Ten Plagues, etc vs Good God?

FAQ: If (as Christians believe) God is good, isn’t that contradicted by the Slaying of the Firstborn at the Exodus from Egypt, and the complete massacre of the inhabitants of Jericho on the direct orders of Yahweh?

A: For the sake of this argument, I will assume that the events in question, together with the accounts in the New Testament, are substantially accurate. I will make the case that they are at least logically consistent with an infinitely good and powerful God.

Item:

◇ Genesis 22:7. << (Isaac said to his father), “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.>>. Gen 22:12. (God said to Abraham). <<Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to [harm] him. I know now that you respect [the one True God and will be loyal to Him and follow His commands], because you were willing to give up your son, your only son, [who had been promised by a miracle, when your wife was past the age of childbearing] to Me.

◇ After nine severe warnings, when Pharaoh repeatedly went back on his word as soon as each Plague ended, God decreed the death overnight of all the firstborn of the Egyptians, from Pharaoh’s own son down. Only the Israelites were spared.

◇ <<Jer 32:35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Moloch; a thing which I never commanded, neither did it enter into my mind: that they should do this abomination…

<<Deuteronomy 7:26 "You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned.>>

Joshua 6:17 When the Israelites took the city of Jerico, God commanded that every man, woman and child be put to death, and all their belongings destroyed: <<“The city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the LORD; only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.>>

◇ God the Son was sent into the world, born in a stable, rejected by the High Priests, scourged and crucified, before rising from the dead.

Comments:

Ex hypothesi, God creates each one of us individually, with the gift of eternal life, and the opportunity to spend that eternity in perfect happiness. None of us earned this gift of existence. Our life therefore belongs to God by right. It is His Will that we begin our life on this earth, then die and go to meet Him Face to Face. He has the authority and the wisdom to determine how long will be our sojourn on this Earth. The death rate in a war, massacre, or natural disaster is exactly the same as in times of peace and prosperity: one death per person. What counts is where we spend eternity after that. He has given us the Ten Commandments. ‘Thou shalt not kill [commit murder]’ is forbidden to us because the ending of a life is God’s prerogative, not ours. He is not under any obligation to reveal to us His entire plan for the Universe: what He does do is tell *me* what *I* may and may not do.

As for the cases mentioned (the Egyptians, those from Jerico, Isaac) –

◇ Every one of them is alive right now, and will be for all eternity.

◇ The people of Jerico worshipped Baal and Moloch, and burned their children alive as sacrifices to them [some scholars speculate that ‘Moloch’ or ‘Molech’ was actually the name for the sacrifice, not a separate god]. Strange as it might seem to us, this religion seems to have had a very strong hold on people. Even the Chosen People seem, from the OT, to have fallen into it not infrequently. It might be (although we are not told so explicitly) that God’s judgment was that this satanic practice needed to be eradicated from human culture, and that the Israelites would not refrain from taking it on if they mixed with the earlier population. To repeat, this is not a decision that we humans are authorised to make, but it is one that God can make. If we disagree with this, we must curse God for each and every person in the world who dies.

God the Father allowed His own Son to die the hideous death of the Cross. He still did not explain the meaning of suffering, but it can be said that He has put His money where His Mouth is, and has not asked us, in bereavement, something that He did not, mysteriously, inflict upon HImself.