A God of Hate and a God of War

I really don’t care for Franklin Graham. He personally think he’s a sycophant who’s piggybacked of off of his Father’s fame and fortune.

This past Christmas season he preached what was a sickening sermon at the pentagon categorizing God as a God of Hate and War.

Graham states:

Graham’s holiday sermon was built on two passages from the Hebrew Bible, Exodus 17 and 1 Samuel 15. The first passage has become a well-known Sunday School story: Israel will triumph over their enemies on the battlefield as long as Moses keeps his hands up in the air. After a while, Moses’ hands grow tired, but with a little help from Aaron and Hur, Moses keeps up his hands and his people prevail. Afterwards, God commands Moses to write about the victory, and promises he’ll one day “utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under Heaven.” 

The second passage, 1 Samuel 15, shows God making good on that promise, Graham said. The story starts with the prophet Samuel commanding a newly anointed King Saul to destroy the Amalekites—including children, infants, and animals. Well, for whatever reason, Saul doesn’t totally obey and lets Agag, the king of the Amalekites, live. He also decides to spare the best of the animals. As we might expect, God reveals to Samuel that King Saul didn’t follow his instructions, so Samuel confronts him, strips him of his royalty, and kills Agag himself. God finally gets his way.

Graham told his audience that while these stories might sound harsh, they depict God as he really is. “That’s not the God I believe in. Well, you’d better believe in him.”

Why?

I’m not even sure God believes in that God. Nor am I sure that Samuel knows this God as well as he thinks. For instance, during his scolding of Saul, Samuel says that God neither lies nor regrets. But the chapter concludes by telling readers that God “regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.” So, it seems that Samuel has gotten God wrong. And if he’s wrong about God’s ability to regret, what else is he wrong about?

However, if Jesus is also God himself could me down to earth, his philosophy was greatly different. Just go read the beatitudes:

He said:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you,persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad,because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

He said:

“the two greatest commandments that uphold all law and prophecy are to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. These commandments summarize the core of Christian belief, emphasizing total devotion to God and selfless love for others”.

I didn’t see anything about war or hate in any of those words.

He said:

Key insights on Jesus and war:

• Non-Violence & Love: Jesus taught, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44) and instructed followers to “turn the other cheek,” promoting a life of non-violence.
• The Sword Warning: When a disciple drew a sword to defend him, Jesus commanded, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will die by the sword” (Matt 26:52), suggesting a rejection of violent conflict.
• Kingdom Not of This World: Jesus stated that his kingdom was not of this world; otherwise, his servants would fight to prevent his arrest, distinguishing his mission from political warfare (John 18:36).
• “Wars and Rumors of Wars”: In Matthew 24:6, Jesus mentioned that conflict is inevitable before the end times but told his followers not to be alarmed.

Hegseth has been pushing “holy war” all along. Pushing Christian nationalism and “warrior ethos” and today Trump said that he was making war on Iran “because God wants it”. My personal opinion is that he is wrong about that. Franklin Graham is wrong. Paula White is wrong. Pete Hegseth is wrong. If he indeed exists, God does not want innocent men, women and children murdered. He does not condone things which are unjust. Donald Trump is threatening an entire civilization. He must think he is a God. In my opinion, his actions are sacrilege and are an anathema to God. He is one of the most evil men to have ever existed. His demented actions will be paid for by the entire world.

Hate and War are wrong in the eyes of any God who would exist. How can a God have “Thou shalt not kill” as one of his holy commandments, but condone the murder of innocent human beings? I’m so intrigued by people who have been anguished and have beat their chests and wept for decades over abortion, but are ok with this war, and the killing of innocents. I saw very few to none that I know personally who even said a word about the hundreds of schoolchildren who were killed on the first day of the war. Such hypocrisy!

In closing, I can only say that if there is a God who condones the kind of hatred and war that is being perpetrated right now by the U.S. and Israel, I reject that God.