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Addressing a meme about "God orders you to kill, kill, kill!"

Updated: Dec 29, 2023

This meme floating around social media. When defending our Christian faith, we will be approached with these kinds of verses. It can be daunting and overwhelming to respond back quick if/when a non-believer sends you a meme like this. I'll do my best to address each of these but it requires time for them to read/digest and to accept your answer based on biblical scholars who have had to deal with these types of memes since those who send them are motivated by attacking Christianity and are usually not interested in addressing the real facts about these verses. So this is primarily more for believers who might see these items and be shocked to learn that there are verses like this.



Credit:

These books were used for this so they get credit.


Dan Kimbrell and his book "How not to read the Bible" which can be found here

Paul Copan and his book "Is God a Moral Monster" which can be found here


 

First Item:

These verses are all from the Old Testament. Testament means "covenant". The whole purpose of the Old Testament was to guide a group of people (God's chosen people) and "set them apart" from the rest of the civilations (Canaanites, Amalekites, Medianites, Babylonians, etc..) that did not have any moral standards and would commit atrociously evil acts from "child sacrifice", "rape", "mutilation and torture", "chattel slavery" (and the type of slavery you saw in the 1700/1800's America) etc..

Pretty much every single one of these items were done away with via the New Testament (New Covenant) where Christianity was born. So as Christians, we follow the teachings of Jesus rather than this list below.

What today's western generation does not (or refuses to) accept is that these laws were written over 3000 years ago to a group of people who were enslaved by Egypt via the type of slavery that happened in the US in the 1700's/1800's. Since God wanted to "move" his people closer to his end game (ie, the New Testament), he had to gradually move them there. A research into ancient east history will reveal that Israel was one of the most highly moral nations. Slaves from other civilizations would escape to Isreal to become bond-servants, etc.. We are talking about ancient eastern culture.


As per slavery, why didn't God just tell them "No slavery"? First of all, today's skeptics refuse to really understand that we're talking about servitude, indentured servitude where people sold themselves to have their debts removed -or- to be provided for. They were allowed to go free (as per the contract) after 6 years AND their masters could NOT sells them as sex slaves or freely rape them or hurt them bad (or kill them without consequences.

As every other civilization at the time was practicing the real form of evil slavery and other atrocities, God knew he could not just tell them "Don't do any of those things from this point on forward". He knew that many his chosen people (many whom turned their backs on him time after time) would not go for it and would not follow God. So he felt he had to meet them halfway there and gradually move his people to the laws of the New Testament.


So why would someone sell themselves to a "master" or why would a father sell his kids to a "master"? With an open mind for the truth, this was 3000 years ago where govt benefits, welfare or social secuerity and food stamps did not exist. If you were poor and broke, you were on your own and would starve. If you could not provide for your kids anymore, you could let them starve to death or you could sell them to a master who would clothe, feed and house them in exchange for chores. Masters did not have the right to rape, sell as prostitution or murder them as per the laws God put into effect in Exodus. This is not at all like the slavery of the 1700/1800's US. That's important to know. Also, there was no "race" based slavery. Skin color mattered nothing. If someone sends you this meme, chances are that they're not willing to read my post as they have it in their mind that their goal is just to attack our God and say he's evil, etc.. There are so many books now that deal with these types of verses to reveal the truth.



 

Kill adulterers (Lev 20:10)


“‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death".


Old testament Law - No longer in effect. In fact, the NT forbids it.




For the above and MOST (if not all) of the verses in the list, the answer above can be applied to them. For each of these, ask yourself if Rabbis in Judaism have executed people in the last several centuries who violate these laws. These were laws put in place during the time God chose Israel and led them to the promised land in order to "seperate them" from other cultures who were practicing these attrocities.



 

Kill all witches (Ex 22:18)


"Do not allow a sorceress to live."

Again, an OT law not in effect with the NT or Christianity. Sorceresses engaged in vile/disgusting acts with others and attempted to lead people away from God. This law was put in place as a deterrent for anyone practicing witch craft in order to take people from God's chosen and lead them to false God's, etc..



 

Kill blasphemers (Lev 24:14)

“Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him.

Again, an OT law not in effect with the NT or Christianity.


The above was directed to one person. Where does that passage say "Kill all blasphemers"? It does not matter if it's Judaism or other religions. Even a fascist/communist govt will execute someone who speaks out against the govt as they will consider that blasphemy to the govt. The only unforgivable sin is the blasphemy that the pharisees committed against Jesus as they knew he was the Son of God and still went forward to conspiring against him. We are forgiven if we curse and ask for forgiveness.


 

Kill false prophets (Zech 13:3)


"And if anyone still prophesies, their father and mother, to whom they were born, will say to them, ‘You must die, because you have told lies in the Lord’s name.’ Then their own parents will stab the one who prophesies."


Ok this is a classic example of twisted scripture. This is an actual prophecy by God to Zechariah about visions of hope when God's reign will be recognized by the whole world and cleanses the world of sin. This has not happened yet today. It is so easy to propagandize the Bible when verses are taken out of context and isolated on its own. "Never read a bible verse", read the verses above and below and it will change the whole meaning like it did with this verse. False prophets are evil and willingly satisfied to lead people away from the Lord. There are many today. You don't see Christians hunting them down and killing them. The verse is ludicrous.

 

Kill fortune tellers (Lev 20:27)

“A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be ystoned with stones; ztheir blood shall be upon them.”


Context: God is leading his people to the promised land having freed them from the clutches of Egypt. In order to set apart Israel from other civilizations, God wanted to be their only God. Rules like this verse are warnings for capital punishment to keep Israel holy. The ramifications for one engaging in the occult put God's people at risk.


 

Kill anyone who sins (Ezek 18:4)

"For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die"


It's a proverb about Israel. This is referring to the unrepentant sinner who will not inherit the kingdom of God to live forever, but will be dead instead in hades.


In other sections of the Bible when you hear "shall surely die", it does not mean you'll be struck down with lightening and killed instantly. It's a metaphor about not receiving eternal life.


 

Kill the Curious (1 Sam, 6:19-20)


 Kill the curious is propaganda as it implies anyone who is curious about anything.

First Samuel 6:19–21 explains that the ark's return to Israel was not entirely positive. God killed seventy men of Beth-shemesh, the place where the ark had been returned. Though they were celebrating the return of the ark from the Philistines, these men acted carelessly and inappropriately. Their deaths seem to be punishment for profaning the ark, probably by looking inside it. The townspeople recognize God's holiness, so they ask the people in Kiriath-jearim to take the ark. People were warned not to gaze into the ark. I don't condone deaths of anyone but God's anger is a righteous anger.


 

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