09 Was it God that made the Egyptian king stubborn

Exodus vs 1 Samuel

 
           In the Old Testament Book of Exodus:
           God hardened the Egyptian king’s heart.

Uh wait a sec!

The Old Testament book 1 Samuel talks as if:
                         The king hardened his own
                          heart!

In Exodus God willed the king to be stubborn 

Exodus 4:21 I [Lord] will make the king stubborn, and he will not let the people go. 

Exodus 7:3 I will make the king stubborn, and he will not listen to you, no matter how many terrifying things I do in Egypt. 

Exodus 8:8 The king called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to the Lord to take away these frogs, and I will let your people go, so that they can offer sacrifices to the Lord." ... 13 The Lord did as Moses asked, and the frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields died. ... 15 When the king saw that the frogs were dead, he became stubborn again and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

Later 1 Samuel blamed the king as though he had a natural stubborn streak

1 Samuel 6:6 Why should you be stubborn, as the king of Egypt and the Egyptians were?

Recap: God cursed Pharaoh and made him stubborn. He had simply been put under a divine hex, and the texts didn't say he had a natural stubborn steak. So it’s odd for 1 Samuel to compare the people with a king that was put under a divine spell. It's strange that it simply blamed the king. 

08 Are people forbidden to see God face to face

It's Exodus vs Exodus

The Old Testament Book of Exodus reports:

That Moses talked face to face with God.

But hold the phone!

Exodus also says:

              That nobody can see God face to
              face and live.

It was okay for Moses to see God face to face

Exodus 33:11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.

But later, Moses was forewarned that it would be curtains for him if he ever saw God’s face

Exodus 33:20 He said [to Moses], "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."

Thus Exodus vs Exodus.

07 Is it a sign of love when God kills sons

Psalm 136

Psalm 136:10 He killed the first-born sons of the Egyptians; his love is eternal.

I guess it was "tough" love.

06 Does Jesus turn the family against itself

It's in the Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 10:34 Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the world. No, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 I came to set sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law; 36 your worst enemies will be the members of your own family. 37 Those who love their father or mother more than me are not fit to be my disciples; those who love their son or daughter more than me are not fit to be my disciples.

Now isn’t that nice, too?

Related post:

12 Does Jesus say love others but hate your family

05 Will God terrorize his people if they go astray

The Old Testament Book of Leviticus says that the Lord will bring sudden terror on his people if they reject his blessings

Leviticus 26:14 But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, 15 and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and drain away your life.

Recap: God offered them good harvests in exchange for their obedience. However, for their disobedience God will unleash sudden terror on them. That’s some contract.

Related post:
02 Will you face doom if you shrink back from Christ

04 Should anybody who kills your baby feel great

Psalm

Psalm 137:8 Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy are those who pay you back for what you have done to us-- 9 who take your babies and smash them against a rock.

Now, that’s a nice thing to say (cough).

Related post on my other blog:

89 What motivates you to live honorably in the world

03 Is the Lord real glad to destroy the wayward

Nice Deuteronomy vs terrorist Deuteronomy

In the Old Testament, the Book of Deuteronomy says:

Obey the Lord and the Lord will rejoice and bring you prosperity

But as always there’s a catch!

Deuteronomy also says:

If you don't obey, the Lord will rejoice over your destruction

God will send terror to the disobedient: Disease, men to despoil brides-to-be, and blights to farm land

Deuteronomy 28:15 If you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: ... 21 The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. 22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. 23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. 24 The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed. ... 30 You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit. ... 63 Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

Recap: God takes pleasure in giving a really hard time to the disobedient. 

Related post:

05 Will God terrorize his people if they go astray...

02 Do you face doom if you shrink back from Christ

Hebrews good news (cough)

The New Testament letter Hebrews says:

People who lose faith in Christ will be destroyed

Hebrews 10:37: [I]n just a very little while, “he who is coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. 

Recap: It’s curtains if you stray. Well, friends, there's nothing like a nice offer, and that’s nothing like a nice offer. 

Related post:

03 Is God glad to destroy the wayward

01 Could an ordinary man be more moral than God

In the Old Testament, the book of 1 Kings has a little story in which God commands a fellow to strike a friend. But the fellow refuses to obey the command

So God sends a lion to kill the disobedient man for his act of rank insubordination

1 Kings 20:35 At the Lord's command a member of a group of prophets ordered his friend to hit him. But he refused, 36 so he said to him, "Because you have disobeyed the Lord's command, a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me." And as soon as he left, a lion came along and killed him.

Recap: A friend declines to wound a prophet even though God has ordered it. So God sends a lion to find and kill the disobedient guy that wouldn't clobber his friend. It simply didn't matter that the guy felt it wouldn't be right to injure the prophet. God had commanded him to do it. So that was that.

I suppose that the morality of the tale is that you're supposed to do what God tells you to do--however radical it may be. Do it or else.

My question: So, did anyone feel it was wrong for God to send the lion?

Look it up:
1 Kings 20:35

Related post:

07 Is it a sign of love when God kills sons