Why would God through Samuel tell Saul to "kill... even their babies"? 1 Samuel 15:3 CEV
Why would God through Samuel tell Saul to "kill... even their babies"? 1 Samuel 15:3 CEV 1 One day, Samuel told Saul: The LORD told me to choose you to be king of his people, Israel. Now listen to this message from the LORD: 2 “When the Israelites were on their way out of Egypt, the nation of Amalek attacked them. I am the LORD All-Powerful, and now I am going to make Amalek pay! 3“Go and attack the Amalekites! Destroy them and all their possessions. Don't have any pity. Kill their men, women, children, and even their babies. Slaughter their cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys.”
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Asked February 21 2019
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Jack Gutknecht
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For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
Danny Hickman
When I call a question like, "What if God commands rape, would it be right" blasphemous, I'm calling that question "Worldly." I believe the person who does that is equating the act of rape with the act of killing.
That's a mistake! That's more than my opinion, that's fact!
The scriptures bear me out. Moses killed a man, an Egyptian, who was beating a fellow Hebrew. Here's how we know what was in his heart; (he knew it wasn't right). "So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand" (Exodus 2:11, 12).
David had Uriah killed because he'd gotten the man's wife pregnant while Uriah was away on the battlefield in king David's service (II Samuel 11:15). "Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die."
These two were as close to God as anyone; they wouldn't dream of raping a woman or anyone else! Neither would any other hero in the scriptures. It's very worldly to equate the penalty of death (by any means) to the most vile offense committed by one human on another!
Rape. Nothing compares to it!