How could it be that in the Old Testament, God told the people of Israel to go and kill other tribes and attack them and "kill all their males, females, children and animals" and to "leave nothing", and yet in the New Testament, this same God tells us to be merciful and compassionate on others and not to kill?
How is it that God did not say it was wrong for any of His followers to have multiple wives in the OT, yet in the new Testament only allowed and blessed 1 man to 1 woman? If more than 1 man to 1 woman is wrong, then why did God allow David, Abrahm, Jacob etc to have more than 1 wife? How can He have allowed them to have MORE than 1 wife and then ban that afterwards (in the NT).
Comments
The OT and the NT have to be looked at completely seperate even though they are some what chronological. God in the OT had to treat the people differently because basically there was animosity(sin) between them and God. Why he told them not to spare anyone i can't tell you because i don't know that, maybe someone has the answer. but as to why he allowed more than one wife was for pro-creation. sorry if that didn't really help, interesting topic i would love to hear more about this
OK. So He blessed polygamy in the Old Testament. Great. Why make a big deal and song and dance over it if someone does it in the New Testament??
Habibi, once again, context, context, context. EVERYTHING in Scripture must be taken in context. You have to be aware of the history, the culture, the customs, all of that to paint an accurate picture of what was going on during particular periods of the Old Testament. When God gave the command for the Hebrews to destroy other races, was there a reason for it? And if there was, can we elucidate it? Of course there was a reason, and we certainly can elucidate it. God had, for one reason or another which we are not privy to (i.e. it boils down to the wisdom and will of God), chosen the Hebrews as His People. Now, the Hebrews (or, the race that came to be known as the Hebrews) were initially living in Egypt, became slaves, and then, with Moses as their leader, were taken out of Egypt to a land promised to them by God. In order to get to that land, they had to cross many other nations who were: 1) Notoriously evil and 2) not particularly friendly to the Hebrews (please note, this is in fact a major understatement). Thus, in order to survive, the Hebrews had to go to war. They had to carve out a niche for themselves, and thus, in order to do so, lives had to be lost. Now, one thing to bear in mind is that the races that God had ordered to Hebrews to annihilate were by no means peace-loving righteous people. Had they been, then you would have cause for concern as to what sort of God it is that we worship.
Regarding the issue of multiple wives... from the beginning God created one man for one woman. That had always been the case. As man departed farther and farther from God, we see a corruption of this. Men began taking multiple wives and concubines and what have you. God permitted it, just as He permits any other sin that man chooses to take on. Why? Because He created us with our own distinct will to choose right from wrong. So, the supposed 'ban' that we see in the New Testament isn't anything new. It was there from the beginning, but man chose to stray and do whatever he wished. Bear in mind, God still allows people to take on multiple wives to this day (e.g. Muslims are permitted up to 4 and the Mormons can have as many as their hearts desire). Do not confuse allowance with will though. God permits certain things to exist, but that does not mean that they are in line with His will. God will never override our individual wills unless we submit to Him fully.
Even jacob lied to get the blessing of the 1st born; that's not right. Why did God make Jacob His Saint Israel?
What Κηφᾶς says is much to the point; context is everything.
In OT times the very survival of God's people was at stake, and they were permitted to do what was needful to prevent themselves from being massacred.
But once the Lord had risen and saved us, a different road was open to us all, and it that we are called to take. Before the Resurrection no one could be called to new life in Christ - afterwards everything changed.
The Ten Commandments are the word of God, and everything the Incarnate Word said fits with them.
The OT recalls many example of bad behaviour, but that does not mean that we can use King David as the excuse to sleep with someone else's wife; the point there is that David repented and he suffered for his sins. So, we could follow King David - but we'd be letting ourselves in for all his suffering too; so how stupid would that be? Much the same goes with other bad examples.
In Christ,
Anglian
[quote author=QT_PA_2T link=topic=5749.msg76878#msg76878 date=1189698166]
OK, so it wasn't God's will for us to have multiple wives. WHY ALLOW IT THEN!? Why didnt He say anything to David, Solomon, Jacob... etc??
Even jacob lied to get the blessing of the 1st born; that's not right. Why did God make Jacob His Saint Israel?
Allow me to reiterate what I said previously: Because of the evilness of man's heart, certain things in this world exist which is completely not in line with God's will. However, because man has stretched his hand out and accepted these things, God respects his choice. However, in the end, man will have to give an account for all his actions be they good or evil. A beautiful verse that I have recently committed to memory is:
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God
-- Romans 8:28
Note the word 'all'. If we permit Him, God is able to transform some of the worst atrocities into blessings, this includes murder, deception and whatever else.
anyway I'll try find the post, maybe it'll help..
hmm.. I asked this exact same question once. I remember I wasn't completely satisfied with the answer.. [which is probably why i dont remember it]...
anyway I'll try find the post, maybe it'll help..
Hiya! Yeah, I remember the question. I felt bad asking again, as I knew this had already been asked on tasbeha.org, but like you, i wasn't really convinced with the response.
How can God say something is OK once, and then go against it later:
a) Murder is wrong, but killing in war is OK (including ALL ANIMALS & Cattle). If God was trying to protect the Hebrews from bad people, why did God insist that they kill all women and children. I know women can be dangerous, and kids can scream a lot and make a lot of noise, especially on long train rides, but KILLING THEM!!!??? Isnt that a bit too far, and then to be the God of the OT and the God of the NT and then say that Killing is wrong?? and an "eye for en eye" is wrong?? But this is exactly an "eye for an eye".
b) Today having more than 1 wife is considered adultary, and a grave sin. But why when having multiple wives in the OT was allowed by God. Why the inconsistencies??
We need answers to these questions.
Thanks
We may well want answers, but He is not obliged to give them, especially if His Church has already done so.
His ways are not our ways, and He cannot be judged by our standards. It may be that in some times and places in the OT people behaved in certain ways; but most often, as with David, they suffered when they broke the Law.
What we need to know is that we ought to live by what Our Lord and His Church tells us are His ways; that is one reason we have the Church. As we all know, we cannot proceed sola scriptura. If we think God is inconsistent, well it is we who have it wrong: what is consistency to God? How can we know? Our job is to follow in His way - and the Church has the signposts.
In Christ,
Anglian
There are times when I wonder if people actually read what's been posted, or whether they just post blindly for the sake of increasing their post counts.