GOD OF THE OT / GOD OF THE NT.......IS IT THE SAME GOD?

[Carry_Your_Name]

Yes. Nice post.
But it's not telling me anything....

Anything that's informative regarding the OP I've provided, God was targeting the giants, the monsters, it was as righteous as bombing the Nazis and the Japs down to the ground in WWII, you may find it disturbing, but that was necessary, any sympathy to them is cruelty to humanity. "He who sheds the blood of man, by man his blood must be shed, for in the image of God He made man." Any mention of sexuality and angels is but a red herring.

 

[Grailhunter]

Anything that's informative regarding the OP I've provided, God was targeting the giants, the monsters, it was as righteous as bombing the Nazis and the Japs down to the ground in WWII, you may find it disturbing, but that was necessary, any sympathy to them is cruelty to humanity. "He who sheds the blood of man, by man his blood must be shed, for in the image of God He made man." Any mention of sexuality and angels is but a red herring.

Well you are wrong about everything you said there and you have not proven anything with scriptures that the sons of God were Angels and that Angels have sex or that the offspring of the sons of God were giants or evil. So there is nothing else to say in this discussion....Same as it was for thousands of years. So end of discussion. That does not mean I will not talk to you about another topic but this one is done. If you continue you are only going to get LOL's from me.

 

[Carry_Your_Name]

Well you are wrong about everything you said there and you have not proven anything with scriptures that the sons of God were Angels and that Angels have sex or that the offspring of the sons of God were giants or evil. So there is nothing else to say in this discussion....Same as it was for thousands of years. So end of discussion. That does not mean I will not talk to you about another topic but this one is done. If you continue you are only going to get LOL's from me.

I have, repeatedly. Feel free to disagree, that's nothing but your opinion. Bye and good riddance.

 

[eddif]

Yes. Nice post.
But it's not telling me anything....

Galatians. 4:22 kjv
22. For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

23. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
24. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
25. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children
26. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

When we read the OT with our carnal mind we read about wives and children.


When we read with new heart and mind of Christ the subject gets much broader.

God is the same, but we (mankind) are the ones being changed.

The law written on a stony heart is different than the law written on a new heart of flesh. God knew all the time, but mankind awaited Pentecost and still awaits the last trump to totally understand.

Making us in his image is not spiritua (till it is explained). The cerebellum is physical, but the tree planted on either side of the spinal fluid river relates to a new Jerusalem.

Mississippi rednneck
eddif

 

[GodsGrace]

Anything that's informative regarding the OP I've provided, God was targeting the giants, the monsters, it was as righteous as bombing the Nazis and the Japs down to the ground in WWII, you may find it disturbing, but that was necessary, any sympathy to them is cruelty to humanity. "He who sheds the blood of man, by man his blood must be shed, for in the image of God He made man." Any mention of sexuality and angels is but a red herring.

OK
I understand your point.
I respect your belief on this but I'll make this comment...

First, I didn't bring up the angels. Maybe I'm wrong in not moderating a thread more tightly.
Sometimes a discussion goes a little sideways but if it gets back on topic it's just a normal result of conversing to me....

As to the Nazi's in WWll,,,,,
Did man bomb them to the ground or God?

Read the verse you posted again....
About the shedding of blood.

It seems to me to be pretty much the same situation. Do you agree?

Now show me where our cultural or United teaching states that God killed the Nazis....
Or do we collectively learn/know that the Americans saved Europe?

 

[Riven]

PART II

Here's what choosing the enemy is:

There are only two choices to be made. No third choice. No inbetween choices.
A person is either serving God or they're serving satan.


What does it mean to serve satan? It simply means that you wish not to serve God, your creator.
Serving God means you acknowledge that He exists and you wish to live your life in a manner by which He would ber pleased.

I like to leave the bible out of this.
Christians are supposed to be worshipping God, not the bible.

Fair enough.

Right. And all this can be explained away in some way or other.
OR, persons were just seeing God as a human and attributing to Him those attributes.
I do believe God is a jealous God,,,,
but fits of rage?
regret?

God must have known He would regret something....
So then why cause it to come into being?

Sometimes I think we think too humanly and are not willing to acknowledge
a powerful, mighty God.

The god of the bible should not share any human traits, in my opinion. He souls be, for all intents and purposes, utterly prefect and completely alien to us.

Right.
God cannot go against His nature.
If He did, how could we ever trust Him again?

How could you trust him to begin with? How do you know this existence isn't some kind of sadistic trick?

Yes. It's the God they needed at the time....but He DID reveal Himself to the Hebrews otherwise we could ditch our bibles and forget about everything.
The bible is an inspired book....
Inspired by God.

What's stopping you from ditching your bible and forgetting about everything?

Sure.
Except those gods are gone,,,
and the Judeo-Christian God is here to stay.
A truth does not fade away.

Perhaps. Although there is always the possibility that Yahweh will join the other gods at some point in the future. Future generations may look upon him as we look upon the Greek gods today.

How could God be hidden if Jesus said He was God and He lived among us as a human would live among ants to make them understand now to avoid falling into a ditch and dying.

Because Jesus was a man. He could have been God incarnate, but there's no way to prove it. For now, we are stuck with faith because God the spirit, remains hidden.

 

[Carry_Your_Name]

OK
I understand your point.
I respect your belief on this but I'll make this comment...

First, I didn't bring up the angels. Maybe I'm wrong in not moderating a thread more tightly.
Sometimes a discussion goes a little sideways but if it gets back on topic it's just a normal result of conversing to me....

As to the Nazi's in WWll,,,,,
Did man bomb them to the ground or God?

Read the verse you posted again....
About the shedding of blood.

It seems to me to be pretty much the same situation. Do you agree?

Now show me where our cultural or United teaching states that God killed the Nazis....
Or do we collectively learn/know that the Americans saved Europe?

Did God drop the bombs? Or man? This is not speaking in a figurative sense, it's a historical fact, a glorious chapter in American history, go google Master of the Air miniseries on Apple TV and 100th flying fortress Bomb Group and you'll know what I'm talking about. From a divine perspective, these bombings were God's divine judgement upon evildoers, they were God's vengeance for blood of the innocent, the six million Jewish people.

Consider it a fulfillment of the controversial Romans 13:1-4 passage, which teaches obedience to authority - of any level, from the president down to the janitor. Governing authorities are ordained by God for one job - protect the good and punish the evil. People often ask, what if the governing authorities themselves are evil? That's where God's check and balances comes in - He'll use other governing authorities to punish the evil governing authorities, in the same way He used Babylon to punish Judah and Assyria Ephraim. It just raised the stake to an international level. I'm afraid that America is under a similar divine judgement, for this illegitimate administration has been punishing the good and protecting the evil.

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. (Rom. 13:1-4)

 

[Runningman]

Common question.
Different answers.
Wm Lane Craig has a new one that is rather disturbing.

Persons are rather disturbed that God ordered all men, women and CHILDREN, to be killed

Numbers 31:

​

New Living Translation Par ▾ Conquest of the Midianites 1Then the LORD said to Moses, 2“On behalf of the people of Israel, take revenge on the Midianites for leading them into idolatry. After that, you will die and join your ancestors.” 3So Moses said to the people, “Choose some men, and arm them to fight the LORD’s war of revenge against Midian. 4From each tribe of Israel, send 1,000 men into battle.” 5So they chose 1,000 men from each tribe of Israel, a total of 12,000 men armed for battle. 6Then Moses sent them out, 1,000 men from each tribe, and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest led them into battle. They carried along the holy objects of the sanctuary and the trumpets for sounding the charge. 7They attacked Midian as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed all the men. 8All five of the Midianite kings—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—died in the battle. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. 9Then the Israelite army captured the Midianite women and children and seized their cattle and flocks and all their wealth as plunder. 10They burned all the towns and villages where the Midianites had lived. 11After they had gathered the plunder and captives, both people and animals, 12they brought them all to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the whole community of Israel, which was camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho. 13Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp. 14But Moses was furious with all the generals and captainsa who had returned from the battle. 15“Why have you let all the women live?” he demanded. 16“These are the very ones who followed Balaam’s advice and caused the people of Israel to rebel against the LORD at Mount Peor. They are the ones who caused the plague to strike the LORD’s people. 17So kill all the boys and all the women who have had intercourse with a man. 18Only the young girls who are virgins may live; you may keep them for yourselves. 19And all of you who have killed anyone or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp for seven days. You must purify yourselves and your captives on the third and seventh days. 20Purify all your clothing, too, and everything made of leather, goat hair, or wood.”

Craig stated it's OK because God created them and has the authority to kill them....
The children will be better off in heaven...

I believe we must all come to terms with the Old Testament God.
Although the attributes are the same, God, in the OT, does seem to compromise His nature by ordering killings.

How did you come to terms with this problem?


Riven

I don't think God values human life the same way humans do. We have a built-in drive to self-preserve our species and create a world that is most easy, convenient, and comfortable for us. But how does the Bible continually refer to us? Dust, a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes, temporary, transient, mortal, fallen, etc. We most likely vastly overestimate our own worth in God's eyes as evidenced by how things actually are compared to what we have been told to believe about God's love. So while the Bible says God ordered the killing of men, women, and children to be killed, we can be honest about this and say it seems to suggest that isn't really a problem from God's perspective even if to us it seems difficult to accept.

We should reconcile God with reality as Romans 1:20 says. We can observe creation to get an idea of who God is and what God is like. The world has many natural disasters and various different kinds of catastrophes that can happen to anyone whether they be good or bad. Sometimes the bad guy wins and the story doesn't have a satisfying happy ending, too, when the bad guy prospers, and even flourishes while the righteous perish in droves... for generations.

Why? Because God isn't directly involved and manipulating things as much as we may want to believe He is. I sometimes hear people reassure themselves that God is in control and that is heartwarming and gives me courage, but I think it could be wrong as well. I do believe God is in control as far as having set in place the physics that automatically make things happen the way they are supposed to. He can directly intervene, but we have no guarantee for that or a good experience in this existence.

God has provided us the physical and spiritual things we need and wishes the best for us, but isn't going to directly intervene in the way many people seem to expect even if we sometimes suffer and struggle in the process. That's just my two cents.

 

[eddif]

Bombs away (lateral/parallel thinking) LOL
Genesis 19:24 kjv
24. Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
25.And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

Mississippi redneck
eddif

 

[eddif]

.Romans11:22 kjv
22. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

Somewhere the Lamb’s book of life speaks.

Mississippi redneck
eddif

 

[Free]

GOD KILLED/MUDERED some people.
FOR WHATEVER REASON.

Is God allowed to break HIS OWN RULES?
Is God allowed to over-step HIS VERY OWN NATURE?

This gets to the heart of the matter. What is God's nature?

 

[Alfred Persson]

It's something we would expect from an ancient pagan war god, but not Jesus of Nazareth. The stark contrast between the two is hard to overlook.

Only those who had intercourse with satanism died, not the virgins:

11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.
12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.
13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.
15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, "Come and gather together for the supper of the great God,
18 "that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great." (Rev. 19:11-18 NKJ)

Yahweh the Son has not changed, He will execute God's judgement on Satanism wherever, and whenever He chooses.

Balaam the prophet was also slain.

14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints,
15 "to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." (Jude 1:14-15 NKJ)

 

[Grailhunter]

Nobody survived the flood, except those on the ark.
It is written..."Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water." (1 Peter 3:20)

Some things are difficult to reconcile. The giants were on earth in those days which means they were there before the event of the sons of God and after and then all through the Old Testament. Did they survive the flood? If not where did the come from? The scriptures do not say that the offspring of the sons of God were giants.

 

[Hopeful 2]

Some things are difficult to reconcile. The giants were on earth in those days...

Whish days do you refer to ?

...which means they were there before the event of the sons of God and after and then all through the Old Testament.

What "event of the sons of God" do you refer to ?

Did they survive the flood?
If not where did the come from?

Only eight folks did, so those esteemed as giants thereafter were all born of survivors of the flood and their descendants.

The scriptures do not say that the offspring of the sons of God were giants.

Gen 6:4 says..."There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them..."
This seems to refer to more than just the times about which Gen 6 was written.

 

[Grailhunter]

Whish days do you refer to ?

Genesis
6 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

What "event of the sons of God" do you refer to ?

See above

Only eight folks did, so those esteemed as giants thereafter were all born of survivors of the flood and their descendants.

Find the scripture for this.

Whish days do you refer to ?

What "event of the sons of God" do you refer to ?

Only eight folks did, so those esteemed as giants thereafter were all born of survivors of the flood and their descendants.

Gen 6:4 says..."There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them..."
This seems to refer to more than just the times about which Gen 6 was written.

They were there before and after.....There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that....notice the words and also after that...... There were giant in the earth in those days.....they were already there.....and also after that.

 

[Hopeful 2]

Genesis
6 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

I have heard the interpretation that "giants" were Nephilim, but that word isn't in the bible.
And I don't believe angels of any sort will have sex with women.

See above
Find the scripture for this.

1 Peter 3:20 ..."Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."

They were there before and after.....There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that....notice the words and also after that...... There were giant in the earth in those days.....they were already there.....and also after that.

I am not as enthralled by the word "giant" as you seem to be.
Do you think some of those playing pro foot ball are giants ?
Compared to me, they are !

 

[Grailhunter]

I have heard the interpretation that "giants" were Nephilim, but that word isn't in the bible.
And I don't believe angels of any sort will have sex with women.

Nephilim and later the Rephaim and Anakim
Nephilim Lexicon
Nephilim: "giants," name of two peoples, one before the flood and one after the flood
Original Word: נְפִיל
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: Nephilim
Phonetic Spelling: (nef-eel')
Definition: "giants", name of two peoples, one before the flood and one after the flood

Jewish Virtual Library
נְפִילִים), a race of giants said to have dwelt in pre-Israelite Canaan ...

Rephaim
Wikipedia
In the Hebrew Bible, as well as non-Jewish ancient texts from the region, the Northwest Semitic term Rephaite or Repha'im (cf. the plural word in Hebrew: רְפָאִים, romanized: rəfāʾīm (Rephaim); Phoenician: refers either to a people of greater-than-average height and stature in Deuteronomy 2:10-11,

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
רָפָא râphâʼ, raw-faw'; or רָפָה râphâh; from H7495 in the sense of invigorating; a giant:—giant, Rapha, Rephaim(-s).

Definition of Rephaim Merriam-Webster
: ancient giants reported in the Old Testament to have flourished in Canaan and its vicinity prior to the Hebrews Rephaites are also mentioned at Genesis 15:20; Deuteronomy 2:10–21, 3:11; the Book of Joshua (Joshua 12:4, 13:12, 15:8, 17:15, 18:16); the Books of Samuel (2 Samuel 5:18–22, 23:13); and the Books of Chronicles (1 Chronicles 11:15, 14:9 and 20:4).

Anakim
: aboriginal giants reported in the Old Testament to have inhabited southern Palestine before the Hebrews entered the land and virtually annihilated them.
Who were the Anakim in the Bible?
Anakim (Hebrew: עֲנָקִים 'Ǎnāqīm) are mentioned in the Bible as a race of giants, descended from Anak, According to the Old Testament, the Anakim lived in the southern part of the land of Canaan, near Hebron.
Their formidable appearance, as described by the Twelve Spies sent to search the land, filled the Israelites with terror. The Israelites seem to have identified them with the Nephilim, the giants (Genesis 6:4, Numbers 13:33) 13:33 “There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

Joshua finally expelled them from the land, except for some who found a refuge in the Philistine cities of Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod (Joshua 11:22), thus the Philistine giants (Goliath) whom David encountered (2nd Samuel 21:15-22) were descendants of the Anakim.[1]

1 Peter 3:20 ..."Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."

I know the scriptures I am just saying where are scriptures that say where the giants came from after the flood?

And you are right....Angels do not have sex so no offspring.

I have heard the interpretation that "giants" were Nephilim, but that word isn't in the bible.
And I don't believe angels of any sort will have sex with women.

1 Peter 3:20 ..."Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."

I am not as enthralled by the word "giant" as you seem to be.
Do you think some of those playing pro foot ball are giants ?
Compared to me, they are !

Means nothing to me.....Everybody seems to be bringing it up.

 

[GodsGrace]

This gets to the heart of the matter. What is God's nature?

The bible teaches me that God is
LOVING
MERCIFUL
JUST

As the God of the OT is portrayed IN SOME OF THE STORIES, I have to say that it's not the God I know.
Now, God can be however He wants to be - but if there's a conflict then we have to come to terms with it.

I just hear too many explanations that make no sense to me and I feel like we Christians have God locked away in some box of our making - but maybe there are other explanations?

A member brought up the Nazis and how they were exterminated.
But man exterminated them....I never learned that God did.

God works through man....how could we possibly know when it's man doing the killing and when it's God demanding the killing?

Theologians supposedly know the difference. There are laws in the OT that are from God and some that are from Moses. Jesus corrected one law of Moses that come to mind .... How could Jesus CORRECT something God demanded? Perhaps it wasn't God making the demand?

Just some food for thought...

 

[Alfred Persson]

The bible teaches me that God is
LOVING
MERCIFUL
JUST

As the God of the OT is portrayed IN SOME OF THE STORIES, I have to say that it's not the God I know.
Now, God can be however He wants to be - but if there's a conflict then we have to come to terms with it.

I just hear too many explanations that make no sense to me and I feel like we Christians have God locked away in some box of our making - but maybe there are other explanations?

A member brought up the Nazis and how they were exterminated.
But man exterminated them....I never learned that God did.

God works through man....how could we possibly know when it's man doing the killing and when it's God demanding the killing?

Theologians supposedly know the difference. There are laws in the OT that are from God and some that are from Moses. Jesus corrected one law of Moses that come to mind .... How could Jesus CORRECT something God demanded? Perhaps it wasn't God making the demand?

Just some food for thought...

Nothing about God's acts offends me. Especially about the Midianites, who once were servants of God but turned to Satanism. The virgins who didn't tempt Israel to serve the devil were allowed to live:


Abraham had more sons than just Isaac (by Sarah) and Ishmael (by Hagar). He also had six sons by Keturah, his wife after the death of Sarah: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah (Genesis 25:2). The Midianites were the descendants of Midian and therefore children of Abraham. They settled in “the land of the east” (Genesis 25:6). Most scholars believe the land of Midian was officially on both sides of the Gulf of Aqaba, although the Midianites showed nomadic tendencies later in their history (see Habakkuk 3:7, ESV).

When Moses fled the wrath of Pharaoh, he traveled to Midian (Exodus 2:15). There, Moses met and married his wife, Zipporah, and served his father-in-law, Jethro, as a shepherd for forty years. The fact that Jethro was “a priest of Midian” (Exodus 2:16) indicates that the Midianites, at least during Moses’ time, still retained the knowledge of the God of their father Abraham (cf. Jethro’s words and actions in Exodus 18). At the end of Moses’ time in Midian, God appeared to Moses—still in Midian—and commissioned him to lead the Israelites out of slavery (Exodus 3—4).

As the children of Israel traveled through the wilderness, they employed the services of a guide familiar with the desert—Moses’ Midianite brother-in-law, Hobab (Numbers 10:29). However, the relations between the Israelites and the Midianites began to sour when the Midianites joined forces with the Moabites in order to hire Balaam to curse Israel (Numbers 22). Later, when Israel fell into idolatry and sexual sin with the Moabite women (Numbers 25), we find that a prominent Midianite woman was also involved (Numbers 25:6). The Lord then told Moses to wage war against the Midianites: “Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them. They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incident involving their sister Kozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader” (Numbers 25:17–19). The Israelites did eventually attack the Midianites, meting out divine retribution against their enemies (Numbers 31). Five kings of the Midianites were killed, as was Balaam (Numbers 31:8). This battle was one of the last things Moses accomplished as leader of the Israelites.

Who were the Midianites? | GotQuestions.org

Who were the Midianites? What was the origin of the Midianites? Where did the Midianites live in relation to Israel?

www.gotquestions.org

 

[GodsGrace]

Nothing about God's acts offends me. Especially about the Midianites, who once were servants of God but turned to Satanism. The virgins who didn't tempt Israel to serve the devil were allowed to live:


Abraham had more sons than just Isaac (by Sarah) and Ishmael (by Hagar). He also had six sons by Keturah, his wife after the death of Sarah: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah (Genesis 25:2). The Midianites were the descendants of Midian and therefore children of Abraham. They settled in “the land of the east” (Genesis 25:6). Most scholars believe the land of Midian was officially on both sides of the Gulf of Aqaba, although the Midianites showed nomadic tendencies later in their history (see Habakkuk 3:7, ESV).

When Moses fled the wrath of Pharaoh, he traveled to Midian (Exodus 2:15). There, Moses met and married his wife, Zipporah, and served his father-in-law, Jethro, as a shepherd for forty years. The fact that Jethro was “a priest of Midian” (Exodus 2:16) indicates that the Midianites, at least during Moses’ time, still retained the knowledge of the God of their father Abraham (cf. Jethro’s words and actions in Exodus 18). At the end of Moses’ time in Midian, God appeared to Moses—still in Midian—and commissioned him to lead the Israelites out of slavery (Exodus 3—4).

As the children of Israel traveled through the wilderness, they employed the services of a guide familiar with the desert—Moses’ Midianite brother-in-law, Hobab (Numbers 10:29). However, the relations between the Israelites and the Midianites began to sour when the Midianites joined forces with the Moabites in order to hire Balaam to curse Israel (Numbers 22). Later, when Israel fell into idolatry and sexual sin with the Moabite women (Numbers 25), we find that a prominent Midianite woman was also involved (Numbers 25:6). The Lord then told Moses to wage war against the Midianites: “Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them. They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incident involving their sister Kozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader” (Numbers 25:17–19). The Israelites did eventually attack the Midianites, meting out divine retribution against their enemies (Numbers 31). Five kings of the Midianites were killed, as was Balaam (Numbers 31:8). This battle was one of the last things Moses accomplished as leader of the Israelites.

Who were the Midianites? | GotQuestions.org

Who were the Midianites? What was the origin of the Midianites? Where did the Midianites live in relation to Israel?

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