Why is rape condoned in the Bible?

Question

Rape is not a judgment that's commanded upon those that violate the law, whether in the new testament or the old. So why does God choose to use rape as a means of judgement?

In america we have a bill of rights that prevents cruelty to criminals. We feel that this is a moral thing to do, why does God not have moral standards that would prevent him from using rape as a means of judgement?

Why is rape condoned in the Bible?

Isaiah 13:15-18 (NIV)

15 Whoever is captured will be thrust through; all who are caught will fall by the sword. 16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives violated.

17 See, I will stir up against them the Medes, who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold. 18 Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants, nor will they look with compassion on children.

Zechariah 14:1-2

1 A day of the LORD is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls. 2 I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.

2 Samuel 12:11 (NIV)

11 “This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.

Please feel free to target any of the suggested rape events that are listed here. http://www.evilbible.com/Rape.htm

Answer 1

God does not condone rape in the Bible. This is a commonly raised objection to Christianity that's been answered ad-nauseum on apologetics websites, such as this one:

http://www.rationalchristianity.net/numbers31.html

Quote from the linked post: Weren't the virgin women raped?

There are two parts to this objection: did God instruct or permit the soldiers to rape the women, and did the soldiers actually rape them?

It's clear that God didn't intend for the soldiers to rape the women, but rather to take them captive. The law God had given to the Israelites condemned rape, in some cases punishing it with death (Dt 22:25-27). Also, immediately following the command to spare the virgin women, the soldiers were instructed to purify themselves and their captives (31:19), and rape (or consensual intercourse) would have violated this command (Lev 15:16-18). In the rest of the chapter, the women are usually referred to as people (using the masculine adam), not women or virgins, underscoring the notion that they were seen as captives rather than sexual objects.1

It's theoretically possible that some of the soldiers raped the women, but given the circumstances it seems very unlikely. The soldiers would have known that rape was a violation of both the law and the instruction to purify themselves, as shown above; they had also seen God punish such violations with death during their travels in the desert. In fact, they had recently experienced a plague and executions resulting from their relations with Midianite women (25:1-9), as Moses reminded them. At that time, all those who had sexual relations with the Midianites were killed. It's highly implausible that the soldiers would have wanted to have anything to do with the Midianite women given this context.

So what did happen to the women (and children)? God gave the Israelites permission to marry women they took captive, but they were to treat their wives with respect: the women were to have time to mourn their families first, and were not to be mistreated (Dt 21:10-14). Those who didn't marry would have become servants, but there were rules against mistreating them as well (Ex 21:26-27, Dt 23:15-16). See the article on slavery laws for more on the treatment of female slaves.

As with most commonly cited objections to Christianity, the idea that God condones rape is based on a mis-reading of scripture (intentional or unintentional), and taking verses out of context.

Edited to address the changes to the question since I originally answered.

The verses that are there now are not condoning rape, they are warning that this is what is to come.

If I were to say "If you spend more than you earn you're going to go into debt and will suffer financially" I'm not condoning going into debt, I'm warning you.

You'd have to be intentionally mis-reading the verses posted to interpret them as "condoning" rape.

Answer 2

The various prophetic references are just that: prophecies. God is saying that if the people don't live right, they will be weakened as a nation and calamities will come upon them, including invasion by foreign nations that will do horrible things to them. God isn't saying that it's good or that it's right, simply that that is what will end up happening.

As for some of the other passages:

Forcing a man who has raped a woman to marry her doesn't sound like it makes much sense in a modern context, but keep in mind that this wasn't written for our civilization. He would be required to marry the victim and maintain her and provide for her and their children for the rest of his life, without being allowed to divorce her. Also, their culture placed a lot of importance on the ownership of land. When you lived somewhere, on your family's land, you tended to stay there, which meant you'd most likely be stuck living in the same place, around a bunch of people who knew the circumstances of your rather sudden marriage. All in all, it provides a pretty strong disincentive to commit rape.

One of the more interesting listings from the linked site:

5) Death to the Rape Victim (Deuteronomy 22:23-24 NAB)

If within the city a man comes upon a maiden who is betrothed, and has relations with her, you shall bring them both out of the gate of the city and there stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbors wife.

It is clear that God doesn't give a damn about the rape victim. He is only concerned about the violation of another mans "property".

Actually, this is completely wrong. This law exists to protect everyone involved, and it actually demonstrates a rather impressive knowledge of human behavior and human nature. The key words here are "because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city," under the assumption that if she went along with it willingly, it wasn't actually rape. First, it protects the man from false accusations--if a malicious woman makes an accusation like that, she's on the hook too. And second, it protects the woman. If she knows that if she plays along, she's guilty under the law, then he can't use the best-known of intimidation tactics employed by rapists, "play along or I'll kill you!" It gives her a strong incentive to struggle, fight him off, and scream for help, which makes it less likely that she will actually end up being raped. All in all, this demonstrates the brilliance of God's law, not the cruelty and immorality of it.

Answer 3

"If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives."

Deuteronomy 22:28-29 NIV

Does not seem like condoning it at all

It may not be in the passage marked 10 commandments, but that is hardly the only place in the bible where God tells us of things we should not do.