I have always wrestled with
the violence of the Old Testament. It seems like someone is always getting
killed, whether it be impaling by spear, or hacked with a Ass’s Jaw bone, or
hit in the head with a rock, it’s a bloody story. It’s not even just the deaths
that are gruesome, as the losing side may have their thumbs cut off or their
eyes gouged out. I often Joke with
people who talk about reading the bible to their children “quite before Gen
34.” You have to read to find out what I mean. When my wife, Michelle, reads
the children’s Bible stories to my Son, Gabriel, I am often nudged into silence
for grimacing or mumbling the exact details under my breath. Much like…
Michelle: “And Goliath fell
on his face, and the people cheered for David.”
Me (whispering… of course):
“… as he cut off Goliath’s head with his own sword.”
Gabe: “What Daddy?”
Me (after nudge):”oh I was
just telling mommy something.”
I often do the same thing
with Bible songs… email me for renditions.
The underlying question is
this; How can God promote the kind of violence we see in the OT as he commands his
people to “drive out” (involving a great deal of killing) nations? I am not
talking about all of the OT violence. Most of the it, like that found in Gen 34
for example, is not “God approved.” These are simple the honest stories of
stupid, and violent, things God’s people often do… still true today by the way.
Coming to this question as a
parent has given me quite a different perspective. I would do anything to
protect my children. God often speaks in parental terms to and about Israel. At
times he disciplines them as a parent, and other times he protects them as a
parent. His end goal however, was not just Israel but the whole world through
Israel. God knows that we are easily distracted children who love to worship
whatever is in front of us at the time. This is not good for us.
“But if you do not drive out the
inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain
shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble
you in the land where you dwell.” Num 33:55
It seems to me that God has
a great deal of patience in the scriptures for a multitude of hang-ups. There
is one however that gets his “nostrils flaring” (the Hebrew word for anger),
idolatry. He made us in his image and yet in idolatry we worship the image of
something else. We make ourselves less than he made us to be leading us down
any number slippery slopes, all ending badly for us. God’s parental protection
and correction of Israel, which includes acts of Great violence, holds the
eternal picture in focus. Eighty years of life may seem like a long time to us
but to God and his plan, it is a mere blip on the screen.
What is it in our lives that
God wants to completely “drive out” so that we might not fall into idolatry? God
cares more about our character than our comfort. He is constantly calling us to
drive out what is not of him and live out of the promised land, our new self in
relationship with him.
God give us courage to life
from the new, not allowing our old selves to become barbs and thorns in our
ability to love you and reflect you to the world around us.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
