“Umm, Er?”

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

In Gen 38:7, it says that Er was very wicked, and God put him to death.  My question is: what did he do that was so bad that God came down Himself to kill Er personally?  And how did God kill him?  Most of the time it says how (i.e. pillar of salt, flood, or the ground swallowing up the Israelites)… but nothing about Er.  Thanks.

Sincerely,
Cause Of Death

Dear Cause Of Death,

Gen 38:7 is a general statement about Er’s character and the consequences of being wicked.  The Bible never tells us specifically what Er did that made him so wicked.  There are lots of details that the Bible leaves out.  In Jhn 21:25, the apostle John says that he didn’t write down every detail of Christ’s life, just the ones important for us.  It is the same way with Er.  God didn’t deem it important for us to know the details of Er’s sins, just that he was wicked.

The same principle applies to the statement that God “slew Er”.  The Bible doesn’t tell us how God did it.  He may have personally done it, but God may also have used angels (like with Assyria – 2 Chr 32:21), He might have used natural circumstances (like with Jehoram – 2 Chr 21:18-19), or God might have used other men to do His bidding (like when He sent the Chaldeans to attack Judah – Hab 1:6).  The point is, Er died because God made it happen – the specifics are left out.

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