UNDERSTANDING GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT PART OF THE BIBLE. PART 4. GOD KILLS AND MAKES ALIVE.

 UNDERSTANDING GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT PART OF THE BIBLE. PART 4. GOD KILLS AND MAKES ALIVE

God is good and no evil can be found in Him. We are not left uncertain about the nature of God our Father in Christ. So far we have seen in the previous parts of this series that God can never be known outside Christ. Philip once asked Jesus show us the father that it might be enough for us. Let’s see the reply of Jesus .

John 14

9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Notice the emphasis, HE THAT HAS SEEN ME HAS SEEN THE FATHER. Jesus didn’t say he that has seen the father has seen me. This is because the father is invisible and will forever be invisible. This same invisible father was made manifest in the flesh in Christ. So any identity given to God that cannot be seen in Christ can never be true. Jesus came to give us the knowledge of the true God.

1 John 5

 20  And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

Christ is the true God and eternal life. Now we can be certain about the character of God. This is because we saw God walked the earth as a man. God is very predictable in Christ. We know what God can do and cannot do. Any knowledge of God outside Christ is counterfeit. It is not real and true . In Christ alone we see the true God.

 So when Jesus walked the earth, how many persons did he kill?

How many evil did he commit?

The challenge many times is that when we read the Hebrew text (what translators called the old testament) of the Bible , we see many instances where God was portrayed as a killer. 

In the part two this series, we learnt how to interpret Genesis to Malachi in Christ. The people didn’t really know God then . They attributed the actions of men, the devil and angels to God . So we must be careful when we read not to take everywhere we see Lord or God to be the true God in Christ. This is because now we have seen the reality in Christ. Jesus had a way He interpreted Genesis to Malachi. The disciples also did. So we must know that whatever we see there demands interpretation. 

Please KINDLY CLICK HERE TO READ 

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE 

Of this series before you proceed with this part . It is vital you read the previous parts before reading for thorough understanding of what we are explaining in this part.

SO DOES GOD KILL?

Has GOD ever killed any human being?

Let’s look at this statement and general believe in the old testament.

“GOD KILLS AND MAKES ALIVE”

It was first used in Deuteronomy in the songs of Moses. Moses after his exploits gave the songs before his death.

Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

Notice it was a praise to God that He kills and makes alive . This is what we do in praising, you make certain statements that show the exploits of the person. You can be talking about the exploits of your father and say, my father is so powerful that he can make and kill anyone in less than a second. It doesn’t  mean in any way that your father is a killer. Even if your father kills, it would not be a proud statement you can make in the public. 

Hannah made the same statement in her prayer and praise during her baby dedication. She finally conceived after praying to God for the first time and gave birth to Samuel. It was during Samuel's dedication that she spoke thus;

1 Samuel 2:6

The LORD killeth, andmaketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

Notice it was as of praise too. She was praising God to show that God is all powerful. She was not speaking of the wickedness of God. It was to show the strength and exploit of God.

Another place we see this statement is in 1 Kings .

2 Kings 5:7

And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to killand to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. 

This statement was made by the King of Israel when Namman was sent to him to cure him of his leprosy. Notice He called God, the God that kills and makes alive .  This shows that it was a popular belief in Israel . The same way many persons believe today that God kills humans and makes alive . This belief is what makes the Israelites to think that it was God killing even when people die during wars for national expansions. Israel as a nation depended on God for victories in wars. For this , they had to apply the wisdom and the power of God in their battles.  Their inability to do this made them to lose the battles . Many times they attributed this to God’s killing and punishment to them. You will see the consistency of this when you read Genesis to Malachi. You cannot afford to take that to be true when it cannot be seen in Christ. Here lies the essence of Bible interpretation. When we read the interpretation of Genesis to Malachi in the epistles, we see clearly the meaning of Genesis to Malachi in Christ. The integrity of the scriptures is not to believe that everything said their is the truth about God rather it is to see that it was truly documented as it happened. 

Back to the question, Does God kill and make alive ?

Let’s look at Jesus to answer this question. Jesus while He walked the earth never killed any human being. He was busy healing and restoring people . He was all powerful. But we saw His power in saving men. So we can be certain about God . 

So does God kill ?

Yes. God actually kills and makes alive in Christ. But, He is yet to kill any human being. People use God’s power wrongly to kill humans but God has never killed any human being. God is yet to commit His first murder. So what does God kill?

In Christ we see that God killed sin and death. Christ through His death conquered sin and He made us alive in Him by giving us His Spirit. So the only killing that God did was not to kill people but to kill sin and death that was introduced by Adam. Now we know that any man that believe in Jesus has overcome sin and death. 

1 Corinthians 15

 20  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

 21  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  

 22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Titus 2

 13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;  

 14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good work 

Our Savior Jesus Christ gave himself for us. He bought us back from sin by dieing for us.

REAL POWER IS IN SAVING NOT IN KILLING AND DESTROYING.

There is this mindset that if one is truly powerful, one should kill or destroy. In fact some persons think that when we say God our Father in Christ does not kill people, we make God look like a weakling. This is a wrong mindset. The Jews had the same mindset about Jesus. They have read of the great saviour that was to come. They expected Him to be a physical warrior that will be showing His power by killing people. In fact, they were thinking He would deliver them from the Roman empire in that He was the saviour . This is because when Christ walked the earth, the Jews were under the Roman  Government. IT IS A DEVILISH WISDOM to think that power is  destruction. The devil shows his powerlessness in killing and destroying. Even the devil was shocked that Christ will save by dieing for people. For had the devil knew, He would have stopped His death . 

The real power of God is in saving. You will agree with me that it is easier to kill and destroy than to make alive and repair. The power of God is unto Salvation. Romans 1:16 . The power of God is not unto destruction. So when people kill today with the power of God, they are simply serving the devil with God’s power. Let’s look at one incidence in Luke. The disciples reminded Jesus to call down fire knowing fully well that Jesus has the power to.  Let’s see the response of Jesus. 

Luke 9

52

And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,

 52  And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.

 53  And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.

 54  And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?

 55  But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.

 56  For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

Jesus wanted to passed Samaria to go to Jerusalem. He was denied entrance. Notice what James and John suggested they do. They told Jesus in verse 54 that He should call down fire to consume the people like Elijah did. Jesus REBUKED them. In other words, Jesus showed us that what Elijah did in calling down fire to kill people was not showing the true God. Jesus corrected the disciples. Notice that He came to save men not to destroy them. So in His almightiness, Jesus choose to pass another village instead of destroying Samaria . This means that if Christ was to be on earth today, He would correct many persons trying to use His power to kill like Elijah did. If you read the story in 2 Kings 1 , you will notice Elijah called down fire to kill people out of fear. In verse 15, the angel had to tell Elijah to follow the messengers and not to be afraid. He should follow them instead of calling down fire to kill them again.

So far we have seen that God is very powerful in that He saves. God is yet to kill any body. It is the devil or man that kills with the power of God. God's power is His love. His wrath is His mercy . His punishment is in saving. God wanted to punish Saul , He got him saved and made him a preacher to save others . In Christ we can predict God. We know what God can never do. God can never ever kill people. In fact murder is called a work of the flesh in Galatians 5. So if God kills that means God is working in the flesh. The very thing God said we should not do. We know God. We are certain. We are not carried away by the false accusations against God because of poor  understanding of Genesis to Malachi. We have seen the face of God . We saw Him in Christ walked the earth. We know what God can never ever do. Hallelujah. 

BY EMEKE MODESTY OBIAZIKWOR

       www.emekemodesty.com

GOSPEL AND MIRACLE CAMPAIGN (GAMC)

Kindly be a part of this campaign by SHARING this article.

PLEASE SHARE.

DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS?

KINDLY ASK YOUR QUESTIONS Using the comment button below .

GOSPEL AND MIRACLE CAMPAIGN (GAMC) : Bringing people to the knowledge of Christ via the Gospel of Christ with the supernatural by Campaigning for the gospel of Jesus and setting people on fire to do the same .

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS CAMPAIGN CLICK HERE 

Email: gospelandmiraclecampaign@gmail.com