In his book, “The Bible Tells Me So…Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable To Read It”, Peter Enns wrote:

“Speaking for Christians, capturing land and holding on to it by violence is not a gospel way of living.  Christians today, therefore, have an obligation not to ‘follow the Bible’ here, not allow the ancient tribal description of God in the Old Testament to be the last word.  These ancient writers had an adequate understanding of God for them in their time, but not for all time – and if we take that to heart, we will actually be in a better position to respect these ancient voices and see what they have to say rather than whitewashing the details and making up ‘explanation’ to ease our stress.  And for Christians, the gospel has always been the lens through which Israel’s stories are read – which means, for Christians, Jesus, not the Bible, has the final word.  The story of God’s people has moved on, and so must we”.

Yes, I do feel the stress as I have had many conversations with people about the violence, the genocide, and many other topics we feel unacceptable.  In this book, Peter has offered many insights to help us to approach the Bible in a different perspective.