But what I'm wondering is not about the bloodshed, but about the supposed love? Can anyone give examples of Old Testament grand, amazing acts of love from the god?
Lets leave Jesus and the NT out of this as I know what you'll say. I genuinely would like examples of this god's love as compared to the frequent acts of his wrath. And creation doesn't count! That doesn't even show love, just an experiment.
2007-06-20 03:29:29 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Shaun, so you don't have any examples then, huh?
2007-06-20 03:35:50 · update #1
What, you want actual verses supporting a position, rather than opinions/ justifications/ rationalizations? Radical!
Searching OT for "love", the first occurrence which talks about God loving others is (as DcubeD said) about delivering the Israelites from the pharoah. It's phrased as 'He loves y'all so much, He actually delivered on the promise He made to your forefathers generations ago."
Is this act of love "amazing"? Well, it *did* require a whole bunch of miracles (seven plagues, Red Sea parting ... and 40yrs worth of manna while they looked for a place which could support them (Exodus 16:34)).
From Deuteronomy 7:
7:8 But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
7:13 And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
2007-06-20 04:00:41 · answer #1 · answered by sirpimmon 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well that's a new & different question. Good for you.
One example that pops to mind is Sodom and Gomorrah. Now I know the first thing you think of was the destruction of those two cities. However, what few people realize is that before those cities were destroyed Abraham asked God if he would destroy them even if he found 50 righteous men in the cities. Jehovah said ok go find them and I'll spare the city. (Genesis 18:26) When Abraham couldn't find 50 righteous men he went back and said basically, ok so how about 45 righteous men. What if I find 45 righteous men? (Gen. 18:28) and Jehovah agreed not to destroy the city for just because Abraham was 5 righteous men men short. On it went .. how about 40, how about 30, how about 20, through the end of that chapter. The final number was 10. God agreed not to bring down his wrath for the sake of 10 righteous men. That was love. Love and mercy. Obviously Abraham couldn't find even 10 men he could point to as righteous.
2007-06-20 03:44:25 · answer #2 · answered by Q&A Queen 7 · 2⤊ 3⤋
In the OT you have to realize that God had one on One contact (walking with/talking with) with different individuals. He is a jealous God and it displeased him to see what he created turn to such filth, however, god had love for his people at the same time so he spoke through prophets/special people in the bible to warn them to straighten out or suffer the consequences. Once God said something it happened for he tells no lies. If it wouldn't of been for the many prayers of Moses, god would of destroyed all the Israelites even though Moses just had just crossed the sea with them.
Like I said he is a jealous god and when the Israelites were making a golden calf to worship that really angered god so you see he can be merciful.
2007-06-20 17:52:42 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
He made the universe, He created Adam and made Eve for his companion.
His promises are kind. For example "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. " Proverbs 11:30
He gave us His Word through Moses. We have alot of information about Him through the Bible.
"May the Lord Smile on you"... Numbers 6:25
"I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born." Isaiah 44:2
"You shaped me first inside, the out; you formed me inmy mother's womb" Psalm 139:13
"He offers his friendship to the godly" Proverbs 3:32
2007-06-20 14:22:22 · answer #4 · answered by Ulrika 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well, God loved Solomon enough to make him the wisest man in the world.
(Of course, somehow, Solomon's wisdom wasn't quite great enough to keep Solomon from worshipping idols eventually - despite the supposed fact that he had not only actually conversed with God, but received a quasi-magical gift from him. It kind of makes you wonder just how competent God is at creating wisdom...)
God loved Adam and Eve enough to give them free will, (...and then damned them and all their offspring to burn in hell for actually using that free will...)
God loved the Hebrews enough to provide mana for them for years and years while they were wandering through the desert, (...of course, when they asked for a bit more variety in their diet, he slaughtered them...)
God loved Moses enough to make him a great prophet and allow him to perform miracles, (...and then he refused to let Moses enter the promised land because Moses had hit a rock too hard...)
See, there are _plenty_ of examples of the OT God being loving! And besides, since he's more powerful than anything else, he can do whatever he wants. Might makes right you know :P
2007-06-20 03:54:31 · answer #5 · answered by Azure Z 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
I'm not the one to cite verses from the bible, I'm an atheist through and through, but I'll add my two cents - that this is a question worth asking only for its knowledge of bible scriptures and that It fails to examine the basic validity of those scriptures ...in fact, it ignores the validity of the entire book.
I offer that one would be wise to keep this in mind: What written is not necessarily factual or true.
[][][] r u randy? [][][]
.
2007-06-20 05:04:16 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
here is my favorite example of old testament love:
Isaiah 54 1:10
1 "Sing, O barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband,"
says the LORD.
2 "Enlarge the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes.
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
your descendants will dispossess nations
and settle in their desolate cities.
4 "Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame.
Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youth
and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
5 For your Maker is your husband—
the LORD Almighty is his name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
he is called the God of all the earth.
6 The LORD will call you back
as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young,
only to be rejected," says your God.
7 "For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
8 In a surge of anger
I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness
I will have compassion on you,"
says the LORD your Redeemer.
9 "To me this is like the days of Noah,
when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.
So now I have sworn not to be angry with you,
never to rebuke you again.
10 Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace be removed,"
says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
**** I hope this is what you were wanting!
2007-06-20 03:56:40 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
"Come now ,let us reason together.Though your sins be as scarlet,I will make them white as snow".That's from Isaiah ,I think the 1rst chapter.
God is a merciful ,loving God .But He is also a just God.As for the Caananites He had wiped out ,they were given 440 years to repent of their horrible ,wicked ways .Which included ,sacrificing your first born on the red hot hands of the brass statue of Molech.Or burying the baby alive in the city wall for luck.Beastuality was common,not rare.Canalbalism was rampant.The priests of Baal regularly ate their human sacrifices. Don't cry for those knuckleheads any more than the Taliban or Al Queda.They are getting Justice.
2007-06-20 03:37:18 · answer #8 · answered by AngelsFan 6 · 0⤊ 4⤋
There are none, in all actuality. He is fashioned after the "War" gods that are found worshiped in the Middle East at the time. In fact, during the era of the invention of the Jewish/Muslim/Christian God (as they do worship the same OT God), the world appears to have been worshiping "War" Gods with terrible tempers and people who crossed them died horrible painful deaths. Those Gods could destroy cities in a single lightning bolt, etc. Does that sound familiar to the OT God? Amazingly it is.
2007-06-20 03:34:43 · answer #9 · answered by freezedried001500 2 · 4⤊ 3⤋
God forgave King David. Named him " a man after God's own heart "
2007-06-20 03:33:51 · answer #10 · answered by Nina, BaC 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋