Why did God kill King David's baby son as a punishment?

This story REALLY bothered me. And it's not like God caused the child to be stillborn. He gave it an agonizing disease which took a week to do the 'job'. The whole time David is PLEADING with God to kill him instead of his innocent child.

I just don't see how people can see this as compatible with a loving and just God. Sick and disgusting is what it is.

I think you're all missing the point. First off to the atheist who's grateful to not be under the mosaic law, are you Jewish? Because if not you wouldn't be under that law anyways. Also, there is not rape and murder and whatever else under the law. You are misinformed.

Next concerning the judges horror story of the concubine.... That was bit sanctioned by god in any way. The point of judges was that when every one does "what is right in their own eyes" it is disastrous. It's about the depravity of man.

the problem is people assume that "god's word" is a written word. They assume that Jewish people who have created their own testimonies of the kind of god they believed in were accurate. You have Jewish people who claim "this is how their god acted" yet it doesn't match up with logic. You have a "son of god" coming to show the true nature of god and it's in direct conflict with the god of the OT that the Jews worshiped. One is right and the other is wrong. Stop assuming that the bible is the word of God and remember that it's testimonies of men and what men believed.

By that reasoning, why isnt almost every American citizen stricken with cancer right now? Almost everyone has been cheated on at some point. Why is God striking older men and woman with cancer? Why isn't he striking the younger unfaithful husbands and wives? Not only is it poor logic, but it is very sick and twisted

The Bible tells us what life was like 3000 years ago. We can study those stories and determine the RIGHT thing to do in our own lives. Don't you agree that life today is remarkably similar to the stories we read in the Hebrew Bible?

When Nobel Prize winner Isaac Rabi was asked to what he attributed his success, he said he always remembered that every day when he came home from school his mother would ask him, "Did you ask any good questions today?" What he imbibed was that we ultimately gain more from questions than answers. Answers bring a subject to a close; questions open us up to ever more profound and deeper understanding. That perhaps more than anything else may explain Jewish genius. From youth we explore the Torah, Talmud and commentaries with inquisitive minds encouraged to ask even when no clear response is in sight. To do otherwise would be to imply that our faith cannot withstand scrutiny, that our commitment to God is so tenuous that it is afraid of critical analysis.

In Judaism, we are taught to think, to ask questions, and to be skeptical; we are encouraged not to accept things on faith, but to look for proof. This constitutes one of the biggest differences between Judaism and Christianity. While faith plays a vital role, Judaism places great emphasis on learning and education!

.

Boy if this story bothers you, I'd hate to see how you react to the story of the Levite man and his concubine in the Benjaminite town... brutal stuff. I believe it's in Judges.

Yikes, I had forgotten about that story.

The problem for Christians is that their version of God is very different from the God of the OT. They continually come up with ways around it, but in the end, sound a little crazy, ie...angel of death does the killing, God only allows it and watches, and that makes it ok.

In reality, the nature of God as described in the scriptures is horrific. Plain and simple, and humans either have to accept that, and worship him anyway. Or realize that people with moral standards that included animal sacrifice, may not have been correct in their notions of what created the universe, and in what constitutes a moral life.

In reality humanity has evolved, physically, socially and morally since the OT was written and the law was established, and it is time to reject it as old fashioned, flawed human thought, and not try to justify our way around it with more old fashioned, flawed human thought.

the mosaic law which david was under clearly stated an eye for an eye,it also says what ever a man is sowing this he will also reap. david knew exactly what he was doing he allowed a wrong desire to manifest into commiting his sin . god is righteous and not the way we see things is how he sees them . when nathan the prophet told david the story of the man with one sheep and how the greedy man who had lots of sheep took his only one davids response was that man was deserving of death not realising that nathan was talking about him . just remember one there is that is judge , its normal to ask why but don't fall into the trap of thinking u know better than HIM

The Lord gives, and receives lives, he does not kill. The death of the child got the message across to David, and his return to obedience cleansed his heart and soul. King David fully realized God's disappointment in his hidden sinful doings.

http://www.commontruth.com/DavidBaby.html read this it helps explain