The God Who Mandates War, Rape, and Slavery

I passed over the concubine issue. I had a more pressing concern. It had always bothered me, but I pushed it away, told myself that I didn't understand what God was doing here, but He is always good.

God is always good.

Is He?

My perspective had become broader, and I felt greater empathy for others. I could no longer ignore apathy, or excuse it.

I remember how disturbing it was to come to passages in the Bible about the rape of virgin girls. Just like other material possessions, like land, cattle, and fine cloth, girls are the spoils of war. And in some instances so are other people. This was a common practice in ancient cultures, so when I open a history book I expect to see this. But it does not diminish how disturbing it is.

Isn't it always immoral to kill a baby? To plunder a city? To rape a virgin?

Not when God mandates it. God can do whatever He pleases, and He is always good.

But is He? Because I have to say that? Because He says He is?

When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. And when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword, but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you. (Deut 20:10-14 ESV emphasis added)

Here, God pours his wrath out on sinful, wicked people. He has the right to judge them however He would like. He's in charge. He can use slavery and rape to punish people. Right?

And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? Behold, these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord. Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves. (Num 31:14-18 ESV emphasis added)

Here, Moses commands, I am assuming with God's authority, his officers to slaughter every man, woman, and child. I envision this scene. Mothers and fathers slaughtered, an entire city in ruin. The young girls watching as their family and neighbors are destroyed by invaders. And they are snatched up, and given to the men as spoils. Is this merciful? Holy? Just? Good? I cannot explain how it is. I can no longer see it. I can no longer excuse it. I consider it evil in any other context. Were I to evaluate this scenario in any other place, time, or religion, I would consider it evil. How, then, can it not be evil here?

If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her. He may not divorce her all his days. (Deut 22:28-29 ESV) 

A girl who is raped and forced to marry her rapist? Is this just? What of the girl? She is trapped in a culture where she is valued for her virginity and ability to produce offspring. But was it not God who invented these ideals, who encouraged such practices? And if we consider such a practice horrific today, how could it not be horrific centuries ago? Have women changed so much? Has rape changed? Shouldn't a transcendent, all knowing, omnipotent God know better? Men don't know better. Men would invent a system like this. Ignorant men. But surely, God knows better...

Out of the window she peered, the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice "Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?" Her wisest princesses answer, indeed, she answers herself, "Have they not found and divided the spoil?—A womb or two for every man; spoil of dyed materials for Sisera, spoil of dyed materials embroidered, two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’ “So may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might."

And the land had rest for forty years. (Judges 5:28-31 ESV emphasis added)

What a beautiful scene, Israel triumphant. And why do the men tarry? Well, they are dividing the women of course. A womb or two for each of you. A womb. Some translations say woman. But we know why they divide the girls. To satisfy the needs of their sex, and to produce offspring. Does a God mandate these things? Or do men?

How do God's attributes stack up? How is God consistent?

I hear those women in the Redemption group. I remember their stories, how they turned my stomach, made me sick. The pain they felt. I recall the apathetic men who violated them.

What should I have learned from these women? That rape can be good?

How can I call one who mandates such a thing "good?"

I consider my past. All the pain those women went through, and our struggles. Christians sit together, mulling over their sins and imperfections, learning as much as they can from their Bibles and one another. Why?

To psychologically work through their problems.

We are told we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Then why do I struggle when I am away from my brothers and sisters? Why do I continually need to bolster and fortify this structure in my mind?

Our faith is like a plant that must be continually watered, or else it dries up. It wilts, it fades. How can this be so, if our faith and salvation are secured by God? How can this be so if we are indwelt by God Himself? Why would he make us play mind games?

Mind games. Our perception of our world, our selves, our God, it changes. It develops as we learn. We look at our country. So many Christians! So many different perceptions of God.

In Campus Crusade, I often asked questions, often challenged my peers, even the staff. Why do we evangelize this way, when it is contrary to Scripture? Why do we talk about redemption, salvation, and God's wonderful plan for our lives, and leave out God's wrath against the wicked? You cannot speak of the cross of Christ without speaking of the damnation of the unrepentant and unbelieving.

But we all got together, sang songs, clapped our hands. It was a joyous occasion. But I always worried. I always knew. These people, their perception of God is very different from mine. There are things they haven't seen, things they don't know. And so, we see many gods in the minds of people.

I was outspoken, criticizing movements and people in the church that undermined the Gospel for the sake of growth or profit. False prophets, con-men, the televangelists, I couldn't stand them. I responded to them whenever I could and challenged other Christians to do the same. But so many of my peers in CRU simply trusted whatever fad came their way. There were no alarm bells going off, there was no discernment. Why? Because they did not know to always be wary. This is something that was cultivated in myself. This was something that I was passionate about, along with pockets of other Christians. But there were too few responding to the corruption in the church.

So many of my friends and acquaintances were innocent, not knowing that danger lurks even in their churches. And how do you discern it? Simply listen to the message, compare it to the Bible, and look for the fruit of the Spirit. So many of these Christians are far too trusting. But this is because they do not know to be wary. Their perception of reality--their worldview, the idea of who God is and what a church should be like-- is informed only by how much they know and what they have experienced. It is not willful ignorance. But it is ignorance. So faith becomes a mind game.

How much do you know? How much have you learned? Where were you raised? How were you raised? What have you experienced? So shapes your God.