Most children raised in Christian homes hear bloody, violent Bible stories where God is condoning or causing the deaths of evildoers, sometimes by the hundreds or thousands. For example, Noah’s ark, David and Goliath, the fall of Jericho. Those stories didn’t trouble me as a child. I suppose I received them the same way I understood television shows that featured “good guys” and “bad guys.” Of course, the good guys had to win, or I wouldn’t have wanted to watch the program.
However, as we grow older and realize it is the Almighty Creator of the universe who is causing or demanding the deaths of individuals, groups, or whole nations, we may begin to doubt the goodness of God. After all, what chance does puny humankind have against Omnipotence?
And so, I believe it is important to help children (and new believers) understand: “WHY?” before skeptics can inflict heretical doctrines on them.
Spiritual Cancers
We need to explain that there are unseen spiritual bullies loose in the world. We call those bullies Satan (or the devil) and demons. These dark spiritual beings are powerful and relentlessly evil. They invade humans like inoperable, metastatic cancers and corrupt the hearts and minds of their victims.1 And this kind of cancer is contagious. So, for example, If God hadn’t sent the Flood, all humanity would have become hopelessly wicked.
Spiritual bullies (the devil and demons) were not just Old Testament idols. They are modern threats. And the stories of the Old Testament are not included in the Bible to entertain us or impress us. God included every single story for profound, pragmatic reasons.
Consider God’s mandate to Joshua to clear out the Promised Land. The divine command was that not a single individual of foreign blood should be allowed to remain in the nation of Israel. That command is a warning to us to clear out every vestige of spiritual darkness in our lives. If our homes harbor Ouija boards, tarot cards, witchcraft books, mystical crystals, etc., we are not listening to God’s command to Joshua that we must clear the land. God wasn’t just talking to Joshua. He was talking to me. And you.
Tribal Deities
Sometimes, scoffers claim that Yahweh is just another tribal god. He’s no different, they say, than the deities worshiped by the lands around Israel, all of whom were leading their nations into petty battles over land and water, all of them trying to exert their own dominance in the region.
What the scoffers don’t understand is that those tribal deities really were gods – little “g” gods. They were spiritual beings created by God and assigned by Him to the various nations of the world.2 The Supreme God, Yahweh ( translation: “I AM”), chose Israel to be His assignment.
Unfortunately, the lesser gods proved unworthy. They drew their nations into every kind of corruption and atrocity. Almighty God had no choice but to protect His people from them. Thus, we read stories of savagery and bloodshed in the Old Testament for at least two reasons: 1) We learn that God protected His people from inexorable evil. 2) God was sending a warning to every living soul throughout the ages who was/is wise enough to listen.
To answer this blog’s question: Of course, the God of the Bible isn’t just another tribal deity. He is the Creator of all spiritual beings (little “g” gods), of all humans, and of the universe. And when He died on a Cross, He proved for all time and eternity that He’s not some monstrous tyrant. In spite of His vast power, we can trust His love. We can trust His Word. And we can trust His goodness.
Part II
Believe it or not, I only wrote this blog in order to introduce my next blog. For, you see, the next blog is written TO children. Chances are, children won’t find it. And I don’t want adults to think I’m speaking down to them. So, I will link this blog to the next one, and you can ignore it or use it any way you like.
The blog includes examples and metaphors that will help explain to children the concepts discussed above. So, if you’re interested, you can tell your children about it, read it to them, or let them read it themselves, depending on their age.
I hope you find it helpful.
Part II: Understanding How God Protects Us – Coming Soon
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Footnotes:1 I don’t believe demons can literally invade (or possess) Christians. However, if we “play” with the dark spiritual world through seances, channeling, fortune telling, and the like, we are inviting them into our world, and that’s not smart. Even if we’re born again, they can find ways to damage our health, our families, our finances, or our peace. And you can count on it – their presence in our lives weakens our fellowship with our Heavenly Father.
2 For a full discussion on the assignment of the (little-g) gods to the nations, see The Unseen Realm by Michael S. Heiser, especially chapters 14 and 15.
The Bible in Brief
In my book The Bible in Brief, which is a historial summary of God’s story, I made it a point to describe many of the battles in the Cosmic War between God and Satan from Eden through Revelation.
The Bible in Brief is available on Amazon as a hard copy and from Sqrindle as an ebook.
Here are links to my blog indexes, which will make it quick and easy for you to find another post to read.
∙ Blogs with a Spiritual Theme
∙ Blogs about Books I Like: Fiction
∙ Blogs about Books I Like: Nonfiction
∙ Blogs for Holidays and Other Special Days
∙ Miscellaneous Blogs