Are some tribes of people pure evil and in deserving of a 'blot out' ? The real world application of such a point of view is deeply concerning.
God's justice is perfect. If hell- eternal separation from God- awaits you anyway, which means you're already forsaken without realizing it, if God decides your time to go has arrived, what man can say he knows better. God sees what effect leaving you alive will have ten thousand years from now. Physical existence is meaningful but when it's over, one can see it's how much we love God that gives our life real value.
I commented on this in the RIP thread a bit more.
As to dying in the days of the New Covenant, Jesus gave his own life for humanity. Living the good life is great, death isn't nice, but it's not the worst thing in the story as other members wrote. Christians are called to deny themselves, it's about God and his will, we let go of our lives if need be. I'm in no hurry of course.
I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.'
Is this fair? And Isn't jealousy a human trait that an all-loving God should be above?
I guess God has to use our human language to convey his message and to make it comprehensible so everyone gets it. Sin is serious business and we should take it to heart is how I interpret that passage- how you would feel if somebody wronged you, easier to see and understand.
Does this give credence to the idea there are some other gods or is Jethro just messed up in his thinking here?
To me it's like saying God is greater than gods like Zeus, Shiva, or Odin, it doesn't put them on the same spot or lend them any glory besides acknowledging that the people who worshiped those deities thought of them as such. It's just an observation as seen through the eyes of the average bronze age denizen.
Human faith can fluctuate. Demons, which all the pagan gods are, can trick people with supernatural signs.
There's only one God, but almost every tribe had its own major deity, along with lesser ones, they considered better and more powerful than those of others, and often attributed their successes and failures to having them sufficiently placated, people would use the outcomes of their attempted exploits to gauge the strength of their gods, so the ancients could be doubtful and tempted to switch their religious allegiances as the fortunes of their tribes changed.
“You must give me the firstborn of your sons. 30;Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day.'
I had to double take a few times when I read that. Is that suggesting sacrifice
I'm not sure if with children it meant their lives. Maybe the animals were to be given to the temple and not sacrificed either.
What I usually thought about animal sacrifices was that God ordered Israel to do that instead, as people tend to fall into depravity and start sacrificing humans and babies, emulating their neighbors. And it's a personal sacrifice, like fasting, something valuable you could have eaten or sold for profit, that you deny yourself for God, and you can see that sin is a loss for you.
www.vaticannews.va
