then why does the supposed god of the old testament, who is reflected in Jesus; repeatedly in a jealous rage; murder, harden, rape, and kill men, women and children.
He never does murder or rape. He ordered the deaths of people because it is his prerogative. Same thing with hardening. He hardens who he will harden and has mercy upon who he will have mercy.
And Jesus DID cause evil to occur.
Matthew 13:10-17
And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not GIVEN.
For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
From Christ's words I can see that it was Christ's choice to either heal them or not. And he chose not. And for whatever reason you say, Christ had the power to heal who he wanted to heal, but chose NOT, because to them it was NOT GIVEN in order for the scripture to be fulfilled. It was given to them to kill him and fulfill the scriptures which determined his death.
Hi!
Oh, I think I see what yer meanin' tuh say ...
Ummmm, Jesus doesn't rape an' murder, He jus' kills an' steals.
Somehow, I jus' can't feel too comfortable with that equation either.
Oh, an' 'bout yer accusation: "And Jesus DID cause evil to occur".
You apparently base this on the lame assumption that it is
Jesus Who "takes away even that he hath"; regardless of the fact that the Bible clearly states that it is the
evil one who is pointedly described as the thief and murderer.
An' let's take a peek at that additional attribute you carelessly assigned to Jesus: the 'hardening of a person's heart'.
I'm sure you're aware of the biblical story of the Pharaoh and the matter of his heart being 'hardened'.
I can only suppose you would say this too was somehow an act of God.
This Pharaoh, however, had the inclination of heart of the evil one.
He (the Pharaoh) hardened his heart, despite the many signs and wonders which confirmed Moses' demand to let the people go. Then the Lord God even used the enemy's own plans to carry out His counsel. We can clearly see that the Lord made Leviathan to be his plaything, using his devices to bring forth good, (Ps 104:26). The same thing can be seen when in its hatred the Jewish people demanded Jesus' crucifixion. Their disobedience meant mercy for the world.
Pharaoh, too, could have decided to help the chosen people. Then Moses would have been able to bless him, just as Jacob blessed one of his predecessors. The pharaoh of Joseph showed clear insight into the character of the man "in whom was the Spirit of God", (Gen 41:38). He offered Jacob's family land in the best part of the country.
The pharaoh of the oppression also knew the will of God for the people of Israel. He knew he was dealing with a God much stronger and greater than his own gods. God had revealed Himself to him in impressive ways taking away from him all possibility of excuse. But pharaoh refused to listen, and then the powers of darkness revealed themselves in him: his heart was hardened.
God could have extinguished the pharaoh and his people in a moment, as it says: 'For by now I could have put forth my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth; but for this purpose I have let you live, to show my power, so that my name may be declared throughout all the earth' (Ex 9:15,16). God allowed him to continue, so that the power of the evil spirits would be manifested in him to the highest possible extent. Then God's mercy in the salvation of his people would also shine forth most radiantly.
When pharaoh refused to oblige God's people, God abandoned him, in the same way as He gave up the Gentiles in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves (1:24).
The powers of the unseen world (in strictly Old Testament terms: God) hardened pharaoh's heart: it became unrelenting, rigid, heavy and hard; it was condemned to go its own way. In a similar way Psalm 81 mentions the fate of the stubborn and complaining people of Israel: 'Israel would have none of me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels' (verses 12,13).
The 'hardening' you speak of can be compared to the rocky soil of that popular parable. The rocky soil is an image of a person who in his heart are dark rocks, which are symbols of the hardness and pressure of the enemy influencing him. He has no power to do the things he wants and is pressed to do those he hates. In certain parts of his life he is a prisoner, overpowered by the darkness.
Revelation speaks about the days of bitterness and envy. Many harden their hearts, as the people of Israel once did at Massah and Meribah in the desert. So, we are not surprised that in our days the signs of the times already show the effects of the star Wormwood, Rev 8:10-11.
Revelation 16:8-9 speaks about a people who do not repent or have a contrite heart, as once the king of Nineveh and his people had. There is no fasting, no repentance, no crying out to God; they have no insight into the true nature of their situation. They harden their hearts as Pharaoh did. They blaspheme and curse God: "They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry; and when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse their king and their God, and turn their faces upward; and they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be thrust into thick darkness" (Isaiah 8:21-22).
Hopefully this helps you understand things a bit better than what you have testified to here.
