One of the things that atheists will use to argue against the Christian God of the Bible is that they will try to find some things about what God did back then in the Old Testament that were cruel and inhumane.
Slavery in Old Testament
One example is slavery. A passage in the Bible tells about friends or family members who could sell one of their loved ones as a slave so that they do not go into debt.
Stoning in Old Testament
Another example is stoning. This still occurs in Muslim countries, and occurred in the Bible back then.
Genocide in Old Testament
Another example is genocide. Some commands given to Joshua and the soldiers were to kill everybody, man, woman, child and even animals.
Polygamy in Old Testament
Another example is polygamy. Women were definitely mistreated. As a matter of fact, Matthew 19 showed that if a man with many wives had a wife who offended him even the least, the man had the right to divorce. This was real male chauvinism.
Why would people want to become Christians if all these were happening in the Bible? Richard Dawkins actually described the God of the Bible as one of the most evil beings throughout all of fiction and mythology.
The Answer – Man’s hardness of hearts
The answer to all the above is much more simple than you think.
Matthew 19:3 “The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?”
See that? One could divorce for every cause! Pretty unfair for the women in the Old Testament!
Matthew 19:4-6 “And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”
Notice right here, no divorce and no polygamy, just one man and one woman. This was what God intended. So why would the Old Testament allow this then?
Matthew 19:7-8 “They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.”
The simple answer to this is not blaming the God of the Bible. It was man’s fault. It was because of man’s hardness of hearts.
We live in different time periods
Why do atheists only pick on Jews during that time period? Weren’t there many other nations practising these too?
That’s why we believe in dispensationalism. That’s why the New Testament is different from the Old Testament. We don’t do these things today. The time period of man, culture and nations have changed. These practices were normal in the Old Testament, but it is regarded as atrocious and inhumane today. Today’s practices in the New Testament would likewise be regarded as abnormal and unusual to the Old Testament individual. It is not about the God of the Bible, it is about man.
God is merciful and gracious. God did not intend for these practices to be so, but He allowed these atrocious and inhumane practices to carry on because of the hardness of man’s heart. God is tolerating what mankind wants in his culture, even if He did not like it.
Do you know what cultures and practices God approves? Up in heaven, there is no slavery, no stoning, no genocide, no polygamy.
Cultures and practices change with time. In America, people forced Euro-centric white culture back then. All nations and cultures all differ today. But the atheists will argue that only the culture in the Bible is a problem. That is discrimination. The atheists are prejudiced!
Even under grace in the New Testament, people still complain and whine about newly taught practices. Christians still whine and complain about what is sinful and worldly. Mankind is the problem, not the God of the Bible.
These inhumane practices were normal for time periods back then. God never wanted these types of societies to begin with. He wanted it like the Garden of Eden. Perfection. But because of mankind’s sin and problems, both societal and economic, God allowed some of these inhumane practices to be maintained. These had to be balanced out with what was best for the society.
One example would be where genocide was permitted. How would God balance this with benefits to society? When the Israelites were moving in the land of Canaan, those people were practising beastiality and sodomy, spreading numerous diseases. Without condoms and healthcare back then, genocide would be a way to help eliminate diseases. God used this normal practice back then to enforce rules and benefit the society for that time period.
All these things that God permitted was not His intention. And somehow He will use it for His glory. God is so brilliant that He is not going to let anything not go for His glory. Even the most extreme practice can be used for His glory.