[music]
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[didgeridoo and guitar music]
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This is It Is
Written. I'm John Bradshaw.
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Thanks for joining
me. They call it the
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"Lucky Country": Australia.
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It's just slightly
smaller than the contiguous
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United States--that's the
United States minus Alaska
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and Hawaii--but it
has only seven and a half
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percent of the
population: 24 million people.
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And that's for
pretty good reason.
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Much of the country is
virtually uninhabitable.
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The vast majority of
Australians, 85 percent,
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in fact, live within
30 miles of the coast.
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And there's a lot of coast.
Miles and miles and miles and
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miles of magnificent and
very often untouched coastline.
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Now, you've got to be
a little careful here.
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Australia is home to sharks, and
plenty of them; crocodiles, and
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plenty of them; and
snakes, and plenty of them.
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Depending on how you measure,
the Inland Taipan is the
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deadliest snake in the
world. They've got that here.
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Dubois Sea
Snake, second deadliest.
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Yep, they've got that,
too. Eastern Brown Snake,
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third deadliest in the world.
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Yeah, that one lives here
also. And they'll all kill you.
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Now, for the most part,
if you get some antivenom,
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you're going to be okay.
But if you don't, well, that's
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a horse of a different color.
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Out there in the water,
especially further north in
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Australia, the real menace
is jellyfish, Box Jellyfish.
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When they're in season, you'd
better stay out of their way.
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They're only small, but
they pack a powerful punch, and
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they can kill you, too.
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Morning Morning
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[haunting guitar music]
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Did I tell you they
call this the Lucky Country?
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Australia is a new
country, relatively speaking.
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And thankfully
today, for the most part,
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the locals are friendly.
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You won't find here the kind of
history that you get in Europe.
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There are no medieval
castles, no ancient cathedrals.
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You won't find Roman ruins.
European settlers came here late
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in the 18th century, and within
about 80 years 160,000 convicts
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had arrived here
from Great Britain.
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However, there is plenty of
history here in Australia, and
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some of it's uncomfortable.
The indigenous people here are
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the Australian Aboriginals.
When white settlers arrived,
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they found somewhere in
the region of half a million
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Aboriginals here. So,
before white settlement,
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there was plenty of
room for the Aboriginals.
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They were great
stewards of the land.
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In fact, the saying
went, "You don't own the land;
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the land owns you."
But Australia has this
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very awkward history,
as do many countries--
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the United States, New
Zealand, India, Canada,
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South Africa, Zimbabwe,
and on and on--colonization.
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Colonization is
fraught with difficulty.
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The European settlers weren't
invited here, but they came
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as colonizers do.
Unsurprisingly, they didn't
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negotiate good terms with
the people they colonized.
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Colonizers were often motivated
by greed or opportunity, or
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both, and by
loyalty to their country.
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To conquer was their
right. It was their duty.
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And what then?
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[ominous music]
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The Europeans who
arrived here discovered an
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indigenous people, who
embraced a very different
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culture and lived by
an altogether different
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set of values. And so,
a clash was inevitable.
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The whites treated the
Aboriginals, generally speaking,
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with very little respect and
without a whole lot of regard
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for their welfare. All
too often, they were herded
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onto reservations, stripped of
their language, and dispossessed
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of their culture. And
then there's the matter
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of what has become known
as "The Stolen Generations."
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Writing in his book
"Australia, a Biography
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of a Nation," author
and university professor
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Philip Knightly said
this: "This cannot be
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overemphasized. The
Australian government
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literally kidnapped these
children from their parents
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as a matter of policy.
White welfare officers,
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often supported by
police, would descend on
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Aboriginal camps,
round up all the children,
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separate the ones
with light-colored skin,
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bundle them into
trucks, and take them away.
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If the parents protested, they
were held at bay by police."
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Now, keep in mind, the land
on which the Aboriginals roamed
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was, and is, mineral rich.
Were the newcomers going to
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share the mineral wealth
with the people who'd been here
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for thousands of
years? No, they were not.
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If this was the Lucky Country,
then Aboriginals were the
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unlucky ones. As
recently as the 1930s,
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complaints from white parents
were enough to have Aboriginal
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children forcibly removed
from schools, put on trucks,
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and transported to
camps or reserves hundreds of
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miles away. Less
than a hundred years ago.
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Mate!
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[sounds of crashing
waves] We've come to Red Rock,
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just north of the city of
Coff's Harbor on the coast
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of New South Wales.
This place, Red Rock,
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is referred to by
some as "Blood Rock,"
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and there's a good reason why.
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In the 1880s, a group of white
European settlers pursued the
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local Gumbaynggirr Aboriginals
right around this place.
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The women hid in rushes by
the riverbank; the men swam
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for their lives.
The men were shot.
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It is said the river ran
red with their innocent blood.
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An unprovoked attack.
How many died isn't really
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known. Was anybody
brought to justice?
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No. Absolutely not.
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You will find hardly any
mention anywhere of the Red Rock
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Massacre. It was
one of many that took
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place here over the
years. It was business as usual.
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So what then happens when
it's God doing the killing?
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And this is a question that many
people have struggled with for
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years and years and years.
We read in the Bible about God
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wiping out entire
people groups, whole cities.
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In fact, come to the time of the
Flood, and God killed everybody
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on planet Earth with
the exception of only eight
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people. People killing people;
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that's terrible. God
commanded the eradication of
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men and women and
the aged and children?
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How do we reconcile
that? Let's take a look further
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in just a moment. [music]
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What is God like? The
answer offered in John 3:16
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and throughout the
Bible is that God is love.
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We also know that God is just.
But then, there's the concept of
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sinners being burned on and
on at the hand of an angry God.
00:08:20.80\00:08:25.33
How are we
supposed to reconcile that?
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Let me send you
our free booklet,
00:08:28.04\00:08:30.07
"Hellfire: Would
God Really Do That?"
00:08:30.07\00:08:33.14
Just call (800) 253-3000
and ask for your copy of
00:08:33.14\00:08:37.55
"Hellfire: Would
God Really Do That?"
00:08:37.55\00:08:40.72
Or write to It Is
Written, PO Box 6, Chattanooga,
00:08:40.72\00:08:44.32
Tennessee, 37401. We'll
mail a free copy to your
00:08:44.32\00:08:47.96
address in North America.
Again, our toll-free number is
00:08:47.96\00:08:51.49
(800) 253-3000.
00:08:51.49\00:08:54.73
[music] Thanks
for joining me today
00:08:56.16\00:09:06.21
on It Is Written.
I'm John Bradshaw,
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on the north coast
of New South Wales,
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in Australia. This
is the home of long,
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golden beaches, warm weather,
and attractions like the
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Big Banana, which
boasts a really big banana, and
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the Big Bunch of Bananas.
It's also the site of some
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tragic history.
Colonization saw European
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settlers dispossess
the Aboriginal people and
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commit atrocities
like the Red Rock Massacre.
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Just a small massacre, really,
in the grand scheme of things.
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And perhaps that's what
gets through to me about it.
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Imagine, a massacre happening.
Real people losing their lives,
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real families being devastated,
and communities being forever
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altered. And not
really anyone ever
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having heard about it.
Years ago, here at Red Rock,
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many Gumbaynggirr Aboriginals
were massacred by white
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settlers. Even
today, many Gumbaynggirr
00:10:05.57\00:10:08.17
won't come
anywhere near this place.
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It was a terrible atrocity;
but is there a great obelisk
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or a monument erected
in honor of the fallen?
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No. Are there
commemorations held on
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a certain date every year
about this terrible thing?
00:10:20.62\00:10:23.05
No. As a matter of fact,
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read the history books
and you won't find much
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written about the Red Rock
or the "Blood Rock" Massacre,
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because it's just one of many
atrocities perpetrated against
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the indigenous
people of this country.
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And, as a matter of fact--
and I say this with respect
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to the dead and their
families and their people--
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if you compare it to other
massacres around the world,
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what took place here just
about pales into insignificance.
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We think of Adolph Hitler,
and the gassing of the Jews,
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and the Holocaust
during World War II.
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But then think of Joseph Stalin,
who killed many more millions
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of people than did Hitler.
We could think of Pol Pot and
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the Killing Fields of
Cambodia. Idi Amin and Uganda,
00:11:02.86\00:11:06.13
the genocide in
Rwanda, or even terrible events
00:11:06.13\00:11:09.40
like the St. Bartholomew's
Day Massacre, and all kinds
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of killings perpetrated
in the name of religion.
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Those were colossal, and we
think about those and we say,
00:11:16.67\00:11:21.11
"How in the world?"
But that's what people do.
00:11:21.11\00:11:23.24
When people lose their
way and want what they want,
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they're prepared to kill people.
00:11:26.38\00:11:28.25
And sometimes, they're prepared
to kill a lot of people.
00:11:28.25\00:11:32.89
But now, let's think for a
moment about the God of the
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Bible, who killed not a city
or a nation, but at the time of
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the global flood in Noah's day,
an entire planet filled with
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people, with the
exception of eight souls.
00:11:43.30\00:11:47.37
And people say,
"How could God do that?
00:11:47.37\00:11:50.11
"How could God kill defenseless
women and children and elderly
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people? How?"
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One television host referred to
God as a tyrant, and said that
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God was nothing more than
a psychopathic mass murderer.
00:12:01.28\00:12:04.95
[music] But
that's a fair question.
00:12:04.95\00:12:08.39
Why would God do that?
Here at Blood Rock maybe dozens
00:12:08.39\00:12:13.33
were killed; but God has
killed thousands and thousands
00:12:13.33\00:12:18.57
of thousands of
people, wiped off the face of
00:12:18.57\00:12:21.67
the Earth. How is that fair?
00:12:21.67\00:12:25.04
Well, the Bible
says that God is love.
00:12:25.04\00:12:28.48
So can a God of love do that?
And when you get to the end
00:12:28.48\00:12:32.78
of the story, the Bible has
God wiping out a planet full
00:12:32.78\00:12:36.99
of people in the lake of fire.
Why did God order the killing of
00:12:36.99\00:12:42.49
so many people in the Bible?
Why was God able to destroy the
00:12:42.49\00:12:47.40
Earth with a global
flood in Noah's day?
00:12:47.40\00:12:50.73
And how do we get our minds
around God destroying the world,
00:12:50.73\00:12:54.14
virtually everyone in
it, in Earth's last days,
00:12:54.14\00:12:58.57
in the lake of fire?
Not understanding this has
00:12:58.57\00:13:01.51
caused a lot of people to
lose their faith in the Bible,
00:13:01.51\00:13:04.31
or to fail to accept the Bible
as any kind of meaningful part
00:13:04.31\00:13:08.05
of their life. So
let's look into this a
00:13:08.05\00:13:10.12
little more deeply.
We'll go to First Samuel,
00:13:10.12\00:13:12.25
chapter 15. The
prophet Samuel is talking
00:13:12.25\00:13:15.12
to King Saul.
We'll start in verse 3.
00:13:15.12\00:13:18.46
He says, "Now go
and smite Amalek,
00:13:18.46\00:13:22.13
and utterly destroy all that
they have, and spare them not.
00:13:22.13\00:13:26.77
But slay both man and woman,
infant and suckling, ox and
00:13:26.77\00:13:31.77
sheep, camel and
ass." Verses 8 and 9 say,
00:13:31.77\00:13:36.91
"And he [that's Saul] took Agag,
the king of the Amalekites,
00:13:36.91\00:13:42.05
alive, and utterly destroyed
all the people with the edge
00:13:42.05\00:13:45.99
of the sword. But
Saul and the people spared
00:13:45.99\00:13:49.42
Agag and the best of the sheep,
and of the oxen, and of the
00:13:49.42\00:13:54.30
fattlings, and the lands, and
all that was good, and would not
00:13:54.30\00:13:59.07
utterly destroy them. But
everything that was vile and
00:13:59.07\00:14:03.34
refuse, that they
utterly destroyed."
00:14:03.34\00:14:07.51
And Samuel was not amused.
Verse 18: "The Lord sent you on
00:14:07.51\00:14:12.75
a journey and said,'Go and
utterly destroy the sinners,
00:14:12.75\00:14:17.62
the Amalekites, and
fight against them until they
00:14:17.62\00:14:20.86
be consumed.'
Wherefore then didst thou not
00:14:20.86\00:14:24.19
obey the voice of the Lord,
but didst fly upon the spoil
00:14:24.19\00:14:27.86
and didst evil in
the sight of the Lord."
00:14:27.86\00:14:31.73
He then compared Saul's
stubbornness to witchcraft,
00:14:31.73\00:14:35.30
and told him, in verse 23,
"Because thou hast rejected
00:14:35.30\00:14:39.37
the word of the Lord,
he hath also rejected thee
00:14:39.37\00:14:43.65
from being king."
Now, if you want to make an
00:14:43.65\00:14:47.22
honest attempt to understand
this, you have to consider
00:14:47.22\00:14:49.55
the big picture. And I
think I need to say this:
00:14:49.55\00:14:52.65
Even as you consider the big
picture, this is still serious
00:14:52.65\00:14:55.46
stuff. We're
still talking about the
00:14:55.46\00:14:57.46
loss of life here, and the
loss of life on a massive scale.
00:14:57.46\00:15:02.00
God created a perfect
Earth. It was Adam and Eve who
00:15:02.00\00:15:07.07
willingly chose to sin and
plunged the earth into sin,
00:15:07.07\00:15:12.47
and everything
that sin brought along.
00:15:12.47\00:15:14.54
But it was God who
said, here's what I will do.
00:15:14.54\00:15:18.01
I will bear the brunt of
your freefall into catastrophe,
00:15:18.01\00:15:22.68
and I'll allow Jesus to
come and die for your sins,
00:15:22.68\00:15:27.32
so there would be a way
back for you from sin to life.
00:15:27.32\00:15:32.16
Now, if you're keeping
score, that's God 1, humanity 0.
00:15:32.16\00:15:38.93
And so then God
called to the human family.
00:15:38.93\00:15:41.14
The Bible says, when you
read in Genesis 6 and verse 5,
00:15:41.14\00:15:44.44
that by the time the flood came,
every thought of the human heart
00:15:44.44\00:15:49.08
was -- and I'm quoting now
-- "only evil continually."
00:15:49.08\00:15:54.68
So is this God's
fault? No, it is not.
00:15:54.68\00:15:57.05
Human beings chose to sin.
God called to the human family,
00:15:57.05\00:16:00.06
come to Me, there's a way
out. Come to Me, there's life.
00:16:00.06\00:16:04.56
But we didn't, did we? At
least, our forebears didn't
00:16:04.56\00:16:07.83
come to God to
receive life at that time.
00:16:07.83\00:16:10.93
And before very long, there
were a lot of profoundly wicked
00:16:10.93\00:16:15.64
people populating planet
Earth. I'll be right back.
00:16:15.64\00:16:20.71
[soft piano music]
[sound of waves crashing]
00:16:21.51\00:16:35.29
"Every Word" is a one-minute,
Bible-based daily devotional,
00:16:36.93\00:16:40.23
presented by Pastor John
Bradshaw and designed especially
00:16:40.23\00:16:43.16
for busy people like
you. Look for "Every Word"
00:16:43.16\00:16:46.63
on selected
networks, or watch it online
00:16:46.63\00:16:48.87
every day on our
website, ItIsWritten.com.
00:16:48.87\00:16:52.67
[music]
00:16:53.31\00:16:57.11
They called him the
most hated man in America.
00:16:58.78\00:17:01.28
He was the CEO of a drug company
that raised the price of a drug
00:17:01.28\00:17:04.22
from $13 to $700 a
dose, close enough to a
00:17:04.22\00:17:08.82
5,000-percent increase.
He said that there was no way
00:17:08.82\00:17:12.46
they'd reduce the price.
And then, a day later, he
00:17:12.46\00:17:14.50
changed his mind and said
the price would come down,
00:17:14.50\00:17:16.63
and more happened after that.
00:17:16.63\00:17:19.47
Of course, the company said
they were raising the price for
00:17:19.47\00:17:21.44
the noblest of
reasons: money for research.
00:17:21.44\00:17:24.01
The drug had been underpriced.
And people said it was
00:17:24.01\00:17:26.57
just greed. Proverbs 15:27 says,
00:17:26.57\00:17:29.88
"He who is greedy for
gain troubles his own house."
00:17:29.88\00:17:34.72
There's a fine line between
having enough and doing well,
00:17:34.72\00:17:37.72
and then there's a line
between doing well and greed.
00:17:37.72\00:17:41.36
Greed isn't good for society;
it isn't good for individuals.
00:17:41.36\00:17:44.53
Sometimes winners can be
losers. I'm John Bradshaw for
00:17:44.53\00:17:49.30
It Is Written. Let's
live today by every word.
00:17:49.30\00:17:52.07
[sound of loud waves] [music]
00:17:53.64\00:18:15.06
This is It Is
Written. Thanks for joining me.
00:18:15.06\00:18:17.66
How do we reconcile
the idea of a God of love,
00:18:17.66\00:18:22.16
with the God who destroyed
the Earth with a flood,
00:18:22.16\00:18:25.77
wiped out entire people groups,
and is one day soon going to
00:18:25.77\00:18:30.44
destroy the Earth
again in a lake of fire?
00:18:30.44\00:18:34.34
Let's understand this about
God: God calls people to repent.
00:18:34.34\00:18:40.08
He saved from Sodom and
Gomorrah everyone He could save.
00:18:40.08\00:18:43.79
The rest were given over to sin,
and there was no coming back
00:18:43.79\00:18:47.86
for them. God
sent Jonah to Nineveh,
00:18:47.86\00:18:51.09
an amazingly sinful place,
because He knew there were
00:18:51.09\00:18:54.66
people there who would respond.
00:18:54.66\00:18:57.00
God preserved the
life of King Manasseh,
00:18:57.00\00:18:59.37
unfathomably wicked,
and Manasseh repented and
00:18:59.37\00:19:03.07
was saved. And
think about Nebuchadnezzar
00:19:03.07\00:19:06.01
in Babylon: cruel, a
killer, an idol worshiper.
00:19:06.01\00:19:12.11
But God reached out
to him and saved him.
00:19:12.11\00:19:16.65
God never destroyed
anybody who would have repented.
00:19:18.69\00:19:22.62
In fact, it was out of mercy
to that person, and out of mercy
00:19:22.62\00:19:27.30
to the world, that
God destroyed the wicked.
00:19:27.30\00:19:30.70
If God had not destroyed
the wicked, the Earth would have
00:19:30.70\00:19:34.67
been entirely overrun with sin.
In removing the wicked at the
00:19:34.67\00:19:39.61
time of the flood, what God
was doing was given you and me
00:19:39.61\00:19:43.71
the opportunity to be saved.
You see, now God could bring
00:19:43.71\00:19:49.18
Jesus into the world.
Without destroying the wicked,
00:19:49.18\00:19:53.12
there more than likely
would have been no Mary to find,
00:19:53.12\00:19:56.36
to give birth to the Son of
God. There wouldn't have been a
00:19:56.36\00:19:59.46
Joseph anywhere, who
could have raised God's Son here
00:19:59.46\00:20:03.06
on the Earth. So God
destroyed the unrepentant
00:20:03.06\00:20:08.47
before the world was completely
devoured by sin and sinfulness.
00:20:08.47\00:20:16.08
Now, back to the Amalekites.
God told King Saul that Israel
00:20:19.15\00:20:22.75
must wipe out the Amalekites.
And why did He do that?
00:20:22.75\00:20:26.59
Because if they didn't,
the Amalekites would have wiped
00:20:26.59\00:20:30.43
out Israel. This was
a protective measure.
00:20:30.43\00:20:34.00
The Amalekites, by the
way, were not the Girl Scouts.
00:20:34.00\00:20:37.57
These people
were champions of sin.
00:20:37.57\00:20:41.60
They were full of wickedness.
So, if Israel didn't wipe out
00:20:41.60\00:20:46.11
the Amalekites, the Amalekites
would have eradicated Israel.
00:20:46.11\00:20:50.48
This was survival. Now,
fast forward to the story
00:20:50.48\00:20:54.98
you read in the book of Esther.
You read about a man named
00:20:54.98\00:20:57.65
Haman. Haman
convinced the king to sign
00:20:57.65\00:21:01.56
a law ordering the
extermination of the Jews.
00:21:01.56\00:21:05.36
Every Jew in the
kingdom was facing eradication.
00:21:05.36\00:21:10.33
Death. Because of who?
00:21:10.33\00:21:12.40
Because of Haman.
And who was Haman?
00:21:12.40\00:21:15.60
The Bible says Haman was the son
of Hammedatha, the Jews' enemy.
00:21:15.60\00:21:21.74
He was the son of
Hammedatha, the Agagite.
00:21:21.74\00:21:25.58
Now, if God's people
had wiped out their enemies,
00:21:25.58\00:21:29.78
there wouldn't
have been a Haman.
00:21:29.78\00:21:32.72
If God's people had wiped
out their enemies, Israel would
00:21:32.72\00:21:36.89
have avoided this
crisis of their existence.
00:21:36.89\00:21:40.06
You see, there were good reasons
for doing what God wanted done.
00:21:40.06\00:21:46.07
[music] Now, don't get me wrong.
00:21:47.07\00:21:56.31
I'm not rubbing my
hands together with glee,
00:21:56.31\00:21:58.71
cheering on the God
who wipes out cities and
00:21:58.71\00:22:02.52
kills old ladies
and little children.
00:22:02.52\00:22:05.15
I'm not trying to defend God for
wiping out nations and people
00:22:05.15\00:22:09.69
groups and so forth. I
don't mean that, but looking
00:22:09.69\00:22:12.89
at this dispassionately, and
looking at this analytically,
00:22:12.89\00:22:18.47
what we find is that God is
not cruel and that God is not
00:22:18.47\00:22:23.61
a tyrant. In order
to protect His people,
00:22:23.61\00:22:27.51
He saw to it that other
people were stopped, in order to
00:22:27.51\00:22:31.51
preserve a place
where Messiah could come.
00:22:31.51\00:22:35.22
He saw to it that there was
an environment in which that
00:22:35.22\00:22:37.85
could happen. In
order to make sure that
00:22:37.85\00:22:40.16
Jesus could come at all
-- imagine if all Israel had
00:22:40.16\00:22:43.93
been wiped out -- God
did what He had to do.
00:22:43.93\00:22:47.03
Why? Simply
because He was jealous
00:22:47.03\00:22:48.53
for His people? No!
00:22:48.53\00:22:50.33
Maybe some of that, but more so
because He was jealous for you.
00:22:50.33\00:22:54.70
God wanted to save you.
And if thousands of years ago
00:22:54.70\00:22:59.47
His people were overrun and sin
engulfed and swallowed up the
00:22:59.47\00:23:04.21
world, that would
never happen. Was it serious?
00:23:04.21\00:23:07.35
Oh, it was serious.
Stopping lives, ending lives,
00:23:07.35\00:23:11.15
wiping out civilizations,
flooding the earth--
00:23:11.15\00:23:13.82
that was serious. But
if God had not, wickedness
00:23:13.82\00:23:16.93
would have run such a course,
we just wouldn't be able to
00:23:16.93\00:23:19.63
imagine it. These
were really wicked people.
00:23:19.63\00:23:22.56
God talked about these
people who were idol worshipers;
00:23:22.56\00:23:25.40
they were flagrantly immoral.
They were sacrificing their own
00:23:25.40\00:23:29.80
children and doing other things
that we don't even need to talk
00:23:29.80\00:23:33.98
about. And God
stopped that before sin
00:23:33.98\00:23:36.95
just ran away even
further than it did.
00:23:36.95\00:23:39.78
You've heard the question asked,
would it have been better to
00:23:39.78\00:23:42.42
stop Hitler before he developed
into the tyrant and mass
00:23:42.42\00:23:47.19
murderer that he developed into?
Or, would it be better to just
00:23:47.19\00:23:50.49
let history run its course?
Most people wouldn't think too
00:23:50.49\00:23:54.36
long before saying, if we could
have stopped Hitler, that would
00:23:54.36\00:23:56.50
have been the right thing to do.
And God stopped a lot of evil
00:23:56.50\00:23:59.50
and a lot of wickedness before
it just got way out of hand.
00:23:59.50\00:24:03.94
Unfair? No.
00:24:03.94\00:24:05.31
Tyrannical? No.
00:24:05.31\00:24:06.91
Serious? Sure.
00:24:06.91\00:24:08.91
Just absolutely,
justice was served.
00:24:08.91\00:24:11.55
But there's no way we can charge
God with acting reprehensibly.
00:24:11.55\00:24:15.82
There's no way we can say
that God was out of control.
00:24:15.82\00:24:18.09
There's no way we can
say he was a, a tyrant.
00:24:18.09\00:24:20.49
Everything God does,
He does out of love--
00:24:20.49\00:24:23.96
even ending the lives
of the unrepentant wicked.
00:24:23.96\00:24:29.43
God is love, and everything
we read about in the Bible,
00:24:29.43\00:24:32.33
as serious as it seems,
is a manifestation of God's
00:24:32.33\00:24:35.40
love for the human
family and God's love for you.
00:24:35.40\00:24:39.61
Come on, now, let's not
lose sight of what's really
00:24:39.61\00:24:41.91
important in this. And
that is, God offers the gift
00:24:41.91\00:24:44.08
of salvation to the world.
Today, God's asking you if you
00:24:44.08\00:24:47.65
would accept this
gift of salvation.
00:24:47.65\00:24:49.75
If you've not done
so, you can do so now.
00:24:49.75\00:24:51.95
If you've not been sure how
to relate to this God of heaven,
00:24:51.95\00:24:55.39
you can understand now
that God is a good God.
00:24:55.39\00:24:57.59
Everything He's done is good,
gracious, loving, merciful.
00:24:57.59\00:25:02.33
And you want to be the child of
a merciful God who will shine on
00:25:02.33\00:25:05.53
you, and smile on you,
and shower His grace upon you.
00:25:05.53\00:25:10.14
Can you respond
to that God today?
00:25:10.14\00:25:12.27
The God who has done everything
He could to give you the
00:25:12.27\00:25:15.54
opportunity to be
present in this moment and hear
00:25:15.54\00:25:20.08
His voice. Would
you respond to that God
00:25:20.08\00:25:23.08
today and open up your heart
to Him, and invite Jesus to
00:25:23.08\00:25:26.42
be the Lord of your
life? Let's pray together.
00:25:26.42\00:25:29.86
Our Father in heaven, we look
at the Bible and we have to come
00:25:29.86\00:25:33.66
away saying God is love.
There are some passages that
00:25:33.66\00:25:36.53
challenge us. You
knew they would, and You
00:25:36.53\00:25:40.27
allowed them to be written,
believing that if we have
00:25:40.27\00:25:44.47
an encounter with You,
if we will look for the
00:25:44.47\00:25:47.84
true God, we will see
a picture of a God who
00:25:47.84\00:25:51.38
loved the world.
Friend, would you respond to
00:25:51.38\00:25:55.18
Jesus and invite
Him into your heart?
00:25:55.18\00:25:56.82
Even now, just pray,
Lord, come into my life.
00:25:56.82\00:25:58.79
Would you do that?
Jesus, come into my life.
00:25:58.79\00:26:02.29
God of heaven, be my
God. Heavenly Father, I offer
00:26:02.29\00:26:05.83
you my heart. Lord,
we do that together,
00:26:05.83\00:26:08.30
we do so gladly, and
we pray confidently today
00:26:08.30\00:26:12.43
in Jesus' name. Amen.
00:26:12.43\00:26:17.57
[music]
00:26:18.51\00:26:27.98
What is God like? The
answer offered in John 3:16
00:26:30.89\00:26:34.96
and throughout the
Bible is that God is love.
00:26:34.96\00:26:37.86
We also know that God is just.
But then, there's the concept of
00:26:37.86\00:26:41.80
sinners being burned on and
on at the hand of an angry God.
00:26:41.80\00:26:46.30
How are we
supposed to reconcile that?
00:26:46.30\00:26:49.14
And most everybody's wondered
about being in heaven while
00:26:49.14\00:26:52.07
their loved ones
burned on and on in hell.
00:26:52.07\00:26:54.94
This topic is so very important.
Let me send you our free
00:26:54.94\00:26:58.01
booklet, "Hellfire:
Would God Really Do That?"
00:26:58.01\00:27:01.95
Just call (800) 253-3000 and
ask for your copy of "Hellfire:
00:27:01.95\00:27:07.39
Would God Really Do That?"
If the line's busy, please do
00:27:07.39\00:27:11.39
try again, or write to
It Is Written, PO Box 6,
00:27:11.39\00:27:15.43
Chattanooga, TN 37401.
We'll mail a free copy to your
00:27:15.43\00:27:19.60
address in North America.
It Is Written is a faith-based
00:27:19.60\00:27:23.14
ministry, and your support
makes it possible for us to
00:27:23.14\00:27:26.27
share God's good
news with the world.
00:27:26.27\00:27:28.94
Your tax-deductible gift can
be sent to the address on your
00:27:28.94\00:27:31.78
screen, or through our
website at ItIsWritten.com.
00:27:31.78\00:27:35.82
Thank you for your
continued prayerful support.
00:27:35.82\00:27:38.79
Again, our toll-free number
is (800) 253-3000, and our web
00:27:38.79\00:27:43.43
address is ItIsWritten.com.
00:27:43.43\00:27:47.23
[music] Thanks
for joining me today.
00:27:48.10\00:27:50.07
I look forward to
seeing you again next time.
00:27:50.07\00:27:52.17
Until then remember, it
is written: man shall not
00:27:52.17\00:27:56.14
live by bread alone but
by every word that proceeds
00:27:56.14\00:28:00.94
from the mouth of God.
00:28:00.94\00:28:03.08
[music]
00:28:03.75\00:28:16.86