me away from Jesus Christ and the Heavenly Father. I suffered so much, depression, fear, hallucination, I had terrible nightmares of the Devil, hell, witches coming after me, I knew I had to stop before things went too far. I repented and asked the Lord for forgiveness, like David did when he had been confronted with adultery sin by the prophet Nathan. I discovered new love, compassion, mercy, hope, faith , wisdom in the Bible. I read it and search for jewels. My savior Jesus Christ has become a treasure to me. I want to help others know the Lord's love and kindness.

 

[Sketcher]

some of things God commands and allows

Such as?
What Christians are to do, the way we are to live, is clearly laid out in the New Testament. Ancient Israel had a different set of marching orders than we have.

 

[FutureAndAHope]

So I read the first 5 books of the bible and I have to say, I found a lot alarming. I need some advice on how to deal with this. I fee as I read the bible I will come across strong crimes.

I have studied the bible for many years, as most have here, but I feel I have worked through any objections to the way things were done. I have listed some common objections to the Old Testament here on my website. http://www.everybodymattersministry.com/bible_reasons.php

 

[AnonymousGuy44]

I must disagree with all the people here, saying you should start with the "New Testament." (I prefer to call it the, "Renewed Covenant", but call it what you like . That is something you probably should not do. Why would you start in the second half of a story? You cannot understand, fully, the second part unless you read the first before. Doing this, you can get a much better idea of God . Plus, I personally, believe the law in the Old Testament is still valid .

Here is a little passage I have for you

Numbers 6:24-26

"May the LORD bless you and protect you.
May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you.
May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace."

 

[Tomb523]

So I read the first 5 books of the bible and I have to say, I found a lot alarming. I need some advice on how to deal with this. I fee as I read the bible I will come across strong crimes.

Yea, this is used by atheist to show God to be a mean horrible person. In reality, when compared to the cuneiform laws of most other cultures, the mosaic laws went a long way to civilizing the barbaric cultures. For example, where Mosaic law discussed slavery, under cuneiform law an owner could hurt, injure or even kill their slaves, but under mosaic law if you injured your slave you had to set him/her free.

Secondly, God is a vengeful God, but also a fair God. Whenever He did send the Israelite after another "culture" it was because they took explicit actions to influence the Israelite to adopt their pagan gods and denounce the one true God. At the same time, there were provision for other cultures who sojourned in the land to convert to Mosaic law (Judaism) should they chose.

In short, God is a disciplinarian, but also a protectorate. Just as if other kids were trying to teach your kids bad behavior, you might be inclined to remove those kids from the realm of influence over your kids. Yes, in many cases it was violent, but it was a barbaric time for human development. When you study it in light of the culture of the time, Israel, through God's influence, vastly improved the civility.

 

[Andrew77]

some of things God commands and allows

I agree with others here. In order to understand how our G-d relates to us today, first read the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I think you will find the old testament better, if you understand where we are now in the New Testament.