DWQA QuestionsCategory: ReligionsA viewer asks: “There are so many examples in the Old Testament of God’s people killing the inhabitants of lands that they overtook at the Creator’s suggestion or command—every man woman and child. The Israelites were commanded to destroy several nations, including the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, as well as the Midianites. These commands are found in Deuteronomy 20:16–17 and Numbers 31:17. In the case of the Midianites, the Israelites were instructed to kill every man, woman, and child, except for the virgin girls, as recorded in Numbers 31. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all nations destroyed by the Israelites, but these are prominent examples in the Bible. Were these events truly commanded by God? Who was behind all this killing?”
Nicola Staff asked 1 day ago
We would say this is "Exhibit A" in our characterization of the Scriptures as a mix of true and false declarations and accounts of history and, most importantly, what is a divine idea and what is not. If you look through the whole body of channeling work done on behalf of Get Wisdom you will see again and again, that our answers are aimed at upliftment to steer people away from choosing violence as an answer for problems. We have given repeated injunctions to never fight fire with fire, and we have never directed people with specific commands to carry out any agenda, and certainly, not a mass slaughter. While there are counterbalancing justifications in mounting self-defense when one might pick up a weapon, particularly to defend loved ones and the innocent, at the same time we have also said from a moral perspective it is better to let oneself be killed than to kill others. What that argues is not to simply look for your first opportunity to be a lamb to the slaughter but look for higher answers, better strategies to avoid confrontation, to avoid being in a state of vulnerability when you can be victimized all too readily, and especially take positive steps through partnership with us to heal your adversaries as a higher and better way of saving yourself. So what is stated in the Scriptures will often include distortions and lies interwoven purposefully by the interlopers to corrupt the divine narrative brought forward by the many prophets who have been close to us and provided an instrument for the cause of the Divine.