Why did the GOD of the Old Testament say to KILL all the NON-BELIEVERS ?

Question

"Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the LORD must be destroyed. (Exodus 22:20)

They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. (2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB)


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Answer 1

Isn't it correct.. What's wrong in it.

Answer 2

Both referred solely to citizens of the Nation of Israel, who had voluntarily entered into a covenant with the God of that Nation, violation of which carried the death penalty. The idea of imposing it on outsiders came from followers of the the New Testament and the Koran.

Answer 3

The New Testament offered us a NEW COVENANT with God. We are saved by Grace, not by fruits. Jesus came and died on the Cross for the Sins of all man [past, present and future]. No requirement was given.

We just need to claim that Mercy that's rightfully ours. But how can you claim that Mercy if you do not believe? People say that they want to be saved yet they do not believe in the person who came to save? dum dum dum

With the Death of Jesus, we gained Eternal Life thus, Life Afterdeath. Upon our death, we shall live, eternally with the Lord. Death is a means to gain that Eternal Life. This, i think, has been strongly misunderstood by the Fundametalists since they promote suicide. So let me rephrase, Death in accordance to God's great design [either natural or accicental but never intentional] is a means to gain Eternal Life.

Answer 4

Take it in the historical contents in which it was written... The bible and the OT were the musings, folk lore and fairy tales and bent history of a group of starving stone age shepherds living in the middle east.... a horrid place to live then, and it is still today, isn't it? The God of Abraham was the god of the Tribe of Israel, and it only relates to any one not of that tribe, as do the 10 commandments.... it was fine to kill your enemy, (and that is what this passage means) to screw his wife, to steal his goats and so on.... it just couldn't be a member of that tribe...murder anyone you wish.... for any reason at all... just not a member of the tribe of Israel..... The 10 commandments are patterned about word for word of the 12 Denials that came from Egypt, and preceded Moses by some 1200 years... The history of this tribe is the OT. Other stone age tribes had their own, as well, and they all traded goods, ideas, folk lore and wives when they all weren't trying to kill each other... It's just folk lore, hon, nothing more, and for sure not to be taken very seriously, particularly since thru 2000+ years translations via several languages and countless scribes have pretty much bastardized the concepts.

Answer 5

These verses deal with the nation of Israel, God's people. Because of all the works He did for them, to bow down or worship anyone or anything else would be an absolute insult to Him. God will not share His glory or throne with anyone or anything. He takes the first commandment very seriously, God takes sin seriously. Bottom line, God is totally sovereign over the universe, He can pretty much do what He wishes, when He wishes, with whom He wishes. It is His universe and He makes the rules, get used to it.

Answer 6

I think that the point was to keep the Israelites separated from those who worshipped other gods to prevent them from being tempted to serve other gods and fall away from the worship of the one true God. In the Old Testament, whenever the Israelites let idolatry into their midst, the whole nation turned away and began to worship other gods--when it got to that point, God judged them severely (led them away to captivity, allowed their enemies to rule over them, caused plagues and disease, etc.) to cause them to repent and return to worshipping God.

It is important to note that killing of unbelievers was not practiced the New Testament. Indeed, there are examples in which someone who initially opposed the gospel became great preachers, such as the apostle Paul. Paul initially persecuted the church, but, after Christ appeared to him in a vision, he became one of the greatest preachers and missionaries of all time (see Acts 26:9-23). As such, it is important for us now to follow the examples in the New Testament to spread the gospel to unbelievers (rather than killing them) so that they can also "come to the knowledge of the truth," as God desires (see I Timothy 2:1-4).

Answer 7

Years earlier God caused a flood to destroy the inhabitants because as the bible said, "every inclination of the hearts was only bad all the time."
Jeremiah wrote about the people of that time how they worshipped sex. They had temple prostitutes of little girls and little boys. Who's whole life was spent serviceing the people who came to worship sex. They made their first born child pass through the fire. Which was they threw children into a burning, firely pit and beat drums to drown out their little screams. They used the heads of the people they over came in battle as balls for the children to play with. A more brutal cruel or out rageous people ever existed. tortureing captives was a form of intertainment to the royality. Did those people deserve to live? Well, they didn't do their job of destroying them completely like they were told to do and they in time corrupted the Isrealites. Who also begin calf worship.
Sex worship and worship of the stars. They were a brutal people who lived alongside a pastorial people who tended their sheep and actually had laws from God about using and abusing others. Would we want a nation to live and bred and produce people who did those things? If they were not a native and they were a captive. There life meant nothing to those people.
You keep talking like God wanted to destroy a little family with children situation like it was what we have today.
Men used women to reproduce, older ones they burried alive.
Like a cow that quit producing that is sold as food.
Little girls were used for diviant sex as well as little boys.
Babies burned alive to false god's and yes they were told to destroy them.

Answer 8

He did not specifically say for us to kill non-believers. He simply said they would die for not believing in Him. God is the only way. To believe in a false god is going to send you to hell.

You are confusing the God of the Bible with the god of the Koran. The god of the Koran told his believers to kill. Get it right.

Answer 9

Perhaps because the god of the old testament (YHVH) is vicious, power hungry, and downright nasty. Thankfully he lightened up or was replaced by the time we get to the new testament.

Answer 10

Jesus tells us in the new testament:

"But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me." (Luke 19:27.

Murder isn't really murder if it is done for Jesus. The overriding commandment in the bible is to follow Jesus. Everything else is secondary.

Answer 11

That is OLD testament. Try reading the new testament, the one that says the old testament is obsolete.