
The following repost is authored by Dr Paul Coulter. Dr Coulter has a background in medicine, and also holds degrees in theology and genetics. After leaving his medical career, he worked for six years for a church in Belfast and now lectures full time for Belfast Bible College. He is passionate about the word of God, the local church and relating the Bible’s message to contemporary culture.
A number of cases of mass killings of people, apparently at God’s behest, are recorded in the Old Testament:
1. The Flood (Genesis 6-8)
2. The cities of the plain, including Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18-19)
3. The Egyptian firstborn sons during the Passover (Exodus 11-12)
4. The Canaanites under Moses and Joshua (Numbers 21:2-3; Deuteronomy 20:17; Joshua 6:17, 21)
5. The Amalekites annihilated by Saul (1 Samuel 15)
The first three examples are similar in that there was no human agent involved – in each case it was God, or an angel of God, who carried out the mass killings directly. The mass killing of the Canaanites is the first of two cases in which the text claims that God’s people, the nation of Israel, were commanded by Him to attack other nations. For this reason, this case will be the focus of this study.
To read the rest of this excellent study, please click on the direct link below:
https://www.bethinking.org/bible/old-testament-mass-killings
Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!
Excellent article, Bruce. Thanks for passing it along.
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Very helpful article. Thanks for sharing
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My pleasure, Andy. Blessings!
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