Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

Attention:

Attention:

Richard Dawkins said, “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser.

Richard Dawkins said, “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

Passages from and leads Dawkins to think about God in this way

Passages from and leads those opposed to the Christian God to think this way.

But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded,

But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall devote them to complete destruction....

And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction.

Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.

So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown.

As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.

Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.

And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction.

Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.

So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown.

As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.

Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.

So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown.

As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.

21 Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.

Need:

Need:

These difficult passages lead to some very important questions.

Is the Christian God immoral and unjust?

Did God of the Old Testament command genocide?

How can this be the same God who said each person was created in His image and equal before him?

How can this be the same God as Jesus who commands us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us?

God commanded the nation of Israel to completely destroy the Canaanite people.

Then, Joshua began executing the annihilation of the Canaanites in .

These difficult passages lead to some very important questions.

Is the Christian God immoral and unjust?

Did God of the Old Testament command genocide?

How can this be the same God who said each person was created in His image and equal before him?

How can this be the same God as Jesus who commands us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us?

A bird flew into our house a few weeks ago.

I began working to get the bird out of the house after Jenny left for carpool.

I opened the doors to the house and tried to guide the bird to the door.

The bird just flew back and forth from the window to the skylight.

So, I decided to scare the bird out.

I played a recording of the bird predators.

It was no use.

Meanwhile the boys came home.

I gave them the mission to get the bird out of the house.

They got really excited.

But the bird kept flying into the skylight.

They were chasing with blankets and boxes.

So, then I got on the roof and cover the sky light.

About this time Jenny and Shae came home.

I was on the roof and the boys were running around the house with a blanket and a box.

Covering the sky light worked and Caleb caught the bird in a blanket right when Shae walked in the door.

Now Shae love animals and she knew a bird was in the house.

She saw Caleb with a little bird and a blanket and heard this noise.

She started giving Caleb the business because she though he was hurting the bird and that the noise from the phone was the bird in trouble.

It was all a big misunderstanding.

It’s easy to misunderstand the people who live in your house.

It’s even easier to misunderstand a situation when we step into the world of the near eastern people who lived 3,000 years ago.

We must work hard to understand these ancient people, or we will come to wrong conclusions about the Old Testament and God.

When make an effort to understand their world, these difficult passages will make more sense.

a bird flew into our house a few weeks ago.

I began working to get the bird out of the house after Jenny left for carpool.

I opened the doors to the house and tried to guide the bird to the door.

The bird just flew back and forth from the window to the skylight.

So, I decided to scare the bird out.

I played a recording of the bird predators.

It was no use.

Mean while the boy came home.

I gave them the mission to get the bird out of the house.

They got really excited.

But the bird kept flying into the skylight.

They were chasing with blankets and boxes.

So, then I got on the roof and cover the sky light.

About this time Jenny and Shae came home.

I was on the roof and the boys were running around the house with a blanket and a box.

Covering the sky light worked and Caleb caught the bird in a blanket right when Shae walked in the door.

Now Shae love animals and she knew a bird was in the house.

She saw Caleb with a little bird and a blanket and heard this noise.

She started giving Caleb the business because she though he was hurting the bird and that the noise from the p[hone was the bird in trouble.

It was all a big misunderstanding.

Textual Idea: Dawkins is wrong about God!

The Old Testament does reveal an immoral, unjust, and unloving God.

Instead, we find a God who’s love for people moves Him to judge people.

We must carefully consider the culture of these ancient people.

It’s easy to misunderstand the people who live with us and speak the same language.

It's even easier to have misunderstandings in different cultures.

Especially, when we step into the world of the near eastern people who lived 3,000 years ago.

We must work hard to understand the coulter of these ancient people or we will come to wrong conclusions about the Old Testament and God.

When we do seek to understand, all of what we read will make a lot more sense.

These difficult passages of Scripture will make more senses if we make an effort to understand their culture.

Dawkins is wrong about God!

The Old Testament does reveal an immoral, unjust, and unloving God.

Instead, we find a God who’s love for people moves Him to judge people.

Textual Idea:

Sermon Idea: God's love for people motivates His judgement of people.

Dawkins is wrong about God!

The Old Testament does not show us a God who is immoral, unjust, and unloving.

Instead, it shows us that God that care about the awful things that happen to people.

A God who’s love for people moves Him to judge people who are brutal and wicked.

Transition: Moses and Joshua use these difficult passages of Scripture to identify 4 ways God love affects the way He judges people for their sin.