16 December 2009

The Lord thundered great thunder upon the Philistines

After God killed more than 50,000 for looking into the ark, the ark was moved to Kirjathjearim and the people of Israel "lamented after the Lord" -- which means, I guess, that they wanted the damned thing back.
And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD. 1 Samuel 7.2
So Samuel told them what to do. Get rid of all their other gods and worship Yahweh alone. So the Israelites rounded up all their gods and threw them away. When the Philistines heard about all this, they prepared to attack Israel.

The Israelites asked Samuel to ask God to save them. So Samuel killed a baby lamb and burned its dead body for God. Then Samuel cried out to God and God heard him.
Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the LORD: and Samuel cried unto the LORD for Israel; and the LORD heard him. 7.9
While Samuel was busy roasting the lamb for God, the Philistines attacked. And God "thundered with a great thunder" and "discomfited them." Then the Israelites chased them down and killed them.
As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them. 7.10-11
After the slaughter, Samuel put up a monument that said, "So far the Lord has helped us." 
Hitherto hath the LORD helped us. 7.12
Once again the Bible doesn't say how many Philistines were killed. So I'll just call it 1000.

God's next killing: Another Ammonite Massacre (and another God-inspired body-part message)

10 comments:

busterggi said...

Considering how much the OT says Yahweh hates all gentiles like the Philistines, Amorites, Moabites, etc, why do Christians gentiles think that now Yahweh likes them any better?

Brucker said...

First of all, the OT says no such thing. Second of all, Gentiles are saved through the sacrifice of a Jewish Messiah.

Steve Wells said...

Good question, busterggi! Christians are gentiles to the God of the OT and the OT God hates gentiles, as his actions and words clearly show.

Christian gentiles think Yahweh likes them better because most Christians haven't read the OT and those that have either don't believe what it says or pretend it doesn't mean what it says.

Brucker: With regard to the OT God hating gentiles, you say, "First of all, the OT says no such thing."

Really? It seems to me that that's pretty much all the OT does say. The OT God hates everyone except for Jews that follow all of his laws.

I will ... cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. Leviticus 26:30

And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them ... for they are ... children in whom is no faith. Deuteronomy 32:19-20

"Second of all, Gentiles are saved through the sacrifice of a Jewish Messiah."

Saved from what Brucker? The OT God? Good luck with that!

And Jesus may have been Jewish (though he didn't follow all of the OT laws, so God hated him too), but Christians are not Jews and the OT God hates them for it (or he would if he existed).

skanksta said...

I know it may seem that God is a brutal and full of hate on occassions, but his love is universal.

rgoodwi3 said...

His love of brutality is universal?

Matthew Blanchette said...

This whole story... seems like one act of Biblical randomness after another, right up to the noncommittal text of the monument. Weird.

Brucker said...

God doesn't hate Gentiles, He hates pagans; or more precisely He hates (certain) pagan practices. As you point out, He only has tolerance for Jews that follow the law.

And to say Christians aren't Jews also goes against what the Bible says. In a literal sense, the early church was pretty much only Jews, but in a broader metaphorical sense, Paul said in Romans 11:16ff that Israel was like an olive tree that had some branches broken off so that branches of other trees (the Gentile nations) could be grafted in. The book of Romans actually talks a lot about how the physical differences between Jews and Gentiles are not nearly as important to God as the differences of the heart.

Anonymous said...

What if this had simply been a conflict between two nations, would it seem okay for all these Plilistines or Israelites to have died then?

Anonymous said...

Job wasn’t a Jew, Melchizedek wasn’t. Uriah the Hittite wasn’t. In Israel there were hired laborers, merchants, captives of war, Canaanites who had not been executed or expelled from the Promised Land, as well as various kinds of transients. (Josiah 17:12-13 / Judges 1:21 / 2 Samuel 12:29-31 / 1 Kings 7:13 / Nehemiah 13:16) God gave protection to the alien resident in the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 19:33-34) Before attacking a city of the nations the army of Israel were to warn them first, giving them the opportunity to peacefully surrender. (Deuteronomy 20:10-15) Israel was not to war with Ammon, Edom or Moab (Deuteronomy 2:4-5, 9, 19), unless they were provoked (Judges 3:12-30; 11:32-33 / 1 Samuel 14:47)

skanksta said...

Blogger rgoodwi3 said...

His love of brutality is universal?

His love for all things is universal - both good and (apparently)evil. We do know that God decided to have an earthly son, that crucify him. God's own blood sacrifice meant he didn't have to punish sinners anymore.