Thou Shalt No Kill - Part One - Reprisal

Remnant said...
1Sa 15:2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. 1Sa 15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. Reconcile that to your theory!

Actually there is nothing to reconcile. In the passage you gave above. The Lord God spoke to Samuel about his desire to exact revenge upon Amalek for what was done to Israel. In turn Samuel relayed this message to Saul. Saul was the facilitator of God’s revenge.

The Old Testament is full such instances. You have to bear in mind that in nearly every case God himself or one of his messengers commanded on God’s behalf for it to be so.

Any killing in the Old Testament after Cain killed Abel that is done authoritatively by one of the Patriarchs was done by either being told directly by God or by one of the Messengers of the Lord on behalf of God. Remember these are just stories of biblical historicalness, they are not a teaching. God’s commandment “Thou Shalt Not Kill” disabuses any notion that all the killings and war campaigns are acceptable in the future.

Only God has the prerogative of revenge as stated in Romans 12:19. I am sure you don’t need me to quote this famous passage? It is almost quoted as much as John 3:16. Pure and simple. Only God has the right to exact Revenge. Man is forbidden to act out an act of Revenge.

God will exact his revenge upon the day when he ushers in the Great tribulation. No where in the Bible does it say that God will exact his revenge upon the sinful man prior to the Great Tribulation. But then again it does not say he won't either.

Yes God commanded a lot of innocents to be killed during the Old Testament, but that is his prerogative, not ours. This is one of those things we hate: “Do as you are told, not as I do”. We can only kill when God orders it directly by appearing to us or by sending one of his servants from heaven to give us the said message.

Let’s fast-forward to the 35th verse of chapter 15 of the book of 1st Samuel: And Samuel came no more to see Saul; and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
Did you catch that? “THE LORD REPENTED” This is not the only time he has probably repented after doing something. Back in Genesis after the Great Flood, God looked at what he had done and may have had a repentive heart and so gave us a sign to prove what he would never do again.

God loves us, his creations; he does not really want to kill us. But he is a jealous God and is very protective of his chosen. But also their have been times when God has allowed the enemies of his chosen to defeat his chosen to teach them a lesson.

Yes in his repentive state, he decided to setup the prophecies that would usher in his only begotten son. And then God went quiet for 400 so years waiting for the proper time to bring his son into this world. After he had retrieved his son back into heaven to sit at his right side, God has gone quiet again. No one has had a visitation from God or one of his messengers since. And if any happens to claim he is receiving messages from God, the vast majority will site scripture and proclaim this person a false prophet. After all Jesus did say there will be many false prophets that will come after him. God is waiting again for the proper time to send is Son back to us in his final and everlasting Glory.

No where in the Gospels or the Letters written to the various nations does Jesus command any killing or command any act of revenge. Jesus came to teach us love, forgiveness, the love of neighbor, love of God and to finally sacrifice himself for our sins and transgressions.

Jesus' very actions as described by the Gospels in the New Testament often contradicts some of the natures of God in the Old Testament. Jesus hung out with sinners. He healed the Gentiles. He came for all whereas God was for his Chosen. Hence the names of the two collections. "The Old Testament" and "The New Testament"

Look at the Definitions of the Word Testament:

Something that serves as tangible proof or evidence: The spacious plan of the city is a testament to the foresight of its founders.

A statement of belief; a credo: my political testament.

Law. A written document providing for the disposition of a person's property after death; a will.

Testament Bible. Either of the two main divisions of the Bible.

Archaic. A covenant between humans and God.


No, there is nothing to reconcile.

Go and live the Gospel.