God Supports Cannibalism, Infancticide and Genocide

Pro's argument: “Cannibalistic: Leviticus 26:29 - You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. Infanticide: Lamentations 4:4 - Because of thirst the infant’s tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth; the children beg for bread, but no one gives it to them. Exodus 12:29 - At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Genocidal: Jeremiah 50:21 - Attack the land of Merathaim and those who live in Pekod. Pursue, kill and completely destroy them, declares the Lord. Do everything I have commanded you." I will address each of these individual charges one-by-one after I provide arguments of my own. We will proceed on the common understanding of the words of the resolution: Cannibalism: People eating people. Infanticide: Killing of children. Genocide: Killing of entire people groups. I am not arguing that God never did these things. These acts have one thing in common: death. I will argue that instead God’s will is life. If I can show that, then he obviously does not want death, and each of these events must have another motivation. Premise: God’s Will is Life Foundation Texts:1. Genesis 1:9: And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.2. Genesis 1:16-17: And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.3. Genesis 3:15 (Speaking to the Serpent, Satan): And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 4. Genesis 3:22: And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:5. Romans 5:12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:6. Ezekiel 18:4: Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.7. Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.8. John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.9. 1 Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slack (slow) concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering (patient) to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (emphasis added)10. John 10:10: The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly. Point 1: God Created Life When God created the world, he ordained life. Death was not in the world, as evidenced by text 5, when it says “as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin...”. Death did not enter until sin. God created the Tree of Life, which, as evidenced in text 4, resulted in eternal life. This was clearly his will for man until the Fall. Point 2: Death came from Man Texts 4 through 7 make this clear. God did not take away man’s key to eternal life until after he sinned. Why did he do it? Out of mercy. “In mercy, God protected Adam and Eve from the horrible fate of having to live forever as sinners by preventing them from eating from the tree of life.” [1] Death is the result (wages) of sin. Sin came from man. Therefore, death came from man, and as the verse in Romans 5 states, we are all condemned to death, because we have all sinned. But because this was not God’s will, he provided a way out. Point 3: The Gospel Restored Life Look at text 3, which “has been called the protoevangelium, the first gospel. [Martin] Luther said of this verse: "This text embraces and comprehends within itself everything noble and glorious that is to be found anywhere in the Scriptures.” [1] In this verse, God himself prophesied of the victory that was to come, the Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ, as told about in Text 6. His sacrifice on the cross provided the way to once again access eternal life, so that “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” All one must do to regain that which was lost and escape judgment (death) is to believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God and is God; that he has taken our punishment upon himself and paid for our sin when he died; and that he was resurrected the third day and is alive now. (See Romans 10:9) Conclusion: God’s Will is Life God created life, and only brings death as judgment when man rebels. He is just. But even in his justice, being not willing that any man should perish, he provided a way out through his Son, Jesus Christ. He took our punishment upon himself so that we could live. (Text 10) Therefore, it is clearly his will that we live. Therefore, he couldn’t possibly want, as an end in itself, death of any sort. Let’s look at each situation individually. Here is a quote from one of your debates: "We exist because God exist." (http://www.debate.org...) You believe in God! "What!" You exclaim: "I was quoting the other side!" See how important context is? Let's apply that to the Bible. Context. 1. Cannibalism (Leviticus 26:29) This is a curse promised Israel if they do not obey God’s law. In this chapter, God makes a covenant with Israel, the people who he has delivered from slavery in Egypt. Notice verses 18, 21, 23-24, and 27-28. I’ll quote the first: “And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.” These verses are interspersed throughout the passage; this is a progressive curse. He’s not destroying them the first time they disobey, he’s punishing to draw them back. If they obey, he blesses (Verses 1-13); if they disobey, he curses. “These verses describe a progression of rebellion. God brought these curses slowly to a disobedient Israel, desiring repentance; but if Israel would not repent, the curses intensified.” [2] The verse quoted, 29, is a horrific curse that God was by no means willing to bring upon them. Instead it comes at the very end of their disobedience, meant to drive them back to himself, to life. It is not the end – it is a necessary evil; and when considering that justice the first time one sins is death, this is actually merciful; God gives them chance after chance to repent and turn to him. Note that God, in verses 40 through 46, promises deliverance and salvation – life – if his people repent at any point during this curse. He does not support this cannibalism; he detests it! It is only a means to awaken his people to their sin and bring them back to himself, the source of life. God’s justice with the chance of repentance resulting in life is a common theme, and will be seen often. 2. Infanticide (Lamentations 4:4; Exodus 12:29) Lamentations: The prophet Jeremiah in this book is lamenting the state of Israel, and he states multiple times (1:5, 8, 18, 20) that it was punishment for sins they had willfully committed, and it important to note in 2:17: “The Lord hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old…” God warned Israel, and they rebelled anyway; he had no choice. He is just. He brought upon them the punishment he had promised. Exodus: Again, this is judgment, and this came only at the end of the 10 plagues, which only came after the initial plea to Pharaoh by Moses to let God’s people go. After each plague, Pharaoh was given the chance to let the people go and the plagues would cease. Let’s examine why this particular plague was necessary and does not show that God supports infanticide, but rather mercy and justice:1. This was just: “They had slain the Hebrews' children, and now God slew theirs.” [3]2. There were many chances to repent before this: “If Pharaoh would have taken the warning which was given him of this plague, and would thereupon have released Israel, what a great many dear and valuable lives might have been preserved!” [3]3. This prevented a greater loss of life, as this was such a shock that Pharaoh immediately released the Israelites, preventing further judgment. 3. Genocide (Jeremiah 50:21) This is God’s judgment upon Babylon. “Go up against that land by Merathaim, the country of the Mardi, that lay part in Assyria and part in Armenia; and go among the inhabitants of Pekod, another country (mentioned Eze. 23:23) which Cyrus took in his way to Babylon.” [4] Why would God judge an entire nation? The phrase, “as she has done, do unto her” appears in verse 14. What did she do? Babylon “sinned against the Lord”. Babylon was being judged as a nation because, as a nation, they destroyed Israel and rejoiced in it. “God does not afflict his people willingly, and therefore takes it very ill if the instruments he employs afflict them willingly.” [4] Remember, even if it seems unjust to us to judge the entire nation, no one is in reality innocent, and any life is God's mercy. As has been shown, God’s will for mankind is life. And when we take these apparent contradictions in context, we find that he is a just God who must punish evil, but who spares us because of his mercy, providing a way out of sin and death through his son, Jesus Christ. 1: https://www.blueletterbible.org... 2:https://www.blueletterbible.org... 3: https://www.blueletterbible.org... 4: https://www.blueletterbible.org...