The Lord is a man of war. (Exodus 15:3)
The LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war
with Amalek from generation to generation. (Exodus 17:16, Deuteronomy 25:19)
And the LORD said unto Moses, Fear him not: for
I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people ... So they smote him,
and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they
possessed his land. (Numbers 21:34-35)
For this reason The
Book of the Wars of the LORD speaks of “the town of Waheb in the area of
Suphah, and the ravines of the Arnon River,(Numbers 21:14)
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes
3:8)
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Avenge
the children of Israel of the Midianites ... And they warred against the
Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males. And the
children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones
... And they burnt all their cities.... And
Moses was wroth with the officers ... And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved
all the women alive? ... Now therefore kill every male among the little ones,
and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women
children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for
yourselves. (Numbers 31:1-18)
And the LORD our God delivered him before us;
and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we took all his cities
at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little
ones, of every city, we left none to remain: (Deuteronomy 2:33-34)
And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them
before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make
no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them. (Deuteronomy 7:2, 7:16)
Cursed are those who
refuse to do the LORD’s work, who hold back their swords from shedding blood!
(Jeremiah 48:10)
If thou shalt hear say ... Certain men ...
saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known ... Thou shalt
surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword,
destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with
the edge of the sword. (Deuteronomy 13:12-15)
When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight
against it ... And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands,
thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: But the women
... shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine
enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. ... But of the cities of these
people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt
save alive nothing that breatheth: But thou shalt utterly destroy them ... as
the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. (Deuteronomy 20:10-17)
And they utterly destroyed all that was in the
city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the
edge of the sword. (Joshua 6:21)
So Joshua smote all the country of the hills,
and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he
left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God
of Israel commanded. (Joshua 10:40)
For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts,
that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them
utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as
the LORD commanded Moses. (Joshua 11:20)
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that
which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came
up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have,
and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and
sheep, camel and ass. (1 Samuel 15:2-3)
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for
thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a
potter's vessel. (Psalm 2:8-9)
He teacheth my hands to war. (Psalm 18:34)
That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of
thine enemies, and the tongue of thy dogs in the same. (Psalm 68:23)
Blessed is he who
seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks. (psalm 137:9)
Blessed be the LORD my strength which teacheth
my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: (Psalm 144:1)
Think not that I am come to send peace on
earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. (Matthew 10:34)
He that hath
no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. (Luke 22:36)
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Hardening heart
Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens
whom he wants to harden. (Romans 9:18)
But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and
wonders in Egypt, (Exodus 7:3)
But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the LORD
your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give
him into your hands, as he has now done.( Deuteronomy 2:30)
For it was the LORD himself who hardened their hearts to wage war
against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them
without mercy, as the LORD had commanded Moses. (Joshua 11:20)
"He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can
neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn--and I
would heal them." (John 12:40)
What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not
obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened (Romans 11:7)
And the LORD said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you
perform before Pharaoh all the marvels that I have put within your power. I,
however, will stiffen his heart so that he will not let the people go. (Exodus
4:21)
Why would he ask Moses to perform miracles in front of Pharaoh when he
made his heart hard? What would be the point of that? Also, Moses performed no
miracles in front of Pharaoh it was Aaron who did it
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If Allah "guides whom He wills and misguides whom He wills,"
then where is our own free will and determination?
Guiding and misguiding is in fact a consequence of people's choices.
Allah gives people what they want out of His justice. If a person persists
in believing, He increases their guidance. If they persist in the opposite, He
increase them in what they've already chosen multiple times over. While
guidance can be a pure gift for which we did nothing to deserve it, misguidance
is always earned after many chances to accept the truth.
Regarding His saying, "Allah sealed their hearts," Ibn 'Abbas
explained, "It is they who first kept closing their hearts, until Allah
gave them what they insisted upon." His student said, "It is like a
person closes his hand one finger at a time until no light reaches the palm.
Only then does Allah seal it."
