Genesis 38:6-7 - Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the LORD's sight; so the LORD put him to death.
By nature, I am wicked in God's sight. But through faith in Jesus and what he did to save me from the consequences of that wickedness, I am holy in God's sight.
So Er could not have been what today we'd call a Christian. He didn't believe in the promised Savior, the Messiah.
But a lot of people didn't believe in the Messiah, and God didn't put all of them to death. So I wonder if this was some particularly heinous wickedness that Er was guilty of.
How did the people know that "the LORD put him to death"? That seems to be a more pointed statement than simply saying that he died. Did he die in some unusual way that made this obvious? Did God reveal to the people that he had put Er to death specifically because of this wickedness?
I wonder if the particular wicked act(s) or lifestyle are not mentioned so that no one today can copy that form of wickedness on purpose -- just to see if the result would be the same; that is, to tempt God and put him to the test. There are plenty of other ways people have found to do that. They don't need additional suggestions.
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