I have addressed this before (see Nov 4 post below). It was earlier in this thread & not answered.
In addition to that, I don’t see anything the Lord Jesus commanded Moses & other men of God in the Old Testament to be mistaken. God doesn’t make mistakes.
The following article has many fine points on this subject:
christianthinktank.com/killheir.html
From page 4 of this thread…Sat Nov 04, 2017 1:57 am…
The OT civil law was a bit different from the USA today where half the people are in prison & the rest running around packing semi-automatic weapons. How many prisons do we read about in the OT? I imagine the crime rate was extremely low. Compare the harsh laws & low incidence of crime in modern day Singapore, for example, where one can walk about anywhere at any time of the day or night without fear. Would you recommend trying that in “America”, or even Canada?
As to destroying the Canaanites pagan children why would God command that? When the white man came to “America” he brought diseases that wiped out many of the natives. That might be one reason. (BTW, air travel today could lead to the extinction of the human race). Demon possession another reason. Moreover, what’s the harm done if killing these “children and babies” sends them to heaven?
Romans 13:1-7 states, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
Matthew 23:1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples: 2 “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.…
Matthew 22:17Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? 18But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? 19Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. 20And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? 21They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s. 22When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.
Also from another date on page 4 of this topic…
We seem to be in general agreement except for this point where we appear to be defining “darkness” in different ways. As i see it spiritual darkness includes ignorance of the truth. God has no such darkness in Him at all. Therefore corrective judging of the world with curses or death for the good of humanity is consistent with God having no darkness in Him. gotquestions.org/spiritual-blindness.html
You say that God blinding the man in Acts was temporary & corrective. Yet the fact remains if blinding people (e.g. Saul) is a curse, God curses people. What difference does it make if it is blindness, sickness, some disease, death or other curses? All of them will be temporary, corrective & for good. Is it your position that things such as blindness, sickness, disease, insanity, etc, are not curses?
Re God killing, all already have a death sentence in themselves, so what is the issue if God speeds it up a bit? Is not every moment of life His gift & His right to cease giving it as He wills according to His good pleasure, glory & for the benefit of humanity? In many cases the death of a person may be a blessing not only to the one dieing but to those still alive. How can you judge that that is not the case? Furthermore, death is nothing but a blink in time during which a transfer occurs from one life to another. As such it is neutral & harms no one.
How do you reconcile these verses from 2 Peter with your view that God does not kill:
4For if God spared not angels when they sinned, but cast them down to hell, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5and spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, having made them an example unto those that should live ungodly; 7and delivered righteous Lot, sore distressed by the lascivious life of the wicked 8(for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their lawless deeds)
Jn.3:36 he who is believing in the Son, hath life age-during; and he who is not believing the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God doth remain upon him.’
Heb.10:28 Anyone who rejected the Law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.”
Eph.5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
Even temporary corrective cursing & death from God, which is not “darkness” or unloving, works for His glory & ultimate good:
2 Th.2:8And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Compare:
1 Kings 22:22
"The LORD said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.’
Romans 1:28
Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.
Acts 13:9-12
9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas 10 and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord? The Lord’s hand is now upon you, and you will be blind for a time and unable to see the light of day." Instantly there fell upon him a mist and a darkness, and, as he walked about, he begged people to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the Proconsul, seeing what had happened, believed, being struck with amazement at the teaching of the Lord.’
Acts 5:1-12
1Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.3Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”5When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.
6Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.7About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”9Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”10At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.12The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people.