Faith Versus Reason: Why Is Murder Supported in the Bible ?
The act of murder is rampant in the Bible. In much of the Bible, especially the
Old Testament, there are laws that command that people be killed for absurd
reasons such as working on the Sabbath, being gay, cursing your parents, or not
being a virgin on your wedding night. In addition to these crazy and immoral
laws, there are plenty of examples of God's irrationality by his direct killing
of many people for reasons that defy any rational explanation such as killing
children who make fun of bald people, and the killing of a man who tried to keep
the ark of God from falling during transport. There are also countless examples
of mass murders commanded by God, including the murder of women, infants, and
children.
The following passages are a very small percentage of the total passages
approving of murder in the Bible. They are divided here into three parts: 1)
Capital Punishment Crimes, 2) God's Murders for Stupid Reasons, 3) Murdering
Children, and 4) Miscellaneous Murders. This list is long, but it barely
scratches the surface of all the murders approved of in the Bible.
The bible and the God it posits are clearly archaic and barbaric beyond any standard
of decency.
1) Capital Punishment Crimes:
Kill People Who Don't Listen to Priests
Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who
represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged
from Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:12 NLT)
Kill Witches
You should not let a sorceress live. (Exodus 22:17 NAB)
Kill Homosexuals
"If a man lies with a male as with a women, both of them shall be put to death
for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives." (Leviticus 20:13
NAB)
Kill Fortunetellers
A man or a woman who acts as a medium or fortuneteller shall be put to death by
stoning; they have no one but themselves to blame for their death. (Leviticus
20:27 NAB)
Death for Hitting Dad
Whoever strikes his father or mother shall be put to death. (Exodus 21:15 NAB)
Death for Cursing Parents
1) If one curses his father or mother, his lamp will go out at the coming of
darkness. (Proverbs 20:20 NAB)
2) All who curse their father or mother must be put to death. They are guilty
of a capital offense. (Leviticus 20:9 NLT)
Death for Adultery
If a man commits adultery with another man's wife, both the man and the woman
must be put to death. (Leviticus 20:10 NLT)
Death for Fornication
A priest's daughter who loses her honor by committing fornication and thereby
dishonors her father also, shall be burned to death. (Leviticus 21:9 NAB)
Death to Followers of Other Religions
Whoever sacrifices to any god, except the Lord alone, shall be doomed. (Exodus
22:19 NAB)
Kill Nonbelievers
They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with
all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of
Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
(2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB)
Kill False Prophets
If a man still prophesies, his parents, father and mother, shall say to him,
"You shall not live, because you have spoken a lie in the name of the Lord."
When he prophesies, his parents, father and mother, shall thrust him through.
(Zechariah 13:3 NAB)
Kill the Entire Town if One Person Worships Another God
Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some
worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging
them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts
carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has
occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its
inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder
in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a
burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it
may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for
destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to
you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he
solemnly promised your ancestors. "The LORD your God will be merciful only if
you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is
pleasing to him." (Deuteronomy 13:13-19 NLT)
Kill Women Who Are Not Virgins On Their Wedding Night
But if this charge is true (that she wasn't a virgin on her wedding night), and
evidence of the girls virginity is not found, they shall bring the girl to the
entrance of her fathers house and there her townsman shall stone her to death,
because she committed a crime against Israel by her unchasteness in her father's
house. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 22:20-21
NAB)
Kill Followers of Other Religions.
1) If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or
you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your
fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away,
from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him,
nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him. Your hand
shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with
you. You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from
the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of
slavery. And all Israel, hearing of this, shall fear and never do such evil as
this in your midst. (Deuteronomy 13:7-12 NAB)
Death for Blasphemy
One day a man who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father got into a
fight with one of the Israelite men. During the fight, this son of an Israelite
woman blasphemed the LORD's name. So the man was brought to Moses for judgment.
His mother's name was Shelomith. She was the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of
Dan. They put the man in custody until the LORD's will in the matter should
become clear. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take the blasphemer outside the
camp, and tell all those who heard him to lay their hands on his head. Then let
the entire community stone him to death. Say to the people of Israel: Those who
blaspheme God will suffer the consequences of their guilt and be punished.
Anyone who blasphemes the LORD's name must be stoned to death by the whole
community of Israel. Any Israelite or foreigner among you who blasphemes the
LORD's name will surely die. (Leviticus 24:10-16 NLT)
Kill False Prophets
1) Suppose there are prophets among you, or those who have dreams about the
future, and they promise you signs or miracles, and the predicted signs or
miracles take place. If the prophets then say, 'Come, let us worship the gods
of foreign nations,' do not listen to them. The LORD your God is testing you to
see if you love him with all your heart and soul. Serve only the LORD your God
and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.
The false prophets or dreamers who try to lead you astray must be put to death,
for they encourage rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of
slavery in the land of Egypt. Since they try to keep you from following the
LORD your God, you must execute them to remove the evil from among you.
(Deuteronomy 13:1-5 NLT)
Infidels and Gays Should Die
So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired.
As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies.
Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately
chose to believe lies. So they worshiped the things God made but not the
Creator himself, who is to be praised forever. Amen. That is why God abandoned
them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way
to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead
of having normal sexual relationships with women, burned with lust for each
other. Men did shameful things with other men and, as a result, suffered within
themselves the penalty they so richly deserved. When they refused to
acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their evil minds and let them do things
that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness,
sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and
gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful.
They are forever inventing new ways of sinning and are disobedient to their
parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, and are heartless and
unforgiving. They are fully aware of God's death penalty for those who do these
things, yet they go right ahead and do them anyway. And, worse yet, they
encourage others to do them, too. (Romans 1:24-32 NLT)
Kill Anyone who Approaches the Tabernacle
For the LORD had said to Moses, 'Exempt the tribe of Levi from the census; do
not include them when you count the rest of the Israelites. You must put the
Levites in charge of the Tabernacle of the Covenant, along with its furnishings
and equipment. They must carry the Tabernacle and its equipment as you travel,
and they must care for it and camp around it. Whenever the Tabernacle is moved,
the Levites will take it down and set it up again. Anyone else who goes too
near the Tabernacle will be executed.' (Numbers 1:48-51 NLT)
Kill People for Working on the Sabbath
The LORD then gave these further instructions to Moses: 'Tell the people of
Israel to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between
me and you forever. It helps you to remember that I am the LORD, who makes you
holy. Yes, keep the Sabbath day, for it is holy. Anyone who desecrates it must
die; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. Work six
days only, but the seventh day must be a day of total rest. I repeat: Because
the LORD considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to
death.' (Exodus 31:12-15 NLT)
2) God's Murders for Stupid Reasons:
Kill Brats
From there Elisha went up to Bethel. While he was on his way, some small boys
came out of the city and jeered at him. "Go up baldhead," they shouted, "go up
baldhead!" The prophet turned and saw them, and he cursed them in the name of
the Lord. Then two shebears came out of the woods and tore forty two of the
children to pieces. (2 Kings 2:23-24 NAB)
God Kills the Curious
And he smote of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of
Jehovah, he smote of the people seventy men, `and' fifty thousand men; and the
people mourned, because Jehovah had smitten the people with a great slaughter.
And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before Jehovah, this holy
God? and to whom shall he go up from us? (1Samuel 6:19-20 ASV)
Killed by a Lion
Meanwhile, the LORD instructed one of the group of prophets to say to another
man, "Strike me!" But the man refused to strike the prophet. Then the prophet
told him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, a lion will kill
you as soon as you leave me." And sure enough, when he had gone, a lion
attacked and killed him. (1 Kings 20:35-36 NLT)
Killing the Good Samaritan
The ark of God was placed on a new cart and taken away from the house of
Abinadab on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab guided the cart, with
Ahio walking before it, while David and all the Israelites made merry before the
Lord with all their strength, with singing and with citharas, harps,
tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.
When they came to the threshing floor of Nodan, Uzzah reached out his hand to
the ark of God to steady it, for the oxen were making it tip. But the Lord was
angry with Uzzah; God struck him on that spot, and he died there before God. (2
Samuel 6:3-7 NAB)
3) Murdering Children
Kill Sons of Sinners
Make ready to slaughter his sons for the guilt of their fathers; Lest they rise
and posses the earth, and fill the breadth of the world with tyrants. (Isaiah
14:21 NAB)
God Will Kill Children
The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird, for your children will die at
birth or perish in the womb or never even be conceived. Even if your children
do survive to grow up, I will take them from you. It will be a terrible day
when I turn away and leave you alone. I have watched Israel become as beautiful
and pleasant as Tyre. But now Israel will bring out her children to be
slaughtered." O LORD, what should I request for your people? I will ask for
wombs that don't give birth and breasts that give no milk. The LORD says, "All
their wickedness began at Gilgal; there I began to hate them. I will drive them
from my land because of their evil actions. I will love them no more because
all their leaders are rebels. The people of Israel are stricken. Their roots
are dried up; they will bear no more fruit. And if they give birth, I will
slaughter their beloved children." (Hosea 9:11-16 NLT)
Kill Men, Women, and Children
"Then I heard the LORD say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and
kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! Kill
them all ? old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch
anyone with the mark. Begin your task right here at the Temple." So they began
by killing the seventy leaders. "Defile the Temple!" the LORD commanded. "Fill
its courtyards with the bodies of those you kill! Go!" So they went throughout
the city and did as they were told." (Ezekiel 9:5-7 NLT)
Kill Old Men and Young Women
"You are my battle-ax and sword," says the LORD. "With you I will shatter
nations and destroy many kingdoms. With you I will shatter armies, destroying
the horse and rider, the chariot and charioteer. With you I will shatter men
and women, old people and children, young men and maidens. With you I will
shatter shepherds and flocks, farmers and oxen, captains and rulers. "As you
watch, I will repay Babylon and the people of Babylonia for all the wrong they
have done to my people in Jerusalem," says the LORD. "Look, O mighty mountain,
destroyer of the earth! I am your enemy," says the LORD. "I will raise my fist
against you, to roll you down from the heights. When I am finished, you will be
nothing but a heap of rubble. You will be desolate forever. Even your stones
will never again be used for building. You will be completely wiped out," says
the LORD. (Jeremiah 51:20-26)
(Note that after God promises the Israelites a victory against Babylon, the
Israelites actually get their butts kicked by them in the next chapter. So
much for an all-knowing and all-powerful God.)
God Will Kill the Children of Sinners
If even then you remain hostile toward me and refuse to obey, I will inflict you
with seven more disasters for your sins. I will release wild animals that will
kill your children and destroy your cattle, so your numbers will dwindle and
your roads will be deserted. (Leviticus 26:21-22 NLT)
More Rape and Baby Killing
Anyone who is captured will be run through with a sword. Their little children
will be dashed to death right before their eyes. Their homes will be sacked and
their wives raped by the attacking hordes. For I will stir up the Medes against
Babylon, and no amount of silver or gold will buy them off. The attacking
armies will shoot down the young people with arrows. They will have no mercy on
helpless babies and will show no compassion for the children. (Isaiah 13:15-18
NLT)
4) Miscellaneous Murders
More of Samson's Murders
(The Lord saves Sampson from standing trial for 30 murders and arson by allowing
him to kill 1000 more men.) When he reached Lehi, and the Philistines came
shouting to meet him, the spirit of the Lord came upon him: the ropes around his
arms become as flax that is consumed by fire and the bonds melted away from his
hands. Near him was the fresh jawbone of an ass; he reached out, grasped it,
and with it killed a thousand men. (Judges 15:14-15 NAB)
Peter Kills Two People
There was also a man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some
property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, but he claimed it was
the full amount. His wife had agreed to this deception. Then Peter said,
"Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you
kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not
sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was yours to give away.
How could you do a thing like this? You weren't lying to us but to God." As
soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who
heard about it was terrified. Then some young men wrapped him in a sheet and
took him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not
knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, "Was this the price you and your
husband received for your land?" "Yes," she replied, "that was the price." And
Peter said, "How could the two of you even think of doing a thing like this ?
conspiring together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Just outside that door are
the young men who buried your husband, and they will carry you out, too."
Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw
that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
Great fear gripped the entire church and all others who heard what had happened.
(Acts 5:1-11 NLT)
Mass Murder
This is what the Lord of hosts has to say: 'I will punish what Amalek did to
Israel when he barred his way as he was coming up from Egypt. Go, now, attack
Amalek, and deal with him and all that he has under the ban. Do not spare him,
but kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and asses.'
(1 Samuel 15:2-3 NAB)
You Have to Kill
Cursed be he who does the Lords work remissly, cursed he who holds back his
sword from blood. (Jeremiah 48:10 NAB)
The Danites Kill the Next Town
But the territory of the Danites was too small for them; so the Danites marched
up and attacked Leshem, which they captured and put to the sword. Once they had
taken possession of Lesham, they renamed the settlement after their ancestor
Dan. (Joshua 19:47 NAB)
God Promises More Killing
I will make Mount Seir utterly desolate, killing off all who try to escape and
any who return. I will fill your mountains with the dead. Your hills, your
valleys, and your streams will be filled with people slaughtered by the sword.
I will make you desolate forever. Your cities will never be rebuilt. Then you
will know that I am the LORD. (Ezekiel 35:7-9 NLT)
The Angel of Death
My angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites,
Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites; and I will wipe them out. (Exodus 23:23
NAB)
Destruction of Ai
Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take the entire
army and attack Ai, for I have given to you the king of Ai, his people, his
city, and his land. You will destroy them as you destroyed Jericho and its
king. But this time you may keep the captured goods and the cattle for
yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city." So Joshua and the army of Israel
set out to attack Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand fighting men and sent them
out at night with these orders: "Hide in ambush close behind the city and be
ready for action. When our main army attacks, the men of Ai will come out to
fight as they did before, and we will run away from them. We will let them
chase us until they have all left the city. For they will say, 'The Israelites
are running away from us as they did before.' Then you will jump up from your
ambush and take possession of the city, for the LORD your God will give it to
you. Set the city on fire, as the LORD has commanded. You have your orders."
So they left that night and lay in ambush between Bethel and the west side of
Ai. But Joshua remained among the people in the camp that night.
Early the next morning Joshua roused his men and started toward Ai, accompanied
by the leaders of Israel. They camped on the north side of Ai, with a valley
between them and the city. That night Joshua sent five thousand men to lie in
ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city. So they stationed
the main army north of the city and the ambush west of the city. Joshua himself
spent that night in the valley. When the king of Ai saw the Israelites across
the valley, he and all his army hurriedly went out early the next morning and
attacked the Israelites at a place overlooking the Jordan Valley. But he didn't
realize there was an ambush behind the city. Joshua and the Israelite army fled
toward the wilderness as though they were badly beaten, and all the men in the
city were called out to chase after them. In this way, they were lured away
from the city. There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not chase after
the Israelites, and the city was left wide open.
Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Point your spear toward Ai, for I will give you
the city." Joshua did as he was commanded. As soon as Joshua gave the signal,
the men in ambush jumped up and poured into the city. They quickly captured it
and set it on fire. When the men of Ai looked behind them, smoke from the city
was filling the sky, and they had nowhere to go. For the Israelites who had fled
in the direction of the wilderness now turned on their pursuers. When Joshua
and the other Israelites saw that the ambush had succeeded and that smoke was
rising from the city, they turned and attacked the men of Ai. Then the
Israelites who were inside the city came out and started killing the enemy from
the rear. So the men of Ai were caught in a trap, and all of them died. Not a
single person survived or escaped. Only the king of Ai was taken alive and
brought to Joshua.
When the Israelite army finished killing all the men outside the city, they went
back and finished off everyone inside. So the entire population of Ai was wiped
out that day ? twelve thousand in all. For Joshua kept holding out his spear
until everyone who had lived in Ai was completely destroyed. Only the cattle
and the treasures of the city were not destroyed, for the Israelites kept these
for themselves, as the LORD had commanded Joshua. So Ai became a permanent
mound of ruins, desolate to this very day. Joshua hung the king of Ai on a tree
and left him there until evening. At sunset the Israelites took down the body
and threw it in front of the city gate. They piled a great heap of stones over
him that can still be seen today. (Joshua 8:1-29 NLT)
Killing at Jericho
When the people heard the sound of the horns, they shouted as loud as they
could. Suddenly, the walls of Jericho collapsed, and the Israelites charged
straight into the city from every side and captured it. They completely
destroyed everything in it ? men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep,
donkeys ? everything. (Joshua 6:20-21 NLT)
God Kills an Extended Family
"You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made other
gods and have made me furious with your gold calves. And since you have turned
your back on me, I will bring disaster on your dynasty and kill all your sons,
slave or free alike. I will burn up your royal dynasty as one burns up trash
until it is all gone. I, the LORD, vow that the members of your family who die
in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the field will be eaten
by vultures.'" Then Ahijah said to Jeroboam's wife, "Go on home, and when you
enter the city, the child will die. All Israel will mourn for him and bury him.
He is the only member of your family who will have a proper burial, for this
child is the only good thing that the LORD, the God of Israel, sees in the
entire family of Jeroboam. And the LORD will raise up a king over Israel who
will destroy the family of Jeroboam. This will happen today, even now! Then
the LORD will shake Israel like a reed whipped about in a stream. He will
uproot the people of Israel from this good land that he gave their ancestors and
will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, for they have angered the LORD by
worshiping Asherah poles. He will abandon Israel because Jeroboam sinned and
made all of Israel sin along with him." (1 Kings 14:9-16 NLT)
Mass Murder
The men of Israel withdrew through the territory of the Benjaminites, putting to
the sword the inhabitants of the city, the livestock, and all they chanced upon.
Moreover they destroyed by fire all the cities they came upon. (Judges 20:48
NAB)
Kill Your Neighbors
(Moses) stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, "All of you who are on
the LORD's side, come over here and join me." And all the Levites came. He told
them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Strap on your swords! Go
back and forth from one end of the camp to the other, killing even your
brothers, friends, and neighbors." The Levites obeyed Moses, and about three
thousand people died that day. Then Moses told the Levites, "Today you have
been ordained for the service of the LORD, for you obeyed him even though it
meant killing your own sons and brothers. Because of this, he will now give you
a great blessing." (Exodus 32:26-29 NLT)
Kill the Family of Sinners
And Joshua said to Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of
Israel, and make confession to him; and tell me now what thou hast done, hide it
not from me. And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against
the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. When I saw among the
spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a
wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them, and
behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under
it." [Note that the sin is not looting, but failing to give the loot to the
treasury of the Lord.] "So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent,
and behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. And they took them
from the midst of the tent, and brought them to Joshua, and to all the children
of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD. And Joshua, and all Israel with
him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge
of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his
sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them to the valley of
Achor. And Joshua said, why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee
this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire,
after they had stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap
of stones to this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger:
wherefore the name of that place was called the valley of Achor to this day.
(Joshua 7:19-26 Webster's Bible)
Kill Followers of Other Religions
While the Israelites were camped at Acacia, some of the men defiled themselves
by sleeping with the local Moabite women. These women invited them to attend
sacrifices to their gods, and soon the Israelites were feasting with them and
worshiping the gods of Moab. Before long Israel was joining in the worship of
Baal of Peor, causing the LORD's anger to blaze against his people. The LORD
issued the following command to Moses: "Seize all the ringleaders and execute
them before the LORD in broad daylight, so his fierce anger will turn away from
the people of Israel." So Moses ordered Israel's judges to execute everyone who
had joined in worshiping Baal of Peor. Just then one of the Israelite men
brought a Midianite woman into the camp, right before the eyes of Moses and all
the people, as they were weeping at the entrance of the Tabernacle. When
Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest saw this, he jumped up
and left the assembly. Then he took a spear and rushed after the man into his
tent. Phinehas thrust the spear all the way through the man's body and into the
woman's stomach. So the plague against the Israelites was stopped, but not
before 24,000 people had died. (Numbers 25:1-9 NLT)
Murder
At the customary time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet
walked up to the altar and prayed, "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I
have done all this at your command. O LORD, answer me! Answer me so these
people will know that you, O LORD, are God and that you have brought them back
to yourself." Immediately the fire of the LORD flashed down from heaven and
burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up
all the water in the ditch! And when the people saw it, they fell on their
faces and cried out, "The LORD is God! The LORD is God!" Then Elijah
commanded, "Seize all the prophets of Baal. Don't let a single one escape!" So
the people seized them all, and Elijah took them down to the Kishon Valley and
killed them there. (1 Kings 18:36-40 NLT)
Kill All of Babylon
"Go up, my warriors, against the land of Merathaim and against the people of
Pekod. Yes, march against Babylon, the land of rebels, a land that I will judge!
Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them, as I have commanded you," says the
LORD. "Let the battle cry be heard in the land, a shout of great destruction".
(Jeremiah 50:21-22 NLT)
Micah Kills a Whole Town
Then, with Micah's idols and his priest, the men of Dan came to the town of
Laish, whose people were peaceful and secure. They attacked and killed all the
people and burned the town to the ground. There was no one to rescue the
residents of the town, for they lived a great distance from Sidon and had no
allies nearby. This happened in the valley near Beth-rehob.Then the people of
the tribe of Dan rebuilt the town and lived there. They renamed the town Dan
after their ancestor, Israel's son, but it had originally been called Laish.
(Judges 18:27-29 NLT) (Note that God approves of this slaughter in verse 6.)
kwaku ba October 2010
