“How can you love a God who is so cruel?” “Why would you want to believe in a jealous and angry God?” “Why is the Old Testament God so angry?” Really people want to know, “Is God Fair?” These are questions I’ve heard from friends and it’s a good question. But then I have to ask them, “Have you read the Old Testament?” The answer is always, “Well, no.” That’s a pretty quick judgment when you haven’t read the stories for yourself. I have one example (it reads more like a bible study) to share here concerning the Amalekites (there are many others) that shows that the God of the Old Testament is fair, just, merciful, and loving all at the same time.
Kill Amalekite Women and Children?!
“Now go attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything 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 15:3).
That’s an intense verse to read. One that Christians might be more comfortable glossing over instead of digging deeper. Looking back at the story in context (instead of making assumptions based on one verse) will shed light on what is really happening. To understand God’s judgment on 1 Samuel 15:3 we have to go back to Exodus and take into account other books and verses in the Old Testament.
The Exodus
God miraculously leads over a million (Exodus 12:37) Israelites out of Egypt, after they had been slaves to the Egyptians for a couple hundred years. The Israelites are on their way out and this huge group is probably moving slowly since they are carrying their stuff, herding animals, and women and children make up a large part of the group (Exodus 1-14). They crossed the Red Sea and with Egypt being the superpower nation at the time, all of the surrounding nations knew what had happened and had heard what God had done (Joshua 2:9-11, 1 Samuel 4:5-8). After hearing about the plagues and the opening of the Red Sea many of the surrounding nations had a healthy fear of the Israelites.
“The Amalekites came and attacked the the Israelites at Rephidim.” (Exodus 17:8). Rephidim is a place in the desert.
That doesn’t really explain much. So we dig deeper.
“Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!” (Deuteronomy 25:17-19).
Whom were the people lagging behind? I imagine it must have been the elderly and women with small children and babies who were probably in the back. Pretty cowardly…..a group of men attacking the unsuspecting weaklings in the back.
What if God does nothing to help and protect Israel and throws a blind eye to what the Amalekites did? Then He is a weak God who does not care about Israel, and the surrounding nations would make fun of them saying, “Ha, God led them out of Egypt only to be killed by some other people!” God promised to take care of and protect Israel if they kept His commands (Exodus 6:6-8; Deuteronomy 7:7-26). On the other hand, if He brings justice to a people that wrongs Israel, we (in today’s world) see Him as a cruel and unmerciful God.
Either way, God loses.
“So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.” Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. He said, “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.” (Exodus 17: 13-15).
Later, there was a battle and with God’s help the Israelites won. Then God said He plans on wiping the Amalekites out since they cowardly attacked the Israelites.
“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 everything 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: 2,3).
This verse in 1 Samuel is hundreds of years after Joshua’s battle with the Amalekites in Exodus (above); somehow, the Amalekite people are still alive and not wiped out.
This verse circles us back to the beginning verse that sounds troubling. Maybe now we can understand, at least a little bit, why God would say that. And a couple verses later….
Kindness to the Kenites
Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. Then he said to the Kenites, “Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites. (1 Samuel 15:5,6).
God shows kindness to another group of people, the Kenites, and gives them warning to leave since they were kind to Israel on their way out of Egypt and feared God.
A Sinful People
God had planned on displacing these people early on (Genesis 15:12-20). Why?
Verse 16 is interesting when it states that the sins of the Amorites had not yet reached its maximum. What sins?
Leviticus 18 explains some of the sins that the Egyptians, Canaanites, and other nations were committing and that God said the Israelites must not do (see vs. 3). Most were sexual sins, and verse 21 mentions child sacrifice. The nations that Israel was told to fight against were people that participated in child sacrifice. Is child sacrifice ok? Judgement in the name of justice can be warranted.
Romans 2 Answers the Question, “Is God Fair?”
As for the innocent children, if you believe in eternal life, one could say God is merciful to them since they would be eternally saved if they young died, before the age of accountability. (Isaiah 7:15,16). If they died as adults and were raised in a sinful culture, such as the Amalekites, they would be held accountable to God for their actions. God shows mercy by saving those who don’t know better. Chapter 2 of Romans states that people will be judged according to what they do or don’t know. It also mentions that we all have a conscience (vs. 12-16). God judges fairly since He alone knows everything a person knows and how they have come to that knowledge. And people that have not been exposed to His love in the Bible still have an inner moral compass by which to live. God doesn’t judge like we do, He does it fairly.
Judgement for Israel
I think it is also important to note that God used pagan nations such as Babylon and Medo-Persia to execute judgment on Israel when they were sinning. So he didn’t arbitrarily protect Israel when they were on a wayward path.
After reading these Old Testament stories for myself I see God as a loving Old Testament God who gives people so many chances to change. By doing this He shows His merciful love again and again to people who don’t deserve it.
If you enjoyed reading this article about the Old Testament God, read The Problem of Evil: Why Does God Allow Pain and Suffering?
