Does the Judaeo-Christian God like human sacrifice?

Question

In Judges (11:29-11:39) one of the Judges, Jephthah, strikes a deal with God.

God will help Jephthah defeat the Ammonite tribe. In return Jephthah will sacrifice the first thing that comes to meet him when he arrives home. God allowed Jepthah "a great slaughter" of the Ammonites.

When he gets home to keep his end of the bargain he is greeted by his innocent virgin daughter. Being a good godly chap, Jephthah proceeds do with her according to his vow, and kills her and offers her as a burnt offering. God makes no particular comment, and doesn't intercede as he did earlier with Abraham and Isaac.

Nice God, that Yahweh?

Can anyone explain to me the justification of this behaviour from an all-knowing, all-good, all-powerful God who would have known that Jephthah's poor daughter would be the one to meet him when he got home?

(and God is God and everything God does is by definition right and good is NOT a justification)

He killed her.

Jephthah's vow: Judges 11:31 NKJV

then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.

Judges 11:39 (NKJV)

"And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he carried out his vow with her which he had vowed."

Answer 1

When the Bible was written human sacrifice wasn't viewed to be as eviL as it is now. that's no excuse for the Christian God, but it is an excuse for the writers of the Bible.

Answer 2

God neither requested nor approved this vow, so tell me this. why do you make an accusation against your Creator? Is the created thing greater than it's creator? Is the servant more than it's Lord?

So, if you want to accuse God of something how is it that you start off with a completely false accusation?

This is a great reminder not to offer what you will not deliver, and the great faith of Jephthah who erred and ended his own family line, but found even that more preferrable than to break a promise to God.

The scriptures are absolutely loaded with examples of people failing to meet their promises and vows to God, and yet he forgives they who confess and repent.

How will you accuse this God who forgives? How will you slight Him? Is there some anger you have for which you would sacrifice your brothers' and sisters' souls to hell in order to harm a God who can not be harmed? Will you mislead as many as you can so that they too will miss the forgiveness their Creator offers?

Answer 3

The lesson here is don't make promises you can't keep. God had preserved the Israelites in battle in the past without strange sacrifices. This was Jephthah's idea. Besides, God does what is good in light of eternity, not human opinion. We are all pawns, either for God or Satan, and have very little control of our own destiny.

Answer 4

Actually, it's more likely that Jephthah's daughter simply spent the rest of her life serving in the temple, never marrying, never having sex, etc. She probably became something like a nun. The Bible never explicitly states that Jephthah killed his daughter.
And God was always against human sacrifice; read the rest of the OT, (particularly the book of the laws) and you can see this plainly.

And, it was mostly Jephthah's fault because he made an extremely rash vow. I doubt he actually sacrificed his daughter; she probably just became like a "Hebrew nun" and served in the temple for the rest of her life.

Answer 5

I completely agree It does not rely in spite of if the theism exists or no longer. the factor is that our morals are no longer guided by using our own selfish objectives and hobbies i'm rather particular the policies gangs cohere to arent those which you do, Im questioning bikie gangs- drug sellers, kill human beings, corruption, scouse borrow etc tribes accompanied "Gods" genuine or no longer their morals have been dictated by using what they believed became a diety countries do have policies your stunning. Take China as an occasion, an athiest united states of america, might you pick to be a citizen and be born in China. how is there no longer something against those issues - dont have intercourse until now marriage, dont commit adultery, love thy neighbor, you're certainly suitable and not making use of a God we lose lots of what morally drives us in society. in spite of if Athiests admit it or no longer, There are alot of folk whose judgements are bounded by using traditions/cultures that they carry to, in spite of in the event that they dont save on with that distinctive faith. E.g If I have been an Athiest i could be extra possibly to tend in the direction of Christian dispositions in my judgements, just to thrill my family members (if that they were committed Christians) a international devoid of religion is a international devoid of boundries, the place each and every person persons leads with our own selfish desires. Take china as an occasion, the place is the income in this type of government. Strip away ethical duties and non secular ideals/customs and you will finally end up a grand occasion of Huxley's brave New international. in case you had study it you've got observed that some factors of our society are already on their thank you to this type of catastrophe. I dont understand the way atheists can deny the oncoming of this type of challenge, i've got self belief it in concern of fueling creationists stand. yet using fact of it the result would be the dying of the society that all of us understand. there is not any longer something eye-catching proper to the absence of religion.

Answer 6

Yes. Jephthah was wrong. G-d punished him for not asking the nation's elders.

Answer 7

some churches believe in the old testament, some in the new testament and some in both, and others have their own version and holy book, etc. So I'm not sure where you are coming from.

The holy book I believe in (Catholic) "might" be termed asJudeo-christian but we do not believe in human sacrifice. The last human sacrifice begins our bible, and it was the time Jesus died on the cross.

Answer 8

God demands sacrifice in the tune to one hour of your time and ten dollars per week. Also he demands snickerdoodles to be offered at the church bake sale.


HEED HIS COMMAND

Answer 9

That is from the Old Testament that Jesus Fulfilled with his death on the Cross for us.

Jesus is the new Covenant between Man and God.

We are now to follow his example of Peace, Love and Forgiveness.

Peace to you!

Answer 10

actually your mistaken

his vow was to consecrate her as a sacrifice, but to actually kill her.

what this results in is that she was left unmarried and in a state of limbo.


And it was at the end of two months, that she returned to her father, and he did to her his vow which he had vowed; and she had not known any man, and it was a statute in Israel.

no where dose it say that he killed her.