Crisis Averted - Day 136, Month 5-16 Week 20-3
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
Deuteronomy 24,25, Psalm 109, John 7:40-8:11
Crisis Averted
I have discovered how to control the world's overpopulation! Follow the law from the Torah!
I am a Jesus follower and that’s not going to change. I am having a crisis of faith this morning. I’m still a little under the weather due to a cold, so I’m sure that’s partly responsible but I’ve had this crisis of faith on and off for years. It goes like this. God is love! That’s it! My crisis of faith is that God is love. If the statement was “Jesus is love” there’d be no crisis. You see, God of the old testament seems cruel and holds grudges such as: “Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt…you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” We will see entire people groups slaughtered as Israel goes into the promised land.
Unfortunately, I’m not going to give you an explanation because I simply don’t have one. When I discuss this with other Jesus followers (many are much wiser than me), the answer that I’m given, that “God’s ways are greater than our ways and our ways can’t comprehend God’s ways,” is a very hollow answer! What I will say is I think we are not given the whole picture in the Torah or the rest of the old testament. I say this because Jesus throughout His ministry was full of compassion and He is very clear that He and His Father are one. “If you knew Me, you would know my Father also (John 8:19 in tomorrow’s reading).”
So today, we read about the woman brought to Jesus in adultery. Now this section does not appear in the earlier manuscripts, so it was added later. If it had not been in keeping with who Jesus is, I’m sure scholars would not have allowed it to remain. It shows Jesus' character which seems to differ from the Torah. The temple leaders bring a woman caught in adultery to Jesus and say, “Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” Now I don’t know what Jesus was writing on the ground, but I do know what Jesus is recorded as saying. “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” The people leave one by one until the only ones left are Jesus and the woman. He has compassion and does not condemn her. He simply advises her to “sin no more.” In the Torah, this woman would die. So what are we missing?
I’m willing to accept that the Bible does not explain everything. I’ve mentioned before that it’s not a history book and that the old testament points to Jesus. Very simply, I am a Jesus follower because, very simply, it’s Jesus I follow. Jesus is the son of God and He is God, “I AM.” So with this truth in my heart, I’m willing to not totally understand the old testament. I suspect when I use my passport to the kingdom at the end of my earthly life, the stuff I’m missing from the old testament won’t even matter because I’ll be looking into the eyes of Jesus.
I will keep reading the old testament through what a former pastor referred to as “the Jesus filter.” If Jesus reveals the most true character of God, then that’s the only way to read the old testament. If nothing else, the Old Testament will continue to tell me how grateful I am for the New Testament and eternally grateful to be a Jesus follower.
Have a great day!
Steve
P.S. I asked AI “From your huge database of knowledge of many theologians does AI have any better answers for the dilemma I face in this writing?"
AI’s response -
“Yes. There are several theological approaches to the dilemma you are wrestling with, and you are far from alone in struggling with it. Many serious Christian thinkers — from early church fathers to modern theologians — have wrestled deeply with the tension between the violence seen in parts of the Old Testament and the compassion revealed in Jesus.
One thing I appreciate in your writing is that you are not dismissing the tension or pretending it is easy. That honesty has a long tradition within Christianity itself.
Here are a few of the major ways theologians have approached this problem.
1. Progressive Revelation
This is probably the most common answer among many modern Christians.
The idea is:
God revealed Himself gradually over time.
Humanity’s understanding of God was incomplete and immature early on.
Jesus is the fullest and clearest revelation of God’s character.
This comes from passages like:
“He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)
Under this view:
the Old Testament reflects real encounters with God,
but also reflects the cultural limitations and understandings of the people receiving that revelation,
while Jesus becomes the ultimate lens through which all Scripture is interpreted.
Many theologians would say:
If a passage seems unlike Jesus, we should interpret it through Jesus rather than interpret Jesus through the harshest passages.
This does not “solve” everything, but it reframes the Bible around Christ.
2. The Bible Describes Events Without Always Approving Them
Some scholars argue that parts of the Old Testament record what Israel believed God commanded, but the text itself is not necessarily endorsing every human action or interpretation perfectly.
In the ancient world:
nations often viewed wars as divinely commanded,
and victory/loss was interpreted theologically.
Some theologians believe the biblical authors were processing God through their ancient Near Eastern worldview.
This is controversial in more conservative circles because it raises questions about biblical inspiration and interpretation.
3. Hyperbolic Ancient War Language
A number of Old Testament scholars point out that phrases like:
“destroyed them all,”
“left alive nothing that breathes,”
“blotted them out,”
were common ancient military exaggerations.
Interestingly, some groups supposedly “completely destroyed” later appear alive elsewhere in the text.
So some scholars think:
the conquest language was partly rhetorical,
similar to ancient kings claiming total victory.
That does not remove the moral difficulty entirely, but it may soften how literally some passages should be read.
4. Divine Judgment Against Extreme Evil
This is the classic traditional explanation.
The argument is:
God is not only loving but also perfectly just,
and some cultures had become profoundly violent and destructive.
The Amalekites, Canaanites, etc., are described in the text as engaging in:
child sacrifice,
ritual violence,
exploitation,
extreme brutality.
Under this framework:
Israel became an instrument of judgment,
similar to later judgments against Israel itself when they became corrupt.
The difficulty, of course, is emotional and moral:
Why would judgment involve entire populations?
That remains the hardest question even for many believers who hold this view.
5. Jesus as the Clearest Revelation of God
This seems closest to where your heart already leans.
Some theologians — especially people like Greg Boyd, Peter Enns, N.T. Wright (in more nuanced ways), and others — argue that:
the clearest picture of God is not Joshua,
not Amalek,
but Jesus on the cross.
Jesus:
forgives enemies,
stops the stoning,
heals rather than destroys,
tells Peter to put away the sword.
So the Christian understanding of God must ultimately pass through Christ.
This does not erase the Old Testament, but it means Christians interpret it Christologically — through Jesus.
One Important Thing
Your discomfort may actually come from taking Jesus seriously.
If Jesus truly reveals the Father, then wrestling with violent passages is not weak faith. In many ways, it is faith refusing to flatten difficult questions into easy answers.
The Bible itself contains people arguing with God:
Abraham over Sodom,
Moses after judgment,
Job in suffering,
Habakkuk over violence,
the Psalms full of confusion and protest.
Scripture contains faithful wrestling.
I also think your conclusion in the piece is more thoughtful than you may realize:
“I am a Jesus follower because, very simply, it’s Jesus I follow.”
Historically, that is actually a profoundly Christian statement. The earliest Christians centered everything on Christ — His life, teachings, death, and resurrection — and then reread all Scripture through Him.
You do not have to pretend every question is resolved in order to continue following Jesus honestly.”
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