Why does the bible have so many instances of God telling people to violently kill other people?

Question

Isn't that a contradiction of "thou shalt not kill"?

In one part, he even wants people killed for working on the sabbath. (exodus 31:15)

Isn't that a bit overly violent?

Answer 1

Actually...we all deserve death. The consequences of sin is death. But because he loves us he sent his son, to endure that death for us.

The command is that WE should not kill. God is not us...he has not sinned, he can judge, he can punish the wicked...HE is God.

Answer 2

I really find the Old Testament hard to understand, but I think we should read it with the perspective that it was written in primitive times when violence was considered more acceptable. The Isrealites were probably less violent than other nations.

The wonder of the Bible lies in the fact that the life and death of Jesus turned everything around. The Old Testament is a foreshadow of this final sacrifice which put us right with God again, and changed the lives of millions of people during the last 2000 years.

Answer 3

For the people saying god can kill and the "thou" means us. If god tells people to kill someone, is that okay? Do those people get a free pass from the "thou shall not kill" commandment?

Answer 4

Thw word for "kill" is murder. In fact, even hate is a sin because it could lead to murder and does not reflect the loving character of God. God is a God of love, mercy and grace, but also a God of holiness, justice, and truth.

The people whom God told the Israelites to kill for being idolaters who sacrificed their children to the gods were a disgrace to the goodness of God so they suffered the severity of God. They were not little, innocent, non violent people, loving people who shoveled your driveway or gave out lemonade to their neighbors when it was hot. Believe it or not, there actually is a false worship which God abhors. However, in HIs love, He sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sin (He suffered violence of wicked men going to the cross) and died for all the sins of all who will repent and believe. God is good to all, but unfortunately, only those who respond to His love by His grace, receive His saving love and experience His love.

Answer 5

The original Hebrew says Thou shalt not murder

There is a difference between killing and murdering.

Answer 6

"I like the death.... I like the misery.... I LIKE THIS WORLD..."
Space, The Final Frontier
These are the voy-voy-voyages of the Starship TICAL

As I walk in the shadow of death
Sixteen men on a dead man's chest
Your host this evening for H-O-T
N-I-S, you get splashed with the Tec
Nobody go, til the God say so
You got a second or mo', to run for the do'
Before I blow back off the map, contact
You didn't know stack, couldn't get down like that
Who want them test rocket launcher, YES
Mr. Meth, hold the fort, most def'
Kids is dead wrong, song's too long
Get swung on, can't we all get along?
See my pinkie, see my thumb
See that kid with the pawn shop gun?
Bust your gums, leave your whole **** numb
Mmmm now what's this? Smell like fish
Mr. Big Mouth, the gat be trout
You need to douche out your style no doubt
Johnny struck through the Shaolin slum
PRUM PRUM PRUM on my Shaolin drum
Niggaz don't dare, to step in the square
Kids ain't playin over here, PLAYA
Only one way, and that's my way
Grim Reaper callin, Judgement Day
(10) Ten let the countdown begin
(9) I was born in the mind
(8) Take the head of a snake
(7) Behold Armaggedeon
(6) Ain't no love for the rich
(5) Only strong will survive
(4) Cause we live by the sword
(3) Plus sixty degrees
(2) For the black and the blue
(1) For the sun.. step into millenium
The name of this one is Judgement Day
No more BS, can't come out and play
Don't blame me, blame society
Type of chemistry for a live MC
Hands in the air like you just don't care
You all get a share, there's a party over here
Year two-thousand, keep bouncin
T-Minus, thirty seconds and countin
New York's finest, still wildin, Shaolin
At the full moon howlin
Get Til It's Gone, killa bee kills
Only time will reveal like the words in the song
Cause love's what I feel for my crew, bust steel
Niggaz don't got to pay my bills
P.L.O. pack the slingshot flow
Plant the seed, let the garden grow
And stick that rhyme where the sun don't shine
Darts pierce your heart like a Valentine
Tis my Tale From the Crypt that's sick
Bloodbath, body baths and ****
U-F-C fightin championships
G.I. Joe's with the Kung-Fu Grip
Now you don't dare, to step in the square
Kids ain't playin over here, PLAYA
Only one way, and that's my way
Grim Reaper callin, Judgement Day
C'mon.. I said c'mon..
(10) Ten let the countdown begin
(9) I was born in the mind
(8) Take the head of a snake
(7) Behold Armaggedeon
(6) Ain't no love for the rich
(5) Only strong will survive
(4) Cause we live by the sword
(3) Plus sixty degrees
(2) For the black and the blue
(1) For the sun.. step into millenium
As I walk in the shadow of death
Sixteen men on a dead man's chest
Your host this evening, Mr. H-O-T
N-I-S, you get splashed with the Tec
Nobody go, til the God say so
You got a second or mo', to run for the do'
Before I blow back off the map, contact
You didn't know stack, couldn't get down like that
Who want them test rocket launcher, YES
Mr. Meth, hold the fort, most def'
Kids is dead wrong, song's too long
Get swung on, can't we all get along?
See my pinkie, see my thumb
See that kid with the pawn shop gun?
Bust your gums, leave your whole **** numb
Mmmm now what's this? Smell like fish
Mr. Big Mouth, the gat be trout
You need to douche out your style no doubt
Johnny struck through the Shaolin slum
PRUM PRUM PRUM on my Shaolin drum
Niggaz don't dare, to step in the square
Kids ain't playin over here, PLAYA
Only one way, and that's my way
Grim Reaper callin, Judgement Day
(10) Ten let the countdown begin
(9) I was born in the mind
(8) Take the head of a snake
(7) Behold Armaggedeon
(6) Ain't no love for the rich
(5) Only strong will survive
(4) Cause we live by the sword
(3) Plus sixty degrees
(2) For the black and the blue
(1) For the sun.. step into millenium

10.. 9.. 8.. 7.. 6.. 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1..
Step into millenium

Ten let the countdown begin
I was born in the mind
Take the head of a snake
Behold Armaggedeon
Ain't no love for the rich
Only strong will survive
Cause we live by the sword
Plus sixty degrees
For the black and the blue
For the sun..

Grim Reaper callin, Judgement Day

Answer 7

Many struggle with the Old Testament accounts of the wholesale destruction of some nations and cities by God. God destroyed the whole world civilization of Noah's day by a flood (Genesis 6:13) and whole cities by fire, such as Sodom (Genesis 19). In other cases, He ordered the destruction of Canaanite cities by the armies of Israel (Deuteronomy 7:1-2).

It is important to remember that, while God is a God of love, He is also a holy God, separate from sinners and perfect in righteousness, justice, and purity. The powerful seraphim are pictured as flying and calling, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty" (Isaiah 6:3). Judgment against rebellious and indifferent sinners is inevitable, apart from repentance, "for the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23a).

God had endured the idolatry, child sacrifice, and moral corruption of the original inhabitants of the land of Canaan for centuries. When He gave the land to Israel and ordered the destruction of the Canaanites it was both judgment on a people hardened against God and protection for Israel lest they be drawn into the corrupt life of the land's inhabitants. Our difficulty with these acts of judgment is closely associated with our failure to comprehend the purity of God and the sinfulness of mankind, including ourselves. According to the Bible, we all deserve not only physical death but eternal punishment—apart from the death of Jesus as our substitute. Our only hope for escaping the wrath of God is through repentance from sin and by faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord. In the words of Jesus, "Unless you repent, you too will all perish" (Luke 13:5)—stern words from a God who is patient with our failings. "[The Lord] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9).

Many people decide that the seemingly senseless acts of God's judgment are a valid reason to reject Him. But this is a serious error. Because God is just, He cannot excuse sin or act somehow as if it did not exist. But because God is also loving, He does not want us to have to endure the punishment we deserve for our sins. We do ourselves no good by thinking we have a greater sense of justice than God Himself. We must surrender to this truth: "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). You cannot save yourself from God's judgment—but Christ can, and He will as you commit your life to Him by faith.

Answer 8

The god of the Old Testament is certainly a terrorist. That's because that image is based on the Anannaki, people who were in that area mining gold.

Answer 9

...Unfortunately, you and lethal injections were not yet around.
...The Infinite Creator God needs no coaching nor counseling from finite men and women. His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Since God is holy, all-knowing, and all-together righteous in all He does, if He pronounces judgment on someone, He is fully just in His judgment and right in what He does.

Answer 10

I dont see how the word of God can come through anyone but a selfless man.

And a selfless man, would dare not put his name under the word of God to say he wrote it.

What does that make Paul?

Answer 11

Yes, this christian variety god is evil, hypocritical, and his son is a flat out liar. Apologist will say their god is all knowing, loving, and merciful, but the book he inspired says he didn't know people would do the things they do, he doesn't love the people he created as much as any loving father on earth does (when was the last time your father threw you in an eternal pit of fire for questioning him?), and is not merciful (i.e. he tells people to kill people for working on the sabbath).

The real reason the christian variety god is so violent is because he is the figment of a violent and charismatic leader's imagination. David wanted land that was occupied by someone else, so he gathered his people and killed the people that lived there. Moses didn't want any of his people to give their money, animals, whatever, to anyone but him and his friends, so he had the people of the neighboring villages killed and the virgins taken into sexual slavery. Those acts can be verified by archeology and written records outside the bible. That god gave them permission to do these things could not.

Christians themselves will tell you that not everything in the bible is to be taken literally. I contest that nothing in the bible should be taken seriously at all.

It seems that the only things that christians take seriously are the things their preacher tells them to take literally, and they tend to overlook the incredibly evil things their god does and justify it by saying things like "God's plan is greater than ours" and "god does not need to answer to us lowly humans and doesn't have to abide by the rules he created for us". As a matter of fact, we don't have to abide by them if we think he told us something to the contrary (ask old G.W. Bush, I'm sure he loves it when god tells him who's got weapons of mass destruction and what he should do to them...).

Overly violent? How about down right sadistic! Who kills women and children and orders the killers to take all the virgins for themselves? My first guess would be satan, but no, that's god's handiwork. Who kills everyone walking the earth, preachers, teachers, and children too, and justifies it by saying the world was wicked? Another of god's wonderful workings. Oh, and since when were children wicked and worthy of death? Who in their right mind kills all the first born children in a nation? During the Vietnam war, didn't we as a nation call soldiers who killed children "baby killers"? Same rule applies to god.

To make my point clear, an all powerful all knowing all loving god has more than one option. Killing should not be the first and only solution to everything from eating apples to talking back to your parents or working on Sunday (yes, god does command you to kill, or to be killed, for those things). And forget the "grace" argument, Jesus himself cursed a fig tree for not having fruit, even though it was not in season.

The bible is a fabricated bunch of fairy tales mixed in with some actual history, but is mostly an excuse for people to do bad things and not feel bad about it. It's the equivalent of a licensce before someone burns down your house, kills you, your wife and sons, and takes your daughters as sex slaves. They say they have the right to do so because god said it was okay. But a disclaimer for the act is all that it is, non-christians know that god (christian variety) isn't there, doesn't talk to anyone, doesn't give the green light to kill people, steal, plunder, what have you, and definitely doesn't answer prayers.

If you need proof, ask god to restore an amputee's missing limb. He'll give his church tons and tons of YOUR money to buy bigger, better, more elaborate churches. He'll cure cancer, save houses from wild fires, help you find your car keys or your way home, and he'll even give you a credit card (among millions of other trivial, mundane tasks, but only if he feels like it) but he will not EVER restore an amputees limbs, EVER. Feel free to prove me wrong, but my gods (logic and reality), say you can't. If your god restores a single limb, I'll convert on the spot. But if he doesn't, you got some soul searching to do.

Oh, and you pseudo Christians out there who think the old testament doesn't count, you forget that Jesus himself said that not one letter of the law will change until all is accomplished. If you aren't stoning people at McDonald's every Sunday, you are directly disobeying gods word! If you're still on earth then all isn't accomplished, idiots!

Speaking of Jesus, the only testament to his life has him quoted as saying to a gathering of people that the Apocalypse would happen during their lifetimes, two thousand years ago. I'm sure an all knowing son of god would be able to articulate himself properly, so obviously he meant what he said and lied to that gathering (hey, isn't that a violation of the commandments, or does he get a pass because he's the son of god?). Anyways, they're all dead now (i.e. they have ALL tasted of death! Every single one of them!) But I digress.

I know this has been a bit of a rant, but religious people really sicken me with their excuses (that are not in the bible, I add), for why their god is allowed to be evil and loving at the same time.

Christians, read your bible and apply common sense to it. Look at it as you would look at someone Else's god, and tell me what you think of it then.