I can understand that you wonder about the goodness of God in
this story. Judging by modern standards, we could explain it by
saying that these were primitive people with a primitive
understanding with whom God was dealing. But I wonder if today
we are any more sophisticated or moral, what with multiple wars
and slaughtering of innocent civilians, reluctance to go to the
aid of starving or warring nations and a general lack of respect
for creation. With that thought as a backdrop, let's look at the
situation in this episode. To appreciate what happened, we have
to understand a little about the Israelites' service to God. God
had made a covenant with the Israelites to be their God, taking
care of them while they would be God's people. This entailed
certain obligations for the Israelites. Among them was the duty
of responding to the call of a charismatic leader to go to war.
It tested their loyalty to God and faith in God leading them
into battle. Obey the covenant The number of fighting men and
the kind of wea