purpledawn writes:
The definition of morality is not the same definition of sin and still you don't give your definition of sin.
Ok. I define morality using the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That includes the definition of sin.
purpledawn writes:
If you read the Bible, you would know that God is not all knowing and his infinite status is Catholic Dogma. If you disagree, then show verses that clearly prove otherwise.
Revelation 22:13 writes:
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Psalm 139 writes:
O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me inbehind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
purpledawn writes:
In the Midianite story innocent people were murdered by God's direction. He broke his own rule. Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17, Matthew 19:18, Mark 10:19, Luke 18:20,
Have you read the Old Testament?
Let me put this story into context. As I already said, the Midianites conspired with the Balak to destroy the Isrealites. This just sets the backround. God was already angry with the Midianites. (Numbers 22:1-7)
Numbers 25 writes:
1And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
2And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.
3And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.
4And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel.
5And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.
6And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
7And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;
8And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
9And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.
10And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
11Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.
12Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:
13And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.
14Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites.
15And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.
16And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
17Vex the Midianites, and smite them:
18For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor's sake.
Let us analyze this passage. Look at verse 4-5. God commands Moses to behead the
Isrealite people who engaged in the sinful acts and hang the heads up for everyone to see. First of all, this shows that God does not play favorites and punishes everyone who sins against him--not just the non-Isrealites. Second, this explains why the children of Isreal were weeping in front of the Tabernacle. This takes some understanding of Jewish tradition. I shall explain this.
Back then, if someone in your family died, you would rip your clothes off, cover your face with ashes, sit at the door of your dwelling, and weep. When the whole nation of Isreal had a tragedy the whole nation wept in front of the Tabernacle--also known as the Tent of Meeting. As you can imagine, when Moses was ordered to behead his own people and hang their heads for everyone to see, it was pretty traumatic and a great tragedy among the Isrealites. This is why in verse 6 we find the "congregation of Isreal" weeping in front of the Tabernacle door.
Lets go back to verses 1-3. Isreali men were commiting acts of sexual immorality with Moabite women. Now look at verse 2. They (the Moabites and the Middianites) "called the people unto the sacrifices of their Gods.". The Isrealites willingly agreed. This completely goes against commandment number 1 which says: "Thou shalt not have any other graven images.".
Look back at everything that just happened in the first six verses of Numbers 25. So far, a bunch of Isreali men have commited sexually immoral acts which is a sin against God, Isreal has gone and worshiped other gods besides God, Moses has been ordered to behead all the perpetrators, and a plague has come upon Isreal (v. 8-9)
Now for the question.
Why did Phineas (v. 7) spear the Isrealite man and the Midianite woman?
Remember why the children of Isreal were weeping? Because Isreal had commited terrible acts against God and were beheaded. Now imagine the anger Phineas felt when, as he was weeping for the sins of Isreal, another Isrealite man "brought a Midianitish woman unto his brethren". Isreal had just been severely punished for mingling with the Midianites and yet here is a man who brings a Midianite woman right into the Isreali camp, AND right in front of the Tabernacle--the most Holy place in Isreal at the time and the very resting place of God. What stupidity! It was downright disobedience. This is why Phinehas killed them both. They were purposely disobeying God. Phinehas punished them. All of the people who mingled with the Midianites had to die. That is what Phinehas did. He killed them, thus obeying the orders of God. As a result, the plague was lifted of Isreal.
Lastly, why where the Midianites punished for what seemed like ignorance? It wasn't ignorace. This was a deliberate ploy that was concieved to destroy Isreal from within. Remember that in Numbers 22 the Moabites and the Midianites had joined forces to try and destroy Isreal. They knew that if Isreal rejected God and joined with them, they would not be destroyed. They were mistaken because God saw their plan. That is why they were punished.
You cannot take the bible out of context. Otherwise, it can be twisted and bent to mean anything. I am not accusing you of doing this purposely, but you definately don't have all the facts. That is whay I asked you if you have read the whole Old Testament. Heck, if you just read the whole book of Numbers it would be more clear.
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