[johngrace]

Really?

Of course he is bound by his own morals and integrity. The question is not rescinded but what is veneration and worship. Or worship? Otherwise why have angels on the ark. Could it be It is like a photo of family. Do I worship it or honor my family member. Hello!

Do I look at the angels or think of God above who has Angels in the heavenly Host. Even though the ark is below God. I am worshiping his presence above the ark. The ark is an instrument of God.

"When God commanded the Israelites to slay every man, woman, and child in Canaan, that did not mean that the commandment against murder was rescinded."

So now he is a murderer? What?

The canaanites sacrificed Children also child prostitution if I remember. Also did everything wrong as it gets. So God being the Judge of humanity has this right. He is also judging a soul in the person. But no way is he violating his own integrity/Holiness.

Also we are mortals. He is God. There is more going on with God than just what a mortal perspective can see. But do not ever think He goes against his own Holiness/Intergrity.

This is your statement!

"It amazes me that some people can’t see that God can make a general prohibition binding on man, but is not bound by it Himself, due to His sovereignty. His sovereignty also allows Him to grant specific license, as He sees fit, to specific men, to violate a general prohibition in certain circumstances."

NO WAY!!!

HE IS THAT HOLY!!!

TRY NOT TO THINK IT OUT WITHOUT HIS HOLINESS. TRUST IN HIM

Proverbs 3:5-6

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

[johngrace]

I John 1:5

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Psalm 145:17

The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

I Samuel 2:2

There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.

Isaiah 6:3

And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

John 17:11

And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

Revelation 4:8

And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

I Peter 1:16 - 25

Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

[Boogieman]

You’re conflating matters here by confusing all of God’s commandments with the issue of and “morals and integrity”, which is far too simplistic. If you start off by confusing the question, you can’t arrive at any sensible answers. There are commandments that God made which are strictly matters of morality, and in those cases, of course God doesn’t violate that morality, since He is the epitomy of goodness.

On other matters, God commands us on matters that may be moral issues for us, but not for Him. Take, for example, “Thou shalt not steal”. Well it is impossible for God to steal, since everything in creation belongs to Him, therefore it is foolish to consider this as some kind of moral prohibition that could possibly bind God. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away, but in no way can anyone consider him taking something away, no matter how fairly earned by man, stealing.

Then, there are matters that God commanded which may not have a moral component at all, for men, or for God, but which for men are matters of obedience to God. When God commanded Jonah to go to Ninevah, it did not mean that not going to Ninevah is an immoral act in and of itself, but rather, that disobeying this command, in this specific instance, would be immoral simply due to disobedience.

“So now he is a murderer? What?”

Of course not. Your question shows your confusion about my example, so let me explain further. Under ordinary circumstances, God’s commandment not to murder would have prohibited the wholesale slaughter by the Israelites of the Canaanites down the last man, woman, and child, without regard to guilt or innocence, simply of their (the Israelite’s) own volition. However, since, in this circumstance, God commanded that the act be done, this specific command overrides the more general prohibition in the Mosaic law.

It’s not an issue of whether God commited murder (that’s an impossibility in the first place), it’s an issue of whether the Israelites were allowed to commit acts, by specific commandment, which would normally be prohibited as murder by the general commandment. They clearly were allowed, since the specific commandment gave them license, just as sovereign governments grant specific licenses to do things which would more generally be prohibited.

Now, how does this apply to the issue of idolatry? Well, people offer examples of the carvings on the Ark, and on the Temple, and the bronze serpent, as evidence that the 2nd commandment didn’t really forbid making all graven images. This is nonsense. Those examples were only allowed because they were specifically commandment by God. In other words, in those cases, and only cases where such specific commandments were given, God granted license to ignore the general prohibition against making graven images. Had the Israelites taken it upon themselves to make graven images without receiving such license, as they did on many occasions, they would have been, and in fact were, judged by God for their violations of the general prohibition.