Picture a woman. She is middle-aged and married with children. They all live in a big tent surrounded by their tribe, settled on grassy slopes of a hill located in the middle of a wasteland. They are nomads, traveling for pastures. They will be here for a while - there's still a lot of grass. She got married extremely young by the will of her parents but loves her husband and her four children - two teenage boys, a little girl and a baby boy.
One day she hears a noise around the tents. When she comes to see what is this confusion about, she is being told that all the men have to go to war - a rival tribe has decided to wage a battle. She meets her husband in the tent where he hugs her and tells her to take care of the children if he never returns. She holds him tight crying, but eventually has to let go. He leaves the settlement with other men as she wonders will she ever see him again.
The following days are passing by slowly. She spends her days watching children, tending the flock and cooking. As the night falls she holds her youngest boy gently thinking of his father and wanting so badly for him to grow up with his dad alive and well. As her boys and girls fall asleep she thinks of what she would do to keep them safe in this cruel times for her tribe.
The next day she was in her tent cleaning up when she heard screams. Rushing out of the tent hoping that those were screams of joy she saw an army approaching their settlement - an army not like their own. As her heart started beating like never before she started screaming the names of her children. In a few moments that seemed like eternity they all gathered around her. Then she started running uphill with her baby boy in her arms as her older boys and the little girl followed her. The army was closing up behind her and other women, children and old men searching for salvation among the caves in the hill. She ran as fast as she could but enemy roars were getting louder and louder. Her little girl was falling behind and she knew that she would be the first one to get in enemy hands - as a captive, she hoped.
In the next moment she heard her girl scream in a terrible voice and she turned to see her being speared through a belly by an enemy warrior. The little girl fell on the ground as the warrior removed the spear from her, searching for the next victim. Her heart was about to burst and she almost strangled her baby boy from the pain as she continued running uphill. She heard a male voice behind her and suddenly she was struck by a sword. She fell holding her baby in her arms while the sword was cutting her arms and her back. The soldier tried to grab the baby from her but she managed to hold it in her bloody arms using all the strength she had left. Then came the worst moment - the sword penetrated the body of her boy and the soldier finally left them to die. Eventually, with tears in her eyes, holding her mortally wounded baby boy and hearing the screams of her little girl and her boys running uphill, she lost consciousness and died. Few moments later her teenage boys were brutally killed too.
In the next moment she heard her girl scream in a terrible voice and she turned to see her being speared through a belly by an enemy warrior. The little girl fell on the ground as the warrior removed the spear from her, searching for the next victim. Her heart was about to burst and she almost strangled her baby boy from the pain as she continued running uphill. She heard a male voice behind her and suddenly she was struck by a sword. She fell holding her baby in her arms while the sword was cutting her arms and her back. The soldier tried to grab the baby from her but she managed to hold it in her bloody arms using all the strength she had left. Then came the worst moment - the sword penetrated the body of her boy and the soldier finally left them to die. Eventually, with tears in her eyes, holding her mortally wounded baby boy and hearing the screams of her little girl and her boys running uphill, she lost consciousness and died. Few moments later her teenage boys were brutally killed too.
Let's go back in time. Picture this woman a week before, sitting in her tent holding the baby as her family sleeps. It's warm inside and everybody she cares for is here, safe, sleeping. But she senses(as women sometimes do) that this is one of the last moments they will all be together. She fights the feeling but holds her baby ever so tight. In a frame of the same evening picture another settlement miles away. In this settlement there is a king called Saul, and his army lays around him. Then picture a prophet bringing him the word of THE LOVING GOD, OUR HEAVENLY FATHER:
„Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.“
And finally, picture this as the reason why this woman will be slaughtered with her children a week later, along with the rest of her tribe.
Concerning The Bible, if it is written by God, how on Earth can you explain this verse to anyone who has ever loved a human being?
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