Inquiry:
In 1 Samuel 15:3 God orders the slaughter of men, women, and children, including infants. Isn’t that a contradiction to the fact that God is reluctant to punish the innocent with the guilty (Genesis 18:23-33), especially infants and innocent children that can’t make moral choices. How is gthe killing of innocent children and infants justifed? Is there a contradiction?
Response:
Abraham plead for Sodom before the Lord, asking if there were even ten righteousness, that God not destroy it (Genesis 18:23-33). The Lord told Abraham that if ten righteous were there, He would not destroy the city. In the next chapter, Sodom is destroyed. There were not ten righteous in the city. Those who were righteous were told to leave (Genesis 19:12-16). It is hard to fathom that Sodom had fewer than ten children in it. But, if there were more than ten children, why was it destroyed? Search the Scriptures, I do not believe you will find “righteous” ever used to refer to young children.
Paul said, “I was alive once without the law” (Romans 7:9). When he was a child, he had “no knowledge of good and evil” (Deuteronomy 1:39). He refers to that time as before “the commandment came.” The righteous are those who walk lawfully, the unrighteous do not. Until one is accountable to God’s law, neither word applies.
Children killed in Sodom or Amalek were not righteous or unrighteous. Their death was a consequence of their parents sins. However, it is important that we consider the big picture. Though the lives of these young ones were cut short in this life, since they were without sin, they would be received into eternity by the Lord. Children are spiritually alive (Romans 7:9), for they have not transgressed God’s commandments. Had they continued in this life, they may have followed the way of their parents, and heaven would not be their eternal abode.
There is no contradiction.
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