Part 1 can be seen here
I apologize for the abrasive title in this guy's article but I took it as an opportunity to research and confirm God's word as righteous. Anti-Christians love to post/send these kinds of articles. When one digs deeper, they will find that these are usually "out of context" which is known as "twisted scripture".
Item 7
Killing Egyptian Babies
Let's be completely up front: The Egyptians and the Jews did not get along. According to the Bible, the Egyptians enslaved the Jews, but the Jews had God on their side, if you kind of ignore God letting his people be enslaved in the first place. Rather getting his worshippers the hell out of there, God wanted to show those damned Egyptians what for, releasing 10 plagues that began with turning the river Nile into pure blood, and ending with the slaughter of the first-born of every single Egyptian man and animal. Now, I suppose it's possible that some, or even most of these first-born were adults who were shitty to the Israelites. But some of them had to be babies who didn't even have the time to persecute the Jews yet. And what the hell did the animals do to the Jews to get caught up in this nightmare? Were there proto-Nazi cows running around who needed to be punished for their transgressions against the chosen people? And you realize there were cats in Egypt, right? Cats who had first-born? God killed kittens. (Numbers 16:41-49)My Response:
First of all, there is no proof that God killed kittens. That's a strawman argument. Other countries/cultures (who are not Christians) eat dogs for dinner, etc..
If one knows the story of how God chose Noah and his descendents (who later became abused slaves to the Egyptians), one would see that pharaoh rejected Moses' request to free his people (from slavery) so that they could be delivered to the land that God promised his chosen people. Once God chose his people, he was committed to sticking with them and helping them (even if it meant the death of those who were trying to kill/enslave his chosen people). One would also know God gave pharoah 10 chances to free his chosen people. Each time he refused, the plagues would get worse. All pharoah had to do was just listen and free God's chosen people and all would have been well.
The plague of killing the children (who were not protected with the sign of the pass over) was the last one. By this time, God knew pharaoh was not going to change his mind and was determined to kill/take down his chosen people. It's like a police officer giving a killer nine chances to put his gun down and surrender but on the tenth time, the killer was going to shoot the police officer. Is the officer expected to just stand there and allow the killer to kill him too? By having the children affected by the plague, it served to weaken/reduce the bloodline of a very evil civilization at the time to prevent an even greater generation of evil doers. Eventually Egypt would be conquered. God is just and his anger is a righteous one. I don't question it.
Item 8 Killing a Dude for Not Making More Babies
So you're a dude named Onan and you have a brother named Er. God does not care for Er, and kills him. Standard God operating procedure. Then things gets weird. Onan's dad orders Onan to have sex with Er's wife — not marry, by the way, just have sex with. This is actually pretty awkward for Onan, sleeping with his sister-in-law, and rather than give her any more kids (she had two with Er already) he pulls out. God is so infuriated that Onan did not fuck his sister-in-law to completion that he kills him, too. Now, you could argue that God demands that intercourse be used specifically for procreation, but given how much God loves killing babies and children, I don't think his motives here are exceptionally pure. (Genesis 38:1-10)
My Response
I addressed this one here in claim 12
But for convenience, I copied it here.
Item 9) Helping Samson Murder People to Pay Off a Bet
More evidence that God is possibly a low-level mobster: When his pal Samson got married, he was given 30 friends, and he posed them (a completely insane) riddle. Then he made a bet that if they could solve it in a week, Samson would give them all new clothes, but if they couldn't they would give Samson 30 pairs of new clothes. Well, Samson's wife wheedled the answer out of him and then told these dudes, at which point an angry Samson had to pay up. And here's where God comes in — literally, into Samson, giving him the power to murder 30 random people for their clothes. Only a true friend would help you commit mass murder to settle a completely stupid bet. (Judges 14:1-19)My Response:
One has to remember that Judges is an extremely violent book which shows what can happen when people stray from God. You had the rival Philistines (who worshipped false gods, committed unspeakable acts, child sacrifices, etc..) and a civil war amongst the tribes of the Israelites. Most everyone strayed from God. So much, in fact, that he had to send "Judges" to help get these people back on track. They would, for a while, but would eventually stray away again till the next judge came. Samson's foe was the Philistines in this case. That time was literally "hell on earth". Samson was given 30 companions by the Philistines. The Philistines had ruled at that time and were a serious threat to God's chosen people. It was not an insane riddle but rather a description of what he did to the lion that he had confronted, killed and then ate the honey from within the carcass.
"Out of the eater, something to eat; Out of the strong, something sweet". Delilah coaxed the answer from Samson at the request of the Philistine companions. So yes they cheated but knowing the very nature of who the Philistines were, Samson went to Ashkelon (one of the 5 chief cities of the Philistines) and struck down 30 of their men (as they were trying to kill him) and took their garments as payment to the 30 Philistine companions that cheated. The Philistines were going to keep brutally murdering/conquering God's chosen people. They worshipped false gods and did horrendous things to others including child sacrifices to their false gods. They were always going to be a threat to God's chosen people.
God is just in his righteous anger. This was not a ---- move.
Item 10 - Trying to Wrestle a Guy, Cheating, and Still Losing
And here's more evidence that God is a drunk maniac: Jacob was traveling with his two wives, his 11 kids, and all his earthly possessions and had sent them across a river. At that moment, a guy essentially leapt out of the bushes and started wrestling. It's God! They wrestle all night, and God cannot beat Jacob, so he uses his magic God powers to wrench Jacob's hip out of its socket. But Jacob still won't let him out of a headlock until God blesses him, because Jacob has figured out who this bizarre man is. God blesses him and wanders off, presumably to go get in a bar fight somewhere. (Genesis 32: 22-31)My Response:
Need to understand the context. God could have easily beat Jacob if he wanted to. He wanted to see what Jacob was made of. One has to remember that Joseph deceived his dad Isaac (with the wife of the blinded Isaac planning it all out) by stealing Esau's birth right away from him. This was a very disingenuous thing to do. Esau had promised to kill Jacob for this but ended up forgiving Jacob in the end. I believe since God knew Jacob deceived Isaac, God wanted to see if Jacob was dependable to lead God's chosen people.. I feel that Jacob, being a different man (when he was let go 14 years after being deceived himself), was given a test by God to see if he'd run away from God (which he would not have been worthy of leading God's chosen people) or if he'd stick around and wrestle with God to pass his test. Afterwards God called him "Israel" (ie, wrestles with God). It's not that God "cannot beat Jacob". He easily could. He was just toying with Jacob to see if Jacob would endure and thus be proven that he was a changed man and could lead God's chosen people. I've always felt bad for Esau (and I'm sorry for how his descendants turned out) as Esau was deserving of the birthright only to have it stolen from him by Jacob. And thus the "wrestling match".
Item 11 - Killing People for Complaining About God Killing Them
To be fair, after God freed the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, they were extraordinarily bitchy about not instantly being in a land of milk and honey. It got so bad that God was ready to kill all of them and let Moses start the Jews over, although Moses managed to talk him out of it. But one of their more sensible complaints was that Moses was lording himself over the rest of them, which was probably true, seeing as God had given him the 10 Commandments and all that. So Moses summoned the three tribal elders who had made the complaint to a Monday morning staff meeting, but two of them didn't come. Neither Moses nor God cared for that, and God opened up the grounds beneath their people's tents, killing both tribes (God also set fire to 250 Israelite princes who'd made the same complaint). Having been well admonished that Moses was putting himself above the rest of the people with God's permission, a number of surviving Israelites were kind of pissed that Moses and God had killed so many of their fellow people to prove a point. God responded by killing another 14,700 of them with a plague. The complaints stopped. (Numbers 16:1-49)My Response:
> But one of their more sensible complaints was that Moses was lording himself over the rest of them
Ummm.... God did chose Moses and Aaron to be the leaders. Moses had to "lord" himself over the rest as it was what God called him to do. Skipping the propaganda and sarcastic humor about Monday morning staff meetings, etc.., Those who would not wait for Moses' to come back from the mountain (while talking with God) resorted to idolizing a false god-a golden calf (one of the major major sins) and Moses had those who chose NOT to remain worshipping the calf come and follow him. Those who remained to continue worshipping the golden calf were instructed by Moses to be killed. They remained unfaithful to God even tho he led them out of Egypt, parted the red sea to protect them, etc..
In reference to Numbers 16, verses 19-21
19 When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the glory of the Lord appeared to the entire assembly.20 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,21 “Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.”These were not just people who were "complaining". They were actively disobeying God and opposing those who chose to obey God. Allowing them to continue on would have interfered with God's plan while presenting a serious threat to his obedient followers by those who chose not to obey.
Verses 22 thru 24
22 But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, “O God, the God who gives breath to all living things, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?”
23 Then the Lord said to Moses, 24 “Say to the assembly, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’”God listens to Moses and Aaron with mercy, understanding and grace.
The rest
25 Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 He warned the assembly, “Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.” 27 So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.
28 Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: 29 If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.”
31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. 33 They went down alive into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. 34 At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!”
35 And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.As creator of our universe, the Lord is just and righteous in everything he does. I do not question what he does without studying the scriptures and realizing that it was a "just anger". These people were not "just complaining", they were actively rebelling against the Lord and treated the Lord with contempt. The author once again was twisting scripture to support a false narrative.
Everything He Did to Job
Oh, Job. Other than a shit-ton of babies, no one had it worse in the Bible than Job, who was a righteous, good-hearted man who believed in God with every fiber in his being — which is when God decides to see how miserable he can make this dude before he gets upset. Note: This is a result of a bet between God and Satan. Also note: The bet is God's idea. He's literally just hanging out with Satan — which is kinda weird when you think about it — when he starting bragging about how awesome Job is. Satan points out that Job's pretty blessed — he's rich, he's got a lot of kids, etc., and he probably wouldn't be quite so thrilled with God if he didn't have that stuff. God downs his bourbon, presumably, and tells Satan he can fuck with Job all he wants. Satan does. He kills all of Job's children and animals, burns down his house, destroys his wealth, and then covers him in boils. Job doesn't not curse God, but he does wish he'd never been born (literally) and begs God to kill him, but no dice. This lasts a long time until finally Job wonders why a just God would be so shitty. This is when God pops up and basically tells him."Shut up, I don't have to explain anything to you." Job, having finally done something wrong, pleads for mercy, and God eventually gives him back animals and children — new ones, because the old ones are still dead. Because of a bet. That God made with Satan. For kicks. (Job 1)First of all, it's not what God did to Job. It was what satan did to Job as he was taunting God that Job only had faith in God because everything was going good for him. God answered that taunt by allowing satan to do what he wanted to Job (except for killing him) so that satan could show God that Job was not really being "faithful". Thru out all of this, God conquers satan once again by showing satan that satan the father of lies and the great deceiver. God rewards Job with much more afterwards. Job is definitely resting in heaven and was rewarded. That's a pretty good deal if you ask me.
The main theme in all of these points in the original article is that it twists scripture to force a narrative which was not the real case of what actually happened. By reading everything in context, it's pretty easily to put articles like this to bed due to what they really are: Twisting the scripture to paint a false narrative about God.
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