How could a loving God order men, women, and children to be killed?

Many honest, sincere souls have a difficult time accepting those few Bible passages in which God commands the Israelites to wipe out whole nations—men, women, and children. They see a dichotomy between the picture of Jesus in the New Testament and what appears to be a vengeful Old Testament God ordering genocide.

First, let me say that we should all find it difficult to read stories of people being destroyed in the Bible. It’s not meant to be happy reading. Notice what Scripture says: “ ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ ” (Ezekiel 33:11). Actually, some of the most grace-filled statements in the Bible are found in the Old Testament—and some of the most severe judgments are spoken of in the New Testament (see Revelation 16).

In the time of Israel, God’s people often encountered those who had a simple agenda, “Kill or be killed.” One such group was the Amalekites. This treacherous people were bent on Israel’s destruction, attacking God’s people from behind after they came out of Egypt, targeting the elderly and weakest. They also practiced some of the most abominable rituals with animals, which are not worth repeating here. Some scholars indicate that these practices led them to become an incredibly diseased people. In order to preserve His people, the Lord told Israel to bring complete judgment upon this nation.

God was and is long-suffering. Not only did He give nations the opportunity to repent, but Israel was to accept any stranger who wanted to join the people of God. The picture of a vengeful God who delights in randomly wiping out people is a distorted view given to us by skeptics ready to blame God for everything. Bringing righteous judgment against evil is actually a demonstration of God’s love.

Key Bible Texts

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 KJV)