How does Judges 1:19 fit into the concept of an omnipotent God?

Question

So let's look at the Bible from the angle that Christians do; that a main character in the Bible is all powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving. So let's look at one passage; Judges 1:19, and see if what it says fits into the concept of a God that can do anything.

"The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots."

Doesn't this mean that the Christian God CAN'T do everything, because he couldn't beat an army with iron chariots? Your thoughts, please.

By "A main character" I mean the Christian God, if it wasn't clear.

James E- Where does it say that God didn't want us to win the war?

hisgloryisgreat- Since it says that God was with the people of Judah, I would assume it was a loss for them both. God was with, I would think would mean that God was supporting them.

nogodlikemygod- Hmm... so you take that piece of the Bible figuratively... you don't believe that God was helping the Judah army? Or was his "presence" not enough to beat iron chariots?

: I apologize, but what does this have to do with Judges?

cmhelp1: And where did you learn this?

hisgloryisgreat: How does the change from NIV to KJV change anything? It just makes things worse. It says that HE did and couldn't do things directly, HE. Not they. Which means that God played a direct impact in the previous victory, and then couldn't stand up to the iron chariots. Congrats. You just strengthened my point.

tuberoot: So then God doesn't love everybody? That seems to be what is implied.

Answer 1

This is God's weak point! IRON CHARIOTS.

Answer 2

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QUOTE: " Skeptics say: "Some omnipotent God! He couldn't even drive out people with iron chariots!"…. He gave them success in the mountains, but NOT enough to take on iron chariots! The Judges writer is assuring the reader that in spite of Judah's failure in the valley, the Lord was with them.

http://www.tektonics.org/TK-JUD.html#ironchariots.html


QUOTE: 1. Places where a reason is given why the Israelites could not drive the people out -- as it happens there is but one example of this, in Judges 1:19, where the cause is said to be iron chariots owned by the enemy. Is this a case of God's promise failing? There are two reasons to say it is not. First, there is a certain proviso within the Deuteronomic contract:

Deut. 7:22 And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.

Given this proviso, it is manifest that there would be a certain point at which the Israelites would no longer achieve victory in battle, until such time as Yahweh determined that they were secure enough to gain control of more land. This is sound military and social principle -- don't overextend yourself. In this case the enemy is the "beasts of the field"; but should anyone doubt the threat of being overwhelmed by such creatures, let them take up an agricultural/pastoral form of living surrounded by unmanaged wilderness and find out for themselves where the danger lies. This proviso does well enough to answer a place like Judges 1:19 where the enemy possessed superior technology and could not be beaten. It may be noted that although Judah was out to get the Canaanites (1:10), the locales they conquered were Philistine territory (1:18)! This has all the bearings of an overextension of viable influence, and it is therefore likely that the proviso of 7:22 was kicking into effect.

http://www.tektonics.org/tsr/landpromise01.html
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Answer 3

If you read the prior Book in the Old Testament, you will see a pattern of behavior of the Children of Israel. They had daily miracles, literal and plural, and they still tended to look to thier own ways and judgements for figuring things out. When they finally turned to God, they got His wisdom and help.

You said:
"So let's look at the Bible from the angle that Christians do; that a main character in the Bible is all powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving."
It is important to know that God does not want everyone. There are those on the Earth who are His children, and those who will never be His children. He is all loving to those that are, and not to those who aren't. I thought that it would be important for you to know this. God has always been that way since the fall of Adam. The following descendants of Adam were kept as only a few, and it remains that way to this day. He only wants a few, a 'remnant' of us. If you do a word search on the word 'remnant' on biblegateway.com, you may see what I am saying is true.

http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=remnant&qs_version=31

EDIT: I was saying it implicitly. God does not love everybody. He hates also. It's important not to miss those parts in scripture when you are reading it. It has been sasid that the current ideology of the Christian God being "All Loving" occured with the hippies. It's a fallacy.

Answer 4

When this was first written there were no chapters or verses or even pharagraphing. If you look at Judges 1:18, it names a few places the men of Judah took. Right after that it says the Lord was with them. This is the writers way of saying that they won the battle. It would be as if a person just survived a car crash and their friend said, "someone up their must like you" it doesn't mean that the Lord was physically with them, it means that He was there in spirit and because of His presence they won.

Answer 5

Wooden Chariots with iron fittings…..going into they valley Judah did not believe they could do it...

Answer 6

No, that passage of scripture means that the Lord had already given the men of Judah favor to take the land, but they were unable to take it because of their own short comings and fears and doubts. God had already given them the land, but they themselves had to decide and believe in their hearts that God had given it to them. God told Joshua to go into the land of Canaan, along with the Israelites and each tribe was to take his inheritance, by driving off the people in the land. If they were not able to do, it is because they did not believe God. For the believer everything must happen by faith. No faith, no success.

Answer 7

Oh no that isn't what the scripture is conveying. There were peoples that God left in Canaan purposely to test the Hebrews of pagan worship. He told them that some of the people in the land of Canaan would be left for that purpose. There isn't anything that God the Almighty Creator of all things can't do if that's what He wants done. What can be intimidating to the God over all things?

God Bless You

Answer 8

Does it say that God couldn't or that Judah couldn't?

edti:

Judges 1:19 And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

King James bible

From my perspective, the purpose of the perverted version of the bible you are using is being revealed, which is to confuse and undermine the faith of those who are already weakened because they have been robbed of God's word.

Answer 9

I don't see how this proves anything...
I never thought God wants 'us' or 'whoever' to win battles we aren't supposed to either.