If god is good, why does the Book of Jeremiah encourage murder?

Question

Cursed be he who does the Lords work remissly, cursed he who holds back his sword from blood. (Jeremiah 48:10 NAB)

Vicsik,
Oh really? What does this mean then:

"Then I heard the LORD say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! Kill them all – old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch anyone with the mark. Begin your task right here at the Temple." So they began by killing the seventy leaders. "Defile the Temple!" the LORD commanded. "Fill its courtyards with the bodies of those you kill! Go!" So they went throughout the city and did as they were told." (Ezekiel 9:5-7 NLT

Bibi
Wow, that's a great justification for MURDERING people. Your god has no tolerence for the worship of any other god. How enlightened.

Jeremy, you tell me it's not fair to just quote certian parts of the bible and then you turn around and do the same exact thing! So here are some more parts of the bible you'd like to pretend aren't there: A man or a woman who acts as a medium or fortuneteller shall be put to death by stoning; they have no one but themselves to blame for their death. (Leviticus 20:27 NAB) All who curse their father or mother must be put to death. They are guilty of a capital offense. (Leviticus 20:9 NLT
Make ready to slaughter his sons for the guilt of their fathers; Lest they rise and posses the earth, and fill the breadth of the world with tyrants. (Isaiah 14:21 NAB)

Answer 1

nice question, wake up people...

god choose to kill children very easy too, and this children did not do anything wrong.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AvrNz81_yrueNL_.1DKGxbTsy6IX?qid=20060607183526AAdXXMt

Answer 2

First, please let me make it clear that neither the Book of Jeremiah or any parts of God's Word, The Holy Scriptures, encourage murder. Exodus 20:13 is clear - "YOU must not murder." Also in 1 Peter 4:15 - "However, let none of YOU suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer."
It is not fair to quote certain sections of the Bible without taking into consideration the surrounding paragraphs. It is like saying "The sun will shine ..." on a cloudy day which is misquoting a weather reporter on TV who REALLY said: "The sun will shine TOMORROW."

Indeed, the Bible accurately states, "Good and righteous is Jehovah God." (Psalms 25:8.)

Answer 3

If you read earlier in Ezekiel, you'll know the reason why God wanted these men dead. They were performing detestable things in Jerusalem's temple.

Ezekiel 8:7 Accordingly he brought me to the entrance of the courtyard, and I began to see, and, look! a certain hole in the wall. 8 He now said to me: “Son of man, bore, please, through the wall.” And I gradually bored through the wall, and, look! there was a certain entrance. 9 And he further said to me: “Go in and see the bad detestable things that they are doing here.” 10 So I went in and began to see, and, look! there was every representation of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the dungy idols of the house of Israel, the carving being upon the wall all round about.

Ezekiel 8:13 And he continued on to say to me: “You will yet see again great detestable things that they are doing.” 14 So he brought me to the entrance of the gate of the house of Jehovah, which is toward the north, and, look! there the women were sitting, weeping over the [god] Tam´muz.

Ezekiel 8:16 So he brought me to the inner courtyard of the house of Jehovah, and, look! at the entrance of the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of Jehovah and their faces to the east, and they were bowing down to the east, to the sun.

The Israelites at the time were neglecting God again and they were worshipping the sun and a statue, even though they were supposed to worship God who gave them life. This is why he ordered their murder. Just like in Noah's day.

Answer 4

Duet 28:23-35

23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. 24 The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

25 The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. 26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 27 The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. 29 At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.

30 You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit. 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. 33 A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days. 34 The sights you see will drive you mad. 35 The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.


Looks like jesus (or as Christians would call him, god. Monotheists indeed...) is an evil little bastard. Some standard for morality...

Answer 5

The second part of your question is kind of taken out of context too. God does not call us to murder those whom are innocent. At that time God had condemned those people in that time for their crimes against Him. They were given opportunities to change and accept God, however, they chose to continue to worship idols and gods. God's promise to the Israelites was that they would be plentiful, have many lands, and would overcome their enemies. This is another example of that. God helped them to overcome their enemies. Enemies of God, enemies of Israel. You don't find these sorts of calls today. With the passing of Christ came the passing of that age. We are called to peace now and to rest knowing that ours is a just God who will pass judgement and condemn without calling us to harm a person. We are in the age of grace where none are condemned and sentenced eternally without God's judgement, not because of anything humans have done or decided.

Answer 6

You read this passage out of context. Read it again. This time, study it and, since I can see you're an atheist, let the philosophy of Spinoza help you out.

Answer 7

God doesn't encourage murder, you have to read everything before you take it out of context.

Answer 8

Maybe Jeremiah had anger management issues?

Answer 9

Read it again in context. God does not encourage murder, duh.

Gen. 12:3
He who blesses Israel will be blessed.
He who curses Israel will be cursed.

Answer 10

He encourage that to murder the wicked.