Responses to the Skeptic's Annotated Bible Cruelty Short List - Exodus

Exodus:

5. Exodus 4:22-23 - "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD, "Israel is My son, My firstborn. "So I said to you, Let My son go that he may serve Me'; but you have refused to let him go Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn."

God predicted that Pharaoh would harden himself, deliberately disobeying God’s command to free His people from slavery (see 8:15 for example). He would be given an abundance of opportunities to repent, each time with a warning and a miraculous sign to verify God’s power and sincerity. Yet Pharaoh would not relent, despite the destruction of the land’s economy and the suffering of Pharaoh’s people, along with God’s gracious warning. There was apparently only one thing that would break Pharaoh’s hard heart, the loss of his son. While this may seem cruel, there are several points to be considered:

1) Life is given and sustained by God and He alone has the right to cease to sustain that life. While it is never right for any human to take the life of another, God is morally free to withdrawal any good thing which He gives, including breath.

2) God did not annihilate the soul of Pharaoh’s son, so his life was not ended in the absolute sense. The judgment of the son’s soul has to do with his own righteousness or lack thereof.

3) It is possible that God mercifully received Pharaoh’s son into paradise if he was not old enough to be held accountable for sin. Perhaps the son would have become wicked like his culture and suffered eternal condemnation had God not taken him.

4) God’s rescue of His people out of Egypt is an integral part of the history of God’s plan of salvation for the world. Out of His love, He did what was necessary to carry out His plan for the good of mankind without wrongdoing. This is not an “ends justify the means” response. Again, what God gives, He may take, while remaining morally perfect.

Exodus 12:12 - "'For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments--I am the LORD."

This verse is found in the same context as the slaying of Pharaoh’s son referred to in 4:23. As before, life is God’s to give and take as He will, though He sustains the soul through eternity. Just as in the case of Pharaoh’s son, God’s judgment on the people was because of their wickedness. As for the children whose lives were taken, either they were old enough to be accountable and were rightly punished for their sin, or they were too young to be accountable and they were possibly ushered into heaven. There is no mention that any of the slain firstborn suffered in their death. Even if they did, that suffering was very short, and each person was dealt with justly in the afterlife. Any who entered into condemnation did so justly, and any who entered heaven are not concerned in the least about any suffering they experienced while in the body. God did these things in order to accomplish a greater purpose, the plan of salvation for Israel and the whole world, and He did nothing unjust in the process.

Exodus 12:29, 13:15 - "Now it came about at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle...It came about, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to the LORD the males, the first offspring of every womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem."

No additional response in necessary for these verses, as the issue is identical with 12:12, and is closely related to the issue in 4:23. Please see the responses to those verses.

Exodus 15:3 - "The LORD is a warrior; The LORD is His name."

This verse may seem offensive to some who believe there is never a just reason for war. Augustine argued that war is to be avoided, but that there are a number of criteria by which war may be considered justifiable. Among them is the proper authority and the proper cause. In the case of Exodus, God is not only the authority, but the agent of war. God, who is the just judge of all, rightly punishes the wicked. As for the proper cause, the Egyptians mistreated the Hebrews, taking away many basic human rights granted by God; furthermore, there is no telling what other evil things they did in worshipping their gods. Last of all, they refused to listen when God commanded them to set Israel free. God gives and sustains life. He is free and just in taking it. War is sometimes necessary to promote the greater good, until it will one day cease, when Christ will establish everlasting peace and justice.

Exodus 21:15 - "Whoever strikes father or mother shall be put to death."

It should be remembered that the Old Testament law code was written specifically for Israel in the pre-Christian era. This Law is not necessarily prescriptive, representing a timeless law in every case. This verse does not propose that all children under all circumstances should be put to death for attacking their parents, but God determined that such a law was necessary for the time. Certainly, the death penalty seems harsh for the crime to our minds. Our culture does not instill the fear of God and reverence for one’s parents into children. If this law were suddenly installed into our legal system, many children would suffer capital punishment. On the other hand, it is highly unlikely that this law was exercised more than in very rare occasions. God had placed the child under the authority of the parent, who was to be God’s representative in the community of God’s people. Rebellion against the parent would have been understood as intentional rebellion against God. Such a serious offense merited serious punishment. It is unlikely that many children crossed that line as long as Israel was faithful to God’s Law. There also could have been a particular age for the child before which this law was not exercised.

Exodus 22:18 - "You shall not allow a sorceress to live."

Of utmost importance was Israel’s faithfulness to the One God. This is one among many instances throughout the Old Testament in which spiritual infidelity is punished severely. If a person practicing witchcraft were allowed to live, Satanic influence would be brought into their camp, thwarting God’s purpose for Israel, resulting in the spiritual destruction of countless people. There were likely few among Israel who dared to practice sorcery, and if they did, their punishment was deserved. In today’s culture, God deals with us differently. He has allowed the “wheat” (God’s people) and “chaff” (the wicked) to exist together in preparation for the “harvest” (judgment). We live now in a different age. Though God does not necessarily call on the U.S. government to make witchcraft a capital offense, He could not allow such practices in Israel, through whom salvation was to come for the whole world.

Exodus 22:20 - "He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the LORD alone, shall be utterly destroyed."

Idolatry under God’s theocratic law code was considered high treason of the greatest kind, since Israel’s king at the time was God himself. To commit treason against God is deserving of death. This command was for Israel alone, not those outside Israel. The God of the Bible does not command God’s people to go about killing all “infidels” like the Qu’ran. Furthermore, we now live in an age of grace in which God does not require this law of any governments. However, each person will answer to God in the end. Idolatry without repentance inevitably leads to destruction, which is justified. God is the source of life and goodness. To reject Him is to reject life and goodness, so God gives people what they want.

Exodus 22:24 - "My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless."

First it is necessary to recognize the context of this verse. One must ask what so angers God that he would take the life of a husband and father. The answer is in verses 22-23. God will do this to anyone who afflicts an orphan. In that culture, orphans were completely helpless and impoverished. To harm them further is disgraceful, and in poetic justice, God threatens to turn the tables on the one who does this. As a loving Father, He protects His children. It should be noted that in Old Testament vernacular, God is personally credited for many occurrences which are not necessarily directly derived from His active will (things He does), but from His passive will (things He allows). God never actually wielded a sword in Scripture, but He allows Israel to be defeated in battle because of their wickedness. This verse is a warning from a God who loves His people and does not want them to suffer, yet is just and must punish wickedness.

Exodus 29:20 - "You shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the lobes of his sons’ right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar."

God’s justice demands a punishment for sin. Hebrews 9:22 says “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” The sacrifice of animals was a foreshadowing of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross which paid the price for the sins of humanity. For the time, God’s command was to substitute the ram’s life for the sinners’ lives. Sin ultimately leads to death. God mercifully spared his people from the guilt of sin, but the consequences of sin were always in front of them. They could see the death their sin caused, bringing a sense of remorse for their deeds. God cares about the animals, but their value is much less than that of human souls, since man is created in God’s own image. God is not happy with death or pain of any kind. Yet the sin of mankind makes these things inevitable. The life of an animal, of course, can not be considered equal in value to a human; but Christ’s sacrifice would be more than sufficient to cleanse the sins of all mankind.

Exodus 31:14 - "Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people."

The means to death here should be well noted. The conjunction “for” indicates how death would occur to the lawbreaker. The person will die because he has been cut off from Israel. In a time of wandering in the wilderness, it is clear why this would result in death. The Sabbath was a sign of the covenant with Israel. To reject the sign is to reject the covenant, and to reject the covenant is to reject the community. God is willing to give people what they want, but He graciously warns them of the terrible consequences.

Exodus 32:27 - "He said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor."

In this passage, God commanded Moses to do exactly what He promised He would in 22:20, to put to death those who commit high treason against Him by rejecting Him to worship other gods or idols. In doing so, He saved His people from harmful influences which would have destroyed the community. This was a command for that time and those circumstances, not for all times. Nevertheless, the idolaters had rejected the Source of Life, so their life was justly demanded of them. It was better that they should die than for the whole community to perish. God’s plan for rescuing the world through them could not be hindered.

Exodus 32:35 - "Then the Lord smote the people, because of what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.

Those idolaters who were left by the sword were plagued in a direct act of God. Their fate was also self-determined and justified by their treason against their divine King. God, who is the transcendent measure of morality and justice, cannot be judged to do wrong by humans. If there is no God, there is no set standard for morality. And if that is true, then there can be no complaints of cruelty. But if the infinite God is the Standard of morality, who are we to argue?

Recommended Resource: When Critics Ask by Norm Geisler.

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