"The Bible also says that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom", so maybe there is something to that" - Matt Thank you for being straight forward!
@@Jrjejhbfh Yes, there is an awe when seeing His glory displayed and the work of His hands. But, there should be a fear and reverence for the Holiness of His presence. If it weren't for Christ standing before the judgement seat and calling out those who trust in Him, it would not be a good day for anyone. As His word says "work out your salvation with all fear AND trembling".
@SkillsDND I love my father but when I was little I was also scared of his spankings when I messed up. I trust my Heavenly Father will always be there for me but I also fear His punishment of sin, which without Christ would be certain death for me. But it's because He gave Christ for me that I trust Him and love Him.
No part of Westeros or Essos or Sothorios, the whole world of GoT could receive Christ to lay down the seed for Christianity and to reedem it. God would have to intervene via prophets in the already ongoing wars and upheaval of Westeros, to shepherd a people, to protect it, to let it learn and develop in His ways enough for at least a few people to receive His full message, spoken by Him in a human body. That is the story of the Old Testament, I think. God doesn't like violence. Violence is the reality of the human life that we have forced God to look upon.
Good video. The last explanation reminded me of a quote from Tim Keller, "When we say 'I can't believe in a God who would ___', we're saying we don't really want a God beyond our comprehension."
I do think this argument could end up going too far down a dangerous path however, where those old pagans could end up arguing that sacrificing babies to Molech is okay because he's on a higher plane than us so we can't judge what is right or wrong. I'm not sure I phrased this well at all but it's something that's been at the back of my mind for a while concerning this topic.
Would I believe a God that sovereignly and unchangeably determined my thoughts while condemning me for it? It flies in the face of logic and sense of justice, as well as undermine the bible. God treats justice seriously and he loves us. He just has his own timeline that we are simply not aware of. He knows when judgement will come, but until then, he gives us free will to respond or reject.
Compared to the rest of human history, we are privileged to not live in constant fear of our lives, surrounded by warmongers. Which is why so many today are able to be self righteous and "condemn" the Scriptures.
I can't believe you released this vid at this time. I am fairly new to being a serious, practicing Christian (like 3 or 4 years), and I really, really don't like violence. It started to get to a point where it was becoming hard for me to read many passages, even in the gospels, due to the violence. As a matter of fact, I was not even wanting to explore the Bible at all due to it. It was rocking my faith like almost no other issue. I prayed on it and then you release this wonderful video. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.
"We live in a rated R world because we are rated R beings and therefore the Bible is a rated R book" -my paraphrase of a knowledgable man whom I respect named Todd Erzen.
I just walked into the office and my husband quickly muted what he was watching. He looked up at me with a guilty look on his face. “I’m not eating chips and dip and I’m definitely not cheating on you with Matt.” That was my notification that there was a new TMBH.
Tirelo Modie I guess I forgot that a TMBH drop isn’t necessarily an event in every household. My husband and I usually save them to watch together. Also, he was most certainly eating chips and dip.
I'm not religious. I doubt that I ever will be. But, with that being said, Matt does the best job with his honesty about the Bible. He doesn't wiggle around about the violence. He is not an Apologist. Making up fictional or dubious explanations only helps me when arguing with so called "Christians." He obviously has studied and knows his stuff. Because of that I enjoy listening to him. His non-judgemental explorations of other denominations of Christianity are some of best videos, in regards to understanding Christianity, on TH-cam. Good job from a subscribed "skeptical agnostic!"
Damn, I’m enjoying this even as an Episcopalian border on Agnostic xD You’re the first Christian-Bible related channel I subbed to and so far, no regrets. The fact you’re buds with Destin, my favorite science geek TH-camr makes it all the better.
@@lukebell4738 For me, it’s teaching me that not all Christians are batshit crazy like we see in the news. This guy seems to be a fairly decent person.
Might I recommend Stephen F. Kaufman's "The Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy" It is one of the best translations and includes annotations. It it's great.
@@mrmcface713 You are correct, but it’s never too late now. I think Jesus sacrifice gave everyone unlimited chances to say yes. Even the devil. That’s why Jesus name has so much power to rebuke him. Every time I pray for the devil when he tries to prey on me, I send him back to Jesus for another chance to accept salvation. He’ll probably say no again. But that’s why Jesus loves him. He’s never made something so stubborn as satan!
First time reading the Bible did kind of freak me out how much violence and the other thing you touched on, that you kind of expect this clear cut “bad people do this and good people do that” and God replies in kind but he’s also empathetic, and it was like No not gonna play out like that at all. At the end I did just have to ride it out like you said and eventually you start picking up on some patterns that kind of explains all that muddy stuff that’s so hard to get as just a regular human with our limits, and having to constantly remind my self while I read it that God is not at our level and that’s where the trust in him comes in to play. Thanks for the video hope it helps someone push through those wired parts where God doesn’t fit into what we expect him to be 👍
Good to keep in mind, too, that God the Son was on the receiving end of both - God's Justice and our worst Injustice. Absolute Justice met Absolute Love, and both were satisfied.
In the Orthodox Church, the Holy Fathers tell us that Egypt is the “world”, Moses a prophet, comes to lead God’s Israel out of the world. Yet, the world and its sinful passions chase after us daily. We must continually “baptize” ourselves in the waters and leave our worldly passions and sinfulness behind us. The early Church when reading the scriptures interpreted God’s enemies as sins. The Church also teaches us that interpreting the scriptures literally is the “lowest” way of reading. The Church encourages us to read the scriptures with our “spiritual eye” called the “nous.”
Recently found your channel and have been watching through that is why this comment is coming 2 years late. As a Christian, husband, father, and combat veteran and a multitude of other labels that can be applied to me I would enjoy sitting down for hours with someone like yourself and discussing many topics and of course this topic of violence. Won't type all my thoughts here, the server would crash. However if you wanted an idea for a future video you could take this though process of violence and discuss the times to come. Some prophecy that has not yet been fulfilled speaks of intense violence. Thank you for posting your thoughts.
There's a quote that comes to mind from a brother in Christ: "Tell history, but tell the friggin truth!" The world has been filled with violence ever since micro organisms covered the earth!
My early childhood was the time of the Vietnam war. My parents grew up during/after WWII. We are living in the most peaceful time in the world. Our society doesn't understand violence in the same way. I'm horrified by Bible stories that were celebrated when we were kids.
I always find Joshua a really tough book to get through. I just sort of charge through it, keep my head down and try not to thing about it too much. Thanks Matt for giving me some tools to deal with this.
We have become so sheltered and spoiled, we recoil at violence, though it still happens daily. He who forgets will be destined to remember- God doesn’t want us to forget either.
And though we aren't shown them specifically, the idea of millions of voices crying out and then silenced, as the whole _planet_ of Alderaan becomes an asteroid field, that seemed pretty violent to me. Speaking of which, what happens to the Earth in the Bible is worse. Not a single speck of _dust_ will remain... 2 Peter 3:10 NKJV - But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. If you want an idea of what that will look like, there's a TH-cam music video that comes close. Look for _Supernova_ by _Within Temptation._
RE: Jepthah - It was common in those days to keep your livestock on the groundfloor of the house overnight. Usually, the first things out the door were an ox, cow or donkey. I think he was horrified when a person came out the door first. (see Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth Bailey for more)
Yes, though the moral of the story was more of a warning against making rash vows. It also fits the greater theme of Judges that things are getting worse and worse.
And yet, a part of the mystery is that Jephthah is mentioned in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11... Hebrews 11:32 CSB - And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets... Meaning? Maybe he's worth mentioning because he followed through on the vow even when it didn't turn out like he was expecting?
There’s tons of violence in the New Testament too. Jesus gets crucified, John the Baptist got his head chopped off and the Apostles got stoned to death.
Thank you so much for this video. It really spoke to me tonight! I decided (after almost 50 years of being a Christian) that I wanted to read the whole Bible cover to cover, because I've actually never read the whole thing! (hangs head in shame). After reading Genesis and Exodus, I had these same thoughts, and really needed this perspective! Thanks again and God bless!
This my first time watching TMBH and its surprised me with the quality and substance of the video. Always heard about it from No Dumb Questions, and never had interest in it, but the thumbnail got me to click. Nice video Matt.
That's one evidence that the Bible is describing something real: people are just as wicked, foolish, short tempered, short sighted, selfish, occasionally noble and generous, as they are in life. No kingly heroes here. All too human.
Thank you very much for this video. I have often struggled with this question myself, similar to also why is there so much sexual immorality in the Old Testament that God is seemingly silent about. We Christians usually blame and mock the sacred books of other religions that contain violence as if we don’t have our own skeletons in the closet that we just ignore. I’m happy this has led me to more understanding. If there is anything I will return from this video it is the phrase, ‘Violence exists in the bible because violence exists in the world.’ The bible is God’s message of redemption to people in a violent and sin filled world.
And it's videos like this that I love from this channel. Great breakdown, and a solid delivery! (A little long intro for my taste, but it was still good)
I think that the aim for our society is to achieve justice with minimal violence. Sometimes you just can't practically solve a problem without violence, while at other times, hardly any force is needed to deal with a situation.
"The bible is violent" Have you ever turned on the evening news? There was a culture that largely started in the 70's, grew in the 80's and really got pressed in the 90's of this concept of a "safe Jesus". Unfortunately for the Nintendo Generation, we were raised with a Kiddie Corner version of Scripture. I have met people who have freaked out and questioned their Christianity because they actually book up the book and read it, and were horrified when they read it. Also, keep in mind that the people whom the Hebrews wiped out were actually kin -- these were tribes who came from the line of Ham, where as the line of Shem produced the line of Abraham. So largely we forget that we are reading about a people who absolutely knew about the God of Noah, and had fallen very far away from that knowledge.
*"I have met people who have freaked out and questioned their Christianity because they actually book up the book and read it, and were horrified when they read it."* That sentence reminded me of a phrase I kept hearing during the late 2000s, I don't know who said it though. *"The best case for atheism is reading the Bible cover to cover."* Can't explain how many times I've seen that in comment sections. It was the catchphrase for "Atheism+" for a while.
hello Similar conversation for me, but it was about 2010/12, and it was in person. However I have seen it as a reason for Atheism in conversation as well. Its kind of funny because the G Rates bible is largely prevelant in Protestant circles -- my Roman Catholic friends and Eastern Orthodox friends were actually raised without the "kid friendly, safe bible".
It was said that Abraham was originally an idol worshipper but when called by Jehovah, his Father in Law recognized Jehovah. The implication being ancient people actually knew about Jehovah in some way pre Abraham. (Also look at Balaam and gentile prophet.) The implication is, if ancient people knew the Israelites were Jehovah's people, to oppose the Israelites was open rebellion against Jehovah as well. They go out of their way multiple times to give other people opportunities to leave
Great video, fair treatment. The only thing I'd add is perhaps a splash of Jesus' POV on violence. You hinted at it with the pacifism stuff, but fleshing that out a bit wouldn't have hurt. Well done with a difficult subject!
I loved those stories as a kid. It’s like reading action novels. “Is God a Moral Monster” actually puts a lot of the violence in perspective. It’s a product of a brutal past where winners take all and losers lose everything in war.
I'm a Muslim and I find this question about the Bible rather redundant. Only in the past 70~ years has there been sustained peace - and even that is often due to oppression. The vast majority of societies experience violence on a regular basis. The US has basically been at war non-stop since its inception.
@Mary Smith Here I am extending kind towards towards my fellow Abrahamists, who I feel are on my side as the culture continues to erode for *exactly *the same post-structuralist reason you referenced, and you somehow feel the need to spew the same nonsense I've heard since 2001 back in high school. Lets discuss. You took exception to the world "Allah". Let me ask, do you worship God or Ellohim? God is a germanic pagan word, why do you worship "god", why not Ellohim? See the silliness there? While you are likely Protestant, but we know that Catholics and Orthodox from the Arabic, Urdu and Farsi speaking say "Allah", or more accurately "Ibn Allah" in their liturgies. I dunno where you are from, but I'm an American. The brutal fact of this country is, we are part of an extremely violent civilization. Post WW1, the UK and US have been on, to be blunt, an orgy of violence in central Muslim world, while the Communists and Socialists were the main perpetrators in the Asian Muslim world. America and the UK were not defensive, they destabilized countries, propped up dictators, supported ethnic cleansing, devalued currencies, and in recent years started bombing and shooting people. The worst examples of this were Afghanistan and Iraq, but we bombed Somalia, Pakistan, Syria, Libya, etc. We're not defensive, we're offensive. Your understanding of the Mahdi and anti-Christ isn't even consistent, you're literally mixing up Sunni and Shia views. We literally say that when the Christians see Jesus, they will accept him and worship God, not him. The Armenian Genocide, which I sympathize with, was done by the secular Young Turks AFTER they had weakened the Caliphate and later led a secular inquisition. Please search for a personal relationship with God, follow Jesus, not Paul, before its too late!
oh, and Taqiyya...yeah, so anything I say to you, you'll say "that's taqiyya, you're just lying", which is again you confusing Shia and Sunni issues. But I just accuse people who say this as liars and that its part of their faith to lie -- and I don't believe their responses because that itself is a lie. Don't like it? I will gladly retract that claim, if you cease yours.
oh, and to any Christians reading this - know that I genuinely love you. This is actually why I like watching the 10 minute bible hour + am really fascinated with the Orthodox + read the Gospels from time to time
@@farhan00 God is a title. Also: The earliest written form of the Germanic word "god" comes from the 6th century Christian Codex Argenteus, which descends from the Old English guþ from the Proto-Germanic *Ȝuđan. When you speak to your father, do you call him by his first name? Likewise when we speak to God our Father, we give him the utmost respect and refer to him by His title and relationship to us. Most pastors will occasionally refer to him in prayer as YWHW, Jehovah, and rarely Elohim, in prayer.
Our church has a mural of Noah's flood in the Sunday school hallway where one person is drowning and two others are on a rock watching the ark float away...... it glorious. We don't hide the truth from nobody!
Yeah, I think it's reasonable that all those 'My First Bible' books cut out parts like Phinehas' stabbing the Israelite and Midianite caught in the act, David collecting foreskins for a bride-price, the she-bears killing all those kids for insulting Elijah, etc. However, I think that part of maturing in reading the Bible is being able to read all those gory, violent parts.
Look at the book of Job. Let me paraphrase: Satan: I bet I can make your man Job denounce you. God: Sure. Give it a shot. You just can't kill him. Satan: okay. Job loses everything except his wife and some friends. They all tell him to denounce God and die already. Job: Nope! God: All that stuff happened just because. Job, you did good. Here! Have some more kids, more animals, more servents...and let me wipe off those pustules and yukkies. Stuff happens. Sometimes it is God doing it and other times it's God letting it happen for a reason we may or may not be privy to. We, a couple years after the fact, see the whole picture of Job. Job suffered, but he didn't know why. We see and experience suffering and have that grand spiritual/theological/philosophical question of "Why, God!? Why is [THIS] happening?!". And we may never know the answer.
the meaningg of the book of Job is in the sentence "we may never know the answer" The book is a reflection/application of the book ecclesiastes talking about the level of absurdity of life
There is a missing option here. Understanding the ancient near eastern context of the OT. Matt sited the Amorites, if we don't understand how the ancient near east viewed the Amorites, in particular the Israelites who linked them to divine cosmic evil. We lose the original and correct context. Learning to see scripture thru the eyes of an ancient Israelite thru their worldview clarifies a lot of the perceived problematic topics.
Great video. You made some Impotant points that are worth pondering. I like the way you explore the issues in an open and thoughtful way. A lot of bodies that I see seem to be about blaiming someone about a greavance they have over some false religion practice. Yours was well played out I a balanced way that makes it easy to think over.
Hi, it's been a while since I've been on this account. I recently came out to my parents (in January) and since then have been targetting depression+anxiety that I've had for nearly two decades. I've started antidepressants today - my first time trying such a thing. I always liked to study religions (specifically the Abrahamic ones) and I look forward to actually being able to focus on this video XD EDIT: scrolled down in the comments, saw a comment that is basically what stalled me from looking into religions again. I guess things didn't change much in the last few years.
What is it that you saw? If it was just one comment, I wouldn't dismiss the wonderful gift of religion due to a single comment. Each of us has a different walk... and each needs to be tolerant of our differences... (including you being tolerant of those who do not understand your differences).
@@DianaHerberg I don't know why I just saw this now, but if I remember correctly, it was calling all lgbt people p*dophiles and perverts and how we don't belong in a church It was similar to what I heard in my hometown - although that was usually before a beating so
@@hello-jy9hf hello :) I'm glad you responded - it sounds like you had a bad experience as a young person. Please don't conclude that all religion is bad - when we do that (and yes, I did it for a long time) we miss out on so much. If I could go back, I would do my best to stay engaged with God's children in a more formal way.
@@DianaHerberg I try not to do it, it's just that a lotta churches around here try that "corrective therapy" thing or just blatantly go after you in a sermon it's a small town with like 40 churches but after the first few being rude I kind of just gave up - and then the pandemic happened some days you just feel too weak to even try and find a place
@@hello-jy9hf although my struggles have been different, I can relate. Stay prayerful and find a good praise service online. It can be work sometimes to see that there are so many things to praise God for, but once you start searching them out, other things begin to come together. I'm saying prayers for you, too.
Kool Kid22 Someone in the comment section made the point that the area he was in would have had a lot of his animals there and he would have by all intents and purposes expected a animal to swing by.
@@micah_lee it depends on the time of year and that is a possibility. But it was also just as common to have an animal pen or a barn type structure connected to the house. It depends on the wealth of the individual and if the house is in a largish city or on the frontier.
Matt, good sir. I love the content and the way you explain things. Thank you for touching on topics that many of us believers don't like to deal with. I'm a huge fan of fantasy literature. If you like A Song of Ice and Fire, please please please check out Dragonlance. Dragons of Autumn Twilight is the first.
I’ve always thought it would be cool to see you and the Bible Project crew interact/collaborate somehow. Maybe on the NDQ podcast. They’ve recently had a couple of podcasts on God’s anger that fits in well with this topic.
I think you always touch nicely on topics like this. We constantly need to be reminded that there are messages being conveyed by the words that are worth discovering.
The story in Judges 11 I think is much more likely that Jephthah meant to sacrifice whoever came out of his household to service before the Lord at the temple. If it had been an animal he would have made a burnt offering. This is why she goes to mourn the fact that she will never marry vs that she would die.
Similar to the language in Torah (Exodus 13, Numbers 8) about dedicating the first born of both men and animal to the Lord. Obviously they didn’t kill the first born son. But the first born animal they did.
Hey Matt could you please do a video over the Trinity? I’ve seen several videos attempting to explain it to me, but it just doesn’t click. Your videos allow me to see things from another prospective. I would be very grateful for your help.
An excellent book dealing with this issue is titled: Is God a moral monster? I don't think that we should be horrified by anything God does, we need to look at these issues recognizing Jesus exemplifies God's character.
Good video. I think there may be another reason for a lot of the violence in the Old Testament. I think you hinted at at, but I didn't hear you actually explain it. God wanted to protect the nation of Israel, so that he could implement his plan of salvation. If he was not harsh, Israel might never have survived to bring the Messiah into the world. Many times, throughout the Old Testament, it came very close to ending the line of Jesus, or Israel itself.
Okay so I just finished your Acts series, and I’m busy with your Ephesians series. Do you have another series which I can start with? I love how you approach scripture! Don’t ever stop :P
Great video but because of the thumbnail TH-cam started suggesting videos on the shepherd's sling. Needless to say I'm trying to explode pumpkins in my yard with paracord now.
C.S. Lewis addresses biblical violence quite eloquently, and one thing he mentions is, using Salem with trials as an example, if you really truly believed there were such people that really truly deserved ro die, and this really truly was the only way to deal with them, wouldn't you be part of the people seeking to destroy them? ..he doesn't say it in exactly those words, but in some extreme cases, it seems justice through violent actions can be justified, if you have an moral code based on absolutes, execution is not unwarranted. After all, we do still execute people. It seems like we attempt to do it in as "humane" a way possible, but death by any measure is some kind of violence. Death is an enemy to be defeated, according to 1 Cor 15
Matt, you may never see this as I am writing you in June 2023- hello, 2021 things are crazy here- 😝 Anyway, I purchased the tree of life version Bible, which is amazing and started from Genesis and I'm working my way through the Scriptures as they have them set up. Wow wow wow talk about violence, and all of the other negative words I can't say, or the tube will flag you 🏴☠️🚨‼️ and I am only in Exodus six! I am finding your videos invaluable even though I've been a Christian for my gosh, half a century. 😮I believe I was 12 when on my own. I gave my life to the Lord, not even raised in the church, though I knew of Him, and had gone to a few Sunday school classes when I went to church with my grandma and maybe one vacation Bible school. But I got from my allowance money what was new at yhe time, The living Bible and the Holy Spirit drew me in 🤍🕊️🙏 You wouldn't have been born then, yet all of these years later I am still learning and growing from wonderful individuals like you. 🤍🙏. God continue to bless you and keep you. God make his face to shine upon you both now and forever. Amen brother and I will add son. 😉😊😃. As is your mother, I am proud of you.
I once decided to read the Bible from cover to cover and just couldn't stomach all the horrors in it. I stopped somewhere in Exodus and left it at that. I never understood why it was all in there, so I was curious about your take on it.
God is sovereign. He says: " I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things." (Isaiah 45: 7). We don't know His will because we can't see the whole picture. But we know " in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8: 28b).
If Louis C.K was leading a bible study, this would be exactly it. I love it. Highly intelligent and at many points... funny. Would that be blasphemous? I think God has the original, and the best sense of humor.
Yes Matt. I'm 16 and doing the faith for real thing for the first time, and I have to say there are some messed up things. Like two of Jacob's sons killed an entire village after their circumcision because one guy raped their sister. And even the passover is quite violent. The entire firstborn population of a country dies in one night
All I can say is it's gonna be a life long thing for you to be looking into and finding the answers to the questions you have. The more you look into it however, the more satisfying it becomes. Don't be afraid to look at things from different angles and see how other people see things. but most importantly, don't be afraid to come to your own conclusions and don't be afraid to not know something. if you keep an open mind you will find that the answers come naturally over time as long as you are open to them. I'm 32 myself and I'm still learning new things but the process is satisfying. When I was 16 I was a very hateful little atheist but now I'm more convinced than ever that the God of the Bible is real. A huge part of it is thanks to the many people on youtube making videos like this one providing their take on things. I recommend a channel called Mike Winger if you want to put something in the background while you're playing a game or doing something you like. His videos are quite long but very informative. Also, if you are into reading at all I recommend the works of C.S. Lewis to just about everyone looking for informative and thoughtful takes on Christianity. His book "Mere Christianity" is a great starting point. Even if you don't want to read the whole book is on youtube in audio form if you just want to listen to it like a podcast. it is quite long but covers a ton of ground! Just know that if people tell you that your faith is baseless or false you have many resources out there that show that you don't have to go by blind faith alone. God left tons of evidence in this world and with the internet nowadays it's easier than ever to access it! It's my belief that the last thing God wants you to do go go by blind faith. Ask questions, Ask God questions, ask and you shall receive as it is written. One of the most frustrating things for me is when people say "Don't question the lord!" That's wrong! Just as long as you ask respectfully and not in an accusatory fashion. Like with the violence, it's okay to ask why did these things need to be. It's okay to not understand or even not like something God does but as long as you are faithful that it's all for the greater good you'll be fine. I mean what kind of God would ask you to believe and have faith and most importantly want fellowship with you if you're not allowed to ask him questions? I can go on and on, I'm not much of a reader myself but if I don't stop myself I can write you a 30 page essay easily. So I'll just end with Don't just have faith in God's existence but also his character. When he says he wants all to be saved and desires non to perish he means it.
@@rabidguineapig Thanks for the encouragement. I'll definately check that guy out. Funnily enough I listen to a lot of Matt's videos while playing games or drawing, ect. And regarding Lewis, I read the Chronicles of Narnia but I haven't delved into any if his other works.
@@cosmicostrich3657 I know most people know Lewis for Narnia but I've only seen the movie maybe once. Actually, I just remembered, there's a channel called C.S. Lewis Doodles which is literally his books being read out loud while someone draws on black paper with gel pens and illustrates his points. I think that'd be good for you too! Anyway I'm very glad to give you some encouragement. Any chance I get to plant seeds for the lord is good in my book!
Regarding your 2nd point - I don't think it's quite accurate, or at least it's just a small part of a larger picture. Books like Joshua and Judges describe events that reflect the late Bronze Age Collapse. The entire ancient Middle East was falling apart, multiple kingdoms and empires were being destroyed and new, small kingdoms were rising in their place. What exactly happened is unclear because we don't have good sources on that period. Transitional periods tend to be very violent and for Biblical history this is also considered a formative period for the People of Israel.
This video is really well edited. I really like the bumpers. Clean, simple, but memorable. The box is odd. Are you doing a color scheme to the video type cause, that would be cool.
I first learned about David killing Goliath when I was three. When I heard David threw a rock at him, I said "I hope Goliath is ok." When I first learned David chopped off his head, I was six years old. But I didn't see any blood until I was in Third Grade when my class was watching "The Greatest Adventures - Stories From the Bible." One of my classmates was disappointed it didn't show David chopping off Goliath's head.
If only commenting here, during the video, would specify the clip in particular, that way I could communicate easier... Other than that, this is great content.
Violence is more disciplinary with a hidden you-leave-me-no-choice agenda, which will always be true, yet the times it's happened relative to today's events, the power of understanding and love for a life, selfish or not, should have already gained perspective. Eh, I'm still working on my half of the discussion. Civilizations are so much more advanced and improved compared to back then, during the violent "Times of the Bible". Similar to a sense of control, "love" would be more understanding than diplomatic, right? where patience resides and freedom starts with those you neighborize and "a person" or "a human" could actually feel it's ok to be one, without humane-judgement? Help me out here, Matt.
A simple reply would be that it was written in a time long ago that was constantly plagued with war, raping, pillaging, plagues, famines, etc. Not written in lovely suburban America.
@@edgarcruz9471 I would say that history isn't clear cut. Some times are prosperous and some times are full of war and violence. Today, in suburban america, violence takes different forms. We have the benefit of looking at history, where we are living in suburban America and have a more totalistic view of what is happening, compared to when we look at history it is the more notable things that get remembered.
micah_lee I never said history is clear cut, nothing in this life, especially history is black and white. Has human depravity, violence and wickedness still exist in our modern society in different forms? Of course! I’m just saying it’s clear to see looking back in history, that we have made huge progress when it comes to human rights and such my friend.
Hey man, I just found your channel and enjoy your perspective and as a Christian 27 year old married man who was in a church when a pastor gave himself away to cult beliefs and I left. I was wondering if you ever have time to hear some people out and what you would think about hearing another mans perspective. If you are in for it if I could add to your channel just by one back and forth I would like to know how to send you a video or long email hahah. God bless keep it up.
I always viewed the display of violence is a testimony of the consequences of decisions made by humans. When people say God could have prevented, I agree but always would think a Him making a world like a kid's cartoon, where actions have no real consequences. That would turn a gun into banana as soon as someone points it at another person and the story of Adam and Eve with the tree into a plot like Tom Jerry, with the scene always resetting.
Hi Matt, Just wanted to suggest a topic, i looked through your old videos and couldn't find one on this... Is there any chance you can do a video on Luke14:26? we are struggling with understanding it. Many of the videos on the topic say that it is merely comparative, or that the wording in Greek didn't mean 'hate' like we understand it. Why would the translation choose such a strong wording if the original manuscripts indicated less? Otherwise if we are supposed to love our neighbour and our enemy, but hate your family and our own life? It doesn't sit right... Thanks for all you do!
I agree with all of your reasons, where i don't understand the logic is the part where you say that because God owns the world and claims to be perfect that it's ok or explainable by God or because he's perfect. If god was perfect then why would he need to take actions that even his broken terrible creations can see as being wrong? I can accept that God thinks it's useful for violence to be taken but i reject that it's a perfect being. Such a God doesn't get to claim the moral high ground in my opinion. Saying that God needs to use violence seems to be a personification of God that forgets that it's supposed to be able to do anything that can be done. It's the same reason in my mind that Norse and Greek gods would behave so badly in their relationships. Edit: the only reason i bring this up is because you often say that the way that's most helpful to read the bible is to read it and ask ourselves what it tells me about God. I think it's totally valid if the questions that arise from that challenge the fundamental nature that God is supposed to have. Where is the infinite love for those he slaughtered? Where is the omnipotence to take another action that would have the same result. Why does a being who knows everything feel the need to kill something they created and set into motion? These questions don't end with God being perfectly moral to me. They require us to limit Gods abilities to justify the morality or remove the perfect morality to account for the choices made.
I liked then end where you said we should not imitate the violence. Jesus set several things back to even; including monogamous marriage, and not harming others ("Thou knowest the commandments, Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou shalt hurt no man. Honor thy father and mother." - Mark 10:19) "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15 "And hereby we are sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." 1 John 2:3-4 "Here is the patience of Saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12
Really great video Matt! How I tend to look at it is in a giant tally of total souls saved. Under the old covenant only the Israelites had a fair chance of being saved from eternal damnation (which is terrifying!) but Israel needed to survive so that God's perfect plan executed in the new covenant and could redeem all the peoples of the world. Like you said, it's important to see the broken world as it is so that we can really appreciate a good king, but why did the new covenant take so long to happen? There's thousands of years of history where if you were born into the wrong culture, God might kill you without a second thought to indirectly or directly protect his chosen people. I feel like in the old testament there wasn't as much a possibility of people converting to Judaism so if God ended someone's (or an entire culture's) life early through violence it may have paved the way for the Jewish people to be numerous enough that they could spread the gospel in the new testament. It's a bit like those philosophy questions, do you direct the out-of-control trolley at the one person to save 10? Or does actively steering towards the one make you complicit in their death as opposed to if you had done nothing, 10 would have died but arguably not by your hand. I think God respects our free will and works within the confines that we lay down for him. He's still looking for the best outcome, but to have free will there must also be consequences that he doesn't protect us from.
"The Bible also says that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom", so maybe there is something to that" - Matt
Thank you for being straight forward!
Agreed! This is phenomenal work!
SkillsDND the “fear” used in the Bible can also be replaced with words like “awe” and respect and just amazement!! Not a scary fear. Have a great day
@@Jrjejhbfh Yes, there is an awe when seeing His glory displayed and the work of His hands. But, there should be a fear and reverence for the Holiness of His presence. If it weren't for Christ standing before the judgement seat and calling out those who trust in Him, it would not be a good day for anyone. As His word says "work out your salvation with all fear AND trembling".
@SkillsDND I love my father but when I was little I was also scared of his spankings when I messed up. I trust my Heavenly Father will always be there for me but I also fear His punishment of sin, which without Christ would be certain death for me. But it's because He gave Christ for me that I trust Him and love Him.
@@isaacregier6344 I have never understood that verse. Seems to contradict the Gospel message.
Game of Thrones is the Bible without God.
You win the comment section.
Game of Thrones is the English War of the Roses set in a fantasy world.
No. Not even close.
May I ask who you learned the Bible from? Where did you get your theology from?
No part of Westeros or Essos or Sothorios, the whole world of GoT could receive Christ to lay down the seed for Christianity and to reedem it. God would have to intervene via prophets in the already ongoing wars and upheaval of Westeros, to shepherd a people, to protect it, to let it learn and develop in His ways enough for at least a few people to receive His full message, spoken by Him in a human body. That is the story of the Old Testament, I think. God doesn't like violence. Violence is the reality of the human life that we have forced God to look upon.
Good video. The last explanation reminded me of a quote from Tim Keller, "When we say 'I can't believe in a God who would ___', we're saying we don't really want a God beyond our comprehension."
I do think this argument could end up going too far down a dangerous path however, where those old pagans could end up arguing that sacrificing babies to Molech is okay because he's on a higher plane than us so we can't judge what is right or wrong. I'm not sure I phrased this well at all but it's something that's been at the back of my mind for a while concerning this topic.
Would I believe a God that sovereignly and unchangeably determined my thoughts while condemning me for it? It flies in the face of logic and sense of justice, as well as undermine the bible.
God treats justice seriously and he loves us. He just has his own timeline that we are simply not aware of. He knows when judgement will come, but until then, he gives us free will to respond or reject.
@@martytu20 why would you believe God determined your thoughts? That's a fallacy
@@leonardu6094 perhaps he meant as in having the "mind of Christ"? Though "determined" is not perhaps the best word for that.
Compared to the rest of human history, we are privileged to not live in constant fear of our lives, surrounded by warmongers. Which is why so many today are able to be self righteous and "condemn" the Scriptures.
I can't believe you released this vid at this time. I am fairly new to being a serious, practicing Christian (like 3 or 4 years), and I really, really don't like violence. It started to get to a point where it was becoming hard for me to read many passages, even in the gospels, due to the violence. As a matter of fact, I was not even wanting to explore the Bible at all due to it. It was rocking my faith like almost no other issue. I prayed on it and then you release this wonderful video. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.
You people cannot actually be real, I swear. No one can be this gullible
"We live in a rated R world because we are rated R beings and therefore the Bible is a rated R book" -my paraphrase of a knowledgable man whom I respect named Todd Erzen.
Todd, Steve, and Aaron are great every Theology Thursday
I just walked into the office and my husband quickly muted what he was watching. He looked up at me with a guilty look on his face. “I’m not eating chips and dip and I’m definitely not cheating on you with Matt.”
That was my notification that there was a new TMBH.
What
Lol, I got it :)
Tirelo Modie I guess I forgot that a TMBH drop isn’t necessarily an event in every household. My husband and I usually save them to watch together. Also, he was most certainly eating chips and dip.
LOL ...very clever.
@@MattWhitmanTMBH "What does he have that I don't?!"
"...... Transformer toys?"
I'm not religious. I doubt that I ever will be. But, with that being said, Matt does the best job with his honesty about the Bible. He doesn't wiggle around about the violence. He is not an Apologist. Making up fictional or dubious explanations only helps me when arguing with so called "Christians." He obviously has studied and knows his stuff. Because of that I enjoy listening to him. His non-judgemental explorations of other denominations of Christianity are some of best videos, in regards to understanding Christianity, on TH-cam. Good job from a subscribed "skeptical agnostic!"
I deeply appreciate your comment. Thank you.
Damn, I’m enjoying this even as an Episcopalian border on Agnostic xD You’re the first Christian-Bible related channel I subbed to and so far, no regrets. The fact you’re buds with Destin, my favorite science geek TH-camr makes it all the better.
I'm borderline agnostic too but this channel is starting to convince me that belief in Christ isn't that crazy.
@@lukebell4738 For me, it’s teaching me that not all Christians are batshit crazy like we see in the news. This guy seems to be a fairly decent person.
@@ScarletImp Yeah, it's always the loud ones that get the attention.
I recommend taking a look at Matt Fradd and Ascension Presents too!
@@ScarletImp
Please, don’t take what the media says about a lot of things - including Christians.😊✝️
My daughter's favorite OT story is about Jael. She's into swords and has requested the Art of War for Christmas, so I guess that tracks.
Might I recommend Stephen F. Kaufman's "The Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy"
It is one of the best translations and includes annotations. It it's great.
@@iwontliveinfear thanks! We were just wondering which translation would be best!
If she’s into swords don’t forget five rings. It was written by a samurai
@@iwontliveinfear I think I'll have to check this out.
@@delanchan699 Miyamoto Musashi. That part with the oar was super violent.
Because history be like that....
*sighs*
Thank God for Jesus, we’re all saved now.
Only all who *Truely* Accept Him are Saved, sadly there are People among us who call themselves Christians but are not.
@@mrmcface713
You are correct, but it’s never too late now. I think Jesus sacrifice gave everyone unlimited chances to say yes. Even the devil. That’s why Jesus name has so much power to rebuke him. Every time I pray for the devil when he tries to prey on me, I send him back to Jesus for another chance to accept salvation. He’ll probably say no again. But that’s why Jesus loves him. He’s never made something so stubborn as satan!
The “fresh adult eyes” has really been a thing studying the Bible, there’s a ton of weird sex stuff too.
First time reading the Bible did kind of freak me out how much violence and the other thing you touched on, that you kind of expect this clear cut “bad people do this and good people do that” and God replies in kind but he’s also empathetic, and it was like No not gonna play out like that at all.
At the end I did just have to ride it out like you said and eventually you start picking up on some patterns that kind of explains all that muddy stuff that’s so hard to get as just a regular human with our limits, and having to constantly remind my self while I read it that God is not at our level and that’s where the trust in him comes in to play.
Thanks for the video hope it helps someone push through those wired parts where God doesn’t fit into what we expect him to be 👍
Good to keep in mind, too, that God the Son was on the receiving end of both - God's Justice and our worst Injustice. Absolute Justice met Absolute Love, and both were satisfied.
In the Orthodox Church, the Holy Fathers tell us that Egypt is the “world”, Moses a prophet, comes to lead God’s Israel out of the world. Yet, the world and its sinful passions chase after us daily. We must continually “baptize” ourselves in the waters and leave our worldly passions and sinfulness behind us. The early Church when reading the scriptures interpreted God’s enemies as sins. The Church also teaches us that interpreting the scriptures literally is the “lowest” way of reading. The Church encourages us to read the scriptures with our “spiritual eye” called the “nous.”
Recently found your channel and have been watching through that is why this comment is coming 2 years late. As a Christian, husband, father, and combat veteran and a multitude of other labels that can be applied to me I would enjoy sitting down for hours with someone like yourself and discussing many topics and of course this topic of violence. Won't type all my thoughts here, the server would crash. However if you wanted an idea for a future video you could take this though process of violence and discuss the times to come. Some prophecy that has not yet been fulfilled speaks of intense violence. Thank you for posting your thoughts.
There's a quote that comes to mind from a brother in Christ: "Tell history, but tell the friggin truth!"
The world has been filled with violence ever since micro organisms covered the earth!
Always so easy to understand. I love the spin you put on everything.
My early childhood was the time of the Vietnam war. My parents grew up during/after WWII. We are living in the most peaceful time in the world. Our society doesn't understand violence in the same way. I'm horrified by Bible stories that were celebrated when we were kids.
I always find Joshua a really tough book to get through. I just sort of charge through it, keep my head down and try not to thing about it too much. Thanks Matt for giving me some tools to deal with this.
We have become so sheltered and spoiled, we recoil at violence, though it still happens daily. He who forgets will be destined to remember- God doesn’t want us to forget either.
Nobody ever really gets hurt in Star Wars? Um, how about thousands of Storm Troopers mowed down like grass while missing every shot they fire?
I could go for seeing more gungans hurt
But it's ok, they're the *bad guys* so theybdon't matter except for comic relief
Lol, yes. But it’s still consequence-free when it’s just a black spot on the armor with no blood.
And though we aren't shown them specifically, the idea of millions of voices crying out and then silenced, as the whole _planet_ of Alderaan becomes an asteroid field, that seemed pretty violent to me. Speaking of which, what happens to the Earth in the Bible is worse. Not a single speck of _dust_ will remain...
2 Peter 3:10 NKJV - But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
If you want an idea of what that will look like, there's a TH-cam music video that comes close. Look for _Supernova_ by _Within Temptation._
RE: Jepthah - It was common in those days to keep your livestock on the groundfloor of the house overnight. Usually, the first things out the door were an ox, cow or donkey. I think he was horrified when a person came out the door first. (see Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth Bailey for more)
An interesting take. Thanks for this.
Yes, though the moral of the story was more of a warning against making rash vows. It also fits the greater theme of Judges that things are getting worse and worse.
Never underestimate the desire of a god for human sacrifice.
And yet, a part of the mystery is that Jephthah is mentioned in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11...
Hebrews 11:32 CSB - And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets...
Meaning? Maybe he's worth mentioning because he followed through on the vow even when it didn't turn out like he was expecting?
Maybe the best one of these I’ve seen. I’m on board with almost all of it.
There’s tons of violence in the New Testament too. Jesus gets crucified, John the Baptist got his head chopped off and the Apostles got stoned to death.
Thank you so much for this video. It really spoke to me tonight! I decided (after almost 50 years of being a Christian) that I wanted to read the whole Bible cover to cover, because I've actually never read the whole thing! (hangs head in shame). After reading Genesis and Exodus, I had these same thoughts, and really needed this perspective! Thanks again and God bless!
i'm with you two years later 👍
This my first time watching TMBH and its surprised me with the quality and substance of the video. Always heard about it from No Dumb Questions, and never had interest in it, but the thumbnail got me to click. Nice video Matt.
Great video. It was nice to hear Guatemala (my home country) being mentioned in one of your videos. (Not the way I would have wanted, but hey!)
That's one evidence that the Bible is describing something real: people are just as wicked, foolish, short tempered, short sighted, selfish, occasionally noble and generous, as they are in life. No kingly heroes here.
All too human.
I really love your videos. And your approach to the bible understanding. Keep doing good work, homie
These videos are phenomenally done. Keep up the great work, Matt.
Another good one Matt. Keep up the good work!
I think that you are right. Violent retribution can feel very good. It is a challenge within ourselves that we have to try to struggle with.
Thank you very much for this video. I have often struggled with this question myself, similar to also why is there so much sexual immorality in the Old Testament that God is seemingly silent about. We Christians usually blame and mock the sacred books of other religions that contain violence as if we don’t have our own skeletons in the closet that we just ignore.
I’m happy this has led me to more understanding. If there is anything I will return from this video it is the phrase, ‘Violence exists in the bible because violence exists in the world.’ The bible is God’s message of redemption to people in a violent and sin filled world.
No one had invented that morality some American Christians demand Today. It was a later ìdea.
"and if you find that horrifying than that's something we have in common." Love you man
Good topic. Thank you.
Loving Jesus. Whoever is reading this God sees and knows your struggles, pain and injustice He will vindicate and rescue you dont give up.
And it's videos like this that I love from this channel. Great breakdown, and a solid delivery! (A little long intro for my taste, but it was still good)
Love your TH-cam videos. Just discovered your podcast as well!
I think that the aim for our society is to achieve justice with minimal violence. Sometimes you just can't practically solve a problem without violence, while at other times, hardly any force is needed to deal with a situation.
"The bible is violent"
Have you ever turned on the evening news?
There was a culture that largely started in the 70's, grew in the 80's and really got pressed in the 90's of this concept of a "safe Jesus". Unfortunately for the Nintendo Generation, we were raised with a Kiddie Corner version of Scripture. I have met people who have freaked out and questioned their Christianity because they actually book up the book and read it, and were horrified when they read it.
Also, keep in mind that the people whom the Hebrews wiped out were actually kin -- these were tribes who came from the line of Ham, where as the line of Shem produced the line of Abraham. So largely we forget that we are reading about a people who absolutely knew about the God of Noah, and had fallen very far away from that knowledge.
*"I have met people who have freaked out and questioned their Christianity because they actually book up the book and read it, and were horrified when they read it."*
That sentence reminded me of a phrase I kept hearing during the late 2000s, I don't know who said it though.
*"The best case for atheism is reading the Bible cover to cover."*
Can't explain how many times I've seen that in comment sections. It was the catchphrase for "Atheism+" for a while.
hello Similar conversation for me, but it was about 2010/12, and it was in person. However I have seen it as a reason for Atheism in conversation as well. Its kind of funny because the G Rates bible is largely prevelant in Protestant circles -- my Roman Catholic friends and Eastern Orthodox friends were actually raised without the "kid friendly, safe bible".
By the way they didnt genocide the canaanites it was a hyperbole
Zereph Tru, tru. I do recall God being displeased about the whole bit of not following through with that.
I was stunned when I read judges chapter 19. I had no idea that such horrible things were written in the bible
It was said that Abraham was originally an idol worshipper but when called by Jehovah, his Father in Law recognized Jehovah. The implication being ancient people actually knew about Jehovah in some way pre Abraham. (Also look at Balaam and gentile prophet.) The implication is, if ancient people knew the Israelites were Jehovah's people, to oppose the Israelites was open rebellion against Jehovah as well. They go out of their way multiple times to give other people opportunities to leave
Great video, fair treatment. The only thing I'd add is perhaps a splash of Jesus' POV on violence. You hinted at it with the pacifism stuff, but fleshing that out a bit wouldn't have hurt. Well done with a difficult subject!
I loved those stories as a kid. It’s like reading action novels.
“Is God a Moral Monster” actually puts a lot of the violence in perspective. It’s a product of a brutal past where winners take all and losers lose everything in war.
Where can we ask you questions you can answer on your channel please?
I'm a Muslim and I find this question about the Bible rather redundant.
Only in the past 70~ years has there been sustained peace - and even that is often due to oppression.
The vast majority of societies experience violence on a regular basis. The US has basically been at war non-stop since its inception.
@Mary Smith Here I am extending kind towards towards my fellow Abrahamists, who I feel are on my side as the culture continues to erode for *exactly *the same post-structuralist reason you referenced, and you somehow feel the need to spew the same nonsense I've heard since 2001 back in high school. Lets discuss.
You took exception to the world "Allah". Let me ask, do you worship God or Ellohim? God is a germanic pagan word, why do you worship "god", why not Ellohim? See the silliness there? While you are likely Protestant, but we know that Catholics and Orthodox from the Arabic, Urdu and Farsi speaking say "Allah", or more accurately "Ibn Allah" in their liturgies.
I dunno where you are from, but I'm an American. The brutal fact of this country is, we are part of an extremely violent civilization. Post WW1, the UK and US have been on, to be blunt, an orgy of violence in central Muslim world, while the Communists and Socialists were the main perpetrators in the Asian Muslim world. America and the UK were not defensive, they destabilized countries, propped up dictators, supported ethnic cleansing, devalued currencies, and in recent years started bombing and shooting people. The worst examples of this were Afghanistan and Iraq, but we bombed Somalia, Pakistan, Syria, Libya, etc. We're not defensive, we're offensive.
Your understanding of the Mahdi and anti-Christ isn't even consistent, you're literally mixing up Sunni and Shia views. We literally say that when the Christians see Jesus, they will accept him and worship God, not him.
The Armenian Genocide, which I sympathize with, was done by the secular Young Turks AFTER they had weakened the Caliphate and later led a secular inquisition.
Please search for a personal relationship with God, follow Jesus, not Paul, before its too late!
oh, and Taqiyya...yeah, so anything I say to you, you'll say "that's taqiyya, you're just lying", which is again you confusing Shia and Sunni issues. But I just accuse people who say this as liars and that its part of their faith to lie -- and I don't believe their responses because that itself is a lie. Don't like it? I will gladly retract that claim, if you cease yours.
oh, and to any Christians reading this - know that I genuinely love you. This is actually why I like watching the 10 minute bible hour + am really fascinated with the Orthodox + read the Gospels from time to time
Well stated.
@@farhan00 God is a title. Also: The earliest written form of the Germanic word "god" comes from the 6th century Christian Codex Argenteus, which descends from the Old English guþ from the Proto-Germanic *Ȝuđan.
When you speak to your father, do you call him by his first name? Likewise when we speak to God our Father, we give him the utmost respect and refer to him by His title and relationship to us. Most pastors will occasionally refer to him in prayer as YWHW, Jehovah, and rarely Elohim, in prayer.
Our church has a mural of Noah's flood in the Sunday school hallway where one person is drowning and two others are on a rock watching the ark float away...... it glorious. We don't hide the truth from nobody!
Yeah, I think it's reasonable that all those 'My First Bible' books cut out parts like Phinehas' stabbing the Israelite and Midianite caught in the act, David collecting foreskins for a bride-price, the she-bears killing all those kids for insulting Elijah, etc. However, I think that part of maturing in reading the Bible is being able to read all those gory, violent parts.
I get so happy when I see a new TenMinuteBibleHour video in my newsfeed
God don't really love violence. But violence is an option. And sometimes our own stupidity is violence to others.
I love your work, Matt!
Very timely video Matt, thanks :)
Look at the book of Job. Let me paraphrase:
Satan: I bet I can make your man Job denounce you.
God: Sure. Give it a shot. You just can't kill him.
Satan: okay.
Job loses everything except his wife and some friends. They all tell him to denounce God and die already.
Job: Nope!
God: All that stuff happened just because. Job, you did good. Here! Have some more kids, more animals, more servents...and let me wipe off those pustules and yukkies.
Stuff happens. Sometimes it is God doing it and other times it's God letting it happen for a reason we may or may not be privy to. We, a couple years after the fact, see the whole picture of Job. Job suffered, but he didn't know why.
We see and experience suffering and have that grand spiritual/theological/philosophical question of "Why, God!? Why is [THIS] happening?!". And we may never know the answer.
the meaningg of the book of Job is in the sentence "we may never know the answer"
The book is a reflection/application of the book ecclesiastes talking about the level of absurdity of life
There is a missing option here. Understanding the ancient near eastern context of the OT. Matt sited the Amorites, if we don't understand how the ancient near east viewed the Amorites, in particular the Israelites who linked them to divine cosmic evil. We lose the original and correct context. Learning to see scripture thru the eyes of an ancient Israelite thru their worldview clarifies a lot of the perceived problematic topics.
Great video. You made some Impotant points that are worth pondering. I like the way you explore the issues in an open and thoughtful way. A lot of bodies that I see seem to be about blaiming someone about a greavance they have over some false religion practice. Yours was well played out I a balanced way that makes it easy to think over.
Hi, it's been a while since I've been on this account. I recently came out to my parents (in January) and since then have been targetting depression+anxiety that I've had for nearly two decades. I've started antidepressants today - my first time trying such a thing. I always liked to study religions (specifically the Abrahamic ones) and I look forward to actually being able to focus on this video XD
EDIT: scrolled down in the comments, saw a comment that is basically what stalled me from looking into religions again. I guess things didn't change much in the last few years.
What is it that you saw? If it was just one comment, I wouldn't dismiss the wonderful gift of religion due to a single comment. Each of us has a different walk... and each needs to be tolerant of our differences... (including you being tolerant of those who do not understand your differences).
@@DianaHerberg I don't know why I just saw this now, but if I remember correctly, it was calling all lgbt people p*dophiles and perverts and how we don't belong in a church
It was similar to what I heard in my hometown - although that was usually before a beating so
@@hello-jy9hf hello :) I'm glad you responded - it sounds like you had a bad experience as a young person. Please don't conclude that all religion is bad - when we do that (and yes, I did it for a long time) we miss out on so much. If I could go back, I would do my best to stay engaged with God's children in a more formal way.
@@DianaHerberg I try not to do it, it's just that a lotta churches around here try that "corrective therapy" thing or just blatantly go after you in a sermon
it's a small town with like 40 churches but after the first few being rude I kind of just gave up - and then the pandemic happened
some days you just feel too weak to even try and find a place
@@hello-jy9hf although my struggles have been different, I can relate. Stay prayerful and find a good praise service online. It can be work sometimes to see that there are so many things to praise God for, but once you start searching them out, other things begin to come together. I'm saying prayers for you, too.
The book of Judges was a pretty disturbing read the first time I went through it.
Some of those stories were pretty insane.
Like jephthah dude you really gonna lead with that? That's an oddly specific vow you just made there.
@@dimesonhiseyes9134 He set himself up for failure there
Kool Kid22 Someone in the comment section made the point that the area he was in would have had a lot of his animals there and he would have by all intents and purposes expected a animal to swing by.
@@micah_lee it depends on the time of year and that is a possibility. But it was also just as common to have an animal pen or a barn type structure connected to the house.
It depends on the wealth of the individual and if the house is in a largish city or on the frontier.
Dimes On His Eyes I think he made the promise because of the way his house was layed out, expecting the only thing to be there is some sort of animal.
Matt, good sir. I love the content and the way you explain things. Thank you for touching on topics that many of us believers don't like to deal with.
I'm a huge fan of fantasy literature. If you like A Song of Ice and Fire, please please please check out Dragonlance. Dragons of Autumn Twilight is the first.
He has to let the father of lies to show his side ,so we and all will LOVE HIM for LOVE NOT out of fear
I’ve always thought it would be cool to see you and the Bible Project crew interact/collaborate somehow. Maybe on the NDQ podcast. They’ve recently had a couple of podcasts on God’s anger that fits in well with this topic.
first time I read the book of Judges...boy was I unprepared.
I think you always touch nicely on topics like this. We constantly need to be reminded that there are messages being conveyed by the words that are worth discovering.
I think it’s simple. The Bible is realistic about human nature
The story in Judges 11 I think is much more likely that Jephthah meant to sacrifice whoever came out of his household to service before the Lord at the temple. If it had been an animal he would have made a burnt offering. This is why she goes to mourn the fact that she will never marry vs that she would die.
Similar to the language in Torah (Exodus 13, Numbers 8) about dedicating the first born of both men and animal to the Lord. Obviously they didn’t kill the first born son. But the first born animal they did.
In the Hebrew, the vav between “shall be the Lord’s” and “I will offer it up for a burnt offering” in Judges 11:31 can also be read as “or”.
I commented before I saw yours. You beet me to the punch 👍
A pretty good summary of how to deal with the violence in the Bible.
Hey Matt could you please do a video over the Trinity? I’ve seen several videos attempting to explain it to me, but it just doesn’t click. Your videos allow me to see things from another prospective. I would be very grateful for your help.
No ome understands it it was a compromise position to unite positions that can't be compromised. It is a contradiction that is ignored.
An excellent book dealing with this issue is titled:
Is God a moral monster? I don't think that we should be horrified by anything God does, we need to look at these issues recognizing Jesus exemplifies God's character.
Good video. I think there may be another reason for a lot of the violence in the Old Testament. I think you hinted at at, but I didn't hear you actually explain it. God wanted to protect the nation of Israel, so that he could implement his plan of salvation. If he was not harsh, Israel might never have survived to bring the Messiah into the world. Many times, throughout the Old Testament, it came very close to ending the line of Jesus, or Israel itself.
amazing videos lately brah. you are a cool dude brah. nice job brah
In a way we definitely live in a world where we passively consume ALOT violence through tv, movies, video games, sports as well. :(
Initiation of violence is evil.
Responding to violence is righteous.
Okay so I just finished your Acts series, and I’m busy with your Ephesians series. Do you have another series which I can start with?
I love how you approach scripture! Don’t ever stop :P
The TMBH podcast has been going over Matthew
Dimes On His Eyes Perfect! Thank you Will definitely have a look after I’m finished with Ephesians!
Great video but because of the thumbnail TH-cam started suggesting videos on the shepherd's sling. Needless to say I'm trying to explode pumpkins in my yard with paracord now.
I see this as a win.
C.S. Lewis addresses biblical violence quite eloquently, and one thing he mentions is, using Salem with trials as an example, if you really truly believed there were such people that really truly deserved ro die, and this really truly was the only way to deal with them, wouldn't you be part of the people seeking to destroy them? ..he doesn't say it in exactly those words, but in some extreme cases, it seems justice through violent actions can be justified, if you have an moral code based on absolutes, execution is not unwarranted. After all, we do still execute people. It seems like we attempt to do it in as "humane" a way possible, but death by any measure is some kind of violence. Death is an enemy to be defeated, according to 1 Cor 15
Matt, you may never see this as I am writing you in June 2023- hello, 2021 things are crazy here- 😝
Anyway, I purchased the tree of life version Bible, which is amazing and started from Genesis and I'm working my way through the Scriptures as they have them set up. Wow wow wow talk about violence, and all of the other negative words I can't say, or the tube will flag you 🏴☠️🚨‼️ and I am only in Exodus six!
I am finding your videos invaluable even though I've been a Christian for my gosh, half a century. 😮I believe I was 12 when on my own. I gave my life to the Lord, not even raised in the church, though I knew of Him, and had gone to a few Sunday school classes when I went to church with my grandma and maybe one vacation Bible school. But I got from my allowance money what was new at yhe time, The living Bible and the Holy Spirit drew me in 🤍🕊️🙏
You wouldn't have been born then, yet all of these years later I am still learning and growing from wonderful individuals like you. 🤍🙏.
God continue to bless you and keep you. God make his face to shine upon you both now and forever. Amen brother and I will add son. 😉😊😃. As is your mother, I am proud of you.
I once decided to read the Bible from cover to cover and just couldn't stomach all the horrors in it. I stopped somewhere in Exodus and left it at that.
I never understood why it was all in there, so I was curious about your take on it.
God is sovereign. He says: "
I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things." (Isaiah 45: 7). We don't know His will because we can't see the whole picture. But we know "
in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8: 28b).
So God is beyond good and evil.
If Louis C.K was leading a bible study, this would be exactly it. I love it.
Highly intelligent and at many points... funny. Would that be blasphemous? I think God has the original, and the best sense of humor.
Yes Matt. I'm 16 and doing the faith for real thing for the first time, and I have to say there are some messed up things. Like two of Jacob's sons killed an entire village after their circumcision because one guy raped their sister. And even the passover is quite violent. The entire firstborn population of a country dies in one night
@Cody Weber Yes I've already read Job. It was pretty good and brought up a lot good questions.
All I can say is it's gonna be a life long thing for you to be looking into and finding the answers to the questions you have. The more you look into it however, the more satisfying it becomes. Don't be afraid to look at things from different angles and see how other people see things. but most importantly, don't be afraid to come to your own conclusions and don't be afraid to not know something. if you keep an open mind you will find that the answers come naturally over time as long as you are open to them.
I'm 32 myself and I'm still learning new things but the process is satisfying. When I was 16 I was a very hateful little atheist but now I'm more convinced than ever that the God of the Bible is real. A huge part of it is thanks to the many people on youtube making videos like this one providing their take on things. I recommend a channel called Mike Winger if you want to put something in the background while you're playing a game or doing something you like. His videos are quite long but very informative.
Also, if you are into reading at all I recommend the works of C.S. Lewis to just about everyone looking for informative and thoughtful takes on Christianity. His book "Mere Christianity" is a great starting point. Even if you don't want to read the whole book is on youtube in audio form if you just want to listen to it like a podcast. it is quite long but covers a ton of ground!
Just know that if people tell you that your faith is baseless or false you have many resources out there that show that you don't have to go by blind faith alone. God left tons of evidence in this world and with the internet nowadays it's easier than ever to access it! It's my belief that the last thing God wants you to do go go by blind faith. Ask questions, Ask God questions, ask and you shall receive as it is written. One of the most frustrating things for me is when people say "Don't question the lord!" That's wrong! Just as long as you ask respectfully and not in an accusatory fashion. Like with the violence, it's okay to ask why did these things need to be. It's okay to not understand or even not like something God does but as long as you are faithful that it's all for the greater good you'll be fine. I mean what kind of God would ask you to believe and have faith and most importantly want fellowship with you if you're not allowed to ask him questions?
I can go on and on, I'm not much of a reader myself but if I don't stop myself I can write you a 30 page essay easily. So I'll just end with Don't just have faith in God's existence but also his character. When he says he wants all to be saved and desires non to perish he means it.
@@rabidguineapig Thanks for the encouragement. I'll definately check that guy out. Funnily enough I listen to a lot of Matt's videos while playing games or drawing, ect. And regarding Lewis, I read the Chronicles of Narnia but I haven't delved into any if his other works.
@@cosmicostrich3657 I know most people know Lewis for Narnia but I've only seen the movie maybe once. Actually, I just remembered, there's a channel called C.S. Lewis Doodles which is literally his books being read out loud while someone draws on black paper with gel pens and illustrates his points. I think that'd be good for you too!
Anyway I'm very glad to give you some encouragement. Any chance I get to plant seeds for the lord is good in my book!
You've been reading Reflections on the Psalms :P it's a great book!
Regarding your 2nd point - I don't think it's quite accurate, or at least it's just a small part of a larger picture. Books like Joshua and Judges describe events that reflect the late Bronze Age Collapse. The entire ancient Middle East was falling apart, multiple kingdoms and empires were being destroyed and new, small kingdoms were rising in their place. What exactly happened is unclear because we don't have good sources on that period. Transitional periods tend to be very violent and for Biblical history this is also considered a formative period for the People of Israel.
Was the drowning of babies and everyone else in the flood another formative period?
This video is really well edited. I really like the bumpers. Clean, simple, but memorable. The box is odd. Are you doing a color scheme to the video type cause, that would be cool.
You mentioned flannelgraphs!!!!!!😊👍❤️
I first learned about David killing Goliath when I was three. When I heard David threw a rock at him, I said "I hope Goliath is ok." When I first learned David chopped off his head, I was six years old. But I didn't see any blood until I was in Third Grade when my class was watching "The Greatest Adventures - Stories From the Bible." One of my classmates was disappointed it didn't show David chopping off Goliath's head.
Great video, as always, Matt.
Orange text on blue, probably not the best idea. Luckily, the spoken part of your content more than makes up for it :)
If only commenting here, during the video, would specify the clip in particular, that way I could communicate easier... Other than that, this is great content.
Violence is more disciplinary with a hidden you-leave-me-no-choice agenda, which will always be true, yet the times it's happened relative to today's events, the power of understanding and love for a life, selfish or not, should have already gained perspective. Eh, I'm still working on my half of the discussion.
Civilizations are so much more advanced and improved compared to back then, during the violent "Times of the Bible".
Similar to a sense of control, "love" would be more understanding than diplomatic, right? where patience resides and freedom starts with those you neighborize and "a person" or "a human" could actually feel it's ok to be one, without humane-judgement?
Help me out here, Matt.
A simple reply would be that it was written in a time long ago that was constantly plagued with war, raping, pillaging, plagues, famines, etc. Not written in lovely suburban America.
Too bad we still love violence and war in lovely suburban America
micah_lee I assure you, one look at ancient history, this ‘violence and war’ you say we experience in suburban America is paradise in comparison.
@@edgarcruz9471 I would say that history isn't clear cut. Some times are prosperous and some times are full of war and violence. Today, in suburban america, violence takes different forms. We have the benefit of looking at history, where we are living in suburban America and have a more totalistic view of what is happening, compared to when we look at history it is the more notable things that get remembered.
micah_lee I never said history is clear cut, nothing in this life, especially history is black and white. Has human depravity, violence and wickedness still exist in our modern society in different forms? Of course! I’m just saying it’s clear to see looking back in history, that we have made huge progress when it comes to human rights and such my friend.
Great clip!! :)
Hey man, I just found your channel and enjoy your perspective and as a Christian 27 year old married man who was in a church when a pastor gave himself away to cult beliefs and I left. I was wondering if you ever have time to hear some people out and what you would think about hearing another mans perspective. If you are in for it if I could add to your channel just by one back and forth I would like to know how to send you a video or long email hahah. God bless keep it up.
I always viewed the display of violence is a testimony of the consequences of decisions made by humans. When people say God could have prevented, I agree but always would think a Him making a world like a kid's cartoon, where actions have no real consequences. That would turn a gun into banana as soon as someone points it at another person and the story of Adam and Eve with the tree into a plot like Tom Jerry, with the scene always resetting.
Great video matt keep up the hard work :)
Thanks Matt!
@@MattWhitmanTMBH :) cheers dude
Hi Matt,
Just wanted to suggest a topic, i looked through your old videos and couldn't find one on this...
Is there any chance you can do a video on Luke14:26? we are struggling with understanding it. Many of the videos on the topic say that it is merely comparative, or that the wording in Greek didn't mean 'hate' like we understand it. Why would the translation choose such a strong wording if the original manuscripts indicated less? Otherwise if we are supposed to love our neighbour and our enemy, but hate your family and our own life? It doesn't sit right...
Thanks for all you do!
I agree with all of your reasons, where i don't understand the logic is the part where you say that because God owns the world and claims to be perfect that it's ok or explainable by God or because he's perfect.
If god was perfect then why would he need to take actions that even his broken terrible creations can see as being wrong? I can accept that God thinks it's useful for violence to be taken but i reject that it's a perfect being. Such a God doesn't get to claim the moral high ground in my opinion.
Saying that God needs to use violence seems to be a personification of God that forgets that it's supposed to be able to do anything that can be done. It's the same reason in my mind that Norse and Greek gods would behave so badly in their relationships.
Edit: the only reason i bring this up is because you often say that the way that's most helpful to read the bible is to read it and ask ourselves what it tells me about God. I think it's totally valid if the questions that arise from that challenge the fundamental nature that God is supposed to have. Where is the infinite love for those he slaughtered? Where is the omnipotence to take another action that would have the same result. Why does a being who knows everything feel the need to kill something they created and set into motion? These questions don't end with God being perfectly moral to me. They require us to limit Gods abilities to justify the morality or remove the perfect morality to account for the choices made.
Excellent!
I liked then end where you said we should not imitate the violence. Jesus set several things back to even; including monogamous marriage, and not harming others ("Thou knowest the commandments, Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou shalt hurt no man. Honor thy father and mother." - Mark 10:19)
"If ye love me, keep my commandments."
John 14:15
"And hereby we are sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." 1 John 2:3-4
"Here is the patience of Saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12
Irrelevant question, but: is that bison on your shirt French?
Really great video Matt! How I tend to look at it is in a giant tally of total souls saved. Under the old covenant only the Israelites had a fair chance of being saved from eternal damnation (which is terrifying!) but Israel needed to survive so that God's perfect plan executed in the new covenant and could redeem all the peoples of the world. Like you said, it's important to see the broken world as it is so that we can really appreciate a good king, but why did the new covenant take so long to happen? There's thousands of years of history where if you were born into the wrong culture, God might kill you without a second thought to indirectly or directly protect his chosen people. I feel like in the old testament there wasn't as much a possibility of people converting to Judaism so if God ended someone's (or an entire culture's) life early through violence it may have paved the way for the Jewish people to be numerous enough that they could spread the gospel in the new testament. It's a bit like those philosophy questions, do you direct the out-of-control trolley at the one person to save 10? Or does actively steering towards the one make you complicit in their death as opposed to if you had done nothing, 10 would have died but arguably not by your hand. I think God respects our free will and works within the confines that we lay down for him. He's still looking for the best outcome, but to have free will there must also be consequences that he doesn't protect us from.
Well put
exactly what I thought and often wondered why. What's weird is wouldn't God be breaking one of his own commandments?
Some of God's violence is "wages of sin is death". Where death puts a limit on sin.
Correct. Death is the loss of life. Not being immortalized to sin forever.
Christ layed down His life, centrally, as a substitute.