Why was it, when men were about to be confronted with their enemies and they were afraid for their lives, they'd put their livestock in front of them, then their children and their wives/concubines, and then themselves?  This seems like a very cowardly act to me, and I've pondered it quite a while now.

Could it have been that they were showing the enemy just how much they had, or was it that they were simply afraid, and they were willing to sacrifice what was in front of them instead of being brave and defending their family and their livestock?

I also think it was horrible when different men would have other men they were scared of knocking at their door and demanding they send out certain men/visitors, and the man inside would say, “I've got this virgin daughter, or I've got my wife or concubine in here; let me send them out, but leave these men alone.” WOW. What in the world were they thinking?

Sincerely, Women And Children First

Dear Women And Children First,

The women and children went first as a sign of subservience and a reminder of the fact that these men had families to care for – that is why Jacob did it.The story you indicated occurs in Genesis chapter 32 and 33.Jacob’s brother, Esau, had been bitterly angry with him ever since Jacob got Esau’s birthright and blessing from their father, Isaac (Gen 27:36).Esau had attempted to kill Jacob when they were younger (Gen 27:42).It had been decades since the two brothers last saw each other, but Jacob still feared his brother’s wrath (Gen 32:11).Jacob sent livestock ahead as gifts to his brother (Gen 32:13-18).He then sent his wives and children, Esau’s nieces and nephews (Gen 33:1-2).Jacob went last in order to show his humility and lowliness.It was an act of peace, not a defensive war-time tactic.

In the case of men offering their daughters and concubines up for rape… that just shows the degradation of their character.In both cases where that happened (Sodom – Gen 19:8 and Gibeah – Judg 19:24), the societies were so utterly immoral that they were destroyed not long after.Sodom was destroyed directly by God (Gen 19:24), and Gibeah was destroyed by Israel (Judg 20:43).Both of those societies were condemned by man and God for their degenerate evil ways.The Bible records the history of these societies, but that doesn’t mean it condones them.

     Paul says that those who practice bad doctrine should be "delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh" (1 Cor 5:5) as he did to Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Tim 1:20).  I know several such individuals.  I need to know the DETAILS of HOW I am to deliver them to Satan.  As a follower of the "inspired" words of Paul, how do YOU PERSONALLY deliver people to Satan?  What technique do you use to destroy their flesh?  Like John Calvin did to Michael Severtus in Geneva maybe?  A slow burning at the stake?  Please give me the details of how I can effectively follow this well-established and "inspired" Christian doctrine.

Sincerely,
Burn, Baby, Burn

Dear Burn, Baby, Burn,

1^st Corinthians chapter five discusses the process of a church withdrawing from a Christian who is living a sinful life.  In 1 Cor 5:5, it says that the erring Christian should be delivered to Satan for the destruction of his flesh.  If that was the only verse we had, we would just have to scratch our heads and wonder what Paul was talking about… but that isn’t the only verse.  Just a few sentences down, Paul explains that how we deliver someone back to Satan is by not associating with them (1 Cor 5:9) and removing them from the congregation’s ranks (1 Cor 5:13).  The good company and support of the church is a blessing that Christians enjoy and really appreciate; by removing that blessing from an unrepentant brother, hopefully, it will wake him up and show him that he needs to change.

If the church doesn’t act, it will have to answer to God because it didn’t stand up for the truth.  Paul told the Corinthians that they were arrogant for not addressing their errant member (1 Cor 5:2), and he warned them that if they didn’t act, the church would eventually be rotted away by sin (1 Cor 5:6-7).  A church that won’t stand by the truth is bound to fall away from the Lord and cease to be a faithful church.  When a Christian is living in sin, they are responsible for their own behavior, but if the church doesn’t warn them, they have sinned as well (Ezek 3:18-19).

     Did Moses, Noah, or Aaron wear the coat of many colors?

Sincerely,
Color Me Confused

Dear Color Me Confused,

The guy that you are thinking of is Joseph.  Joseph was given a beautiful multi-colored coat by his father, Jacob (Gen 37:3).  That coat, and the attitude of being daddy’s favorite, got Jacob into a whole lot of trouble with his brothers.  Eventually, Joseph’s other brothers threw him into a pit and sold him into slavery (Gen 37:23-28).

What do you think of taking holy communion in our homes on a daily basis?

Sincerely, Regular Remembrance

Dear Regular Remembrance,

Taking communion is a weekly thing – no more, no less.Christ told us that whenever we take the Lord’s Supper, we should do it in remembrance of Him (Lk 22:19), but He never said how often.It isn’t until the book of Acts that we see how often the church observed the Lord’s Supper.In Acts 20:7 we see that christians ‘broke the bread’ in remembrance of Christ on Sundays.That is when they did it, so that is when we do it.

Paul says that we are to take the Lord’s Supper when the church is gathered together (1 Cor 11:20).Taking the Lord’s Supper is an act of worship done by every congregation of the Lord each Sunday.When we take a look at all the teaching on the Lord’s Supper, we get the truth (Ps 119:160).Christ commands that we do it in remembrance of Him, the church gives us the example of doing it on the first day of the week, and Paul teaches that we should do it when we are assembled as a church.

Can a person grow to be as smart as King Solomon? Is it impossible?

Sincerely, Searching For Wisdom

Dear Searching For Wisdom,

Solomon’s capacity for wisdom was unique and given to him miraculously as a gift from God (1 Kgs 4:29).The Bible states that no one ever was or will be as wise as Solomon (1 Kgs 3:12).We may never attain Solomon’s stature of wisdom, but God still provides a vast well of wisdom for everyone to drink from.The Proverbs teach that God’s wisdom is available for all if we will seek it (Pr 1:20-23).God tells us that if we pray for wisdom, He will give it to us (Jas 1:5).There was only one Solomon, but there is still a whole world of wisdom available in the Bible for the rest of us (Col 3:16).