Say it ain’t so! Look at these two men that the Lord put to death.
Genesis 38: 6-9
6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death.
8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death also.
What the frosted flakes is going on here?
Update:Irish and Eugene thank you for your answers. The rest of you really didn't answer the question. Tao Man you have a good point and I did think about several different gods on several occasions.
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
The Christians don't seem to recognize that they have a pantheon of gods just as do Pagans. Their "god" doesn't just have multiple-personalities, it is several separate beings.
Taoist/Atheist (realist)
Er - the bible does not mention what Er has done to be considered bad enough for God to put him to death, but he most likely had to do with laws that God has put into place and Er must have REPEATEDLY disobeyed.
ONAN (Watchtower 4/15/1973)
By acting contrary to the purpose of brother-in-law marriage, Onan demonstrated disrespect for his father. In disobedience to his father’s command, he selfishly held back from preserving Er’s family line. This was also an expression of hatred for Er, as Onan worked, not for, but against his dead brother’s interests. Onan callously disgraced his brother’s widow. He selfishly laid bare her nakedness but withheld from her the rightful due of motherhood. He also showed that he had no appreciation for “sacred things,” as there was a possibility that the promised Messiah would have come through the offspring he might have fathered by means of Tamar. (Compare Hebrews 12:16.) All these factors reveal that Onan was a wicked man who had no regard for the interests of others when his own interests seemed to be at stake. It is because of the baseness of Onan’s reason for failing to give offspring to his dead brother that Jehovah slew him.
If you believe and trust God, you would know that he is a God of justice and his justice acts in harmony with his strong attribute which is love. He does execute judgement, but he will always provide a way and time for that person to turn around and repent. If after time there is not obedience, then, yes, that person is to suffer the consequence and sometimes it means death.
BTW- There is the Father, Jehovah God and then there is Jesus, his Son. Jehovah God is the Almighty and pronounces the judgement, Jesus was the one that sacrifice for our sins. So they are not the same.
Er "proved to be bad" in the eyes of Jehovah God. So He put him to death. After Er's death Judah the father, instructed his second oldest Onan to perform brother-in-law marriage with Tamar verse 8.
"In view of that Judah said to O´nan: “Have relations with your brother’s wife and perform brother-in-law marriage with her and raise up offspring for your brother.”-Genesis 38:8
This was with the express purpose of raising up offspring for his dead brother. Onan would have no right to have relations with Tamar otherwise. Onan knew the offspring would not be his verse 9. He had relations with her and wasted his semen on the earth instead of giving it to Tamar so she could have an offspring of Er. What he did was bad in the eyes of Jehovah God verse 10. God put him to death.
"Now what he did was bad in the eyes of Jehovah; hence he put him also to death."-Genesis 38:10
Onan demonstrated disrespect for his father. He selfishly held back from preserving Er's family line. This was also an expression of hatred for Er. Onan worked against his brothers interests. Onan disgraced his brother's widow Tamar. He seen her being naked, had sexual relations with her but didn't give her what was rightfully hers a child. Onan did not so any appreciation for sacred things, there was a possibility that the Messiah would have come through the offspring he might have fathered by means of Tamar. All these facts reveal to us Onan was a wicked man who had no regard for the interest of others when his own interest seemed to he at stake. It was because he failed to give offspring to his dead brother Jehovah God put him to death.
That word "LORD" is there as a translation for the Tetragrammaton, implying that the verses you quote are from the J document, one of the four documents making up the Pentateuch. This document portrays God as having a human physical form, depicts God as being known by His actions and is the oldest of the four. By contrast, the word "Lord" in the New Testament, Kyrios in Greek, refers of course to Christ. By that time, there was a major synthesis of the strands of theological thought. I would say that this earlier reference occurs before the Jews had a more complete understanding of God. However, putting people to death is certainly an action.
why, indeed. God is sovereign, sweetie. also, His ways are not our ways. He is the Creator. He gives life and He takes it away. in verse 6, God says why He put Judah's firstborn to death, because he was wicked. in verse 8, Onan disobeyed. remember, God always does what is right. we don't. obviously. fortunately, we are living in the era of grace, and there is time (for now) for people to turn their hearts to the Lord.
Real simple, "What he did was wicked in the LORD's sight". There were rules/laws put in place and they were violated. God is not like us, we turn a blind eye to the ugly and evil things of men. God, who is long suffering with us, at some point, has to punish wickedness. We don't know how long Onan refused to comply.
You apparently have not realized yet that you are dealing with two completely separate sets of tales. The New Testament is much older Jewish book, with their own version of God. It was written as a series of tales told around the campfires of nomadic tribes. Think of it like ghost stories told to children.
In fact,t he OT is not even internally consistent, study of the text shows that some parts are based on one old Babylonian text, while others are written based on another. Read carefully, for instance, and you will see that the beginning of Genesis flips back and forth between two versions of the story.
The New Testament is a completely different set of stories, told for a different purpose. It was intentionally written to sell a certain religious view.
Trying to reconcile the two is like trying to explain why there are light sabers in Star Wars but no phasers, while Star Trek is the opposite.
Seems you conveniently left out the "repented of" part of died for our sins.
What was John the baptists Message? Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!
What was Yeshua's message? Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!
What was Peters message? Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!
Lets look at Peters concluding remarks.
Acts 2:8 And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
What part of that statement do you not understand?
The bible is the word of man not God.
no, it's not.