-=-==-=-=-=-=God killed an infant=-=-=-=-=-?

Question

II Samuel 12:15-20 tells the story of God killing an infant because it was the product of its parents' adultery. If you were God, would you do such a thing? Please (a) explain to me the justification for this infanticide and (b) tell me what this incident reveals about the true character of Biblegod.

And please give me a list of all sins which justify the killing of a newborn baby (not including someone else's sin of adultery, which we already know about).

Answer 1

Yes, the bible records some horrific details. It is a historical account, warts and all, of God's revelation to mankind. It also reflects the contexts of the periods under question. That mankind was slipping fast into utter depravity was reason enough for the creator of mankind to act. God was perfectly within His righteousness to deliver the ultimate justice to the unrepentant. Indeed, one person has found the total body count in the bible to be over 2.2 million persons. But let's not forget the total numbers of those that have repented after hearing God's call to righteousness.

Some will say, “But isn't God unjust to judge the whole world by Christian standards?”

God judges justly. “All who sinned without [knowing] the [Mosaic] law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law” (ROM 2:12).

Even pagans know “that what the law requires is written on their hearts” (ROM 2:15) if we honestly consult our hearts, we will find two truths: that we know what we ought to do and be, and that we fail to do and be that.

Although this may seem appalling to consider it is God's right to bring judgment on whom He desires, when He desires, through whom He desires, in the manner that He desires. Man simply does not have all of the knowledge required to judge God on this issue. The amazing thing is that God was as long suffering with sinful people as He was. What better way to impress upon God's children the sinfulness of sin than to have them administer a punishment for sin?

It is also true that the nations God commanded Israel to destroy (i.e. Amorite, Canaanites, Midianites) had enticed Israel to sin. God desired to put an end to Idolatry. What better way to eliminate Idolatry than to completely destroy the entire Nation responsible?

Women and children were part of God's judgment in order to completely destroy the influence and Idolatry of the foreign nation.

Although Israel returned to Idolatry time and time again, the Nations judged by God were responsible for their own sin.

It matters not how or when a person dies. It matters what a person's relationship to God is. If children are "innocent" they will be judged by God as such even if they die as part of Gods judgment against the nation in which they live.

In Romans 11:22 we read:
"Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off."

Answer 2

First of all, the child's death was a punishment for David's sin....not only adultery, but murder. According to God's law, the sins of the parents are visited upon the children. We are all born into sin, and the wages of that sin is death. A newborn has sin upon him just as we all do. God is justified in taking the life of any man, woman, and child on this earth because of that sin.

What this reveals about God's character is that He is faithful....not only in his blessings, but in his wrath. David knew that he had sinned against God, and God showed him the consequences. Perhaps you feel that this was unjust for the child? The bible teaches that a child who has not reached an age to which he is knowledgeable of his sin will be returned into the kingdom of heaven. God did nothing more than bring the child back into His presence. Notice that David says in 2 Samuel 12:23... "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." David knew that the child's spirit would reside with God, but he also recognized that the child's death was punishment for his own sin.

Answer 3

The god of the bible kills babies for dramatic storytelling effect as the main justification, as would any Semitic patriarch of around 1200 BC, for which this god is a mirror image.

The specific reasons given by the biblegod include:

1. Being Egyptian, as in the killing of the firstborn son for each Egyptian family as one of the plagues of Pharoh;

2. Being Jewish, as in the killing of all babies under two years old (by the hand of Herod) in and around the Bethlehem area;

3. Loyalty, as in asking for the murder of Isaac by Abraham.

4. Seeking justice, as in asking for the murder of the contested baby by Solomon.

No other major religion has tales of such violence toward children for these crazy reasons. Fortunately, none of these incidents can be confirmed as having ever happened. The truth is that infanticide was used as a dramatic plot device in the Jewish folk tales that ultimately was written down as the bible.

Go figure.

Answer 4

the baby died of illness ok God could have saved it this was a punihsment to samuel as he had comitted adultery and then murdered her husband to take her as wife. but their next child was solaman who became the richest and a great leader but also suffered from lust. we can not understand God's plan he knows the end from the beggining.

Answer 5

Life and death are in the hands of God. God had a purpose for David's life. That infant was also in God's hands. Death is not the end of life---it's continuing. I don't understand but I believe in the goodness of God. I don't know why the Holocaust happened, but I still believe in the goodness of God.

Answer 6

You are leaving out the entire story dear. King David saw Bathsheba, who was married to a good man named Uriah, bathing from his rooftop, fell in lust with her and committed adultery with her.

In the Mosaic Law, which even the King of Israel was subject to, the penalty for adultery was death. So David should have died for that sin alone. But it doesn't stop there. In order to cover his sin, David sent Uriah to the front line of battle (after he refused to sleep with Bathsheba while on military leave to cover the transgression because he was faithful to the Law covenant) and purposely put him in the most dangerous place and- what do you know? Uriah was killed.

So now David is not only an adulterer but also a murderer. Two gross sins in an incredibly short period of time. David married Bathsheba and repented of his sin only after he was approached and reproved by the prophet Nathan.

David was allowed to live by God because he still had a purpose to accomplish: he needed to father Solomon, who God used to build the temple in Jerusalem (a privilage revoked from David after his sin).

David also suffered extreme hardship and turmoil in his house as a result of his sin: his own son Absalom tried to kill him several times and usurp the throne.

So David's life was no picnic. But that didn't make him bitter or resentful towards God. In fact, it did the opposite! David was truly repentant and was incredibly grateful to God for pardoning him. But he was still obligated to face the consequences of his actions.

You are conveniently forgetting the incidents where God preserved children:

Wise King Solomon and his settlement of the matter of the two women fighting over the one baby. The true mother was given her baby after proving her unselfish love.

The Mosaic Law had strict provisions for the care of children. For example, if two men fought and harmed a pregnant woman, and she lost the child, the men were put to death. God holds life to be precious, even that of the unborn.

God also kept watch over baby Moses, who was preserved alive when all the other Israelite boys were put to death. Moses ended up being raised as the grandson of Pharaoh himself.

The Bible also says that "the fruitage of the belly is a reward" and that "sons (and daughters) are an inheritance from Jehovah." Additionally, Jesus Christ, while he was on Earth, made a special effort to teach and listen to children, even telling his disciples to "let the children come to me."

God even punished such evildoers as the worshippers of Molech, who would routinely sacrifice their children to the false God by giving them to the fire. (True story! Check your history book.) God explicitly condemned this and helped the Israelites defeat them in battle.

So what does this tell me about God? That He is perfect, wise, just, loving and all powerful.

Answer 7

Yeah, good luck with that one. Christians either won't answer (cause they can't), or they'll say, well sometimes good people get punished cause adam and eve screwed up. In other words, blame it on the baby for being born. Oh, you might get god works in mysterious ways too.
It is appalling the number of people on here who think it is okay to kill children as long as it is god doing the killing. Hey, guys, how about if god decided to kill your daughter because you broke the speed limit? Would you just kick back and say, hey yeah better her than me? If so, I think you need some serious counseling.

Answer 8

Alot of things are blamed on God....If you believe he's consistant and unchanging, why would he provide a way for our salvation and then be killing infants?

Answer 9

There you go again, confusing Yahweh with God. Yahweh is not God. The true God never killed anyone.

Answer 10

One?

He killed, or ordered killed, thousands of children, according to the Bible. Why the first born sons of Egypt alone estimated at 500,000.

http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2007/01/how-many-has-god-killed-complete-list.html