Beheadings And The Bible

Beheadings and the Bible

http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/beheading.html

Decapitations are horrific. They are the essence of nightmares. From legends like Sleepy Hollow to serial killers who lop off victim's heads, this is the stuff of Halloween scare houses. The image evokes some of the deepest human fear you can imagine.

How do you feel about the real beheadings in the news?

Journalists like Foley and Sotloff [Pearl], and others from partners in fighting ISIS like the French and British.

It's barbaric! It is ghoulish terror, intended to be spread virally, and to invoke fear. They are ghastly savages. The Bible calls them "The Wild Man." [children of Ishmael]

ill.--another video recently showed a fighter in Syria disemboweling one of his victims, removing his heart and liver, and eating them! Even more shocking was the revelation that he is one of the Syrian rebels we are arming to fight AGAINST ISIS! They ALL qualify as "The Wild Man."

And yet beheading is their preferred method of execution even for the thousands of Christians and other 'infidels' they are slaughtering, and that without the media attention.

They are known as the “people of the sword.” They need no guillotines to accomplish their macabre deeds. In fact, according to many cultural sources, there is an Arab tradition that there is honor in the sword. For many centuries, Arabs have boasted about their bravery in the imagery of the sword.

Arab countries practice capital punishment by beheading. In Saudi Arabia, this practice is sanctioned to the point that some beheadings are public affairs. This is quite understandable as a demonstration of state power. After, all, the “Sword of Islam,” is the image emblazoned on the Saudi Arabian flag. They are a so-called 'coalition member' in the fight against ISIS [first Muslim pilot to join the fight was shunned by her family]. But they aren't against the evil being done, rather, they are against this brand of their religion which is killing other Muslims...like them!

Two weeks ago a Muslim in Moore, OK beheaded a co-worker. He had been fired for proselyting. The media has done its best to say it was because of the firing, and not about Islam. We know better. Their books [Quran / Hadith] command killing of those who do not believe, and specifically call for beheading as a preferred method ... not just for the public message it sends to others, but also simply as the method of preference.

We are mortified by this savagery. But how do you feel when I tell you that the Bible is jam-packed full of beheadings and other violence? Decapitations in the OT were very common, as was the displaying of the heads ... as a token of victory and a deterrent to would-be offenders.

And it's a known fact that the Quran was largely inspired by the Bible. And so Muhammad was a 'copy cat killer' in the minds of many! "Islamic extremism is no different than Christian extremism!" some say.

What do YOU say to that? We'd better have an answer, because that is where our PC world is going with these modern issues.

Now consider this text,

1 Samuel 17:46-51

46 This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

47 And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give you into our hands.

48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

So, what is your answer to this apparent conflict in our belief system? What do you say to those who say all religion is the same, and Jehovah was a brutal murderer / ethnic cleanser?

For starters, this same David condemned beheading of the innocent in 2 Samuel 4, and then cut off the hands and feet of the offenders, and hung their bodies up for display!