Expert: Marilyn - 10/16/2009

Question
Hi!  

I'm trying to work on a Bible study where God (or somebody ordered by God) destroys something and why He destroys it.  I'm stuck trying to figure it out and I was wondering if you can help me.  Thanks.  

All the information I can get is very much appreciated.  
God bless you!

Answer
Hello Daniel;

The first thing I'm aware of that God destroys is all life except Noah and his family in Genesis 6. This destruction is due to ripe sinfulness.

In Genesis 15:13-16 God gives Abraham the run-down on the future of his part of the world for the next four generations. In verse 16 He says, "...the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." The implication being that a nation doesn't experience God's wrath until it really deserves it.

Jonah is sent to Ninevah to warn the people about God's impending wrath for their sinfulness. They repent and are spared. So, it is possible to avoid experiencing one's full just desserts if one will repent.

In Jeremiah 18 God makes a series of "if,then" statements: verse 7, "If...I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted..., and if that nation repents, then I will relent;" verse 9, "...if...I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey Me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it," verse 11, "...Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from you evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions..."

The sins which can bring God's wrath down on you are: infant sacrifice, such as worship of Molech (Molech was a hollow metal idol within which the worshiper would build a fire and then place the infant on its hands thereby roasting it); worshiping Chemosh who also demanded child sacrifice, II Kings 23; making your teenage daughters have sex with whoever in the "sacred groves" as in worship of Asherah or Ishtar; worship of the various Baals, one of which "Baal-Zebub, a Philistine god named literally "Lord of the Flies," was the source of information about the future, which God strictly forbids (because it means you're not trusting Him to handle things), Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (By the time of Jesus the name had become Beelzebub. When the Pharisees used it to name Jesus, it was particularly insulting because it meant "Lord of Dung," Luke 11:15); sexual rottenness and specifically homosexual nastiness such as in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah where the handsome angels attracted enough attention that the lustful men were willing to bash down Lot's closed and locked doors so they could drag them out into the street and have their way with them, Genesis 19.

Idol worship is essentially demon worship.

God wanted the Israelites to drive out the idol worshipers who lived in the land of Canaan and take possession of the land. This action is a picture of the Christian walk where we are to allow Christ to take over our hearts and the territory over which we have authority and drive out evil. Joshua is given the task of leading into battle against: Hittites, name means "Sons of Terror," and for believers this allowing Jesus to transform us and fill us so that fear, depression, terror, phobias and deceit no longer have a place in us; Girgashites, name means "Clay Dwellers," their defeat means the end of backsliding, lack of faith, essentially a life mired in clay; Amorites, "Mountain People of Renown," their defeat means the end of gossiping, narcissism, arrogance; Canaanites, name means "Lowlands People," their defeat means the end of materialism, greed, excessive people-pleasing; Perizzites, "Village Dwellers," their defeat means the end of self-preservation in the sense that one looks to one's self for preservation rather than to God, laziness, low self-esteem in the sense of Beta dog behavior of lying down and hoping submission prevents the Alpha dog from ripping out one's throat; Hivites, "Villagers," their defeat means the end of short-sightedness, hedonism, small dreams; Jebusites, "Threshers," means the end of legalism, the end of the tendency to put people down, condemn, intimidate or accuse.

Joshua says, "This is how you will know the Living God is among you...He will drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites," Joshua 3:10

Sincerely,

Marilyn