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Why God commanded the killing of infants?

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Nelson Boils:
1 Sam 15:3
"Go now and put Amalek to the sword, putting to the curse all they have, without mercy: put to death every man and woman, every child and BABY AT THE BREAST, every ox and sheep, camel and a@@."

How would you try explain why God commanded the Israelites to kill infants?

AwesomeSavior:
I would keep four things in mind:

1) God is holy and righteous. Any command He gives is righteous. Is anyone going to tell God that He was wrong? haha

2) God dealt with carnal minded people differently in Old Testament times, before Grace and Truth came in Jesus Christ.

3) Romans 13:4 "For the one in authority is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God's servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer". Saul was King (in authority), a ruler who did bear the sword, and was God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment.

4) Many people cannot handle these truths.  God's will be done.

Dean

lareli:
I guess the answer to your question, “How would you try explain why God commanded the Israelites to kill infants?”  Could be that the infant Amalekites grow into adults and repopulate and end up corrupting the Israelites.. or they could seek vengeance for the killing of their people..

But I think your question is in regard to the morality of God commanding the killing of infants, yes?

Wanda:
God knew that the Amalekites would always oppose Israel, that the children of the Amalekites would do it when they grew up, and their descendants too; as we see with Haman in the book of Esther.


Amalekites are not simply threatening a people group with their determination to wipe out Israel, but they are a threat to the salvation plan of God for all other nations.

They weren’t Canaanites. Israel was not a threat to them; Israel was not going to take their land. Israel’s relationship to the Amalekites was like their relationship to the other Edomites when Israel said,

“Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink water from a well. We will go along the King’s Highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.” (Num 20:17)

First up, who were the Amalekites? What made them so bad?

The Amalekites were the descendants and followers of Amalek, grandson of Esau, brother of Jacob also known as Israel. As such, the Amalekites weren’t total foreigners to God. Esau was the one who had sold his birthright and his part in God’s promise. He had been part of God’s covenant people, but he valued his own appetites more. So the Edomites (Esau’s descendants, including the Amalekites) were people who had opted out en masse
of the covenant which defined God’s people.

But the Amalekites really really didn’t like Israel. At the very birth of the nation of Israel, when they came out of Egypt and were at their most vulnerable, before they even got to Sinai and when they didn’t even have any water, the Amalekites came and attacked them. Israel were forced to fight their very first battle, fighting for their lives against the Amalekites, under the leadership of Moses. After God gave Moses an amazing victory,

Exodus 17 says this...

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” (Exod 17:14-16)

The Amalekites attack Israel though.

In Numbers 14:45, they attack Israel again while they are still in the desert.

In Judges 3:13 they join in with the Moabites in attacking Israel.

In Judges 6:3, they invade Israel “whenever the Israelites planted their crops”, and together with the Midianites “devour the produce of the land… and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey” (6:4).

Later in Judges 6 and 7 they invade again and are fought off by Gideon.

looks very much as if it was the Amalekites who were at war with God.  Israel has a lot of wars between the time of Moses and the time of Saul, but they never once attack the Amalekites.

Durring all of these attacks on Gods people, were they not killing the children and babies?

The Amalekites show that generation after generation, they are at war with Israel and with God.


The Amalekites are like the bad Terminator in Terminator II – you’ve got to finish the job or he’ll re-form and keep coming after you.

The complete Sovereignty of God...He gives life he takes life and he restoreth life, all for the good of ALL.

Praise God Almighty for your righteous ways and love for us all, in spite of our sinful carnal condition!

Nelson Boils:
"..morality of God..."Really?
No!

God does for a reason,so I would've like to know why would infants be killed.

According to Google,the meaning of infants:”a schoolchild between the ages of about four and eight."

Other bible translations use "infants," whereas the above translation uses "baby at the breast."

Ok Wanda,thanks for that info.
By the way,1 Sam 15:3 states the Israelites attacking the Amalekites

A child between 4 and 8 is surely not a "baby at the breast."perhaps Google has its definition incorrect.

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