Essay by a Muslim on the Biblical Ten Commandments
As a Muslim man, I fully accept the Ten Commandments as the true word of God. Since I was a little boy I remember learning about Moses PBUH (Peace Be Upon Him). It was always fascinating to hear his story, especially since God spoke directly to him in revealing the Commandments. I live my everyday life attempting to abide by those Godly laws.
The Ten Commandments was obviously revealed to Moses and the people of Israel long before Islam was established as a religion; Islam itself confirms this. And since I am Muslim I have to abide by the laws of the Commandments because I believe that it was a revelation from God. Now I am only human so I try as hard as I can to obey those laws, but I can't say that I have always been successful at doing so. I have fallen short in many occasions. Thankfully God is a merciful and forgiving God so I have faith that when I truly repent, my prayers are answered.
In the Ten Commandments God says "You shall have no other gods before me." This comes right after God revealing himself as our Lord. I believe that God intended to give us a clear understanding that He is the only One Being that deserves to be worshiped, and worshiping any other god would be an exercise in futility because no other gods exist but He. I believe that it is also important to note that this was the very first commandment, with that being said I believe it's safe to say that this is the most important commandment to God without undermining the rest. Interestingly enough, in Islam, in order to be considered a Muslim you must say the testimony of faith which is as follows: "I testify that there is no god but Allah (God), and Muhammad PBUH is his messenger." Notice anything? The first part of this testimony is basically a mirror of the first commandment, granted Muslims including myself believe that we worship the same God Jews and Christians worship.
Another Commandment of the Ten is "You shall not make for yourself a graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above..." I believe that God is the all knowing and the all seeing. And I think this commandant came right after the first one for a reason, and it's because they directly tie together. For one we don't know what God looks like and His image is unlike anything we can try to imagine. Any attempts to try and imagine what God looks like would fall tremendously short of his actual image. Secondly, suppose the second commandant wasn't a commandment at all. What would happen? I'll tell ya, what would happen is that people would create an idol or picture of some sort trying to symbolize God. The problem with that is that not everyone would be satisfied with it because everyone would have their own image. Now multiple idols and pictures would exist of God. Maybe not initially, but this could and more than likely would lead to the division of people. Years and decades later even worse would happen, people would consider the actual Idol to be a god and probably have multiple idols and pictures that they would consider to be different gods. I believe that God included the second commandant as a mercy to us and to protect us from ourselves. He would rather warn us instead of having to punish us for a grave sin.
"You shall not kill" is another Commandment that is very important. One might ask why this commandment was not higher on the list which is a fair question to ask. But my interpretation of why it's not higher is because although He doesn't want us to kill, there are certain situations where it would be permissible to do so, such as self defense and other similar situations. For me, I don't think I would ever be able to live with myself after killing somebody, I never would want to be put in a situation like that. The only way that I would allow myself to kill is if it was in self defense, or if the only way for me to save an innocent person from a killer is to kill the killer, follow? But it definitely pains me when I see people killing each other all over the world, most times for no reason. But I guess this is just the world we live in.
Even with the Ten Commandants and other divine revelations, people continue to disobey God and do some very evil things. But could we imagine life without those Commandments and revelations that tell us what we can and can't do? The world would more than likely be more chaotic then it already is.
(Muhhamed A.)
Isaiah's Suffering Servant As American Soldier
"It may be impossible for a soldier to read Isaiah 53 without drawing parallels to those he’s served with. On a personal level, when reflecting upon these words, I cannot help but think of those I’ve known and dearly loved who fell beneath the hungry scythe of war. When the rest of the world has gone astray, they were the men upon whom was laid the result of mankind’s iniquity (Isaiah 53:6).
"The mass insanity that leads to war is a sin of the societies involved, and yet when it comes to the point of bloodshed, only a few are sacrificed like sin offerings for the safety of others. They become an object of hate, despised and rejected by those we fight, and live a life familiar with suffering while fulfilling our duties (Isaiah 53:3). While the rest of the world debates public policy or tramps around in impotent protest, soldiers keep their mouths shut and are led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7). The fallen have borne the punishment that brought peace upon us (Isaiah 53:5).
"We now live with a wartime propaganda machine that idealizes everyday soldiers to the point that the heroic all-American image most citizens have of the troops is so out of touch with reality that their deaths become nothing more than nightly news clips. It’s easy to become disassociated from what’s happening in the Middle East.
"Isaiah says this about his man of sorrows in verse two: He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him; Nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. I say the exact opposite about the modern man of sorrows, but with the same end result. By flooding popular perception with an impossibly unrealistic image concerning soldiers, we’ve emotionally segregated service members from society.
Isaiah gives a more honest portrayal of the sufferer than Army recruitment videos. That stoic warrior raising his right hand to defend the constitution in the ad is triumphant and invincible in his holy calling. The people who actually do end up taking up to soldierly vocation in real life are a far cry different. To begin with, they are actual human beings. When Isaiah describes his man as somebody with no beauty or majesty to attract, or having nothing in appearance that we should desire, I understand what he means, for I am a soldier (Isaiah 53:2). Isaiah's suffering servant, like our soldiers, will not inherit our magnificent expectations. Idealized soldiers are not real soldiers. It is common men with all their shortcomings, plainness, and infinitely deep humanity who must live the painful fulfillment of what true sacrifice entails." (D.M.)
Deuteronomy: Liberating Iraq from the Bondage of Pharaoh
“In Deuteronomy 6 it says, I am the Lord your god, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of Bondage. I relate this passage to freeing the people in Iraq from Saddam Hussein by the United States and the Allied Forces. The people were freed from and evil man, who punished and killed them because of their ethnicity. This is just like the Israelites being freed from Pharaoh in Egypt.”
God Set Me Apart to Perform his Work
"(Jeremiah 1:4-10). The word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." This passage touches me dearly because I feel that God has set me apart to perform his work. God has guided me to perform one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. I have been tasked to eliminate explosive hazards from the world. My job entails me to put innocent lives above my own. I firmly believe that God has chosen this specific role for me. I have performed in one of deadliest regions of the world (Iraq). I was blown up countless time and injured during my tour in Iraq. In the bible (Jeremiah 1:8) it stated, “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD. This scripture affirms, I have been chosen as one his children. I have saved lives of innocent American Soldiers and local Iraqi citizens. God has given me the strength and courage to save them."
How God Calls Us: Commentary on Jeremiah 1
In Jeremiah 1:5, “before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart: I appointed you the prophet of the nations,” God is saying that He knows us more than we know ourselves. He has already given us a destiny and implanted the foundation for us to grow into leaders of nations. In Jeremiah 1:6-10, God is telling us that it does not matter our age or knowledge for he has a mission for us. All we must do is go where He tells us to go and say what He instructs us to say. If we cannot find the words, He shall fill our mouths with His. We need not be afraid for He is always with us.
The Problematic God of Deuteronomy
"The politics of the Middle East concerning Israel are ever volatile with no end in sight. I find it worthy to note both verses 10 and 11, the bold lettering being my own. "And the Lord your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you with great and goodly cities, which you did not build, and houses full of good things, which you did not fill, and cisterns hewn out, which you did not hew, and vineyards and olive trees, which you did not plant, and when you eat and are full,". Basically it acknowledges the fact that there were those which did plant and build, and are basically getting evicted by God, as a reward to his chosen people. If I were to walk into my neighbors house and tell him to leave all of his possessions and just simply go somewhere else, he might be a little upset. I am sure that telling him "God said so" would not hold much weight. Understandably, with both sides claiming a right to the land promised to them by God, the situation has no foreseeable solution.
"There are several other verses that caught my attention, particularly how it defines the nature of the "Old Testament God". Verse 15 states it clearly enough, "for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from the face of the earth." Jealous, wrathful Gods that walk among mankind seem more in line with Aires and Zeus than what we traditionally think of as a kind and caring God. What caught my attention in this passage also was the use of the phrase A JEALOUS GOD and in the earlier chapter NO OTHER GODS before me. It implies the existence of other deities, and that this particular God is ours. "
Thou Shalt Not Steal The 'Promised' Land?
"Deuteronomy 6 contradicts itself... The ten commandments declare, "You shall not kill;" and "You shall not steal;" and ".... You shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his man-servant, or his maid-servent, his ox, or anything that is your neighbor's." But this scripture also says that land will be given that you did not earn, with "houses you did not build, and orchards you did not plant, and wells you did not dig." Clearly this advocates stealing, and taking the land the was "promised."
"The impact on modern politics in the Middle East in seen in Verse 18 when it is said that they may go in and "take possession of the good land which the Lord swore to give to your fathers by thrusting out all your enemies from before you." It pretty much says that they may take the land by force."
Critique of Deuteronomy
Rules of War in Deuteronomy 20
“In Deuteronomy 6 it says, I am the Lord your god, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of Bondage. I relate this passage to freeing the people in Iraq from Saddam Hussein by the United States and the Allied Forces. The people were freed from and evil man, who punished and killed them because of their ethnicity. This is just like the Israelites being freed from Pharaoh in Egypt.”
God Set Me Apart to Perform his Work
"(Jeremiah 1:4-10). The word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." This passage touches me dearly because I feel that God has set me apart to perform his work. God has guided me to perform one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. I have been tasked to eliminate explosive hazards from the world. My job entails me to put innocent lives above my own. I firmly believe that God has chosen this specific role for me. I have performed in one of deadliest regions of the world (Iraq). I was blown up countless time and injured during my tour in Iraq. In the bible (Jeremiah 1:8) it stated, “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD. This scripture affirms, I have been chosen as one his children. I have saved lives of innocent American Soldiers and local Iraqi citizens. God has given me the strength and courage to save them."
How God Calls Us: Commentary on Jeremiah 1
In Jeremiah 1:5, “before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart: I appointed you the prophet of the nations,” God is saying that He knows us more than we know ourselves. He has already given us a destiny and implanted the foundation for us to grow into leaders of nations. In Jeremiah 1:6-10, God is telling us that it does not matter our age or knowledge for he has a mission for us. All we must do is go where He tells us to go and say what He instructs us to say. If we cannot find the words, He shall fill our mouths with His. We need not be afraid for He is always with us.
If God has chosen us to compete His work, it will not matter what sins we have committed or our status in this world. In Isaiah 6:5, Isaiah says, “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the king, the Lord Almighty.” It was then that his guilt and sins had been wiped away, and god sent him to his people.
What we become in our life has already been predetermined. It is our destiny to become who we are, yet we are afraid to shine sometimes. We forget that it is not about where we come from or what we have that determines where we go from here. When you are ready to follow your destiny, you begin a new life leaving your old life behind. When you have a calling or a natural gift for something, it will not matter your age, wisdom, strengths, things will just begin to flow to you naturally. So no matter what you do in this life, if you have the faith in yourself and your destiny, it will come to pass. What you become is not determined by the wrong you have done or the company you keep, but instead will be measured by your will to succeed. Who you are is not determined on what cards you are dealt, but yet, how you play them.
(Anthony H.)The Problematic God of Deuteronomy
"The politics of the Middle East concerning Israel are ever volatile with no end in sight. I find it worthy to note both verses 10 and 11, the bold lettering being my own. "And the Lord your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you with great and goodly cities, which you did not build, and houses full of good things, which you did not fill, and cisterns hewn out, which you did not hew, and vineyards and olive trees, which you did not plant, and when you eat and are full,". Basically it acknowledges the fact that there were those which did plant and build, and are basically getting evicted by God, as a reward to his chosen people. If I were to walk into my neighbors house and tell him to leave all of his possessions and just simply go somewhere else, he might be a little upset. I am sure that telling him "God said so" would not hold much weight. Understandably, with both sides claiming a right to the land promised to them by God, the situation has no foreseeable solution.
"There are several other verses that caught my attention, particularly how it defines the nature of the "Old Testament God". Verse 15 states it clearly enough, "for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from the face of the earth." Jealous, wrathful Gods that walk among mankind seem more in line with Aires and Zeus than what we traditionally think of as a kind and caring God. What caught my attention in this passage also was the use of the phrase A JEALOUS GOD and in the earlier chapter NO OTHER GODS before me. It implies the existence of other deities, and that this particular God is ours. "
Thou Shalt Not Steal The 'Promised' Land?
"Deuteronomy 6 contradicts itself... The ten commandments declare, "You shall not kill;" and "You shall not steal;" and ".... You shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his man-servant, or his maid-servent, his ox, or anything that is your neighbor's." But this scripture also says that land will be given that you did not earn, with "houses you did not build, and orchards you did not plant, and wells you did not dig." Clearly this advocates stealing, and taking the land the was "promised."
"The impact on modern politics in the Middle East in seen in Verse 18 when it is said that they may go in and "take possession of the good land which the Lord swore to give to your fathers by thrusting out all your enemies from before you." It pretty much says that they may take the land by force."
This student dares to reason and doubt where others might only offer an uncritical or blind obedience.
"The words in Deuteronomy 6 are very powerful and I can understand how someone could be persuaded to follow them. Unfortunately it seems that they are not persuaded by love, but by fear.
“You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve him, and swear by his name...
"So if you do not do what the Lord tells you to do, he will wipe you off the face of the earth. This seems like a contradiction. Isn’t the Lord supposed to be the almighty who loves, cherishes, and forgives all God’s children?
"Chapter six builds fear. How can a person be so vulnerable to allow these words to control their life? As a person who does not understand the need for religion, I do not mean any disrespect, but the idea of not taking charge of ones own life baffles me. A person cannot live on faith alone.
"Chapter five contains the Ten Commandments. While these are good, sound, moral judgments, I must seriously ask what will happen if you do not follow them? Show me one person who has never told a lie: does this make them an unworthy person who should be destroyed? When someone commits adultery, do they get wiped off the face of the earth? They might loose the respect of their peers and end up in divorce, but they will survive.
"Although one should try and live by good morals and be respectful to others, the arrogance of religion is in stating that, if you do not do what you are told, then you are going to hell. How can a man or woman truly be free if they cannot do and live they way they want?"
Joshua Is My Model
" Joshua piqued my interest in the readings. His story stood out to me so much that after reading his story I spoke with a close friend of mine that is very religious. He said of Joshua that he is "the bruiser of the Bible". What he said is very fitting of Joshua; he was ruthless and complete in claiming the Jewish homeland. He was an absolutely brilliant military leader as well as an excellent statesman for his people. He was the right person at the right time and got the job done completely as the Lord wished. While he may have had moments of doubt (he was only human after all), he did his job perfectly according to the will of the Lord. That statement only applies to a few characters in the Bible.
What got my attention the most was the very beginning of the story. Verse 8: "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night.....and you shall have good success." This spoke to me deeply based on my own experience in Iraq. I fell into the job of leading 25 troops on gun trucks for route clearance and vehicle recovery. I went to the great books on war that have endured through the ages. Sun-tzu, Lao-tzu, Sun-pin, Mao tse Tung, Von Clausowitz, Ferenbach and Machiavelli mentored me day and night in preparation for opening game day. Not being a highly pious man at the time, instead of prayer, I studied the masters until I felt I got it.
Many long hours were spent reading the classics, along with Military manuals and memorizing intel reports and every feature to be gleaned from maps and aerial photos of our future area of operations. After I studied it, I drew up plans for every possible scenario and we rehearsed them, over and over again; refining them and rehearsing them until they worked. I never breathed a word of where the information came from, but my troops saw me late at night studying, every night.
As Joshua had his charge and instructions, I had mine. I was given a mission and I knew failure was not an option. We got hit on our first mission out the gate but because of the late nights with the masters (and buckets of cold coffee) and much rehearsal, the troops did great. It was after that mission that I became a praying man too! Joshua demonstrated utterly stunning tactics and strategies. He understand how to lead Soldiers into combat and he understood the concept of "total warfare" that General Sherman exercised on his march through the south.
He was not without his mistakes, as when he was duped into an alliance with his supposed "neighbors", Joshua 9:16. He was not without his frustrations, Joshua 7:6. But he made up for it in spades. I feel a kinship with him on that. We had our own teething problems too. But through determination and teamwork, we overcame those problems and made a good team out of what our commander deemed the misfits of the unit. We had our charge and mission and hell or high water, we were going to do it. Joshua is the type of leader that any true Military leader or civic leader should aspire to emulate."
What got my attention the most was the very beginning of the story. Verse 8: "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night.....and you shall have good success." This spoke to me deeply based on my own experience in Iraq. I fell into the job of leading 25 troops on gun trucks for route clearance and vehicle recovery. I went to the great books on war that have endured through the ages. Sun-tzu, Lao-tzu, Sun-pin, Mao tse Tung, Von Clausowitz, Ferenbach and Machiavelli mentored me day and night in preparation for opening game day. Not being a highly pious man at the time, instead of prayer, I studied the masters until I felt I got it.
Many long hours were spent reading the classics, along with Military manuals and memorizing intel reports and every feature to be gleaned from maps and aerial photos of our future area of operations. After I studied it, I drew up plans for every possible scenario and we rehearsed them, over and over again; refining them and rehearsing them until they worked. I never breathed a word of where the information came from, but my troops saw me late at night studying, every night.
As Joshua had his charge and instructions, I had mine. I was given a mission and I knew failure was not an option. We got hit on our first mission out the gate but because of the late nights with the masters (and buckets of cold coffee) and much rehearsal, the troops did great. It was after that mission that I became a praying man too! Joshua demonstrated utterly stunning tactics and strategies. He understand how to lead Soldiers into combat and he understood the concept of "total warfare" that General Sherman exercised on his march through the south.
He was not without his mistakes, as when he was duped into an alliance with his supposed "neighbors", Joshua 9:16. He was not without his frustrations, Joshua 7:6. But he made up for it in spades. I feel a kinship with him on that. We had our own teething problems too. But through determination and teamwork, we overcame those problems and made a good team out of what our commander deemed the misfits of the unit. We had our charge and mission and hell or high water, we were going to do it. Joshua is the type of leader that any true Military leader or civic leader should aspire to emulate."
Friends Must Be Chosen Carefully (Judges 16)
"One of the biggest challenges while serving in the military is fraternizing with individuals that that make good choices. There are civilians and military personnel who want to take advantage of a soldier, because many are so young and naive to the real world. Intimate relationships between men and women who serve in the military will pose many of the same problems that arose for Sampson.
"In Judges 16, Samson falls in love with a woman from the Valley of Sorek whose name is Delilah. The Philistines offer her money so that she can find out the secret of Samson’s strength and capture him (Judges 16:5). Samson, being blinded by love, trusts her and eventually discloses the secret of his strength. Delilah has deceived Samson and this results in his capture and demise.
"If Samson had abided in the Lord's word and avoided Philistine prostitutes, he would have avoided many problems. This passage reminds me of all those service members who have trusted someone they thought loved them, but in the end they were betrayed and hurt. These service members socialize in places that are off limits, and consort with individuals who have low moral standards. The service member will eventually fall into the pitfalls of an immoral lifestyle, which will result in their punishment by the military or local authorities.
"My spiritual journey has shown me that if I become friends with people who do not have my best interest at heart, then I will fail. I know that every person in the world is not good for companionship or friendship. Friends must be chosen carefully."
God's Love and God's Jealousy
"...and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." For years this has been one of my favorite passages. In times of struggle and times of confusion my heart always comes back to this place. Heart, soul and might are all that makes up a person and to love the Lord your God with all of that seems such an insurmountable task sometimes but it is by far the most freeing experience for me. To be able to love anyone that much is an indescribable feeling. I feel incredibly sad for people who can't love something with all their heart, all their soul, and all their might. I think that if you can start by loving something then God will meet you there. I'm so grateful every day that God doesn't make me do the work. All I'm called to do is open the door and he will come in. He meets me where I am and never makes me go off in search of him.
"...and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." For years this has been one of my favorite passages. In times of struggle and times of confusion my heart always comes back to this place. Heart, soul and might are all that makes up a person and to love the Lord your God with all of that seems such an insurmountable task sometimes but it is by far the most freeing experience for me. To be able to love anyone that much is an indescribable feeling. I feel incredibly sad for people who can't love something with all their heart, all their soul, and all their might. I think that if you can start by loving something then God will meet you there. I'm so grateful every day that God doesn't make me do the work. All I'm called to do is open the door and he will come in. He meets me where I am and never makes me go off in search of him.
"....for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God...." The term jealous is surrounded by negativity but not in this case. My God is jealous because he doesn't want to share me. I am so important to him and he loves me so much that he simply refuses to share me with anyone or anything. These two verses go hand in hand (which is probably why they are strategically placed in the same chapter of the same book) because if you are loving your god with everything you have and everything you are (heart, soul and might) then there isn't a piece of you to be shared with something else."
Rules of War in Deuteronomy 20
Students are asked to wrestle with the moral paradox in Deuteronomy 20. In the Philosophy of Religion, this is known as the "Eurythphro Paradox," after Plato's dialog by the same name. According to the text, Yahweh tells the Israelites and their commander, Joshua, to take possession of the Canaanite towns in the Promised Land. These agrarian tribes had never attacked or threatened the Israelites. Yet Yahweh commands his army to enslave the people of Canaan who live in the out-lying communities. Those who live in the "towns and cities which I have given you for your inheritance" are to be slaughtered: every man, woman, child, and animal, "everything that breathes."
The paradox is this: Do we obey a God whose moral law is not as just or compassionate as the moral law that we conceive in our own conscience? In that case, God is not as just and compassionate as we are. On the other hand, if we obey God's commandments because they are just, then God must conform to a law of justice which he cannot violate. In that case, there is a moral law that is more supreme than God.
This soldier's essay confronts the difficult paradox head-on, and offers an astonishing answer: God's "gift of choice" might call us to disobey one of his commandments if it violates the law of our own conscience. For, "these may be the laws of God, but they are still written by man."
"These may be the laws of God, but they are still written by man. In the case of Joshua and his army, it is hard for me to accept that a God who preaches taking care of the poor and the sick and issues commandments such as “thou shall not kill” would order such a slaughter of people (men, women, and children). It directly contradicts what the Bible teaches as far as morality.
"Even in the past century, many dictators have used this type of reasoning in order to justify the complete and utter destruction of a group of people who could be viewed as a threat to them. There are plenty of killers in prison as we speak who used, “God told me to do it,” as a reason for the killing of another. The current war with extremist groups stems from the same attitude. The belief that one person’s God is greater than another is and will continue to be an issue for mankind (even if essentially they are all the same God).
"The reason given for slaughtering the Canaanites in Deuteronomy, chapter 20, was that, in allowing them to live, these tribes would corrupt the Hebrew people, causing them to worship the “false gods” of Canaan (Deuteronomy 20:18). This is puzzling because it is not written in the text that this is something the Canaanites have attempted to do. Until Joshua’s attack, it doesn’t appear that the Canaanites had any previous contact with the Hebrews. The reasoning behind this slaughter, I believe, has repeated itself throughout history. In order to be fully and completely victorious, the conqueror must eliminate all who would oppose him in later years. So in order for the followers of God to say that He is the one and only God, the Canaanites and their gods had to be completely annihilated.
"Even though God may, as in Joshua’s case, tell someone to engage in such behavior, it does not make it morally right. In such a case, the gift of “choice” that God has given Man would have to play a significant role in the decision to either follow what God says without question, or to follow what we know is morally right." (Cynthia Merchent)
"Even in the past century, many dictators have used this type of reasoning in order to justify the complete and utter destruction of a group of people who could be viewed as a threat to them. There are plenty of killers in prison as we speak who used, “God told me to do it,” as a reason for the killing of another. The current war with extremist groups stems from the same attitude. The belief that one person’s God is greater than another is and will continue to be an issue for mankind (even if essentially they are all the same God).
"The reason given for slaughtering the Canaanites in Deuteronomy, chapter 20, was that, in allowing them to live, these tribes would corrupt the Hebrew people, causing them to worship the “false gods” of Canaan (Deuteronomy 20:18). This is puzzling because it is not written in the text that this is something the Canaanites have attempted to do. Until Joshua’s attack, it doesn’t appear that the Canaanites had any previous contact with the Hebrews. The reasoning behind this slaughter, I believe, has repeated itself throughout history. In order to be fully and completely victorious, the conqueror must eliminate all who would oppose him in later years. So in order for the followers of God to say that He is the one and only God, the Canaanites and their gods had to be completely annihilated.
"Even though God may, as in Joshua’s case, tell someone to engage in such behavior, it does not make it morally right. In such a case, the gift of “choice” that God has given Man would have to play a significant role in the decision to either follow what God says without question, or to follow what we know is morally right." (Cynthia Merchent)
God Is Too Great To Be Named
"In my view, when God says that his eternal name is 'I AM' (Exodus 3:14), he is saying that he is too great to be named. When you give something a name, you give it boundaries; you define it. I believe that God has no boundaries. I do not think that God can be defined. Therefore I do not think that anyone can name him. Perhaps a simpler way of looking at this question is to look at where names come from. Who gives names and who receives theme? In the Bible, God created a man and named him Adam. God put Adam in charge of all the living things and had Adam name them. Parents name their children. Scientists name their discoveries. So it seems to me that subordinates are named by superiors. God is the 'Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end' (Revelations 21:6). There was nothing before him and there is nothing superior to him. Therefore I do not believe that God bares a name. He is what he is."
