Was there a point where God crossed the line? Was smiting the firstborn of Egypt just too much?

Question

There has to be a line somewhere. Where is the line?

Answer 1

it was Pharaoh that did that.

Answer 2

no, not really. imagining that the story is literally true and the egyptians really were oppressing and abusing an entire nation of people then it would be immoral *not* to begin a war against them. and if that nation had no army to fight on their behalf, and if G-d did exist and was willing to fight on their behalf, then "smiting" the firstborn of egypt as an act of war is actually rather tame, since at least the "enemy" is not slaughtered and left to die a slow, bloody death, but instead simply instantly and painlessly stops living. saved a lot of bloodshed.

the big misconception is that by "firstborn" it is talking about a murder of mostly children. the real "firstborn of egypt" would be for the most part a group of wealthy adult men, due to inheritance laws in ancient times favouring firstborn sons. since it mostly would have been the men in positions of power and wealth who would have been the ones doing the actual oppression of the hebrew slaves, and since most of these men would likely have been firstborn sons in their family, it really only makes sense that these would be the people the bible would target. firstborn male children would have died as well, it's true, and that's what would have made the plague so tragic to the egyptians to make them finally give up, but it would have been a small percentage and not the majority, since most people in a country at any given time are not babies.

Answer 3

If not the smiting of the firstborn of Egypt, I think having Herod kill the innocents under 2 years of age (which has no documentation in any reliable source, btw) was way over the top.

Answer 4

I'm not sure if I entirely understand what you mean by "line," but as far as the smiting of the firstborn goes, He did that because Pharaoh refused to listen to Him and let His people go.

Answer 5

I'm trying to control both my temper and a desire to bust a gut laughing at some of these answers.

First, there's that bunch who have the gall to say: "Well .. the Pharaoh had it coming!" Are you people nuts? You could accept a judgment against the CHILDREN of a criminal? I just hope you don't get to pick a Supreme Court justice. What the hell did THEY do to His Almighty Hissyfit-Guy?
OK, that was the temper part.

Then there are the "We cannot know his ways." Fine, but we have a name for ways we DO understand. And if ANYBODY acted that way, we would AT LEAST incarcerate him.

But hell, compared to that other time, when he drowned pretty much all of humanity - including children and pregnant women, this was a picnic.

Answer 6

As a Christian, I say this in all honesty, I understand where you are coming from. When I read the Old Testement, I see a God that was a real tempermental violent spouse abuser. But it seemed all that changed in the New Testement with Christ. Too bad right wing Christians can't see that and stop referring back to the God of vengence of the Old Testement instead of the God of Love in the New Testement. Then again most Christians aren't taught to be analytical but to follow like brainless sheep. In the New Testement, God didn't smite anyone. It was the empirical government of Rome that smited. It was man against man in the N.T. Not God against man. It's obvious in the N.T, God gave man free choice. And gave the N.T as a guide through the life of Christ of how to live a life of gratitude and simplicity.

Answer 7

What line? Whose line? Too much for who?

People who judge God forget that they can't do anything about it. Everything is His, including people, and He can do whatever He wants with us. You can protest, and you can decide that He doesn't exist, but you are still powerless.

The sun is necessary to our survival, but the sun also kills without mercy. If you judge the sun to be unmerciful, cruel, and unjust, what can you do about it? What is the value of your judgement, if you can take no action? You can hide from the sun, or you can deny the existence of the sun, but neither of those things removes one iota of power from the sun. And if you charge the sun to leave you alone, then what? Does the sun obey your command? If the sun did obey your command, the result would be your own death.

There has to be a line somewhere, but not for God. For us. There is nothing restricting God, and there is nothing we can do about it.

Answer 8

God never crosses lines, as he creates the line in the first place. God is justice and God is law. When God did that it was for a good reason

Answer 9

You sometimes ask really good questions, sho-nuff!
That whole Egypt thing was a battle of Gods.
Each plague was in reference to an Egyptian god.
Isis was the Egyptian god of healing, so God sent boils.
Their god failed to heal.
Thoth was the god of the natural elements, so God sent hail.
Their god failed to stop it.
Min was the protector of crops, so God sent locusts.
Their god failed to stop it.
Ra was the sun god, so God sent darkness.
Their god failed to stop it.
Pharoah was considered a god.
His first-born son, a god in waiting.
Again, the true God proved His power over this stubborn nation.
After that, the line was drawn.
The Egyptians recognized defeat.

Answer 10

The "line" is where God is. What He chooses to do is right and just. He warned them and gave them plenty of time to repent and avoid the consequences of their fighting against God, but they chose the consequences. How is that "crossing the line?" GOD defines the "line" - not man.

Answer 11

According to the story, the Pharoah made the choice of what the last plague was to be. And when he retaliated for his sons death, he sent his army to chase the Isrealites, and the army was drowned in the Red Sea. Seems like Pharoah got the sh*t end of the stick on that one! But he asked for it!