What about Amakelites? He doesn't love them.
Exodus 17:14
And the Lord said to Moses, Write this for a memorial in the book and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens.
Exodus 17:16
And he said, Because [theirs] is a hand against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
1 Samuel 15:3
Now go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey
1 Chronicles 10:13
So Saul died for his trespass against the Lord [in sparing Amalek], for his unfaithfulness in not keeping God's word, and also for consulting [a medium with] a spirit of the dead to inquire pleadingly of it,
2007-01-04 01:36:51 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
the Amakelites were heathen idol worshippers that blasphemed god and attacked his people...they existed prior to the grace of Jesus Christ and took God's wrath
2007-01-04 01:41:41 · answer #1 · answered by Robert K 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Humans are so neat to watch sometimes.
First of all, in English, we only have one word for love. Love. That's it.
The concept that someone can give "principled love" (a'gape) but still wish the death sentence is beyond some. Heck, my uncle and cousin were caught drunk driving.
After they ran over a 13 year old girl, killing her as they drug her body down the street. I love my uncle and cousin dearly. I can list you their good qualities for the rest of the day.
But they both deserved to die for what they did. Period.
Then, humans go one better, and when they are specifically told that they don't have all the facts to a situation? They still want to make judgements about the judgements others have made regarding those situations.
Amalek? My lord, what those people were guilty of? And he didn't kill every single Amalekite. That's one bit of information we do have. He did make sure all of the guilty ones died, to the extent that as a people, they would eventually cease to exist.
Oh, and that "God" you say is unfair? The same people, those SAME people when God gave a break AGAIN!! (The Amalekites) and were allowed to exist a bit longer? Ol' Haman? You know, the reason that the Jews celebrate Purim?
It was because an AMALEKITE tried to commit mass GENOCIDE on them as an entire people !! If they would have been wiped out earlier, then they would have never ran into that problem.
But the Amalekites were never sorry for what they did. You have to remember, you're dealing with a culture eons ago. Clan mentality and tribe mentality. There were absolutes, not only for the Israelites, but for the tribes and clans around them. The Amalekites swore themselves as enemies of God's people.
That was their choice.
God proved in the "Old Testament" (Accurately called the Hebrew Scriptures) again and again, that he was willing to give people as many chances as they possibly could ask for. The Ninevites were guilty of bloodguilt to an astounding degree. Look up in Wikipedia what those people did. Yet, in Jonah's day, after preaching he would destroy them if they did not repent, and the Ninevites DID repent?
He spared them. He proved time and time again in the "Old Testament" that he was willing to give people another chance, but only if they asked for it.
"But Jehovah said: “You, for your part, felt sorry for the bottle-gourd plant, which you did not toil upon or make get big, which proved to be a mere growth of a night and perished as a mere growth of a night. And, for my part, ought I not to feel sorry for Nin′e·veh the great city, in which there exist more than one hundred and twenty thousand men who do not at all know the difference between their right hand and their left, besides many domestic animals?” - Jonah 4:10-11
2007-01-04 09:42:51 · answer #2 · answered by raVar 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This one is very difficult for a lot of people to understand (me included, sometimes)
God is both wholly loving and wholly just. So He did love the Amakelites, He also knew that they must be punished. So in a loving justice, He sent His people to deliver the justice.
When Saul failed to follow God's command, then Saul (who God also loved) suffered the absolute justice of God.
How does one express both Love and Justice? That's a hard one, indeed!
I wonder what God would have done had the Amakelites shown remorse for their way of life, if they had sought forgiveness, if they would cease (or at least attempt to cease) their deep-rooted evil lifestyle. I believe that He would have granted mercy, had they asked for it.
2007-01-04 09:48:11 · answer #3 · answered by Paul McDonald 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7
2007-01-04 09:43:50 · answer #4 · answered by Red neck 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
-1 John 4:9-11
The love of God is a unique, proprietary love. It is a love that has only One source…God Himself. We cannot find this kind of love (agape love) in anyone or anything but God. He is agape love. This is a love that seeks to sacrificially meet the greatest need of the other, regardless of the worth, performance, or responsiveness of the other.
2007-01-04 10:40:16 · answer #5 · answered by picturesque 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever belives in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life
He who repents of his sins and asks for FORGIVENESS is forgiven and of course God is the only ENTITY that shows unconditional love
2007-01-04 09:44:02 · answer #6 · answered by caretaker 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
he loved everyone and he loved them too. he loves us. He killed them because they were sinners and worshiped false idols. He killed them for their punishment, but it is a very confusing thing you might need to ask a CHristian pastor about. It's a very confusing thing, but in the end it all end up he did it out of love. I am still a little confused, but might can help you further if you have any questions! GOd bless
2007-01-04 09:42:23 · answer #7 · answered by annabanana 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Apparently not according to what you have. I think it depends on who you talk to or what religion it is. I know some religions believe that they are the only ones going to heaven. So they obviously do not believe that God loves unconditionally. I don't think anyone can answer this question because no one who believes in God really knows, even if they say they do.
2007-01-04 09:44:47 · answer #8 · answered by Firefighters Wife 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Hmm... interesting. If he did, then it would mean that everybody is equal and to stop fighting. Do you think its possible that somebody actually rewrote the bible to fit their particular stance in history? That's an ancient trick that the pagan warriors used to use: the hero born of immaculate conception, so holy, he had to win because there was no other possible choice for his specialness, thus putting the special hero above all. Believe it or not.
2007-01-04 09:43:56 · answer #9 · answered by Hoolia 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
No, God doesn't love us ALL unconditionally. He loves those people who have been adopted into his family by being born again unconditionally. He loves those whom He has chosen to be with Him for all eternity unconditionally.
Romans 9:13 As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." (14) What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! (15) For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
(16) So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. (17) For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
(18) So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. (19) You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" (20) But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" (21) Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use? (22) What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, (23) in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory-- (24) even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
2007-01-04 09:45:35 · answer #10 · answered by Martin S 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋