Old Testament Heros

[KimArnold]

I'm reading the Bible cover to cover again for the first time since I was a young girl.

I have to say that my eyes have been opened to the flaws, or what I perceive as flaws, of some of our Biblical heros. I've even asked myself what society today would think of some of the things Abraham, Lot, Isaac, and Jacob did.

Some were cowardly instead of trusting God.

Did Abraham think that when God called him out to Canaan that He did so only to have him killed for his beautiful wife? Instead of trusting the Lord for his safety Abraham, not once but twice, decides to lie saying Sarah, his wife, is his sister. He would rather expose his wife to the possibility of sexual use by another man than to tell the truth and trust God to keep him safe. Isaac, proved to be a chip off the old block and followed suit with his wife Rebekah. What would we think of a man who did something like this today?

Or Lot, who when lascivious men wanted to have sex with his angelic guests he gleefully offered the mob his two virgin daughters. What would we think of a man like this today?

Did you know that the Bible says that Abraham laughed at the idea that he and Sarah would have a child (Genesis 17:17) before Sarah laughed (Genesis 18:12)? I would guess that if the Lord had asked me why did Sarah laugh I would have said it was probably the same reason Abraham did, right?

Doesn't it also seem a little strange that Esau is painted as careless about his birthright more than Jacob is painted as scheming? What sort of person encourages his hungry brother to sell him his birthright for a bowl of stew? A scheming opportunist, that's who. Not to mention that Jacob and his mother deliberately deceived Isaac. Jacob dresses up and out and out lies to his father saying he is Esau. But the deception is rewarded and the blessing is given. Why is someone of this nature/character the father of the twelve tribes of Israel?

And most of these men had more than one wife/concubine to sleep with. Perhaps marriage was originally intended to be for one man and one woman like Adam and Eve, but it quickly changed didn't it? Is it just our society that keeps men from marrying as many woman as they can provide for? Could men in today's society biblically have more than one wife and still be right with God?

I'm not a Bible scholar, so those of you who are, go easy on me. I just find it fascinating that these men seem more flawed than most good Christian men are expected to be today.

We would not tolerate many of the behaviours of the past that I've mentioned here, all done by men we consider heros of the faith...

[PaulSacramento]

I think the fact the the writers do NOT try to hide the flaws of the "heroes" of the bible ( your term not mine because I would NOT use that term) shows that they were far more honest historians than their contemporaries.
As for those people and God, we can see what God had to "work with" and it most certainly wasn't great and yet, God accomodated Himself to his audience and work with what He had, a very important lesson for the readers AND interpreters of the bible.

[KimArnold]

I think the fact the the writers do NOT try to hide the flaws of the "heroes" of the bible ( your term not mine because I would NOT use that term) shows that they were far more honest historians than their contemporaries.
As for those people and God, we can see what God had to "work with" and it most certainly wasn't great and yet, God accomodated Himself to his audience and work with what He had, a very important lesson for the readers AND interpreters of the bible.

Thanks for your comment, Paul. I think what I am getting from it is that even though no man or woman is perfect, God can use them for His purposes. I was also interested in getting views on the latter part of my post regarding marriage.

We may assume that God originally intended marriage to be between one man and one woman because that was what He started with in Adam and Eve, but many of the great men of the OT slept with more than one woman. Solomon, deemed to be a very wise man, had hundreds of wives and concubines, and God richly blessed him. Is it acceptable in a biblical sense, before God, for any man, modern or ancient, to have more than one wife as long as he can support them all and the children they would have? Again I know the answer for women, but what is the answer for men, since there does seem to be a difference?

[bippy123]

I think the fact the the writers do NOT try to hide the flaws of the "heroes" of the bible ( your term not mine because I would NOT use that term) shows that they were far more honest historians than their contemporaries.
As for those people and God, we can see what God had to "work with" and it most certainly wasn't great and yet, God accomodated Himself to his audience and work with what He had, a very important lesson for the readers AND interpreters of the bible.

Correct Paul and this is what Historians call the criterion from embaressment, which lends even more credibility to the Bible being accurate. There are tones of examples of this, such as women being the first to find the tomb of Jesus Empty on Sunday since womens testimonies in those times were considered to be worth almost nothing.