At the end of His public ministry on earth, after He had risen from the dead, Jesus met with His disciples and gave them the key to the entire Bible. Jesus said that everything written for the Messiah by the prophets, was about Him. All that He had been doing—everything He had said and done—was scripted by God, to fulfill the prophecies written for the Messiah.
“Then Jesus said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ~Luke 24:44
During the final week of Jesus’ life on earth He instructed His disciples to go to a nearby town and there they would find the foal of a donkey. They were to untie him and bring the young animal to Jesus. On Palm Sunday, before He would be crucified the following week, Jesus rode that donkey into Jerusalem, and the people proclaimed Him the Messiah.
“As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. “Go into the village over there,” he said. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.” This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said, “Tell the people of Jerusalem, ‘Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey—riding on a donkey’s colt.’” ~Matthew 21:1-5
The testimony of the men who were there and saw this event, said that at the time this all happened, they didn’t understand that Jesus had been fulfilling the prophecies written for the Messiah. It was not until after Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead, that they remembered that Zechariah the prophet had written this prophecy for the Messiah, and Jesus had precisely fulfilled it on the day the Passover Lamb would be inspected for defects on the tenth day of the first month, before being killed on the fourteenth day of the month.
“His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him.” ~John 12:16
Zechariah’s Prophecy, Written For The Messiah, About 500 Years Before Jesus Arrived
“Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—riding on a donkey’s colt.” ~Zechariah 9:9
Jesus said that everything He had done while on earth in the last three and one-half years of His life, was for the purpose of fulfilling what was written for the Messiah in “Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms.”
There are 46 Messianic Prophecies written by Moses in the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch. Atheist scholars say that Moses didn’t write these books, Jesus said Moses did write these prophecies for Him.
There are 116 Messianic Prophecies in the Psalms. These are some of the most vivid and detailed prophecies from the Old Testament, describing the Messiah in virtually every part of His life, death, and resurrection.
There are 238 Messianic Prophecies in the Prophets of the Old Testament. These men wrote such specific details about what the Messiah would say and do, that it is unmistakable that Jesus is the only man in all of history who has precisely fulfilled all of that the prophets wrote.
The Entire Purpose of the Bible is to Reveal Jesus as the Messiah, Through the Prophecies Written for Him in the Old Testament, Fulfilled in the New Testament
You can find all 400 of these Messianic Prophecies in three of my books:
“The Prophecies of the Messiah,” “The Messianic Prophecy Bible,” “These Things Were Written.”
Categories: He Is Risen, Messianic Prophecies, Messianic Prophecy Bible, Old Testament Apologetics, Palm Sunday, Prophecy, Robert Clifton Robinson, The Crucifixion of Jesus, The Historical Jesus, The Suffering of Jesus, The Trials of Jesus, These Things Were Written
Robert Clifton Robinson 
That was quite a gracious response to Ray. I hope he sees God’s grace exercised in the time you put into your reply, and that he responds to God’s generosity.
I think the part most people have trouble with is killing the babies which is somewhat ironic given our culture of abortion for birth control. I was looking forward to how you would handle that objection. Your God is just and punishes evil doesn’t directly address innocents. Even if we are all under the death sentence regardless of age, I think that’s the place where even many believers recoil. I personally don’t have a problem with it. Jesus says for some it would be better to be cast into the sea with a millstone, and surely children born out of generations of brutality would likely grow to be part of those people Jesus spoke of. My issue is the carrying out of the instructions. To actually slaughter children… That would be more than horrible even if you framed it as mercy killings, which ironically is one of the arguments of the pro death abortion enthusiasts. We have the example of Abraham and Isaac which was a more horrible task, but then they were spared as God provided. Still, it must have been traumatic for both.
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On second thought, while it must have been traumatic for both Abraham and Isaac, when God brings people through trauma, it is a foundation for building our faith in Him. Still, killing babies would be a gruesome task and I don’t know how that would not mark a man… I guess abortionists go about enjoying their lives with blood on their hands, but I would be haunted.
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Hy,
So, that would mean that Jesus accepted everything that was written in the OT.
So he confirms all the commandments to murder others, including children.
Thanks for that confirmation.
Ray.
PS: I expect that you will not make my post public as it does not fit you agenda.
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Ray,
Your error is that you don’t understand who Jesus is. Before He came to earth and died for our sins, He existed forever as God. Would you remove from God, His right to be the judge of the whole universe, simply because you object to His judgement?
What you are reading in the Old Testament is not murder, it is the judgement of a Holy and Righteous God who has no tolerance for evil and sin.
*At the Flood
*The Amalekites
*The men of Sodom
*This present world
Jesus is the very embodiment of Love, but He is also Just. He said: “all souls are mine; the soul who sins will die.” The whole world was under the condemnation of God for their sins, and headed for judgment. Jesus came to earth to rescue us, so that we would not experience judgment for our sins and a eternal death. Though Jesus was God and judge, He chose to die for us, to offer us an escape from the future judgment for sins.
Jesus, as God, loved us so much that He was willing to leave heaven, give up His rights as God, allow evil men to torture and murder Him, so that He could die for our sins and take the punishment we deserve.
“Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” ~Philippians 2:6-8
What you allege as murder, is the judgment of God against sin. It is His exclusive right to judge sin and punish those who disobey His righteous laws, that allow good people to live their lives in peace, safety, and prosper.
The Judgement of the Flood:
God warned the people of earth that they should cease their terrible sins because judgement was coming. They ignored Him, laughed at His warning, and did not repent. During the 100 years that Noah built the Ark, Noah warned the people to turn from their sins and God would spare them judgment. They refused. God brought judgment to those who did not heed His warning, and they all died due to their unwillingness to cease their sins. This is not murder, it is the judgment of God.
The Judgment of the Amalekites:
Often we hear from atheists how God is unrighteous in that His Omnipotence doesn’t move Him to stop evil and suffering. A moment later atheists accuse God of destroying one of the most vicious and evil people ever to inhabit the earth, the Canaanites.
In Genesis 15, God informs Abraham that He will destroy the Amorites, but not until their iniquity is complete. He will give them adequate time to repent.
But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.
This verse was given to Abraham at about 1926 B.C.
God orders the total destruction of the Amalekites, in 1 Samuel Chapter 15, by King Saul.
This order came about 1028 B.C.
(The Lord speaking to Saul) Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.
God told us in advance of His actions what He was planning, through the prophetic word. The intent and purpose of this prophecy is to demonstrate the transcendent and extraterrestrial origin of the Bible. We understand who God is by what He has written and how He fulfilled every promise of His word.
And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Many people focus on God’s order of annihilation against the Amalekites while missing a far greater point: God spoke these words over 900 years before they were fulfilled. No matter how great the distance is from the prophecy that is given, God will fulfill entirely everything He has said.
…I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
Once we understand God’s justification in carrying out this judgment, we can move on to understand the significance of this event from a prophetic point of view.
God’s Judgment Is Always Preceded By A Long Interval Of Time
Before the Lord would order the destruction of the Amalekites, He would provide their nation with an extended period of time in which they might change their minds and come to Him for salvation. Before it is too late for each one of us, God allows an entire lifetime in order that we might decide to obey Him and receive His salvation. The Lord is always very patient, kind, and long-suffering towards us. Although each one of the Amalekites would face their own separate judgment at the conclusion of their life, the Lord would allow nearly 900 years before His judgment would fall on the entire nation.
What we find in the example of the Amalekites is that God is not angry and spiteful, instead He is extraordinarily kind and patient. Although the Lord warned these nations to cease their evil, He relented from destroying them for a very long time. The Lord always gives us as much time as possible, with the hope that we will see how much He loves us and that His ways are far better than those we have chosen for ourselves.
The Dual Nature Of God
In the Old Testament, we see two important elements of God’s nature that is reflected in His Love, as well as His absolute desire for justice. Although God loves human being so much that He was willing to give His only Son to die for us; He will not allow those who continue in their wrongful actions to remain—without judgment, forever.
The New Testament is a wonderful commentary on the patience of God that has been displayed for all of us to see. We observe both the love of God and the justice of God; demonstrated by His allowance of Jesus to die for the sins of the world.
1 John 4:9-10 In this the love of God was demonstrated for us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. This is love, not that we loved God first, but that He first loved us and sent His Son to be the payment for our sins.
*God loves people so much that He allowed His only Son to come to earth and die for us.
*God hates sin so much that He poured out His wrath on His Son, instead of us.
God will grant each person a full pardon for every wrong thought, word, and deed which we have committed, throughout our life; if we will only come to Him in sincere repentance and turn to Jesus as the payment for our sins.
God Is Also A Righteous Judge
Although He waits patiently for us to repent, He has promised a day—certain when His patience will run out; and He will judge all sin. We long for the Love of God; but we recoil in offense at His justice. When the Lord carries out the sentences that He warned us would come, people claim that God is cruel and impatient.
The Canaanites Are An Example Of God’s Patience
When Abraham was born in Haran, the Canaanites were already heavily occupying the entire area of land that would one day be the future home of Israel.
The Canaanites are the descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham, one of Noah’s three sons. Among the Canaanites are the most infamous—the Amorites, who lived in the hill country of Israel. The rest of the Canaanites include: the Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites, Hittites, Moabites, Edomites, Philistines, and Girgashites.
The people of the Canaanite nations were some of the most brutal and vicious human beings who have ever lived on the planet. While Israel was traveling across the desert on their way to the land that God had promised, the Amalekites ruthlessly tormented, attacked, and killed God’s people. As a result of their cruelty to Israel, the Lord instructs Moses to record these events, so that later generations might understand when God finally sends judgment upon the Amalekites—so that His actions would be justified.
Exodus 17:8-14 8. Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. …Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”
In the Book of Deuteronomy, as the Lord is instructing Moses in the statutes and requirements for the people, He also tells Moses: Remember what Amalek did to you. This is a reminder for the future when the people come into the land that God has promised them, so that they will understand why He will instruct them to completely annihilate the Amalekites from the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 25:17-19 Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.
There are two places in the Old Testament where the Lord describes Israel as being attacked from the rear by the Amalekites: At Rephidim and Hormah.
Exodus 17:8 Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
Number2 14:45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as Hormah.
In a large group of more than 2 million people—making their way across the desert of Sinai, there would be many thousands of elderly, the sick, and women with children, who would be at the rear of the multitude of Israel. The Amalekites viciously came up from behind and slaughtered the weak and the helpless who were already traveling by great difficulty.
At the beginning of the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses begins his instructions to the people whom he has led out of Egypt by God’s power and grace. In chapter 9, Moses reminds the people that God has not led them into this new land because they were righteous and deserved the land; it was because of the wickedness of the Canaanites that God was going to drive these nations out.
Deuteronomy 9:1-4 Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the descendants of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you heard it said, “Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?” Therefore understand today that the LORD your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the LORD has said to you. “Do not think in your heart, after the LORD your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out from before you.”
God remembers the cruelty of the Amalekites, but He will not destroy them just yet. He is still granting time for repentance. This is a fact that those who condemn God for finally destroying the Amalekites—forget. Many people incorrectly assume that God suddenly gave an order to indiscriminately destroy women and children without mercy. What we discover is that the Lord allowed the Amalekites nearly 900 years before His judgment arrived.
Contrary To The Assertions Of Atheists, God Did Not Commit Genocide, He Rendered A Righteous Judgement
Most reasonable people would agree that warning a nation to cease offering their babies to the fiery hot arms of a pagan god, Molech, for nearly 900 years, is more than fair. Atheists like Josh Bowen, see this act as an example that proves the Old Testament texts are not true or reliable. Later Josh will tell us that we can trust the pagan texts he will present to us, more than the texts of the Bible.
The ironic thing about this assertion by Josh Bowen, is the people he is referencing for an authority to impeach the Old Testament, are the very people God destroyed for burning their babies to death as a sacrifice to their god, Molech.
Archeologists have uncovered the ruins of Canaanite villages and found the remains of clay jars that were used in their ritual worship. Newborn babies were dismembered, and their body parts were placed inside these jars and sealed inside the walls of newly built homes—to bring the blessings of their brutal gods.
It is not necessary to list all the horrendous acts that were perpetrated by the Canaanites. It is sufficient to say—if all the facts were known by people today, the horrific deeds carried out by these cruel people, we would likely commend God for ending their lives.
The Amalekites were among the four kings that Abraham defeated, who had taken Sodom and Gomorrah captive as well as Abraham’s nephew Lot. In the period of the Judges, the Amalekites joined forces with the Ammonites and King Eglon of Moab to attack and capture Jericho. The Amalekites were defeated by Gideon and his armies at the valley of Jezreel, where the future Battle of Armageddon will be fought. By the time Saul is king of Israel, the Amalekites had gained a mountain in the land of Ephraim in Israel, where they were once again living and multiplying.
Judgement Will Come; It Is A Part Of God’s Righteousness
God is making a statement to the world that He loves us all, but He will only put up with our sin and rebellion against His law for a finite period of time. The fact that we can observe the judgement of God so carefully depicted for us in various places throughout the Old Testament should greatly humble us and bring our hearts to repentance. As surely as God has judged the horrible acts of the Canaanites, He will also bring into judgement all of our sins—if we do not repent and turn to Him for Salvation.
What kind of nation would the United States be, if the laws instituted by the executive and legislative branches of our government were not enforced by the judicial branch, with penalties exacted against those who violated these laws? This land would be unsafe and unfit for any decent person to live in.
The Atrocities Committed By Russians In The Ukraine
A pertinent question we may ask atheists who object to the judgment of God against the evil committed by the Amalekites: would you also object to judgment against the Russians who have slaughtered the Ukrainian people?
I think any reasonable person who has seen the dead bodies of Ukrainian citizens lying in the streets with their hands tied behind them, shot in the head, their bodies left to rot, would agree that the men who did these horrible things, should be killed.
Why is it that when God brings judgment to a people in past history who were just like the evil Russian men who murdered innocent Ukrainians, you object and accuse God of wrong?
What the Amalekites did to the sick, old and disabled, women and children who were at the rear of the people of Israel traveling across the desert; slaughtered them, is equal to what the Russian soldiers have done to the Ukrainian people. Both deserve God’s judgment and the execution of a sentence of death.
There is evil in this world, and it is never wrong for God to judge and execute a sentence against sin.
Laws Must Be Enforced Or Evil Will Destroy All Human Life
If God cannot be trusted to do what He has said, both positively and negatively, then He cannot be trusted at all. What makes God trustworthy is the certainty that He always does what He says He will do. More importantly, since God has promised to punish sin we can understand that there are moral absolutes in the world. We are not left to decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong. All of the laws of civilized societies have, as their origin, the laws of God—defined first in the Old Testament.
In the Book of Revelation, after the 21 judgments that God brings to the earth in the final days, the people who are in heaven and watch God judgment, shout: “You are righteous and fair in all your judgments O’ Lord.”
As people see how good, loving, and kind God is when He warns us to turn from our sins, then waits for a very long time for us to change our mind and turn from sin, eventually His judgement will fall.
You have this same opportunity, Ray, today. God has warned you that He will not tolerate your sins. He is giving you time to turn from your sins, trust in Jesus’ death for your sins, and become a part of those who are being saved. If you continue to reject the one way that He made to save you, then judgment will fall on you also, and you will be lost. If you turn from your sins and trust in Jesus for the rest of your life, you will be saved.
If you refuse to do what God said, it will not be His fault that you are lost and reside in the prison of Hell with the unsaved. It will be your fault. Turn from your sins today and accept the love and mercy of God. Jesus died for your sins and took the punishment you deserved. All you must do is accept His love and death for your sins, and you will be saved.
Jesus is full of love and mercy, this is why the whole world today has not been destroyed yet. Jesus came and died for us and then offered eternal life to all those who will turn from their sins and trust in Him. He has waited for 2,000 years, giving people time to repent. We have our entire life to make up our mind, turn from our sins, and be saved.
If we die while still in our sins, we will be judged for our sins at the Great White Throne of Revelation 20, and we will be lost forever.
Today is the day to turn from your sins and accept Jesus loving offer to remove your sins and become a part of His eternal family.
I hope you make the right decision. Our God is Love, kindness, patience, and full of mercy, but He is also a God of judgment and will destroy all sinners.
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