The Inspiration of the Bible

We are living in an age of great skepticism, agnosticism, and atheism . In our public schools, especially in the colleges and universities, it seems that a deliberate effort is being made by some to destroy faith in the Bible as the word of God. In many cases this effort is successful. It is easy to see why. A college professor, an expert in his field, skillfully argues against the integrity of the Bible. The young men and women whom he teaches, being unable to answer his arguments, think there is no answer, and their fath is shaken.

Believers have nothing to fear from an honest investigation of the question as to whether or not the Bible is the inspired word of God. It always has and will continue to stand the test.

This discussion will not enable the reader to answer all the arguments that may be presented by the unbeliever. It is our purpose rather to present evidence that will increase and sustain faith in the inspiration of the Bible.

THE NATURE OF INSPIRATION

The word "inspiration" is variously used. Some who admit that the writers of the Bible were inspired mean only that they possessed superior insight in the realm of morals and ethics. Others say that the Bible is inspired in the same sense that the works of Browning, Milton, and Shakespeare are inspired. Still others say that the Bible is partly inspired, or that it contains inspiration.

The word translated "inspiration" in II Tim. 3:16 is a word compounded from two Greek words, theos 'God', and pneustos 'breath'. The Scriptures then are "God breathed."

"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (II Peter 1:21).

In I Corinthians 14:37 Paul said,

"If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord."

Paul also said concerning the things he preached and wrote,

"But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit . . ." (I Corinthians 2:10).

And then in practically the next stroke of the pen he claimed for himself and other New Testament writers verbal inspiration:

"Which things we also speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (I Corinthians 2:13).

That the very words of the Bible, not just the ideas, are inspired is seen from the fact that in Gal. 3:16 the writer stakes an argument upon the number of a noun:

"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ."

Such an argument would have no strength if only the ideas of the Bible are inspired, and not the very words. The Bible, then, claims to be a revelation from God written by men who were divinely guided, even in the choice of words which they employed. This means simply that the writers of the Bible were rendered incapable of error in their reception and communication of God's revelation.

This does not mean that the Bible is a verbally dictated book. God did not dictate to the writers of the Bible as a man might dictate a letter to his secretary. If He had done so there would be no such thing as individual writers' having their own style or characteristics of writing. But as it is each writer wrote in the style and with the vocabulary which were characteristic of him. Luke, for example, being a physician, used a vocabulary in describing certain of the healing miracles of Jesus that an ordinary person would not have used. Paul's writings can be identified by certain characteristic expressions. If a man spoke and wrote in the Hebrew tongue inspiration did not make him write Greek, and vice versa. Inspiration merely saw to it that, regardless of the style or vocabulary he might employ, each writer accurately received and communicated God's revelation. It seems obvious that inspired men occasionally used expressions not common to them and which they did not understand, but which were dictated to them by God. Peter's expression in Acts 2:39 concerning "all that are afar off" seems to be an example of such in view of the fact that it took several years and a miracle finally to convince Peter that the gospel was for Gentiles and Jews alike.

Inspiration has nothing whatsoever to do with sinless perfection. Inspired men sinned along with the uninspired. John, an inspired writer, wrote, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (I John. 1:8). Paul, another inspired man, wrote, "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway" (I Cor. 9:27).

A distinction must also be made between inspiration and omniscience. The fact that a man was inspired does not mean that he knew everything. The inspired man of God who prophesied against Jeroboam's altar at Bethel did not know that the old prophet was lying to him (I Kings 13:18). In Acts 15:36 Paul proposed to Barnabas that a visit be made to certain brethren to "see how they do." Paul was inspired, but he had no news concerning the welfare of these brethren. Paul also did not remember who all he had personally baptized at Corinth (I Corinthians 1:16).

INTERNAL EVIDENCES OF INSPIRATION

All that men may say about the Bible cannot prove nor disprove that it is inspired of God. And so we must turn to the Bible itself to see if it contains evidence sufficient to cause intelligent and informed men and women to believe its claim of inspiration. This discussion of such evidence will of necessity be brief in comparison to the amount of such evidence available.

The fact that the Bible teaches there is one God is evidence of its inspiration. Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldees, surrounded by idolatry. He left that land and came into the land of Canaan where idolatry was rampant. He journeyed in and our of Egypt where many gods were held in reverence. After Abraham's death his descendants, few in number, migrated into Egypt where they were enslaved by an idolatrous people. Here they grew into a great nation numbering into the millions. When they came out of Egypt about the first thing they did was to build a golden calf and start worshipping it. As they wandered in the wilderness for forty years it was humanly impossible to restrain them from worshipping the gods of the nations around them. When they finally entered Canaan, despite all warnings, they adopted the worship of the gods of the Canaanite nations. If they nation of Israel, on its own, had produced a book concerning religion it is inconceivable that that book would have taught so emphatically from beginning to end that there is but one God.

That God is the Author of the Bible is seen by the obvious absence of the human element in the nature of the Bible narrative. Books that are purely human do not relate with such absolute frankness the mistakes of their heroes. Abraham, Moses, David, and Peter are portrayed as spiritual giants and leaders of men. Yet the Bible does not hesitate to tell us that Abraham lied about the identity of his wife (Genesis 12:10-20), Moses took honor to himself which belonged to God (Numbers 20:7-13), David committed adultery and murder (II Samuel 12-7-14), and Peter denied the Lord three times (Matthew 26:69-75). Books that are purely human in origin also seek either to stir up or to satisfy human curiosity. The Bible does neither.

What did Jesus write on the ground (John 8)? What about the boyhood years of Jesus before age twelve? What about the years from twelve to thirty? What happened to Paul after the Book of Acts closes leaving him a prisoner at Rome? The Bible tells us only that which we need to know. Chapters are consumed with endless genealogies which we prefer not to read, but not one sentence is written for the sole purpose of satisfying our curiosity.

The unity of the Bible is evidence of its inspiration. Some forty men writing over a period of sixteen centuries produced the Bible. In many cases the writers had no access to nor knowledge of each others' writings. Some writers were educated and other uneducated. Some were rich and others poor. Some wrote in one language and some another. Yet the Bible stands today as a complete unit, with no part missing and no superfluous part. Inspiration alone can account for this fact.

There is also no way to account for the prophecies of the Bible and their fulfillment other than by inspiration. Anyone can make predictions. But there is a vast difference between the prophecies of the Bible and mere prediction. Certain ones in modern times have been able to predict future events with phenomenal accuracy. But all admit, including the predictors themselves, that they sometimes err; and even when they are accurate the predictions themselves are quite vague. The prophets of the Bible, however, admit of no error, and their prophecies are detailed and completely accurate. They prophesied of events that would transpire, not only during their lives, but centuries after they were dead. Out of hundreds of such prophecies not one has failed of fulfillment, even in the minutest detail. It would be impossible to mention here a representative number of the prophecies of the Bible and their fulfillment, but the following are mentioned in order to illustrate the nature of Bible prophecy.

In Isaiah 44:28-45:4 there is this detailed prophecy:

"That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. Thus said the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me." This remarkable prophecy, spoken some 150 years in advance of its fulfillment, called Cyrus by name before he was born and told in detail what he would do. Secular as well as sacred history bears out the complete fulfillment of the prophecy.

In I Kings 13 we read of the man of God who was sent to cry out against the altar at Bethel. He prophesied after this fashion:

"O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee" (I Kings 13:2).

Prophecies

When Israel, under the leadership of Joshua, overthrew Jericho Joshua spoke this prophecy:

"Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it" (Joshua 6:26).

The fulfillment of this prophecy came about 550 years later when a man by the name of Hiel started rebuilding Jericho. The very things Joshua had said would happen came to pass in every detail (I Kings 16:34). Only inspiration can account for the fulfillment of these prophecies in such minute detail.

The accuracy of the historical record contained in the Bible bears witness to its inspiration. Through the years from time to time historians have disagreed with the bible on some vital point. In each case when the matter was settled the historian was forced to admit that he had been mistaken and the Bible account is accurate after all. For example, it was argued for may years that Moses could not have written the first five books of the Old Testament in view of the allegation that writing had not been invented at the time Moses lived. But in 1901 a discovery was made of a set of laws, the "Code of Hammurabi," which dates back beyond Moses some five to seven centuries. The argument was also made that Palestine was never under Egyptian or Babylonian rule. Nowhere except in the Bible could evidence of such be found, and consequently the Bible record was denied. But in time the Bible record was vindicated by the discovery of some Tel El Amarna Tablets which contain records substantiating the Bible account beyond question.

Another conflict between secular historians and the Bible developed after this fashion: Herodotus, who is known as the "Father of History," denied that the Egyptians grew grapes and made wine according to the interpretation of the butler�s dream by Joseph. This conflict stood for many years. But in time archeologists uncovered in certain Egyptian cities murals portraying the making, the drinking, and even the effects of wine. These incidents serve to illustrate what has happened over and over again. That is, when secular historians have taken issue with the Bible, in every historical event which men have been able to verify the Bible record has been proved true and the record of secular historians false. If the Bible were a human production it could be expected to be right in some of the conflicts with modern historians. But no human basis can account for such complete inerrancy.

The fact that the Bible is in complete harmony with every known fact of modern science and our universe can be accounted for only by admitting that the Bible is inspired. So very little was known or knowable from the human standpoint during the time of the writing of the Bible. We are told that the amount of knowable information doubled between 1950 and 1960, and that it doubled again between 1960 and 1967. When men write books dealing with the knowledge of science and our universe these books become obsolete within a few years because of the phenomenal increase in the storehouse of human knowledge. With the bible such is not the case.

It is true that the bible was not written for the purpose of conveying scientific information, but it does contain a number of statements dealing with science and our universe. And not one statement contained in the Bible is out of harmony with anything known today. On the other hand the Bible contains many statements which can be understood only in the light of certain modern scientific discoveries.

The eighth Psalm refers to the "paths of the sea." It is a fact in history recorded that Matthew Fontaine Maury searched for and found the great sea lanes traveled by modern vessels, and that the statement in the Psalm is the thing which started him on his search. From merely human knowledge how could the psalmist in his day have said that there are paths in the sea?

Job 26:7 says, "He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing." Modern astronomers can turn their most powerful telescopes in any direction and see a solid mass of stars surrounding the earth with the exception of one small area over the north pose. Job had no such telescopes with which to make such a discovery. How did he know there is an "empty place" in the sky, and that this empty place is in the north? How could Job say in his day that the earth is hanging "upon nothing?" Five hundred years ago man knew nothing about gravity and the fact that the earth is suspended in space. And yet in the very early morning of time this sage was able to make a pronouncement that would not be fully understood until thousands of years after his death. He could have made such a pronouncement only under the guidance of Him who knoweth all things.

In the thirty- eighth chapter of Job are recorded certain statements attributed to God. In verse seven reference is made to the fact that the "morning stars sang together." Do stars make any sound at all? In Job�s day men would have said they do not. But today we are aware of the fact that light possesses a certain tonal quality. Verse twenty-two refers to the "treasures of the snow." Adam Clarke, in writing his comment on this phrase, was able in his day to say only that "snow covers and defends vegetables from being destroyed by too severe a front." But in our day we know that snow places into the soil a particular element which is valuable to crops, especially to wheat crops. But what did Job know about it and how was he able to make such a statement?

Compelling scientific evidence that the Bible is no ordinary book

Isaiah 40:22 mentions the "circle of the earth." But in the days of Isaiah man did not know that the earth is circular. Two statements of Jesus show that he knew something about the rotundity of the earth. The first is in Matt. 24:40, 41:

"Then shall two be in the field; the one will be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left."

The second is in Luke 17:34:

"I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other left."

You will observe that in the first of these passages Jesus, in discussing events connected with His second appearing, mentions things transpiring during the daylight hours. In the second he refers to His second coming as being in the night. We know today that while it is day on one side of the earth it is night on the other side. Jesus' statements would be contradictory if such were not the case. No sensible explanation to this seeming contradiction could be given until hundreds of years after Jesus died. But in the light of modern knowledge about our earth it is easy to understand how it will be both day and night when Jesus comes again.

One of the greatest difficulties to the evolutionist is the fact that human blood is different from the blood of lower animals. There are, of course, different blood types among humans, but every type is distinctively human. The evolutionary theory cannot account for this distinction. Only within the last century has this distinction been discovered by man. But in Acts 17:26 the inspired apostle stated that God

"hath made all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bound of their habitation."

How could Paul make a statement like this nineteen long centuries before man discovered that there is a distinction to be make between human blood and all other blood?

These few passages are far from being all the passages in the bible which allude to certain scientific facts which were not known to man at the time the bible was written. But God, the Author of the Bible, knew these truths long before man ever discovered them. The only way to account for the fact that such statements as these appear in the bible is to admit that God is its Author. If such were not the case, not only would the Bible be lacking in such statements, but it would be filled that contradict modern scientific truth. From time to time there may be conflicts between science and what some think the Bible teaches. There may also be conflicts between what the Bible actually teaches and what some think science has proved. But there is absolutely no conflict between what the Bible actually teaches and what science has actually proved.

SUMMARY

With the many attacks being made against the integrity of the Bible we need to consider evidence of its inspiration that our faith may be strengthened. The proper view of inspiration is that the Bible writers were rendered incapable of error in the reception and communication of God's revelation to man. The following things prove that the Bible is not a human production: (1) it was produced by a nation given to many gods but reveals only one god, (2) it is not written in the style characteristic of human writings which appeal to man's curiosity and minimize the mistakes of their heroes, (3) it is one complete unit in spite of the fact that it was written by some forty writers over a period of sixteen centuries, (4) its prophecies are completely accurate, (5) its historical record is authentic, and (6) it is in complete harmony with every known fact of modern science and our universe, even stating certain scientific truths which were not otherwise known to man until many years after the Bible was completed.

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There is Too Much Evil and Suffering For God to Exist ?

Atheists often claim that the presence of evil is an argument against the existence of God. The Christian God is supposed to be both loving and all-powerful. Despite these characteristics, God seems to be unable or unwilling to prevent the vast amount of evil and suffering in the world. The atheist concludes that either God is not loving or not all-powerful or that God does not exist, because if He did exist, He could stop all the suffering. The atheistic arguments contain some subtle assumptions that, as I will show, do not apply to the God of the Bible and His created universe. Even the assumption that evil and suffering are bad for us must be questioned in light of what the Bible says. This page specifically defends the principle that moral evil must exist. Another page examines the reasons why natural evil must exist. Although many atheists claim the presence of moral evil precludes the existence of God, others admit that God would be completely justified in allowing moral evil.

The atheists' logical argument

What I have found is that atheists like to say that their arguments against God's existence specifically exclude the God of the Bible as a God who could exist. However, in reality, atheists produce generic arguments against a generic God whose characteristics and creation do not match those that are described in the Bible. Atheists may not accept what the Bible says, but they cannot say the God of the Bible cannot logically exist and then ignore what the Bible has to say about the characteristics of God. If the atheist states that the God of the Bible is logically impossible, he cannot pick and choose which arguments from the Bible to accept in order to "prove" his point. Let's formalize the atheist's arguments:

God is all-powerful, loving, and perfect.

A perfect, loving God would create a universe that was perfect (e.g., no evil and suffering).

The universe is not perfect but contains evil and suffering.

Therefore, God does not exist.

The Bible's Response

The Bible does state that God is "all powerful." In the Old Testament, one of God's titles is "El Shadday," which is translated "God Almighty." The Bible also states that God is loving. In fact, the Bible indicates that God is love. The Bible also indicates that God is perfect. So, we can agree that the first statement is a correct interpretation of what the Bible says about the characteristics of God.

The next statement indicates that a perfect, loving God must create a universe that is perfect. This is the statement that is false and invalidates the argument. Nowhere does the Bible state that the universe was created to be perfect. God Himself called it "good" and "very good," but never "perfect." In fact, God Himself stated that part of the original creation was "not good." The Bible states that the current universe is not perfect, but was designed to be temporary and will be replaced with a perfect universe that will be permanent. Science also tells us that the universe was designed to be temporary.

Why two creations instead of one?

Why would God create an imperfect, temporary universe only to replace it later with a perfect one? Why wouldn't God have created a perfect universe in the first place? This is a good question, but shows a lack of understanding of the biblical reason of why God created the universe. One can find the reason for the creation of the universe in the first few chapters of the Bible. God created humans in order to have a personal relationship with them, which He had with Adam and Eve before they sinned (Genesis 2). Jesus said that the first and foremost commandment was to "Love the Lord your God..." A personal relationship, characterized by the possibility of love, is only possible if created beings are given free will. If God had created the universe with no possibility of evil or sin, then the created beings would have had no free will, and, as such, would essentially be programmed computers. Such beings would be incapable of love, since love involves making a choice - which requires the ability to choose not to love.

For example, I can program my computer to say "I love you" when it starts up. Does this mean that the computer really loves me? Of course not! Likewise, God could have programmed humans to say that they loved Him, without the possibility of rejecting Him or performing evil deeds. However, these programmed beings would exhibit about as much true love as my computer - not a very satisfying relationship. Therefore, God created the universe for the express purpose of allowing free will spiritual beings the opportunity to have fellowship with Him (and likewise, reject Him).

What does God want?

God's purposes in creating the universe go beyond merely creating free will beings that love Him in this temporary universe. Jesus explained the ultimate goal of God in the parable of the banquet:

Jesus replied: "A certain man [representing God] was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.' The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.' 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. (Luke 14:16-23)

This parable tells that God wants not only a relationship with humans in this universe, but a relationship with billions of these creatures in His future, perfect creation. If God's purpose is to have relationships with free will beings in a future creation, then there must be a means by which these beings can make a choice to enter or not enter into this relationship. The means by which we make this choice is exactly the message of the Bible.

Therefore. the Bible says that God allows temporary, bounded evil in order to allow free will beings to have the ability to love and to make choices. I am going to propose something which seems to support the atheists' arguments regarding evil. I agree that there is a lot of evil in the world. In fact, there is too much evil in the world from what would be expected from chaos theory or the laws of physics. Evolution does not explain the vast amount of evil done by mankind. None of the other creatures on our planet have the capacity for evil that mankind have. No other mammals kill arbitrarily. They only kill to eat and survive - but not mankind. Just watch the nightly news or read your newspaper. Look at all the evil perpetuated in the last century alone - 6 million Jews killed by Hitler, 40 million Russians killed by Stalin, 2 million Cambodians killed by their own government in the 1970's. In fact, the Pol Pot regime specifically preached atheism and sought to exterminate all religious expression in Cambodia.

In addition to these atrocities, there have been hundreds of massacres committed in virtually every nation of the world. The Bible says that the presence of evil is due to the spiritual component of our nature - something that animals do not possess. God endowed His spiritual creatures (humans and angels) with free will to love God or to oppose Him. The most powerful created being (the angel Satan) rebelled and led one third of the angels into opposition against God. Those humans who oppose or ignore God follow Satan into rebellion - either consciously or unconsciously. Some people blame the evil on "society." However, society is composed of individuals who make individual choices. Most of the evil is committed by people who oppose the will of society. In contrast, there are many examples of societies in the animal kingdom, especially among the An order of mammals including man, apes, monkeys, etc., often characterized by large brains and flexible hands and feet.primates. None of these societies have the capacity for evil that we have. We are different from all other animals on our planet - a fact that has no scientific or evolutionary explanation.

Why pain is necessary

The atheist also makes the assumption that all pain, suffering, and death are bad or evil. In fact, physical pain is absolutely vital to our survival. If we felt no pain, we would do things to ourselves that could be very destructive. For example, if we didn't feel pain when we touched a hot object, we would not react until we saw our flesh smoking. This is obviously not a good thing to do. Pain tells us we need to react to a situation before serious damage occurs.

Evil as a means of spiritual growth

Many things that people consider to be bad are, in fact, useful in our spiritual growth. The Bible says that trials in our lives produce perseverance, which helps make us mature and complete. These trials also increase our faith - a "refining by fire." The Bible tells us that "all things to work together for good to those who love God."

Conclusion

God did not design this universe to be perfect, but as a temporary creation where free will beings make choices about where they want to spend eternity (in the new creation, which will be perfect).

The new creation will be perfect, but will not have absolute free will for its inhabitants. We must agree in this life to give up some of our free will in the next life. Those who are unwilling to give up their own free will choices will not be forced to do so in the next life. However, they will have to be separated from the new creation, since God is unwilling to compromise His character.

All people will suffer at least somewhat because of bad choices that others make. In addition, because of the temporary nature of the universe, some bad things will happen to us due to "bad luck" or chance. However, these things will teach us to be more sensitive to the needs of others, and will prepare us to show God's love to others when they suffer through similar things. God want us to learn from this life, not just have a party.

The Mercy of God as Found in the Old Testament

According to Richard Dawkins, Yahweh, the God of the Bible, is "jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."¹ Absent from any of Dawkins' description of God is His mercy. People tend to think of the God of the Old Testament as cruel and unforgiving, whereas the God of the New Testament is seen as the God of mercy, who sent Jesus to atone for the sins of the world. The Old Testament prophets were always warning the people about the wrath of God should they stray from the path of righteousness. However, what is usually ignored by atheists is God's mercy for those who did repent of doing evil. Yes, God judged many people groups, but not before warning them.

Let's Ponder on this parable in Luke 13:6, A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' "'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' " . The Owner of vineyard is God and We are the Trees ,My question to you My Friend If you are the one who own this vineyard , Are you going to leave this bad Tree for one more Year ??. This Parable shows that Our God is God of mercy as he's the one who own this vineyard and decided to leave the bad Tree for one more year although it gives no Fruit!!

Jonah and God's mercy?

For those of you who only remember the whale part of Jonah's story, here is a brief synopsis to get you a better background about Jonah. God called Jonah to travel to the city of Nineveh to warn them about their impending judgment, because of their wickedness.² Jonah had different ideas, and attempted to flee from God by paying for passage on a foreign ship.³ However, God was not amused and sent a violent storm.⁴ The sailors were terrified and eventually figured out that Jonah was the cause of their endangerment, which he eventually admitted to them.⁵ Jonah was thrown overboard and God directed a great fish (or whale - the Hebrew is not that specific) to swallow Jonah and take him to the shore.⁶ Once expelled from the whale, Jonah decided to do what God had originally requested and travelled to Nineveh to preach repentance from their evil.⁷

A number of Christians assume Jonah was reluctant to go to Nineveh because they were known for their cruelty, and he feared for his life. However, the account gives a different reason why Jonah did not want to go. Jonah actually wanted God to judge the city of Nineveh and kill all their inhabitants. He was disappointed that the king and the people repented of their evil and were spared from God's judgment.⁸ In fact, Jonah was so angry with God that he asked God to kill him.⁹ After that conversation, Jonah left the city and sat outside of it hoping that God would still destroy the city.¹⁰ God caused a plant to grow overnight to give Jonah shade during his watch, but then caused the death of the plant the next day. Jonah was furious about the plant.¹¹ God pointed out that Jonah's priorities were completely messed up, since he was more concerned about a plant that gave him shade than the fate of 120,000 souls in Nineveh:

Then the LORD said, "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?" (Jonah 4:10-11)

So, it was clear to Jonah that God was merciful and He would reconsider His judgment of evil if the people repented.¹² Since Jonah wanted no part in God's mercy, he tried to avoid following God's instructions to warn the people.

Did God warn others?

Atheists would like you to believe that the God of the Old Testament just randomly killed people for no good reason and without warning. It turns out that atheists often don't present the entire stories about God's judgment. Noah preached to the people of the coming judgment during the 100 years he was building the ark. God's own people were often recipients of God's judgment, when they refused to heed His warnings.¹⁹ Here is a short list from the writings of the prophets:

Prophet	Warning to	Result
Isaiah	Judah	Judgment
Jeremiah	Judah	Judgment
Lamentations	Jerusalem	Judgment
Ezekiel	Jerusalem, Tyre, Egypt	Captivity in Babylon
Hosea	Israel	Judgment
Joel	Tyre, Sidon, Philistia	Judgment
Amos	Israel	Judgment
Obadiah	Edom	Judgment
Jonah	Nineveh	Repentance
Micah	Israel	Judgment
Nahum	Nineveh	Judgment
Habakkuk	Judah	Judgment
Zephaniah	Judah	Judgment
Zechariah	Tyre, and other cities	Judgment

It is a well known principle that God regularly warned people of impending judgment and He personally indicated that He would relent if they changed their ways.¹² So, the atheists' idea that God killed people without warning is false.

Does God kill the innocent?

Did God kill any innocent people along with the evil ones? In the two most famous examples of God's judgment discussed above, the text clearly says that all the people God killed were evil.²⁰ When God was about to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham asked God if He would destroy the cities if there were 50 righteous people in them.²¹ God said no. Then Abraham asked the same question if there were 45 righteous people. Every time he dropped the number and got the same answer. The fact is that God would not have destroyed those cities if there were any righteous people in them. The few righteous who were in those cities He warned ahead of time to get out.²² In another example, Abimelech, king of Gerar, took Abraham's wife because he lied saying that she was his sister.²³ However, God prevented Abimelech from sleeping with her and warned him in a dream. Abimelech heeded God's warning and was spared from death.²³ Eliphaz the Temanite, in his discussions with Job, acknowledged that God did not judge the innocent with the guilty, but that those who act sinfully will incur God's judgment.²⁴ So, God does not destroy the righteous along with the evil.

Conclusion

In numerous instances, atheists cite the Old Testament for examples of where God killed "innocent" people. However, the texts show that the innocent are not judged, but only the guilty. In addition, virtually always, the guilty individuals were warned ahead of time about their sin. Jonah is often known as the reluctant prophet, although the reason for his hesitation was not due to the cruelty of Nineveh, but because he feared its people might repent and God might spare them. Jonah wanted God to kill all the people of Nineveh, but feared His mercy. So, Christians are not the only people who often seem to want to see God judge people for their evil, rather than praying for their reconciliation with God. Jonah reveals that God was known for His mercy even in Old Testament times. Even though God is merciful, His mercy extends only to those who heed His words of warning. There is no toleration for evil in God's kingdom.

God executes His judgment as a last resort to bring sinners to repentance so that He may forgive them. When properly understood, even the punishment and correction that God administers is, in fact, an ACT OF LOVE AND GRACE.

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Many of the Old Testament passages brought up in this are limited to a specific period in Israel's history - one in which Israel was just starting to establish itself as a new nation. And we must remember God had a very specific plan for the nation Israel - it would be the nation that would give the world God's word (ref. Rom. 3:2), and even more importantly, it would be the nation out of which the Messiah would come (Matthew 2:4-6).

Because Israel was to provide the very elements from which all the people of the world would be saved, the survival and protection of the nation was paramount. Therefore, God gave the infant nation a special measure of protection when establishing it in the land of Canaan. This is entirely consistent with God's character.

As a parent myself, I have given my children different rules for the different times of their lives. When they are toddlers, I limit their exposure to things that may be dangerous for them. For example, my four year old isn't allowed to cross the street by himself. However, my twelve year old can play ball in the street. Is this being inconsistent? No, it's merely recognizing that certain protections are necessary and those rules will change when that maturity level of the individual increases.

Similarly, Israel, as an immature nation with a very new religious system needed to be sheltered from the idolatry of the Canaanite nations, who would have corrupted Israel's worship of the true God and garbled its message to the rest of the world. (1)

Different Aspects of God's Character are not Contradictory.

Beyond the protection God provides to Israel, another reason God would command such action is simply to apply His justice to a wicked nation. In Genesis 15:16, Abram first asks about possessing the land, God tells him that the time is not yet right "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." In other words, God was going to give the nations of Canaan additional time to repent ant turn from their wicked ways. When they didn't, God chose to se Israel to bring His judgment upon them. Similarly, God used Assyria and Babylon to judge Israel later in its history.

Although the judgements of God may appear to some as out of character with His mercifulness and love, it is not true that these are contradictory attributes. Justice is necessary to show love to the victims of evil. If God did not judge those who perpetrate evil, we would not only consider Him unrighteous but uncaring as well. When reading some of these isolated instances in the scripture, we are not privy to the extent of their actions and why God feels they should be judged, so we tend to think of the judgment as unfair. But God is God; He is in the position to judge His creation and because of that He doesn't need to justify His actions to us with an explanation why a nation deserves judgment.

Throughout the Bible, God is portrayed as not only loving and long-suffering, but also a righteous judge who will come to punish the unrepentant and the wicked. This is as true in the New Testament as in the Old. The Book of Revelation specifically speaks about God's judgment on the nations and His wholesale destruction of nations. Similarly, the Old Testament highlights instances where god reached out to sinning nations and gave them unusual grace. The Ninevites were extended a chance to repent in the book of Jonah, even though their deeds were wicked. So the character of God remains consistent throughout the Bible.