Expert: Brian Thompson - 8/26/2008

Question
QUESTION: An Atheist asked me if your God Jesus is love and love us then why He command Saul to killed every one including women and infant of Amalek ?

1 Samuel Chapter 15
15:2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.


ANSWER: Hi Nick

let me first say you will get nowhere attempting to explain the Scriptures to an atheist, it is apparent he is schooled in anti Christian apologetics. Atheists use the Old Testament to invalidate the New Testament. You may wonder why they would bother being knowledgable about something they don't believe in. God demonstrated his love by sending Jesus to be a sacrifice, the pure lamb we could not offer for ourselves.

God executed judgment on the Amalekites because of the nature of the people and your atheist is a spiritual Amalekite. The Amalekites were a people who had harrassed the Israelites for centuries. They represent those who attempt to thwort the plan of God. You will recall they attacked the Israelites in the desert and Moses fought a battle with them. It was their nature to pick off stragglers and to tear open the womb of pregnant women with the sword, in other words they were merciless and God judged them in like manner. According to your deeds be it done unto you.

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QUESTION: Thanks but your answer is according to Christian views.

how can we convince Atheist , Feminist , Humanist that killing infant is part of Lord Jesus 's love and it will benefit for human right.

Why not God command that adopt infant and raise as Jesus Lover instead of command to kill them ?


ANSWER: Nick
your response to my answer is argumentative of course my answer is according to a Christian perspective. I have no intention of giving you an atheist perspective which comes from a false premise that God should behave according to man's perspective. The reality is you will not convince these people and change a closely held view regarding God's love for them with human logic and examples from a book and a philosophy they regard as flawed and contradictary.

God knows the beginning and the end of all things and so he knew that the amalakite would be the enemy of the israelite as long as one remained alive. You should contrast this with the Palistinian and the Jewish states today. These are diametrically opposed people groups claiming the same land and having diverse but equally harsh religious views of thr righteousness of their cuase and this is no different in Old Testament times. There are people among these groups who will never change their view.

God knows that a culture is difficult to change this is why he told the Israelites to destroy the Cannanite peoples and he did not want his people contaminated by their ways and their religion. In a modern sense this is also true he does not want his people, Christians, contaminated by the atheist, feminist, humanist views of a modern society. The Israelites failed to destroy these peoples and were  in continual conflict with them even to today

The Amalekites lived a thousand years before Jesus and so could not be raised to know Jesus. Even Jews today do not know Jesus.

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QUESTION: you said

God knows the beginning and the end of all things and so he knew that the amalakite would be the enemy of the israelite as long as one remained alive.

I know this Calvanist ideology that we are predestined.Does  that means Amalek have no free will , they are predestined to be enemy of loving God ?

Answer
I don't subscribe to the Calvanist theory of predestination since we are all given free will. For example we are all predestined to be converted and arrive in paradise, however there are some who won't make it because they will exercise their free will.

What I said about the Amalekites goes to the nature of the people. It is they who made themselves the enemy of the Israelites, they exercised their free will, and God knowing the end of all things knew this would not change, he was able to see their behaviour through the ages.  . Think how savagely these people behaved towards a people they knew nothing about. They had centuries to change their attitude but they did not. God's love was available to them however so was his judgment for wrongful acts. It is the same in this age, there will always be those who are enemies of Christians because they don't like the message. God's love remains available to them but if they fail to repent they will be judged.

I think you need to understand that God is absolutely consistent but he did give us a way out because we could not find it for ourselves and that way is Jesus the manifestation of God's love. Because of Jesus, God has not judged this world and destroyed it, but the day of judgment is coming. Call that predestination, because it is absolutely certain.