A Good Time To Disobey God
I've decided to re-post this blog each time an act of terror in the name of religion takes place in the world. This is due to the attack in Kenya.
I got to pondering the idea of "world peace." This is an idea people have pondered since time began but for some reason we have yet to figure out that all that is needed to attain this lofty goal is just for everyone to agree to leave each other alone. That's when an interesting thought hit me. There are people in this world who believe it is the will of their God to eradicate any and all who believe differently than them. Since that is the case, for world peace ever to exist, these people would have to actually defy their God.
To put this in better perspective, for people who come from a Judeo-Christian belief system, the book of Joshua chronicles the story of a Biblical hero who led the Israelites on a march of conquest over evil nations to reclaim the land of God's chosen people. But, if you do not come from a Judeo-Christian background, the story of Joshua looks nothing short of a reign of terror over the region as the Israelites eradicated city and nation killing men, women, children, infants, and even the animals. I wonder how Joshua would have been viewed had he looked his God in the face and said, "No, for the sake of peace, I will not destroy these people." Imagine the implications of that! Yet, it is the exact same thing we are asking others to do right now. In the name of world peace would you please tell your God "no" and just leave me alone.
Now, Christians and Jews might quickly make the case that Joshua went out and destroyed "evil" nations who had all kinds of horrid practices, some even sacrificed their children on altars. But I think it would be pretty narrow minded of us not to see how radical followers of other belief systems might view us here in America as equally "evil." Pro-choice or pro-life, we would have to admit that when you lead the world in abortions, its not a stretch for someone to believe, based on their system of values, that we are just as bad.
Imagine the stir that Jesus created when He corrected the Old Testament teaching of and eye for an eye saying instead we should "love our enemies." When Jesus says stuff like this, it kinda makes you wonder if Joshua heard God right. That's a pretty big contrast. And when I see the contrast between what Jesus taught and some of the things that took place in the Old Testament, I honestly struggle. If world peace was ever going to be reached in the day and age of Joshua then he would have had to defy God just like if world peace is going to be reached in this day and age radical Muslims would have to defy Allah, and any other radical groups out there would have to defy their gods or teachings.
The only two ways to attain world peace are either to follow your God all the way and eradicate any and all who oppose you, or to defy your God if he is calling for the destruction of others and love your enemies. There are really no other options. So, for world peace to be attained, someone, somewhere, at some time is going to have to defy their God and if I'm going to ask them to, the question then becomes, could I?
I appreciate your struggle with what appears to be a contrast in God's directives of the Old Testament when compared with the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament. I did once too, which caused me to investigate further. After much study I am of the belief that God's directives to cleanse the land of the Amorites, (a Cananite clan)including the children, pointed directly to preserving the bloodline of Israel, and humanity (There is a tie to Genesis 6 and the Nephilim and the Flood here that slaps you right in the face when you see it) and ultimately to Mary and Jesus. Once Jesus' arrival was manifest, all the law and the prophets could be hanged on two new and all inclusive summary commandments to Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, and strength...and Love others as you love yourself. Significant change indeed, thanks to the completed work at the cross. To bad that the beauty of "why" was missed through the dark ages and Christianity (Insert the Roman Catholic church here) kept right on killing, under the sign of the cross, in complete opposition to what Jesus taught. That disobedience has only compounded through the ages. Indeed, we are a mess today in America, but certainly not because of anything directed by God. No, we do just fine all by ourselves in disobedience. The problem with the premise of the question posed here is this: There is but one God, and only one true God, who no longer orders the eradication of anything except sin and disobedience in our lives. I don't know which God people are listening to if they are getting orders to eradicate any and all who oppose them. But I can promise you, it is not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob..it is not I AM....so why listen? To do so would be to harken to false orders coming from a false God.
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