When God Pled Guilty Archives

Remember Andrea Yates? She is the mother who, in 2001, drowned her five children in a bathtub. She said that the devil had influenced her children, and so they needed to die.

A few years later, another mother, Deanna Laney, tried to kill her two children, claiming that God told her to.

Then there is the case of Victoria Soliz, who tried to drown her son in a puddle because Jesus told her to do so.

No Christian with their head on straight (or unless you’re John Piper) honestly believes that God actually told these mothers to kill their children. Nobody who really understands the message and ministry of Jesus, and especially His love for children, can imagine that Jesus wanted or commanded these mothers to do such horrific things to their babies.

And yet…

How strange is it that while we decry and condemn such actions by various people today, we turn around and tell the story of God drowning millions of babies (along with their mothers and fathers and siblings) in the flood story of Genesis 6-8?

Does this make any sense?

On the one hand, we say, “There is no way God told these mothers to drown their babies,” but then we turn around and say, “God drowned millions of babies during the flood.”

Oh, but they deserved it, you see. Those babies at the time of the flood were going to grow up to be the devil. After all, haven’t you read what Genesis 6 says about the Sons of God having sex with the daughters of men? All those millions of babies were devil spawn! God had to drown them.

Yeeeaaah … that’s what the mothers above said too. Go read those articles I linked to. You’ll see. They thought their children had been influenced by Satan and so Jesus wanted them dead. Sounds eerily similar to our “explanation” for the flood, doesn’t it?

If we really stop to think about it, if there is absolutely no way that Jesus would be involved in a mother drowning her baby today, then there is absolutely no way that Jesus would be involved in the drowning of millions of babies in the flood.

“What are you saying, Jeremy?”

I am just saying that the flood event, as recorded in Scripture, looks nothing like Jesus. Does anybody disagree with that? You cannot find anything anywhere in the Gospels where Jesus acts or behaves in this sort of way toward anyone—and especially not toward children.

I have talked about this with numerous people over the past couple years, and almost without fail, people who defend the divine origin of the flood point to Jesus entering the temple with a whip (John 2:15; Matt 21:12) as proof that Jesus was also involved in sending the flood.

Really? Overturning the tables of a few greedy moneychangers is the same thing as drowning millions of babies? I just don’t see it. The text doesn’t even say anything about Jesus using this whip on the moneychangers—or even on the animals! Oh, except for all the children. These Jesus whipped till they were bloody. NO! NO! NO!

In my conversations about this, people usually then turn to the book of Revelation and point out how when Jesus returns a second time, He is going to kill so many people that there will be a lake of blood 200 miles wide and as deep as a horse’s bridle (Rev 14:20).

Yeah… I’m thinking that if this is how we read the book of Revelation, we’ve probably misunderstood the book.

If Jesus is a God who drowns babies because “They’re the devil!” and then rides His horse through a lake of blood from His slain enemies because “They wouldn’t worship me!” (Duh! You drowned millions of their babies!), I’m just not sure this sort of God is worthy of our worship.

But I still follow and worship the God revealed in Jesus.

Why?

Because Jesus doesn’t drown babies. He doesn’t slaughter His foes and then ride horses through their blood. And He never, ever, ever tells us to do so either. And since Jesus reveals God to us, this means that God doesn’t do these things either.

So what about the flood? What about Revelation?

I’m working on it!

I can’t yet share what I think about these texts, but one thing I know for sure: We will never understand these troubling texts of Scripture, and we will never understand God, and we will never understand ourselves, unless and until we begin with the realization that Jesus does not drown babies.

Why Did God Reject Cain’s Sacrifice?

By Jeremy Myers

17 Comments

Yesterday we discussed why Cain attempted to make an offering to God in the first place. God had not yet commanded sacrifices and offerings, so why did Cain give one to God? In today’s post, we look at the question about why God rejected Cain’s sacrifice but accepted Abel’s.

Various Explanations for why God Rejected Cain’s Sacrifice

Some argue that the problem was with Cain’s offering itself.

God wants blood, we are told, and Cain brought only fruit. Only death atones for sin. Yet nothing is said anywhere in the text about this being a sin offering. And besides, later in the Pentateuch when Moses gives instructions to the Israelites about the sacrificial system, fruit and grain offerings are said to be acceptable to God.

Others take this a step further and point that Abel brought the firstfruits from his flock (whether we understand this to mean the firstborn lamb or the first batch of milk) whereas Cain brought the last portion of his harvest.

But once again, this is not something which is explicitly stated in the text. Since the flood had not yet occurred, it is unlikely that there were seasons, and so fruit would have been produced all year long.

Finally, some argue that it wasn’t fruit from the last harvest of the year (for there was no such thing), but rather, the fruit of the ground, that is, fruit that had fallen off the tree and was lying on the ground, and therefore, not the best part of the harvest.

But again, this explanation is nowhere in the text, and must be read into what is there.

So why then did God accept Abel’s offering but not Cain’s?

God seems to explain why right in the text.

He tells Cain that if he does well, he will be accepted (Genesis 4:7).

We saw yesterday that Cain was trying to give God’s fruit back to Him. God is telling Cain now that acceptance is not dependent upon giving God His fruit back.

The problem with Cain, it appears, was that he was trying to please and appease God by giving God what he thought God wanted, namely, fruit. Cain was apparently trying to manipulate God by giving God back His fruit so that God would allowing Cain and his family back into the Garden of Eden.

By offering fruit to God, Cain was trying to the savior of his family.

God gently rebukes Cain and tells him he is already accepted and loved, that nothing is required. All God wants is for Cain to live well, to do what is right. If he doesn’t do what is right, rather than being the savior of his family, Cain will fall into the same trap that his parents had fallen into, and will become prey to sin. In fact, God warns Cain that sin is already crouching at Cain’s door, seeking to devour him.

The problem with Cain’s offering wasn’t with what Cain offered. The problem was with Cain’s heart in the offering.

Why then does God accept Abel’s offering?

The text simply doesn’t say. But it seems likely that if Cain’s offering was not accepted because he was trying to please and appease God through an offering of fruit, then maybe Abel’s offering was accepted because he had no ulterior motive. He was simply following his older brother’s example.

He saw Cain give fruit, and though, “Oh, is this how we thank God for what He has provided? Okay. I will give something too.”

For Abel, the offering of the firstfruits of his flock (which was probably the first batch of milk) was an act of worship to God and a way of saying “Thank you.” He had no desire to control or manipulate God into doing something for him or for his family. This seems to be how his offering differed from Cain’s, and therefore, why his offering was accepted while Cain’s was not (cf. Heb 11:4).

And of course, we all know how the story ends. Cain, the one who wanted to save his family from their sins, ends up taking his family deeper into sin by becoming the first murderer of the human race. Despite God’s warning about sin seeking to rule over Cain, Cain becomes jealous of his brother Abel, and murders him (Genesis 4:8).

The Sacrificial System in the Bible

Genesis 4 nevertheless begins to lay the groundwork for why the sacrificial system developed and what God thought about it.

Nevertheless, when people give gifts, God is pleased to accept them if they are given with the right motive and intention. He does not want humans to give offerings in an attempt to manipulate or control Him into doing what humans want, or as a way of getting back into God’s good graces.

As God told Cain, we are already accepted. We don’t need to do anything, other than live our life the way God desires. This is what God wants.

Of course, if we do end up giving something to God out of love and thanks to God for what He has given us, God is fine with accepting it, not because He needs or wants it, but because He recognizes such offerings as the acts of worship that they are.

Why Did Cain Offer a Sacrifice to God in Genesis 4?

By Jeremy Myers

20 Comments

Though some believe the first sacrifice in the Bible is found in Genesis 3:21, others say the first sacrifice in Scripture is one chapter later in Genesis 4 when Cain brings an offering of fruit and Abel brings the firstborn from his flock.

But just as people who view Genesis 3:21 as the first sacrifice read a lot of their theology into that verse, we also tend to read a lot of sacrificial and atonement theology into Genesis 4 which is not there. In so doing, we often miss what actually seems to be present in the text itself.

Why Did Cain Make an Offering to God?

Note first of all that nowhere in the text does God command or instruct people to bring sacrifices and offerings to Him. This practice seems to be Cain’s idea.

Why would Cain do this?

Cain, we must remember, was raised with his parents telling him the story about how they disobeyed God and were barred from the Garden of Eden.

Cain knew that the reason his parents were disciplined by God was that they had eaten forbidden fruit. He also knew that when God had explained to Adam and Eve the consequences of their sin, God had told them that the Seed of the woman would set things right (Genesis 3:15). When Eve bore her firstborn son, she named Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord” (Genesis 4:1).

From this it appears that Adam and Eve thought that Cain would be the one who would set things right and allow them to return to the Garden of Eden.

This is the story that Cain grew up with. This is the narrative that guided Cain’s life.

So it is not surprising that as he grew older, Cain looked for ways to get his family back into the Garden. Genesis 4 says that he became a tiller of the ground (Genesis 4:2), and he brought an offering of fruit to the Lord (Genesis 4:3).

Why fruit? Not because God had asked for it. God hadn’t asked for anything. Cain brought fruit because this is what his parents had taken from God.

In effect, Cain was trying to give God back His fruit.

Cain was trying to please and appease God, and hopefully, gain a way for himself and his family to reenter the Garden of Eden. He was trying to fulfill the expectations of his parents.

What about the Offering of Abel?

The text goes on to say that Abel brought an offering also, but since he was a keeper of sheep, he brought “the firstborn of his flock and of their fat” (Genesis 4:4).

We must be careful to not read sacrifice into this. The text does not say that Abel killed the firstborn of his flock. The text calls it an “offering,” which does not necessarily imply a blood sacrifice.

People get the idea of sacrifice from the text because it says that Abel also offered the fat of his flock. How could he have done this if the animal had not been killed?

Some early Jewish and Christian scholars noted that the consonants of the Hebrew word for “fat” are the same as the Hebrew word for milk and curds (Heb., ch-l-v), and so they understood this text to be saying that Abel offered milk products up to the Lord. The Jewish historian Josephus is one such source, who wrote that “Cain brought the fruits of the earth, and of his husbandry; but Abel brought milk and the first-fruits of his flocks” (Antiquities 1.2.1).

Some have also noted that the Hebrew word translated “and” could also be translated as “that is.” When this is taken into consideration as well, Genesis 4:4 could be translated this way: “Abel also brought the firstborn of his flock, that is, of their milk.”

Though some might consider such an interpretation to be far-fetched, we must ask ourselves why the text would refer to the “fat” of the flock if what God really wanted was blood. If it truly is blood sacrifice that God desires, and this is why God accepted Abel’s sacrifice over Cain’s, then wouldn’t the text have been clearer if it has emphasized the blood of the flock instead of the fat?

Furthermore, since everybody at this time were vegetarians (cf. Genesis 9:1-4), it would make no sense for Abel to think of offering a dead animal to God. What reason could there be for God to want a dead animal?

Nevertheless, no matter how we understand the offering of Abel, the real question from Genesis 4 is why God accepted Abel’s offering but rejected Cain’s. We will look at this question tomorrow.

What do you think? Do you think Abel killed an animal and gave it to God? Other than tradition, why do you think so?

Did God Perform the First Sacrifice in Genesis 3:21?

By Jeremy Myers

98 Comments

Many believe that the first sacrifice was carried out by God Himself in Genesis 3:21 which says that God made tunics of skin for Adam and Eve so that they could be clothed.

Did God Sacrifice an Animal in Genesis 3:21?

Although the text says nothing about a sacrifice, many believe that a sacrifice is implied.

It is often taught that after the first sin was committed, God wanted to show Adam and Eve that sin has consequences, and so He slew an animal in front of them, and made clothes for them from the hide of the dead animal.

Some have even speculated that the animal was a lamb, thereby presenting a prophetical picture of Jesus, the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 5:6; 13:8).

Furthermore, some have argued that in this death of the animal, God was teaching Adam and Eve the theological principle of substitutionary atonement. He had told Adam that if they ate of the fruit they would surely die, and so after they ate of the fruit, God should have killed them, but instead He killed an animal in their place.

But Did God Really Perform the First Sacrifice?

But is any of this really true? Did God really practice the first animal sacrifice? Was it truly a lamb? Did God intend for Adam and Eve to learn about substitutionary atonement?

Frankly, this seems to be an awful lot to read into one single verse which says nothing other than that “God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.”

The death of an animal is never mentioned.

A lamb is never mentioned.

Substitutionary atonement isn’t even inferred.

So where did God get the skin in which he clothed Adam and Eve?

The text simply doesn’t say.

Maybe he made it.

The word for “skin” that is used can refer to either human or animal skin.

There have been some streams of Judaism and Christianity which believed that prior to the event described in Genesis 3:21, humans did not have “skin” the way we see it today, but existed in some other form. They believed that we were “clothed in light” like God (Psalm 104:2) and that when Adam and Eve sinned, the light left them and they tried to replace the light with leaves (Genesis 3:7), which was an insufficient covering, and so God gave them skin instead.

This view is a little too mystical (or maybe even Gnostic) for most Christians, and yet it cannot be proven or disproven from the text any more than the traditional view that God killed an animal to make clothes for Adam and Eve.

Maybe it was snake skin.

It is interesting to note, however, that one of the more common Jewish explanations of this text is that the skin which Adam and Eve were clothed with was snake skin. The Jewish Targum Pseudo-Jonathan says that the Lord made garments for Adam and Eve from the skin which the serpent in the garden had cast off. This seems pretty far-fetched if you have ever seen the papery skin shed by serpents.

A related view is that since God had said to the serpent, “he will crush your head and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15 NIV), that Adam had taken it upon himself to kill the serpent by crushing its head with his heel, and from the skin of the dead serpent God made clothes for Adam and Eve.

This sounds far-fetched, but it is just as speculative as every other view.

We simply don’t know where the skin came from, or what kind of skin it was.

The simple fact of the matter is that the text simply doesn’t say how God made clothes for Adam and Eve. Therefore, we tread on dangerous ground if we claim that Genesis 3:21 contains the first sacrifice in Scripture, for it says nothing of the sort. All it says is that God gave them skin to wear.

We read substitutionary atonement and the sacrificial system into Genesis 3:21 at our own theological peril.

Did God Drown the Egyptian Army?

By Jeremy Myers

54 Comments

The following post contains a proposal about how to understand the violence of God in drowning the Egyptian army. I am publishing it for your input and feedback. I think that maybe what I have presented is a bit of a stretch, but if I am going to maintain some bit of sense of the inerrancy of this text, I can see no other way of reading about the drowning of the Egyptian army in Exodus 14 through the lens of Jesus Christ dying on the cross for His enemies.

In other words, the question I am trying to answer in this post is this: “Why would Jesus die for His enemies on the cross, but God drowns the enemies of Israel in the Red Sea?” Doesn’t something seem “wrong” in that picture? It does to me… This is my attempt to provide a solution…

Please provide your input in the comment section below….

One almost feels bad for Pharaoh.

After experiencing the crushing humiliation of the ten plagues which culminated in the anguishing loss of his firstborn son, Pharaoh damages the economy and productivity of Egypt by finally allowing the Israelites to leave Egypt, only to change his mind and chase after them in hot pursuit, which leads to the decimation of his army in the Red Sea.

If there is any lesson at all in the sad tale of Pharaoh in Exodus 1–14, it is that pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18).

Nevertheless, it seems from various clues in Exodus and other texts in Scripture dealing with the Israelite exodus from Egypt that it was never God’s intention to break Pharaoh or destroy Egypt. Instead, God wanted Pharaoh to recognize His sovereignty over all things.

If at any time during the ten plagues, Pharaoh had submitted to the will of God and let the Israelites go, the nation of Egypt would not have suffered the way it did. Although it is a popular Christian teaching to say that God sent the plagues with the express purpose of hardening Pharaoh’s heart so that God could destroy Pharaoh and the Egyptian army, this way of reading the exodus event is probably not the best and does not reflect the heart and love of Jesus (See Forster and Marston, God’s Strategy in Human History, 63-69).

Despite God’s warnings to Pharaoh and repeated signs that God wanted Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, Pharaoh continued to disregard God’s warnings and rush headlong toward his own destruction.

This is not only seen in the events of the ten plagues, but also when Pharaoh’s army drowned in the Red Sea.

The Drowning of Pharaoh’s Army in the Red Sea

There is something quite strange about the drowning of Pharaoh’s army which needs to be pointed out as we seek to understand the violent descriptions of God in the Old Testament in light of Jesus Christ.

While few would consider the drowning of Pharaoh’s army one of the more violent actions of God in the Bible—for didn’t Pharaoh bring this destruction upon himself?—there are a couple things in the text which helps us understand God’s involvement in human violence.

God’s Power over Chaos

First, it is important to remember that from an Old Testament Hebrew perspective, the forces of rebellion and chaos arrayed against God were often identified with the sea, and especially with the storms and waves that often rage across the sea. This concept was considered in previous posts as part of the discussion of the flood.

So once again, just as the ten plagues put on display the power by God over the impotence of the various Egyptian deities, so also, the crossing of the Israelites through the waters of the Red Sea showed that God even had dominion and power over the threats of chaos, storms, and destruction that were identified with the sea.

The parting of the Red Sea is not just a miracle to give to the Israelites a path through the waters of death and destruction, but is primarily intended to show the Israelites that not even the raging gods of chaos and destruction can overcome God’s hand of protection over the Israelites.

However, this does not mean that God’s hand of protection is without limits.

The Limits to God’s Control

The entrance of the Egyptian army into the path through the Red Sea demonstrates that if a group of people persists in rebelling against God, there comes a time when not even God can hold back the consequences of such rebellion.

Destructive decisions must eventually lead to destruction, even though God has pled with people to turn back and warned them about where their decisions will lead.

Pharaoh had been warned ten times already to let God’s people go, yet by sending his army after Israel, Pharaoh revealed that he still had not learned. He still could not let go. He still persisted in rebellion against God. The Red Sea crossing was not a trap set by God for Pharaoh, but was a form of deliverance for God’s people Israel, and Egypt, in their rebellion, tried to use God’s protection as a method by which to destroy.

As a result, destruction came upon Egypt instead.

God’s Attempt to Deliver Egypt

But it is critical to note that even prior to destruction falling upon the Egyptian army, God attempted to deliver and turn the army back so as to avoid the devastating consequences of their sin.

In Exodus 14:24-25, after the Egyptian army had followed the Israelites into the Red Sea, the text says that God sought to turn the Egyptian army back by bringing trouble upon them. He caused the chariot wheels to fall off, and brought confusion among the ranks.

It appears that through such actions, God was trying to non-violently warn the Egyptian army that destruction was about to fall upon their heads, and they should turn back while they still had time. The Egyptian army received the message loud and clear, and in fact, did attempt to turn back. Exodus 14:25 says that they sought to flee from the face of Israel. They stopped pursuing Israel through the Red Sea and turned back toward the shore from which they had come.

Yet the text takes a troubling turn at this point. One would think that if God was bringing troubles upon the Egyptian army so that they would turn back, that once they did turn back He would let them escape the Red Sea and live. The point was to deliver Israel; not destroy Egypt. And once the Egyptian army turned back, as the text says they did, what reason could God have for drowning the Egyptian army?

And yet that seems to be what occurs in Exodus 14:26. Just as the Egyptians were seeking to flee from the sea (cf. Exodus 14:27), the text says that God instructed Moses to stretch out his hand over the waters so that they might collapse back down upon the army. And so all the horses and men of Pharaoh’s army drowned beneath the waves (Exodus 14:30).

This confusing and somewhat contradictory series of events seems to indicate something going on behind the scenes, which is not fully evident in the text itself.

Behind the Scenes of the Drowning of the Egyptian Army

It seems that while God’s protection was upon Israel, this protection did not extend to the Egyptian army because of their continued refusal to heed God’s warnings and submit to God’s sovereignty.

As such, the Egyptians were in rebellion against God and had departed from God’s hand of protection. Through the use of the pillar of cloud and fire and by causing confusion among the army ranks when the chariot wheels fell off, God continued to try to keep the army out of the danger of drowning in the Red Sea.

But once Israel had passed fully through the Red Sea, the forces of chaos and destruction could no longer be held back, and they swept away the Egyptian army into death.

But What About God’s Command to Moses in Exodus 14:26?

The command of God to Moses in Exodus 14:26 to allow the waters to fall back upon the heads of the Egyptians can be understood as God taking the blame for that which He did not prevent.

Though God repeatedly warned the Egyptians about their rebellion and tried to get the Egyptians to turn back from the Red Sea crossing, they responded too late and destruction fell upon them, just as it had in the tenth plague.

In Exodus 14:26-31, God takes the blame for this event and bears responsibility for it because it is something that happened on His watch and seemingly by the hand of His prophet, Moses. But really, the fault lies with the Egyptians, and specifically with Pharaoh, who consistently and rebelliously walked in the way of destruction.

“Having cast off every God-given opportunity to repent, Egypt under Pharaoh succumbed fully to the destroyer’s jurisdiction” (Campbell, Light through the Darkness, 72).

God’s Involvement in Drowning the Egyptian Army

God’s action in the miraculous Red Sea crossing was not in drowning the Egyptian army, but in holding back the waters for Israel as they passed through on dry land.

God’s actions were for deliverance and protection first from the invading army and second from the drowning waters. Though God did not desire that the Egyptian army be killed, their refusal to repent and refusal to abide by their promise to let Israel go meant that they had departed from God’s hand of protection.

So once the Egyptian army stepped foot into the Red Sea, God was not able to hold back the waters any longer. Due to their sin and rebellion, the Egyptian army was no longer under God’s jurisdiction, but was under that of the destroyer.

The waves of chaos and the forces of the sea swept over the Egyptian army and carried them down into death. The destroyer destroyed the Egyptian army; not God.

What are your thoughts on the drowning of the Egyptian army in Exodus 14? Did God really do it? If so, how do you reconcile the enemy-loving, self-sacrificing Jesus with the enemy-drowning, vengeful God of Exodus 14?

How can a God who says "Love your enemies" (Matthew 5:44) be the same God who instructs His people in the Old Testament to kill their enemies?

These are the sorts of questions we discuss and (try to) answer in my online discipleship group. Members of the group can also take ALL of my online courses (Valued at over $1000) at no charge. Learn more here: Join the RedeemingGod.com Discipleship Group I can't wait to hear what you have to say, and how we can help you better understand God and learn to live like Him in this world!

Does Jesus Drown Babies?

Does this make any sense?

So what about the flood? What about Revelation?

Why Did God Reject Cain’s Sacrifice?

Various Explanations for why God Rejected Cain’s Sacrifice

So why then did God accept Abel’s offering but not Cain’s?

Why then does God accept Abel’s offering?

The Sacrificial System in the Bible

Why Did Cain Offer a Sacrifice to God in Genesis 4?

Why Did Cain Make an Offering to God?

What about the Offering of Abel?

Did God Perform the First Sacrifice in Genesis 3:21?

Did God Sacrifice an Animal in Genesis 3:21?

But Did God Really Perform the First Sacrifice?

So where did God get the skin in which he clothed Adam and Eve?

Did God Drown the Egyptian Army?

The Drowning of Pharaoh’s Army in the Red Sea

God’s Power over Chaos

The Limits to God’s Control

God’s Attempt to Deliver Egypt

Behind the Scenes of the Drowning of the Egyptian Army

But What About God’s Command to Moses in Exodus 14:26?

God’s Involvement in Drowning the Egyptian Army

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