Results 1 - 2 of 2
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Studying O.T. is creating problems. | Genesis | skip | 84664 | ||
I am becoming increasingly baffled by God as He is portrayed in the O.T. Why did he condone slavery, polygamy, and war? If He is the God of love, why did He so ruthlessly destroy so many nations? Why did He want His holy temple to be a slaughterhouse? The number of animals sacrificed daily must have been mind-boggling. I love Jesus with deep gratitude and adoration, but I fear this God of the O.T. The more I study the O.T., the more wary I feel about God, and I know it shouldn't be that way. What am I doing wrong? Skip |
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2 | Studying O.T. is creating problems. | Genesis | Just Read Mark | 84688 | ||
The Bible is very strange, and very wonderful. I find that people often "rationalize" the weirdness out of the Bible, but often those explanations can feel very thin. God does not fit in our boxes. I see part of the Old Testament as a challenge to me: will I worship God, even though my sensabilities are shocked? I think God can speak to us in all kinds of cultural situations, and in the midst of our brokeness. So practices that are less than ideal (ie. polygamy) didn't seem to block people's relationship with God the way we might expect. There is grace there, I think. Looking at historical context can help too. The story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son is a total shocker. But I've heard that child sacrifice was quite common, and this was God's way of putting an end to it -- substituting the sheep. This, then, becomes a profound (and still troubling) act of grace. Of course, that sheep was a prefigurement of Jesus -- the ultimate sacrifice. I think that, in some ways, seeing the violent justice of the Old Testament (in the prophets as well as histories) helps us to understand how merciful the Gospel of Jesus is. I read the Old Testament with armed with both wonder and an acceptance of ambiguity. So many parts of it I still don't understand, or I find morally difficult, but God still meets me in the text. I pray that God will open his word to you, Skip. I ask that, for myself, all the time. Do you pray through what you read? |
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