Stupid question, I know. But is killing a sin when God does it? In the OT. What about anger? Like what he said in the sermon in the mount. But he got mad and made a whip and ran the money changers out of the temple.
You can tell when I’m actively praying and reading my Bible cause I end up coming on here with all my questions. Again I’m so sorry. I just don’t have anyone irl to ask.
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Don’t be sorry! These are great questions.
One thing to note about anger: anger itself isn’t a sin. We’re told to be “slow to anger,” that is, patient. But there are things that can and should make us angry, just as Jesus was at certain points. Even killing itself isn’t strictly a sin, the ten commandments specifically condemn murder (unjust killing). Though unlike anger, I don’t think Jesus ever condoned killing anyone.
In terms of the OT fire-and-brimstone and genocide, there are a few lines of thought among Christians that I know. One line of thought is that God has the ultimate authority to destroy what he has created if he sees fit–he is the only one who has the authority to decide these things (thus when humans decide on their own to kill people, it’s not justified). The other lines of thought suggest that God himself wasn’t the one summoning fire and brimstone, but cities like Sodom wouldn’t listen to him and were destroyed because of it (this is a more liberal interpretation of the biblical accounts).
Generally speaking, since Jesus came to earth, God hasn’t resorted to directly or indirectly killing people, so I don’t see any justification for that today. But anger is still very much justified, we just need to be careful to direct it properly. Instead of directing our anger at people (who are fellow creations made in God’s image and who God wants to redeem), direct it at the brokenness and unjust systems that are the root of it all.
