Did God command them sacrifices or not????
Jer 7:21-22 Thus says the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. (22) For in the day that I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I DID NOT SPEAK TO THEM OR COMMAND THEM CONCERNING BURNT OFFERINGS AND SACRIFICES.
1Sam 66:3-4 (One of the several authors of Isaiah) "He who slaughters an ox is like him who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb...... THESE HAVE CHOSEN THEIR OWN WAYS and their soul delights in their abominations;..... because when I called, no one answered, when I spoke they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes and chose that in which I did not delight."
Hosea 6:6 "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings."
Micah 6:6-8 "With what shall I come before the LORD... Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?.... with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression.... (8) He has told you, 0 mortal, what is good: and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"
Lev 23:27 On the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

In the JE verse, God was saying He didn’t just tell them to do the sacrifices, but also to obey and love Him. In 1 Sam, He was saying the same thing, He was pointing out that they were doing the sacrifices in vain because without your heart being in the right place, the motions are meaningless. This again is backed up by Hosea, Micah and many, many more passages in the Bible. Please take time to read the verses before and after these given passages and you will see that what I’m saying is easily read.

Was it Satan or God who caused David to number the people??
2Sam 24:1, God caused David to number the people.
1Chron 21:1 it is Satan who causes David to do this most evil thing.

In both passages, the word “incite” was used. The Hebrew word means “to soothely seduce.” God used Satan to “incite” David into counting the population. It’s a lot like Job where God allowed Satan to do his evil.

Did God command to sacrifice children?

Ezek20:25-26 Moreover I GAVE THEM STATUTES THAT WERE NOT GOOD and ordinances by which they could not live. (26) I defiled them through their very gifts, IN THEIR OFFERING UP ALL THEIR FIRSTBORN in order that I might horrify them, so that they might know that I am the Lord.
Jere 32:34-35 They set up their abominations in the house that bears my name, and defiled it. (35) They built the high places of Baal in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, NOR DID IT ENTER MY MIND that they should do this abomination, causing Judah to sin.

In Ezek 20-the statutes He gave them over to were the statutes the Israelites were already following by worshipping “other gods.” He “released” them to the statues so that they could see how horrifying they really were. In other words, He stepped out of the way and let them learn for themselves. In Jer, it shows apparently that the “god” they were following after was Molech. It was not God’s idea they should do this, He again just let them follow their hearts without Him stepping in the way. Again, read the whole passage.

Does God repent?
Numb 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie: neither the son of man, that he should repent.
Exod 32:14 And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

The word “repent” in Hebrew (nacham) means “to sigh or breathe strongly-ease oneself.” In Numbers, the passage was spoken by Balaam who was trying to save his own skin from the king Balak. Balaam was prophesying because the king asked him to, not because God had originally told him to and Balaam was offered money to do this. These are highly unfavorable in God’s view. Balaam went three times to God to get Him to change His mind about the blessing, but on this God stood firm. These were His words to Balak, He had made a covenant with Israel who was behaving themselves at this time and the covenant was to bless them when they were keeping up their end of the covenant. When it comes to covenants, God will NEVER change His mind.

Has anyone seen or heard God?
Gen 3:9-10 And the Lord called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid. 3068-Jehovah
John 5:37 Ye hath neither heard his voice, at any time, nor seen his shape. 2316 Theos
Exod 24:9-11 Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. And they saw the God of Israel...They saw God, and did eat and drink. 420-Elohim
I Tim Whom no man hath seen nor can see. 2316-Theos
Gen 12:7 But the Lord appeared to Abram and said........so he [Abram] built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 3068 Jehovah
Gen 17:1 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him 3068 Jehovah
Gen 18:1 The Lord appeared to Abram. 3068 Jehovah
Gen 26:2 The Lord appeared to Isaac 3068 Jehovah
Gen 32:30 It is because I saw God face to face and yet my life was spared. [Jacob] 430 Elohim
Exod 6:2-3 God said, “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord, I did not make myself known to them.” 3068 Jehovah
Exod 33:11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. 3068 Jehovah
Job 42:5 Job said....”my ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.” 3068 Jehovah
Amos 7:7-8 “The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true....[said by Amos] 136 Adonai
Amos 9:1 Again Amos saw the Lord was standing by the altar. 136 Adonai
Exod 33:20 God said. “But you cannot not see my face, for no one may see me and live...Then the Lord said...then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” 3068-Jehovah
John 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side had made him known. 2316 Theos
1John 4:12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love each other.... 2316 Theos

I've always heard that when the Lord was seen in the Old Testament, it was always Jesus. Jesus did say that "if you have seen me, you have seen my Father."

Is God good?
Psalms 145:6 The Lord is good to all. I
Isaiah 45:7 I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things.

God is good to all. Don’t you have food, rain, etc. Evil in Hebrew means “affliction” If you experience this evil, did you do something to deserve it? Granted, some seem to see affliction that didn’t deserve it (Job for example), but without stress (and God won’t allow more than what you can handle), you would wither away and die. And this idea comes from a psychology class I had in college.

Does God’s anger last forever?
Jer 3:12... for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever.
Jer 17:4 Ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn forever.

The fire burns forever, not His anger. However.....the term “ever” means “time out of mind, concealed” not eternally as the English word implies.

Was what God created good?
Gen 1:31 And God saw everything that he made, and behold it was very good.
Gen 6:6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on earth, and it grieved him at his heart

What God created was good, including man, but what man did and has done by his own decisions is not good. Anyway, God became disgusted at our own actions and decisions, not His. And remember the word “repented” simply means “to sigh, ease oneself” in Hebrew.

Can God do all things?
Matt 29:26 With God all things are possible
Judges 1:19 And the Lord was with Judah, and he drove out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

It seems that the Benjaminites, not Judah, couldn’t drive them out. Or maybe, if it was talking about the men of Judah, they had lost faith and became arrogant and turned to themselves to carry out the task. If we turn our backs on God and start doing things ourselves, God will stop helping.

Does God lie or deceive?
Num 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie
Deut 7:9-10 Know therefore that the Lord you God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands....[I add the rest of the verse......but those who hate him He will repay to their face by destruction]
Titus 1:2 which God, who does not lie,
Numb 14:30 Not one of you will enter in the land I swore with an uplifted hand to make......
1Sam 16:2-God told Samuel to tell Saul he was coming to make a sacrifice.....you are to anoint for me the one I indicate.... [David]
Prov 30:5 Every word of God proves true. Do not add to them or God will rebuke you and prove you a liar.
Jere 8:8 How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely.”.
Jere 20:7 Jeremiah says the Lord deceived him and overpowered him and prevailed.
Ezek 14:9 God says he will deceive [or mislead] prophets who separates themselves from Him.
2 Thes2:11-12 God himself deceives people to believe a lie.
Prov 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.

God does not lie, but He will deceive. Please read on for definiation of "deceive"...In the NU 14:30 verse, the covenant was to obey Him and then He will do this.....they didn’t obey, He didn’t have to keep the covenant from that point on, but He was loving enough to give their generations chance after chance after chance. For Number 23:19, see question 4 of this section. I Sam, God did not tell him to lie, He just provided a way for Samuel to go there without a problem. Prov 25 is simply God giving us mysteries and it’s a great honor to search out the truth and find it. Jeremiah 20, Jeremiah was complaining that he wasn’t told about how hard it was gong to be as a prophet, but look at Jer 1:10-God did tell him. Jeremiah was just being human here. Ezek 14:9 “deceive” in Hebrew pathah means “to make simple”. He’s not lying, He just took away their brain functions to reason. In 2 Thes., again God is not telling a lie, but letting the wicked believe one.

Is God Confusion?
1 Corin 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
2 Thes 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

In 1 Corin, God doesn’t cause the confusion in the churches of the saints (true churches), so these churches that have disruptions, etc. are not following God and His way. Also, in this verse, “the author” was added by the scribes, therefore the verse reads.....For God is not the confusion, but peace, as in all churches of the saints. In 2 Thes, “them” is not the church. They’re the unrighteous. And this verse is explained in the previous question.

Does God change His mind?
Gen 6:6. The Lord was grieved that He had made man on earth, and His heart was filled with pain.
Exod 32:14 Then the Lord relented and did not bring to his people the disaster he had threatened.
Numb 14:20 The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked.”
1Sam 15:35 And the Lord was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.
2Sam 24:16 When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.”
Amos 7:3 So the Lord relented
Numb 23:19-20 “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill? I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it.” [said by Balak]
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Mala 3:6 I the Lord do not change.
1Sam 15:29 He who is the glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.

Numbers 23 is explained in the 4th question of this section. It is based on a covenant between God and Abraham-if you will obey me and love me, I will bless you, if you do not, I will turn from you. James is about His righteousness and what He wants. Malachi, again, about the covenant. 1 Sam-this was another agreement between Saul and God (1 Samuel 12:14-15) Saul broke the covenant and wanted it changed.

So in reading all these verses, you will find that if it is bound by a covenant, then God will NOT change His mind. But if it is about something He is or might do, then if you can show Him good reason, or even show Him you WANT IT, then He will relent.

Does God “sow discord”?
Gen 11:7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.
Prov 6:16-19 Six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable......a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

Prov 6 says it “among brothers”-the people of Babel were not the brothers that Solomon was talking about-they were wicked people who thought they could do anything that they wanted.

Is God all-knowing?
Gen 18:20-21 God decides to "go down" to see what is going on.
Prov 15:3, Jere 16:17, 23:24-25, Heb 4:13 God is everywhere. He sees everything. Nothing is hidden from his view.

First, nowhere does it say God, but the Lord which could be Jesus. Prov 15 says the “eyes of the Lord in every place, Jer 16 “mine eyes are everywhere, nothing is hidden from my face, neither is their iniquity hidden from my eyes.” Jer 23-”Do not I fill the earth” Heb 4 “not manifest in my sight” Zech 4:10 Zech saw the eyes of the Lord as being seven which “run to and fro through the whole earth.”. This is one perception I feel should be left up to the reader!

Does God forgive and forget?
Exod 34:6-7 gracious God....forgiving sin.... yet does not leave the guilty unpunished.
Jere 31:34 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.

Example, a son steals something from their father and mother. He asks for forgiveness, and then pays them back for the stolen item(s). Even though he paid for it, he is still “forgiven” and then the whole issue is forgotten. Debt paid, debt forgotten.......Only way forgiveness works completely....true forgiveness, not complete denial as some would believe.

Does God or Satan inflict sickness?
Numb 11:33 God inflicts sickness.
Job 2:7 Satan inflicts sickness.

Not a conflict, both do! And there are a lot more passages one could use...

Where does God dwell?
1Kings 8:13, Acts 7:47 Solomon, whom God made the wisest man ever, built his temple as an abode for God.
Acts 7:48-49 God does not dwell in temples built by men.

The temple was a dwelling place for the “name of God” and when God made His presence known, He often would be in the temple. The temple is like the church today, it’s a special place we can go to feel closer to God.

Who created the heavens and earth?
Isaiah 44:24 God created heaven and earth alone. God says “I alone”
John 1:1-3 Jesus took part in creation.

“Jehovah who has made all things, along stretched out the heavens who spread out the earth by myself.” Apparently, God alone stretched the heavens and earth, but through Jesus, He created all things. Isaiah did not say God alone made all things.

What about Tyre?
Ezek 26:15-21 God says that Tyre will be destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and will never be found again. (Nebudchanezzar failed to capture or destroy Tyre. It is still inhabited.)

Is 23 tells that Tyre will survive, but will not be powerful or wealthy again. Ez 29 says Nebuchadnezzar “every head rubbed bare and every shoulder made raw.” Ez 26 doesn’t say Nebuchadnezzar destroys it, but runs it down, but he won’t destroy it. God’s apparently not done with Tyre-see vs 19 & 20. Also “found” means “to come forth.”

Does God judge?
John 5:22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,
Rom 2:2-5 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth......do you think you will escape God’s judgment?
Rom 3:19 the whole world held accountable to God.
2Thes 1:5 All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right.....
1Peter 1:17 Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially......

God has passed the actual judgment onto Jesus, but like all judges, Jesus will use God’s bylaws and punishment standards.

Who is the god of this age?
1Corin 8:4 There is only one God.
2Corin 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.

Money is called a “god”, but it’s not God. “The god of this age” is referring to the being that the people were worshipping.