An omnipotent being could express [him]self via any set of personality traits [he] wished, yes.
Yes. For example, an all powerful God could, torture a helpless created being, just for the fun of it.
However, this is if the all powerful God is lacking the qualities of love, justice, compassion, mercy....
In other word, just a lot of muscle, and that's it. Or just muscle and evil intent.
It's sort of like what some people are like today.
They have power, but no heart, or brain, to go along with it. By that, I don't mean, physical.
I see a great deal of evidence in the bible that God is not righteous at all, much as righteousness is frequently claimed for [him].
Okay, but I have found that is the case for people that don't know God.
For example I don't think human sacrifice is righteous ─ I think it's utterly barbarous ─ but God clearly does: the joke played on Abraham with Isaac, the reality of killing your first-born for God (Exodus 22:29-30) which you can avoid with a payment (Exodus 34:20) but tough luck if you're broke. Then God sets up Jephthah and secures the sacrifice of his daughter (Judges 11). Then God lifts a famine but only after seven descendants of Saul have been killed by impalement (2 Samuel 21).
This demonstrates what I said about people who don't know God.
If God wanted a human sacrifice, Isaac would be dead, but the Bible clearly tells us God was testing Abraham, so it's pretty amazing how everyone can read the same account, and some people can come to the conclusion that God wanted a human sacrifice.
I think some people just want to believe what they want, regardless, becase they want something to be true, so they can find a cause for complaint.
What to you think?
The same with the account of Jephthah's daughter.
I think it would be interesting to find one Jew, who thinks that account is referring to a human sacrifice.
Nobody thinks that Samuel was a human sacrifice, and he was given to Jehovah. (1 Samuel 1:24-28)
Reading the Bible in a superficial way, might indeed lead one to such a conclusion, since they read Judges 11:31, and that's it for them.
However, reading the Bible superficially is one way to come to wrong conclusions and lack understanding.
Reading the account, one sees, that that offering was just as in the case of Hannah offering Samuel to serve at the temple for the rest of his life.
(Judges 11:36-40)
36 But she said to him: “My father, if you have opened your mouth to Jehovah, do to me as you have promised, since Jehovah has executed vengeance for you upon your enemies, the Amʹmon·ites.”
37 She then said to her father: “Let this be done for me: Let me be alone for two months, and let me go away into the mountains, and let me weep over my virginity with my female companions.”
38 At this he said: “Go!” So he sent her away for two months, and she went to the mountains with her companions to weep over her virginity.
39 At the end of two months, she returned to her father, after which he carried out the vow he had made regarding her. She never had relations with a man. And it became a custom in Israel: 40 From year to year, the young women of Israel would go to give commendation to the daughter of Jephʹthah the Gilʹe·ad·ite four days in the year.
If she was a human sacrifice, how could the young women of Israel visit her four days in a year, to commend her?
They weren't visiting her "ghost", were they.
I think, this truly confirms what I said.
Some people don't want facts. They want misinformation, so that they can find excuses not to accept something that goes against their desires - They just look for faults where they are none.
And of course Jesus. Tell me, why was it necessary for Jesus ─ for anyone ─ to die before God would forgive sins? Why was Jesus sent on his suicide mission? What did it accomplish that nothing else could?
The standard, or rule, life for life. If life is taken, life must be given - a balance of justice, required that Jesus' shed blood cover the sins of mankind, since his life was given in behalf of theirs.
In other words,
(Romans 5:12) . . .
through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin,
and so death spread to all men because they had all sinned. . .
Adam through sin, brought death to all mankind.
Justice required a life to be taken for the death of all mankind.
Not any life would suffice, because, sin, passed on by a perfect man, was the cause of death.
(Psalm 49:7-9)
7 None of them can ever redeem a brother Or give to God a ransom for him,
8 (
The ransom price for their life is so precious That it is always beyond their reach); 9 That he should live forever and not see the pit.
Therefore, a perfect life was required to ransom mankind - that is, 1) cover the sins of mankind, and 2) redeem their life from death.
Only a perfect man could do this.
Hence, it could not be a human from earth, since they all inherited sin from Adam, resulting in death.
Someone from heaven had to be willing to do this.
God chose his only begotten son, because the Word was faithful and true (it had to be someone who would be faithful, since this purpose could not fail). The Word was willing. He loved mankind, He shared in their creation (Proverbs 8:30, 31)
The Word needed to be equivalent to Adam - a human.
Hence...
(Hebrews 10:5-7)
5 So when he comes into the world, he says: “‘Sacrifice and offering you did not want, but you prepared a body for me.
6 You did not approve of whole burnt offerings and sin offerings.’
7 Then I said: ‘Look! I have come (in the scroll it is written about me) to do your will, O God.’”
Jesus life, was in place of the life of all mankind. His shed blood covered their sins.
The Bible says, the life of the flesh is in the blood. In other words, blood represents life.
(Leviticus 17:11)
For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I myself have given it on the altar for you to make atonement for yourselves, because it is the blood that makes atonement by means of the life in it.
I don't believe there is one man alive who knows everything there is to know about blood and life, so until that happens, which will be never, I accept, the creators knowledge of blood, of which he says, . . .unless blood is poured out no forgiveness takes place. (Hebrews 9:22)
I do understand the relation between that, and life for life though.
So these verses makes a lot of sense to me.
(Deuteronomy 21:1-9)
1 “If someone is found slain in a field of the land that Jehovah your God is giving you to possess and it is not known who killed him,
2 your elders and judges should go out and measure the distance from the dead body to the cities that surround it.
3 Then the elders of the city nearest to the body should take from the herd a young cow that has never been put to work, that has never pulled in a yoke,
4 and the elders of that city should lead the young cow down to a valley running with water where no tilling or sowing of seed has been done, and they should break the neck of the young cow there in the valley.
5 “And the priests, the Levites, will approach because Jehovah your God has chosen them to minister to him, to pronounce blessings in the name of Jehovah. They will declare how every dispute involving violence should be resolved.
6 Then all the elders of the city who are nearest to the dead body should wash their hands over the young cow whose neck was broken in the valley,
7 and they should declare, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed.
8 Do not hold this against your people Israel, whom you redeemed, O Jehovah, and
do not let guilt for innocent blood remain among your people Israel.’ Then the bloodguilt will not be held against them. 9 In this way you will remove the guilt of innocent blood from your midst by doing what is right in Jehovah’s eyes.
(Deuteronomy 22:8) . . .“If you build a new house, you must also make a parapet for your roof, so that you may not bring bloodguilt on your house because of someone falling from it.
You need to understand the Bible, in order to really know God, but you can't understand the Bible unless you are humble and allow God to teach you.
I'm not in favor of invasive war so I also see no righteousness in eg Deuteronomy 7:1-2 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations...then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy." (repeated at 20:16).
I'm not in favor of mass rape either, but God is ─ Numbers 31:9-18.
I don't thing children should be murdered for making jokes about someone old guy's bald head, but as 2 Kings 2:23 shows, that's God's view.
Nor do I condone the ripping open of pregnant women, but God is cool with that ─ Hosea 13:16.
So when you equate God with righteousness, we're not only not on the same page, we're not in the same library and we're not speaking the same language.
I understand. See above.
Why not snap those mighty fingers, avoid the gore, AND reach everyone in the world at the same time with the cheerful news?
It's a heart thing.
In other words, it's up to you, God won't make you what you don't want to be.
I wouldn't do that either, if I had the power, since I'd be encroaching on your rights, and depriving you of your human dignity.
Of course [he] can. According to Genesis 1:3 [he] brought the entire EM spectrum into existence just by a word of command.
God can make you heart like stone, simply by removing anything that would allow you to see clearly - spiritually that is.