Many people see what is written about God and His harsh dealings with those that break laws in the Old Testament without understanding. Many of those see these punishments as why to not humble themselves before Him and accept His ways. I will explain why things are written the way they were and why He was so harsh to the Israelites for breaking laws that we seemingly break on a daily basis.

Much of it has to do with how Eve was beguiled by Satan, which caused her and Adam to sin. Before they ate of the tree of knowledge, there was no sin. No death. As is written in Rev. 20:2, the serpent was Satan. The purpose of him beguiling Eve was to bring sin and death to our creation before its due time. Someone was going to eat of that tree. It just wasn’t supposed to be Adam and Eve. Once that happened, our creation was on a course for destruction.

Slavery is a topic that non-believers and believers have trouble with accepting in the Old Testament. Introspectively, we look at slavery as merely blacks being the victim of whites. No race has not been the victim or beneficiary of slavery. Not one. White people didn’t steal black people from Africa. Black Africans sold slaves to whites. That is a fact. God even allowed His own chosen race to be slaves for five hundred years. The Israelites were captive of the Egyptians. Years before, Joseph brought his father and brothers to Egypt since it was Joseph’s interpretations of dreams that allowed Egypt to prosper while nations around them suffered. As a reward, Pharoah elevated Joseph and allowed his family to stay. Over the years, the descendants of Joseph and his brothers became bondsmen (slaves).

God sent Moses to free the Israelites and to punish the Egyptians for their abuse. The ten plagues of Egypt is not just of historical record in the Bible, but to the Egyptians themselves. If there was no Old Testament, we would probably still know about the ten plagues of Egypt. For their suffering, God showed them great signs and wonders and led them through the desert to Israel. They saw their enemies fall. They heard God speak. They ate manna from heaven when there was no food. They drank water out of stones. They saw God travelling by a cloud on their trek through the wilderness. God showed the Jews and the Jews only these things. They were His chosen race and they suffered greatly so He rewarded them greatly. The Egyptians paid a heavy price. Blacks suffered greatly for many decades here in America, so they were rewarded also. They are here in America because of the involuntary price their ancestors paid, instead of being in Africa. Africa is the most desolate and unstable continent on Earth. White people did pay a heavy price when many thousands died during the Civil War. I know people who think they know so much will say the Civil War was fought for many reasons, but let’s cut down to the chase. The Civil War was fought because the southern states thought Lincoln would make slavery illegal, so the cessation began and so did the war.

Because God showed Israel so much, they were held to a higher standard than any other race. That is why the laws are so harsh. The Jews sinned greatly not long after they left Egypt even. These laws and their harsh punishments would keep the influence of Satan out of their respective towns. In Deuteronomy, Moses spoke to the Jews before they were about to step foot in the land they were promised. He reminded them of what they’ve seen and the laws they were given. Moses often said after each law and the punishment to give for the breaking of such law was to “put the evil away from you”. Satan may not cause men to sin, but he does have influence. Satan is like a shark in the water smelling blood. He’ll attack relentlessly once an opening is given. Due to the harsh punishments and because of sin and death being put on our creation before its due time, Satan’s influence upon Israel was pushed away. The health laws had to do with the purity of the Jews. Animals that ate dirt and dead things were impure, which included shellfish. Shellfish are scavengers and bottomfeeders. These harsh laws were for the purity and sanctity of the Jews. When the Gentiles (mostly Greeks) became Christians, the apostles saw what the Gentiles were eating. After a debate, the Gentiles were allowed to eat pork and shellfish, but to stay away from things with blood, things strangled, and pollutants of idols and fornication.

By the time Jesus lived, Satan’s influence was everywhere. It was too late. When a woman accused of adultery was about to be stoned, Jesus came to her rescue. It is written that he wrote in the dirt and said “let he who is without sin cast the first stone”. They left quickly and let her be. I strongly believe he wrote what sins they committed that would also be punishable by death. Something scared them. Jesus came not to break up the law, but fulfill it. It was time for forgiving the sinner since Satan’s influence was upon every town all over the world.

The very wise will know that this life is mercy on this creation from the very beginning. The very wise will know that our souls are much older than our bodies. Just because we cannot remember what happened before we were born, it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. It doesn’t mean most of our creation didn’t commit some great sin in the eyes of God. God told Jeremiah that He knew him before he was in the womb and ordained him a prophet before his birth. Truth is God knew all of us before we were born. Somehow and sometime, Jeremiah and the other prophets must have set themselves apart and proved their worth to God before they were born. As I wrote in a previous blog, God isn’t going to create a million souls and say to the next one, “you’ll be My prophet” and keep repeating the process at random. This life is a gift and second chance to our creation with His Son as a way out. You can point out how harsh God can be, but the very wise will know that you should be grateful that judgment hasn’t been met upon you millennia ago. I’d call that great mercy. So should you.