Is G-d a racist?

[Ovedya]

Ok God-man support that statement.

"For there is no respect of persons with God" (Romans 2:11)

There ya' go!  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Lord Jesus was not being discriminatory to the Gentile woman in Matthew 15.  In verse 21 of that chapter it says that the Lord Jesus withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon.  The districts of Tyre and Sidon were Gentile lands.  Surely if the Lord were racist He would not even enter what was such a vile place for the Jews.

The Jewish religionists utterly rejected the Lord Jesus, who is the bread of life.  So, like a loaf of bread that is cast to the ground, the Lord Jesus was rejected by the Jewish religionists, but therefore became available for the Gentiles to eat.

This account bears dispensational significance, showing that Christ came to the Jews first and that because of their unbelief, His salvation turned to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46; Rom. 11:11).

[Guest Griffin]

Ok God-man support that statement.

"For there is no respect of persons with God" (Romans 2:11)

There ya' go!

[Josephstrks]

What about all the people residing in Canaan before the children of Israel invaded? Was God a respector of these persons?

[Guest Griffin]

Yeah Lee he did, not following your point?? ???

[Ovedya]

Ok no respecting of persons.

[Ovedya]

What about all the people residing in Canaan before the children of Israel invaded? Was God a respector of these persons?

God's judgment is God's judgment.  Who are we to judge the actions of our great and mighty God?  Are we above Him?

[Josephstrks]

The point being that if you were from another culture, for example a descendant of Ishmsael, who had many children in Canaan, and you were reading the Old Testament, God would appear quite rascist, which is the core of this thread.  

It is actually a pretty brutal history that is recorded in the OT. The New Testament breaks through that, thank you Jesus for being such a revolutionary. And Paul for ministering beyond the Jewish bigotry.  

Some of that rascism was continued after the New Testament times, as Christian crusaders and missionaries conquered many territories in Europe and the New World in Jesus name, "and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was put to death, whether small or great, Whether man or woman".  Not to mention the inquisition, and people honestly thought that God was instructing them to do these things like He was some general in the army, and we still do it today here in the USA believing we have favor with God.  

Sorry, I just don't understand the brutality of the OT and the subsequent conquest of the Church, the suffering of millions (collateral damage) is something I haven't come to terms with yet and no one seems to be able to give me any answers because I believe in all honesty you don't really know yourself.  

If it wasn't for Jesus and His teachings, and the deeper levels of meaning hidden in the OT that address the spiritual history and not the physical, I don't think I could even buy into Christianity as a religion.

[Guest Griffin]

What about all the people residing in Canaan before the children of Israel invaded? Was God a respector of these persons?

God's judgment is God's judgment.

[Ovedya]

Joseph,

Well, you are probably right about that.  The OT history is quite bloody and pretty brutal.  But then consider the world view of history.  What culture was ever not brutal at some point in their history?

When we examine the Old Testament, should we focus on the bloody wars and seeming injustices committed by God's people in His name, or should we examine the texts in light of the Gospel of Christ?  God's people (the faithful ones at least) in the OT - in the age of the law - were looking forward in time to a Savior who would justify them before God and issue them into His rest.  God's people in the NT - the age of grace - were (and are) looking forward to Christ, the Savior, and also looking back in their history to examine Christ there as well.  Make sense?

Have you ever read the account of the Lord in His resurrection meeting the two men on the road from Jerusalem?  Their testimony, after meeting with the Lord was, "Did our hearts not burn within us when He opened the Scriptures to us?" (paraphrase).  There is another account in the first chapter of Acts, if I recall correctly, where it talks about the Lord revealing Himself in the Scriptures to the apostles.  And further, Paul himself said that we can view Christ in the Scriptures in shadows, types and figures.

So maybe it is not that you have a problem with what you consider racism in the OT, but that your view of the OT Scriptures needs to be with a heart of finding Christ there. Christ revealed Himself in the Scriptures to His disciples, and He has been faithful to do the same for thousands of others throughout history.  Why not pray and ask Him to do the same for you?

I believe that if you look for Christ in the Bible rather than looking for historical fact, knowledge, etc., you will find Him there.  And isn't that what the Christian life is all about anyway; seeking Christ in all things, persuing after Him to gain Him, to grow by the grace of God and to be renewed in the spirit of our minds?

Peace to you,

~G

[Ovedya]

Of course we are not above Him.