(September 28, 2012 at 8:44 pm)teaearlgreyhot Wrote:(September 28, 2012 at 8:32 pm)Polaris Wrote: It means he let them go worship other gods. Since they wanted to worship other gods, He let them follow the statues of those religions to demonstrate what folly they actually were....it was an issue of the "grass is always greener."
If the Israelites thought they were sacrificing to other gods, then that defeats the whole point of God "horrifying" and "defiling" them in order to know he was "Lord." They would be "horrified" and "defiled" by Molech or whatever pagan god they would have been supposedly sacrificing to. Molech or whoever would be the one filling the Israelites with horror, not Yahweh.
The idea of God letting the Israelites sacrifice to other gods to make the Israelites "know he is lord" doesn't make sense.
Once the Israelites realized that Molech, Baal and the other gods they were following could not get them out of the mess they made for themselves, they would have to turn and face the one true God and His punishment that was to come.
God loves those who believe and those who do not and the same goes for me, you have no choice in this matter. That puts the matter of total free will to rest.
