- Oct 17, 2011
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Typical Christmas sermon, I suppose.
Speaking at a “Christmas Worship Service” at the Pentagon on Wednesday (Dec. 17), evangelist Franklin Graham celebrated that God is not just a God of love but also of hate and war.
“We know that God loves. But did you know that God also hates? Do you know that God also is a God of war? Many people don’t want to think about that, or forget that,” he declared as he stood on stage near two Christmas trees with a nativity scene and a Hanukkah Menorah in front of them.
Graham briefly recounted a story in Exodus 17, where Joshua led the ancient Israelites in battle against the Amalekites as Moses stood on a mountain holding up his arms. Graham said that not only did they win the battle, but God remembered how the Amalekites had attacked the Israelites. So Graham then turned to 1 Samuel 15, where the prophet Samuel told King Saul to kill all the Amalekites.
"Don’t spare them, but kill them, both man and woman, infant, nursing child, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey.’ So Samuel gave the instructions for the mission. Now, people will say, ‘But, Franklin, that is so hard; that’s not the God I believe in.’ Well, you had better believe in him.”
As Graham notes, some Christians find the story of the genocide of the Amalekites a little difficult to wrestle with; but it seems the new breed of masculine Christianity that has arisen has elevated the story, proclaiming it openly as an example for the troops.
Speaking at a “Christmas Worship Service” at the Pentagon on Wednesday (Dec. 17), evangelist Franklin Graham celebrated that God is not just a God of love but also of hate and war.
“We know that God loves. But did you know that God also hates? Do you know that God also is a God of war? Many people don’t want to think about that, or forget that,” he declared as he stood on stage near two Christmas trees with a nativity scene and a Hanukkah Menorah in front of them.
Graham briefly recounted a story in Exodus 17, where Joshua led the ancient Israelites in battle against the Amalekites as Moses stood on a mountain holding up his arms. Graham said that not only did they win the battle, but God remembered how the Amalekites had attacked the Israelites. So Graham then turned to 1 Samuel 15, where the prophet Samuel told King Saul to kill all the Amalekites.
"Don’t spare them, but kill them, both man and woman, infant, nursing child, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey.’ So Samuel gave the instructions for the mission. Now, people will say, ‘But, Franklin, that is so hard; that’s not the God I believe in.’ Well, you had better believe in him.”
As Graham notes, some Christians find the story of the genocide of the Amalekites a little difficult to wrestle with; but it seems the new breed of masculine Christianity that has arisen has elevated the story, proclaiming it openly as an example for the troops.
