If God is all-powerful, why did he need the Israelites to kill for him?

If God could strike Ananias and Sapphira dead in the NT, then why did he need the Israelites to conquer and genocidally kill neighboring towns and cities for him in the OT? Was it so he could see his "chosen people" become corrupted by their murdering and pillaging? Or does he just enjoy watching his creation fight amongst one another?

Instead of commanding his chosen people to break his commandment of "thou shalt not kill", why didn't he just snap his fingers and "poof" those who worshiped and sacrificed to other gods out of existence? Why the need for the bloodshed? Why the need to throw some of his chosen people onto the sword in their attempt to conquer others?

What is the purpose behind him pitting his children against one another in war and genocide, ordering his people to take slaves of those they conquered, and killing the animals and children of said people? Why?

God did it because he thought it would be a novel way to increase your thread count.

He works in mysterious ways indeed!

a reply to: Elton

Why even post if you're going to ignore the question asked in the OP?

originally posted by: 3NL1GHT3N3D1
If God could strike Ananias and Sapphira dead in the NT, then why did he need the Israelites to conquer and genocidally kill neighboring towns and cities for him in the OT? Was it so he could see his "chosen people" become corrupted by their murdering and pillaging? Or does he just enjoy watching his creation fight amongst one another?

Instead of commanding his chosen people to break his commandment of "thou shalt not kill", why didn't he just snap his fingers and "poof" those who worshiped and sacrificed to other gods out of existence? Why the need for the bloodshed? Why the need to throw some of his chosen people onto the sword in their attempt to conquer others?

What is the purpose behind him pitting his children against one another in war and genocide, ordering his people to take slaves of those they conquered, and killing the animals and children of said people? Why?

Sadism? Or perhaps it's simply the vicarious sadism of the people who wrote the Bible.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Because Satan ordered his nations (the rest of the world) to kill for him. You should understand, that human history as it occured is a result of Satan requesting an appeal trial to his sentence of condemnation. Therefore, to satisfy a fair trial, Satan has certain rights, and God is obligated to follow certain rules. At the fall of Nimrod's kingdom, Satan inherited the gentiles, and God was reserved His own representative on earth (Israel). The context of "thou shalt not kill", is murder. When it comes to killing human sacrificers, by God's direct orders, it is not murder, but justice. There have been times when God requested Israel to kill men, women, and children. In these instances, when Israel failed to carry out these orders, those very nations became a threat to Israel years later. God created us, therefore it is His will to determine how and when we wil die.

Lets see...its all a charade for Gods entertainment....Its how he views his creation....through the eyes of us humans....He can be inside anyone anytime looking out at his universe...after all He made it...everything...even evil...he confessed to it on the bible I read so long ago.....
And I thought...you skanky old God....You started all this weird horror show....just to look out of our windows....while we kill rape and maim each other.......
Then I said to myself this God muist be a pervert of the worst possible kind......
He sounds almost...well.. almost..............................................................human....

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

So god felt the need to stoop down to Satan's level and order his nation to kill for him?

If the nations who were a threat to Israel needed to be done away with, god could have easily just waved his hand and made them disappear. It would have resulted in the same outcome, no? And it would have saved some of his chosen people suffering and death, also PTSD.

To think an all-powerful god is obligated to do anything is ridiculous in my opinion. He was obligated to whom? Himself? This brings to mind the omnipotence paradox.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Why did you mother make you do all your own house work when she could have done it all for you?

Cause she was too lazy?

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Like I said, humans are the deciding factor of Satan's appeal trial. In order for justice to be served, Satan must have rights in his trial, and God must respect those rights. Death is a big deal to us on earth because we have to face it, but death is merely the initiation of eternal existance.

You want a god who does not play by the rules. Perhaps you should consider becoming a Satanist.

a reply to: ketsuko

Comparing killing babies to housework?

LOL.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

What do Satan's rights have to do with killing women and innocent children? How did killing those people respect Satan's rights in any way?

What are the rules? That since Satan killed innocent people that means God has to too? That doesn't make any sense.

Now youre getting the picture...keep searching youre close I can tell.......

Where is the proof that God told them to do any of this? Just because they wrote it down in a book doesn't mean that it is true.

a reply to: buster2010

It's pretty obvious that the Israelites attributed their own genocidal tendencies to a god in order to justify their actions. Also to make people fear the god they invented.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Its disappointing when I have to repeat myself to you. It gives me the impression that you are here to whine rather than understand. There is a forum for that, its called the 'rant forum'. Now, please read and understand.

God is all-knowing, and He created each of us. He knows all possible outcomes of all of our decisions. Many of Israel's enemies were idol worshippers and human sacrificers. Had God let certain tribes live, they would have been a threat to His people. They would have raised their "innocent" little children to be idol worshippers and human sacrificers as well. In fact, this is what happened, when Israel did not exterminate certain corrupt tribes. Had Israel listened, they would have been better off, but instead they wound up mixing with the pagans and even adopted child sacrificing as a custom.

Those gemtile children were better of dying before the age of accountability, so that they could go to heaven.

Now, I know that this is hard for you to swallow, but its reality. Some nations raise their children to be monsters. Get over it.

originally posted by: buster2010
Where is the proof that God told them to do any of this? Just because they wrote it down in a book doesn't mean that it is true.

Excellent point. To be entertaining, stories need drama and killing people is pretty dramatic. Also, the threat is implied that if you don't believe in God and do what the Bible tells you to do, the same could happen to you.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

Like I said before, if God struck Ananias and Sapphira dead without bloodshed in the NT, then why couldn't he have done the same in the OT? Was he not as powerful as in the NT that he had to have others do it for him?

Your answer is all fine and dandy if you ignore the fact that god was more than capable of doing the killing himself, in a much less messy way. He would have even saved the pain and suffering of those Israelites who did die during their conquests.

You aren't understanding the question I'm asking. Is that willful or are you just not understanding unbeknownst to yourself?

originally posted by: BELIEVERpriest
a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Because Satan ordered his nations (the rest of the world) to kill for him. You should understand, that human history as it occured is a result of Satan requesting an appeal trial to his sentence of condemnation. Therefore, to satisfy a fair trial, Satan has certain rights, and God is obligated to follow certain rules. At the fall of Nimrod's kingdom, Satan inherited the gentiles, and God was reserved His own representative on earth (Israel). The context of "thou shalt not kill", is murder. When it comes to killing human sacrificers, by God's direct orders, it is not murder, but justice. There have been times when God requested Israel to kill men, women, and children. In these instances, when Israel failed to carry out these orders, those very nations became a threat to Israel years later. God created us, therefore it is His will to determine how and when we wil die.

I guess you're going to have to prove all those claims. Pending that, it's just your opinion.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Like I said before, if God struck Ananias and Sapphira dead without bloodshed in the NT, then why couldn't he have done the same in the OT? Was he not as powerful as in the NT that he had to have others do it for him?

Well, if God had done all the cleaning for Israel, then Israel would have never learned the importance of following instructions. They would have been that child that runs to his parents everytime a bully challenged them, and they wouldnt have learned that freedom has a price.