If one of the Ten commandments that God gave to Moses was Thou shall not kill, why then did God order the israelites to kill so many people.
2007-08-22 07:19:31 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Because the command is actually to not murder...which is to not kill someone without justification.
Since God gave the commandment and gave the command to kill Canaanites (because of their idolatry) its not a contradiction.
If a policeman drives over the speedlimit to catch a speeder, should the policeman be thrown in jail?
-Aztec276
2007-08-22 07:24:21 · answer #1 · answered by Aztec276 4 · 5⤊ 2⤋
I could guess the reason, but the authority that God has is what I really think that you are questioning. You and others want to point out an apparent inconsistency. I understand that, I am not angry or whatever by it. I actually expect it.
What people don't seem to get is that God is not a human. He is above human. His will takes precedence over all things. He owns it all. He made it all. He even makes some people to prove his word over their lives.
So as Jesus claimed to be Lord of the Sabbath, so did God claim to have authority over the law.
We might be able to draw an analogy with this. In this case, the police. There are speed limits posted on the streets all over the country. On freeways, turnpikes, roads of almost every description. But if a policeman needs to, he may disregard those signs, and even stop signs if there is a need to.
They have the authority to do so. They have the authority given to them by the legislators. And the legislators are given their right to make the laws because of the voters.
With God, there is no higher authority. And if He sees that it must happen, all sorts of things may happen according to His authority. That is why you see that order to kill. They were given the order by the most authoritative voice in the universe.
2007-08-22 14:40:18 · answer #2 · answered by Christian Sinner 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, to understand the 10 commandments - along with the hundreds of other commandments - the only way to start is by looking at who they were written to. They were written to the children of Israel. What is the context? The context is how the children of Israel were to conduct themselves so long as God was agreeing to dwell in their midst. All of the commandments given to Moses were given as terms of a covenant that God was making between Himself and the children of Israel.
So as long as the children of Israel would keep His commandments, the agreement was that He would continue to dwell in their midst. God dwelling in their midst ensured certain blessings which also happened to include giving them victory over all of their enemies. Whenever war ensued between the children of Israel and those who came out against them, pretty much whoever had the most still standing with a pulse at the end of the war had the victory.
So, considering who the commandments were to, the commandment not to kill was for them not to murder each other - along with the commandment not to steal each other's spouses. Anyone breaking certain commandments was ordered by God to be put to death to put away the sin from the midst of the people. It's the only way sin could be dealt with before Jesus came and took the penalty of sin - which is death - upon Himself.
Hope that helps.
Blessings,
Carol L. :)
2007-08-22 14:36:19 · answer #3 · answered by Carol L 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Israelites = believers
other people = non-believers
Thou shalt not kill only applied to killing believers in God. They were sent to convert people, and if they didn't, God said Kill Them..
2007-08-22 14:41:53 · answer #4 · answered by SisterSue 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The commandment was "Thous shall not murder."
The point is that the god of Abraham didn't mind certain kinds of killing at all. In fact, in one hissy fit he drowned 99.99999% of humanity - including the innocents, and even the land animals!
UPDATE to Mr. Aztec..
How exactly were the Malekite infants "speeding?"
2007-08-22 14:25:38 · answer #5 · answered by JAT 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
They were commanded to stone those who break God's commandments. They were not allowed to kill people by their own will. In Christianity there is no commandment to stone people.
2007-08-22 16:10:03 · answer #6 · answered by georsh50 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thou shalt not kill is a mistranslation of the Hebrew word raÌtsach...pronounced raw-tsakh' which means do not murder.
There is a big difference in killing and murdering.
If someone broke in my house and tried to murder my family and I fought with the bad guy and he fell and died, I didn't murder him but I was responsible for killing him. There is a difference.
2007-08-22 14:31:01 · answer #7 · answered by Ozark Hunt Kennel 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The commandment as read in hebrew translates roughly to thou shalt not murder.
Its a small difference, but it is a difference.
2007-08-22 14:31:39 · answer #8 · answered by Ray H 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because He was using them as "tools" to carry out His vengance against those people because of their idolatry...
Deuteronomy 9:4
"After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, "The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness." No, it is on account of the WICKEDNESS OF THESE NATIONS that the LORD is going to drive them out before you."
Its different if you are are trying to kill someone because you hate them...
2007-08-22 14:34:08 · answer #9 · answered by **** 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're asking why the promulgator of the law put an asterix after it.
That's His perogative.
2007-08-22 14:31:34 · answer #10 · answered by Uncle Thesis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋