And yet more "Good God, What were You thinking"?

Question

Please explain how God the Father can justify the behaviour illustrated in the following verses:

Deuteronomy
2:30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day.
2:31 And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land.
2:32 Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz.
2:33 And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.
2:34 And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:
2:35 Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took.

How does this reflect Jesus' message?

"Ready to play "Good God, what were You thinking"?"
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AgxVdj9tf_XlebMlJ4g.S1Dsy6IX?qid=20060726171620AAtoHNc

"More "Good God, What were You thinking"?"
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiqPEYah01Rj5MF5SRCKWbHsy6IX?qid=20060726180926AAygbKZ

"Still more "Good God, What where You thinking"?"
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AuDmT_oiWNmlzoo9F0w9BMnsy6IX?qid=20060726190049AAlPTEV

I must say I appreciate the humour in people suggesting I read this "in context" but fail to provide the context which justifies the behaviour demonstrated in these verses.

I've read the chapter, this -is- the correct context. Disagree? Quote the appropriate verses that justify this behaviour.

Answer 1

no one seems to be even TRYING to rationalize this away.

how sad. So many people clearly ashamed and fearful of their own religious texts.

Answer 2

Clearly the Sihon king was bad in some way not specifically enumerated in the Bible. Also, I heard his sons threw eggs at old women.

Or maybe the Bible is sometimes just an old history book, where ancient people explain away how they smoked King Sihon and took his land, and then justify it by saying God wanted it that way.

Seems like that kind of thing still happens sometimes today...

Answer 3

God is holy and hates the abominable sins that were being practiced by the Canaanites. Read Genesis 15:16 Apparently from the time of Abraham to Moses, which was over 200 hundreds the Canaanites continued their practices. Yes, God is good, but He is also sovereign, which means He makes the rules. If He considers something wrong, then it is wrong. He is the creator and you are the creature. He will not compromise His position. But it always amuses me how people like yourself ignore the fact that God did something for you that He didn't have to do. He demonstrated unconditional love through Jesus, by taking the penalty for my sins and yours.
Of course you can still shake your fist in defiance, but it won't get you anywhere, but under God's holy wrath. You choose what you want the love of God or the wrath of God. If this sounds harsh, that's because too many people trample God's love under foot indiscriminately, without understanding the possible outcome.

Answer 4

Good God, I DON"T KNOW... and I'm a Christian...albeit, esoteric, eclectic, and a bit of an "ODD duck." Still, my guess is that God may have been a trifle "cranky" at that point in the God-Human Relationship and rememeber, those were the times of the "old covenant (during Deuteronomy). My guess is that this Sihon & his tribe were worshiping false gods and maybe they did other things to really piss off God.... actually, the Old testament God was a real "hard @$$"... I'm glad he decided to "lighten up" once his chosen people got their "promised land."

Thanks for the entry though, the Old Testament never fails to crack me up! And good times were had by all!

Answer 5

There is a common mistake many people make in reading the Bible. Here is a principle of Bible study that is extremely important.
"Context, Context, Context."
Everything MUST be read in context. If it's not then then whole thing may not make sense.
The story you site here can be very easily explained if you looked at it in context.
Also... consider this. The Bible tells us that God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. God's wisdom and discernment is infinitely greater than our own, so we have to assume that He knew what He was doing.

Answer 6

one of the many reasons why i dont go to church. it seems the bible contradicts itself over and over again. what sticks out in my mind is beware of false prophets. im sure they were there then as they are today now. mankind as a whole has not changed at all since history was recorded. even the most dedicated christian will go to war and kill. according to the 10 commandments, your not really supposed to do that. translation is another thing. one wrong word in a sentence can change the entire meaning of a subject. alot of this stuff just cant be.

Answer 7

Yeah - almost like the God of the old testament and the God of the new testament were two completely different ones, eh??

Answer 8

...for I [am] a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name [is] dreadful among the heathen.

Malachi 1:14

Answer 9

one word.........CONTEXT...understand what you are reading

Answer 10

no...