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NASB | Psalm 115:3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Psalm 115:3 But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. |
Bible Question:
How can we follow a God that commands people to kill women and children as in 1 samuel 15:3? Sounds too much like militant Islam! Please help me with this one, I'm starting to lose faith. Thanks and blessings, Rob |
Bible Answer: Hi Rob, Your question is certainly not without merit! I can understand your concern. Let me answer it by first asking you some questions and then by looking at a few , specific attributes of God:-) You said you're starting to loose faith!? I would ask in Whom is your faith? What is your faith based upon? Is it upon the Lord Jesus Christ and His all-sufficiency? Have you placed your faith and trust in Him? (Rom. 10:9-10) Islam and Biblical Christianity serve 2 entirely different gods! We need to recognize a couple of things: 1. God is sovereign (Ps. 115:3). This means He is not dependent upon any outside forces nor is He beholden to His creation. Read Romans 9:13-21. Verse 16 reads: "So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy." 2. God is holy! A.W. Pink writes, "In Scripture He is frequently styled "The Holy One": He is so because the sum of all moral excellency is found in Him. He is absolute Purity, unsullied even by the shadow of sin. "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). Holiness is the very excellency of the Divine nature: the great God is "glorious in holiness" (Ex. 15:11). Therefore do we read, "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity" (Hab. 1:13)." God’s holiness is manifested in His works. "The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works" (Ps. 145:17). God’s holiness is manifested in His law. That law forbids sin in all of its modifications: in its most refined as well as its grossest forms, the intent of the mind as well as the pollution of the body, the secret desire as well as the overt act. Therefore do we read, The law is holy, and "the commandment holy, and just, and good" (Rom. 7:12). God’s holiness is manifested at the Cross. Wondrously and yet most solemnly does the Atonement display God’s infinite holiness and abhorrence of sin. How hateful must sin be to God for Him to punish it to its utmost deserts when it was imputed to His Son! We often confuse the love of God- the attribute of His being Love with that of His wrath. That is, He is a God of love, but His love allows- rather demands - that He be wrathful as well. Again, A.W. Pink writes, "There are three things told us in Scripture concerning the nature of God. First, "God is spirit" (John 4:24). In the Greek there is no indefinite article, and to say "God is a spirit" is most objectionable, for it places Him in a class with others. God is "spirit" in the highest sense. Because He is "spirit" He is incorporeal, having no visible substance. Had God a tangible body, He would not be omnipresent, He would be limited to one place; because He is spirit He fills heaven and earth. Second, God is light (1 John 1:5), which is the opposite of "darkness." In Scripture "darkness" stands for sin, evil, death; and "light" for holiness, goodness, life. God is light, means that He is the sum of all excellency. Third, "God is love" (1 John 4:8). It is not simply that God "loves," but that He is Love itself. Love is not merely one of His attributes, but His very nature. There are many today who talk about the love of God, who are total strangers to the God of love." In contrast, His wrath can be understood by this: "It is sad to find so many professing Christians who appear to regard the wrath of God as something for which they need to make an apology, or at least they wish there were no such thing. While some would not go so far as to openly admit that they consider it a blemish on the Divine character, yet they are far from regarding it with delight, they like not to think about it, and they rarely hear it mentioned without a secret resentment rising up in their hearts against it. Even with those who are more sober in their judgment, not a few seem to imagine that there is a severity about the Divine wrath which is too terrifying to form a theme for profitable contemplation. Others harbor the delusion that God’s wrath is not consistent with His goodness, and so seek to banish it from their thoughts. Now the wrath of God is as much a Divine perfection as is His faithfulness, power, or mercy. It must be so, for there is no blemish whatever, not the slightest defect in the character of God; yet there would be if "wrath" were absent from Him!" Because God is holy, He hates all sin; And because He hates all sin, His anger burns against the sinner: (Psalm 7:11., Is. 48:9). In 1 Sa. 15:3, God is merely being faithful to his Word and what He promised to His people, Israel. I hope this helps, BradK |