Atheist's Attacks
Answering Humanist's Accusations Against the Bible
Cruelty In The Bible?
Was God's punishment on Samaria unjust?
THE HUMANIST's CLAIMED CRUELTY: Hosea 13:16 describes a punishment from the Lord: “Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.”
This is the same as the previous accusation of "cruelty." In this case it is a prophecy about what will happen to Samaria, the North-ern kingdom. Hosea chapter 13, verse two describes the problem::
And now they sin more and more,
And make for themselves molten images,
Idols skillfully made from their silver.
As in every other situation we have looked at, God is being gracious and loving. He is warning the Northern Kingdom about what will happen. They have plenty of time to change their ways. However, they ignore the warnings.
God is using Hosea, a prophet to the Northern Kingdom, to inform them that He is withdrawing His protection. The most powerful empire at that time was Assyria. They were cruel, vicious, and murderous. Without God's protection Assyria would invade, ravage, and destroy the Northern Kingdom.
Why was God withdrawing His protection? Another way to ask this question is: Why was God withdrawing His blessing?
Read the second line of Hosea 13:2 again. The Northern King-dom had turned away from God. They were disobeying God, and in particular worshipping other Gods. As He always does, God, through Hosea in this case, warns them about what will happen. He will give them what they want. He will let them be protected by their "new" gods, who in reality are no gods at all. They have plenty of time to change their ways. However, they do not. They reject God. They leave God no choice, and He withdraws from them.
The result is that the Assyrians invade. The description of what would happen: "infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.” is a description of what the Assyrians would do, not what God did. The Assyrians were brutal. They killed everyone, often in very cruel and heartless ways.
Once again we see that God is not cruel or unjust. He was pro-tecting the Northern Kingdom from the brutality of the Assyrians, but the people of the Northern Kingdom did not want His protec-tion. They turned against God. Therefore, God gave them what they wanted... He withdrew His protection. The punishment perfectly fit the offense.
Conclusion: God is not cruel, but just. If we as a nation turn away from God... rejecting God... God gives us what we want... leaving us on our own.
Next example: Deuteronomy 32:23-25 says that after the Israelites incited God’s jealousy by worshiping other gods, he vowed: “I will spend mine arrows upon them. . . . The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.”
What is God doing to Israel? Get the answer, click here.
YOU DON'T HAVE A CHANCE
WITHOUT JESUS
What you believe does not determine reality nor truth. That would make you god. But you ARE NOT god. You don't control the universe. You cannot change reality. Let's try an experiment. At about midnight stand in the middle of the road just around a corner where it is hard to be seen... at night, wearing all black. When headlights start lighting up the curve, just believe that whatever is coming does not exist. Stand firm, if you don't believe a vehicle is coming, then nothing is coming. You are perfectly safe... until reality hits.
You are now standing before Jesus. You are dead. It's judgment day. You don't want to believe it's Jesus and you will be judged. But it is. That's reality.
Judgment only takes a moment, the verdict is obvious, and you know it is correct. You are guilty. You've lied, stolen and sexually lusted after others (Matthew 5:28)... you have disobeyed God. Trusting Jesus is the only answer, but it's too late. You had your last chance just before you died.
You know it's no use to protest, but still you scream out, 'I didn't know!'
But you did know. All of creation declared God's glory, His invisible attributes, and His power. You have no excuse. You willingly rejected Jesus Christ (God).
Is this you? Are you saying, 'Hell isn't so bad, I'll be with my friends.' You know that's not true. There are no friends in hell. No beer... not even water to cool your lips. There is NOTHING good in hell.
So I beg you, consider these words. Trust Jesus as having paid your penalty for every way you've have rejected God. Trust Jeus to save you from hell and bring you into the presense of God.
Trust Jesus. Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. - Acts 16:31