I’m at loss in explaining to teenagers why God destroyed communities of people in the Old Testament. In Genesis we see the Great Flood and the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Exodus we experience the plagues and Passover Ritual of death of the first-born. When discussing the Ten Commandments, how can he He justify destroying all these people when it specifically states “Thou shalt not kill”? If he is a forgiving God, why did he not forgive them for the way they chose to live?
To be precise, the commandment says “murder,” not “kill.”
But as other posters have noted, you’re also assuming that the obligations in covenants apply mutually. They don’t. It would be strange, for example, if Abraham promised God a a son in his wife’s old age, provided that God and his entire household underwent circumcision.
I think it’s better to look at Genesis as a story, and you look at the way God and mankind interact like characters, rather than as events that literally happened exactly as they are told.
To answer your question, I think God could have forgiven Sodom and Gomorrah for example, or the pre-Flood generation, but forgiveness presumes that the offending party wants repentance. There’s an interesting interpretation of the pre-Flood generation and Sodom – these societies were so indulgent of wickedness, that indulgence was the center of their lives.
But even in these wicked societies there’s the best of the bunch – in the pre-Flood world, Noah more righteous than anyone else in his generation. God chooses Noah for that reason–as the most righteous human of his generation, he is supposed to be an example for basic righteousness of mankind after the Flood. Hence, God makes a covenant with Noah: God will never destroy mankind again, and mankind will follow the 7 laws of Noah–don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, etc. It seems to me, if these laws are a standard of righteous behaviour after the Flood, that perhaps there was rampant murder, adultery, and theft (amongst other things) before the flood.
For Sodom and Gomorrah, the text says that their wickedness is “exceeding grievousness.” There’s an interpretation based on this passage (not the best translation) that says Sodom’s wickedness was as profound as God’s goodness (quite evil).
Now despite these societies’ wickedness – I believe God would have forgiven them, if they repented. Both societies certainly had a chance before doomsday. Noah was the pre-Flood generation’s model of decency (
relatively; the text says he was “decent” compared to everyone else, so he would have stood out). His generation could have imitated him and avoided the catastrophe. And, they had a chance to repent during the years that Noah was constructing the ark.
And like Noah’s generation, Sodom and Gomorrah had Lot as a model of decency to follow. (And like Noah, Lot was only “decent” compared to everyone around him…the man still slept with his daughters, which makes you wonder about what everyone else did). Perhaps, if the Sodomites have left Lot and the angels alone, perhaps if they turned away from that last opportunity to commit wickedness, God would been a little merciful. After all, Abraham urged God to cut Sodom a
little slack. But I don’t think God would allow such a profound evil as Sodom or Noah’s generations to exist so unashamedly in his presence, defying his will, desecrating his name, and threatening to corrupt his creation.
