The passages that record Gods command to slaughter the Canaanite cities have even caused many Christians some confusion. This document is the sole property of Probe Ministries. Copyright 2010-2023 Telling Ministries LLC. Slaughter of the Canaanites | Reasonable Faith In Deuteronomy 20:16, Moses said the Israelites were to save alive nothing that breathes in the cities in their new land. God had warned them against that (Deut. (LogOut/ This clearly shows Gods mercy on sinners, and that He gives them a time of probation that they may repent. Part of the goal of this essay is to offer evidence to show that God had good reason to command Israel to kill the Canaanites. Divine Judgment and the Canaanite Conquest: A Theological Exploration For the most part, they chose to rebel against God. How could the Israelites intermarry with the Canaanites if they killed them all? God waited to redeem humankind until they had the chance to be, as 2 Live Crew once put it, as nasty as they wanna be.. {8} In addition, the Israelites would be tempted to imitate Canaanite religious rituals because of their close connection to agricultural rhythms. 16:9; cf. Jesus then warned, What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 18:28; Deut 4:2329, 8:1920). in communications (radio broadcasting) from Moody Bible Institute, an M.A. It was merciful for God to allow the Canaanites to remain in the land as long as they did. . 7.1-2; 20.16-18). Skeptics often complain that children were killed in Sodom and Gomorrahs destruction. 12:4, 30, 31 ). God didnt. At first, the Israelites tried to compromise and worship God the way the Canaanites worshiped their gods. Only when one views life through the lens of the Bible can one arrive at a worldview based on truth. What about these people prompted such a harsh judgment? Christians believe that all authority belongs to God (Matthew 28:18, Romans 13:1, Colossians 2:10). Stanley Gundry (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), 173-74. A common attack today on Christianity has to do with the character of the God of the Old Testament{1}. The story of Canaanite incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality flow out of the plot line of idolatry. . In Leviticus 18 God then warns Israel that if they commit similar sins that the land would similarly vomit them out. There is no justice in the world today, and therefore there must be a day when the wrongs of the present life are made right. In phase four there was a major change. As a result, they eventually received the same judgment the Canaanites experienced (Deut. Those on whom God pronounced judgment were wicked, God had given the Canaanites opportunity to repent, are storing up wrath for [themselves] on the day of wrath when Gods righteous judgment will be revealed, The Canaanites were the only people God commanded the Israelites to destroy, God always offered the possibility of redemption. But what about Deuteronomy 24:16 which says that children shall not be put to death because of their fathers sins? God spoke these words to the Israelites as they were encamped on the plains of Moab and about to cross the Jordan River into Canaan. They engaged in temple prostitution which was thought to be a re-enactment of the sexual unions of the gods and goddesses. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Robert believes that the Bible contains the truth that God wants us to base our lives upon. But the war is not over. Yahweh is a God of justice as well as mercy. 28:7. God did not order the extermination of these people to be cruel, but to prevent even greater evil from occurring in the . Why didnt God just tell Israel; move in, settle down and coexist? Though rebellion must be put down and rebels must be punished for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), God displays mercy for He is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). And as a consequence, God used Israel to bring judgement upon them. Seems a bit harsh right? Kerby Anderson provides an overview of wokeness, critical race theory, and their effect on the Christian church. The new atheists immaculately exemplify what the Bible has proclaimed all along: sin corrupts our authority to judge rightly; what we think is justified prosecution against God Almighty turns out to be, on further illumination, a raucous rant full of the noxious fumes of the sinful heart. God is love (1 John 4:16) and He is also just (Psalm 25:8). However, the city repented, turned to God, and God did not judge them. In Luke 20 Jesus told the Jews the parable of the tenants and the vineyard. Cf. 4:26; 7:4 ). When Joshua led the people across the Jordan River into Canaan, he was fulfilling this promise. 32:4; Colossians 3:25; etc.). In fact, He waited almost 400 years, and until their society had become completely depraved, before He instituted His command of capital punishment. ", "How Can a Just God Order the Slaughter of Men, Women and Children? In fact, the Hebrew wars with other nations (except Canaan) were designed to be only in self-defense (Toward Old Testament Ethics, Walter Kaiser, Jr., p, 267, Zondervan, 1983). 44:18). Bestiality. (LogOut/ For further information or to subscribe to the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL go to: http://www.equip.org/christian-research-journal/. The peoples of the land did not repent, just as the survivors of God's plagues will not repent. Many people take issue with the idea that God commanded the Jewish nation to initiate war against the Canaanites, ordering them to wipe them out and take their land for their own. Looking a four outcomes of the resurrection, Dr. Zukeran shows us that the greatest defense of the deity of Jesus was made by Jesus Himself. 13. Far be it from you! Dawkins, 338. The fertility of the land was believed to be directly connected to the sexual relations of the gods and goddesses. For the Canaanites, it was time for Gods judgment. When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Christians today are engaged in warfare on this level. This was Gods judgment carried out on the people of Canaan using the chosen people of Israel. Christian Answers, Gods enemies were dealt a crushing blow through Christs victory on the cross, but they will not finally be defeated until Christ returns to establish everlasting justice on earth. First, the movement of the Israelites into Canaan was the fruition of Gods promise to Abram that He would give that land to his children (Gen. 12:7). Later when Israel disobeys God and allows the Canaanites to continue to live among them, the corruptive and seductive power of Canaanite sin results in the Canaanization of Israel. And then these same skeptics turn around and say if there is a God of justice, why does He permit the wicked to rule the world and bring sorrow and suffering on the innocent? Albrecht Goetze, ed. God and the Canaanites: A Biblical Perspective - Probe Ministries However, what is good and right or what is bad and wrong changes with societys opinions. But this sort of response does not fit with Jesuss own view of the Old Testament. God Was God just in destroying the Canaanites? Kerby Anderson explains how cohabitation (living together outside of marriage) not only violates biblical commands about premarital sex, but it also puts the couple and their future marriage at risk. 5:7; 29:23; Hos. Just as God had demonstrated his knowledge of who would repent in the Canaanite cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, before he destroyed Jerusalem He told Jeremiah that if He could find even one righteous person He would spare the entire city (Jer. Before He redeemed humankind, He needed to unambiguously demonstrate what exactly He was redeeming them from: a blatant and unrestrained evil that resulted in a worthless, nasty, and cruel existence. Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. 1: The Pentateuch (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, n.d.), 484-485. This news had terrified the city of Jericho and Rahab had put her faith in God (Joshua 2:10-14). With Miller, I think they can. 7. Covenant Theological Seminary) serves as an assistant pastor at Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Tennessee. If Jesus had died to redeem humankind prior to humankinds comprehending the depth of their sin, then people would question the need for Jesus death. Canaanite tribes (especially the Hittites) greatly exceeded the boundaries that Israel was told to conquer. Can these be put together? Such a complaint usually masks an unspoken premise: God shouldnt have killed the children because that wouldnt give them the chance to reject Canaanite sin. It has been suggested that such obliteration language was hyperbolic.{10} Commands to destroy everyone are sometimes followed by commands not to intermarry, such as in Deut. Parents can corrupt their children.29. There were absolutely no prohibitions against bestiality in the rest of the ANE.21 In fact, in an Egyptian dream book it was a bad omen for a woman to dream about embracing her husband, but good things would happen if she dreamed of intercourse with a baboon, wolf, or he-goat.22 In short, their sexual fantasies involved everything that breathes. An even more detestable practice was that of child sacrifice. All Rights Reserved. The law given in Deuteronomy provided regulations for the people of Israel. William Lane Craig reminds us God is not subject to our judgment of His actions; He has no moral obligations except to Himself. You cannot have moral laws without a moral Lawgiver. In phase one, God fought the flesh-and-blood enemies of Israel. Also, God made it clear in His conversation with Abraham regarding the Canaanite cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that He knows who would or would not repent, and in the case of those cities, not one person would heed the warning and even Lots family had to be forcibly pulled away from the coming destruction. 7:22). Bernhard Anderson, Understanding the Old Testament (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1957), 93-94; 96-103. Who Were the Canaanites, and Why Did God Order Their Destruction? 1 (2009): 73-92; www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=63. Gods character is such that He gives nations an appropriate amount of time to repent. God had decided to judge Nineveh because they were evil (Jonah 1:2). (2) Yahwehs command to kill the Canaanites was an act of divine genocide. In both Testaments we see that God hates sin and will punish it. In the old testament God tells Joshua to kill all the Canaanites, including women and children. Eternal Insecurity Once I Was Saved, But Now Am Lost? God allowed Israel to become slaves in Egypt (more on this in a moment). Capital Punishment Reason 4 H, e teaches theology at Westminster Academy in Memphis, Tennessee. If the Israelites started to get a little slack in their obligations to Yahweh, they would turn to other gods. Not even the children are considered innocent. God had warned them against that (Deut. (3) Therefore, Christians should condemn Yahweh for commanding genocide. As a result, they eventually received the same judgment the Canaanites experienced (Deut. 4:26; 7:4). 10 Biblical Steps Towards Restoration After Sexual Sin, Baptism Quotes: 27 Inspirational Christian Sayings, 25 Encouraging Bible Verses About Strength, Words of Encouragement: 30 Uplifting Quotes. This again reveals that Gods motive isnt genocide, but capital punishment. Claiming Have you ever felt like an alien in your own culture? In the meantime, we are still called to do battle, but not as Israel did. the people of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, the entire populace from every end[of the city]. 18:28). Tugis life was full of dignity and worth. So theeremlaws still apply, but in a spiritual sense rather than a physical sense. We all recognize this when we accuse some authority who presumes to take life as playing GodGod is under no obligation whatsoever to extend my life for another second. Idolatry perverts our ability to love what Yahweh loves. Heres why. This article first appeared in the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL, volume 33, number 04 (2010). He points out how Yahweh Wars, i.e. The Bible calls Noah a preacher of righteousness thats because before the flood Noah tried to save others by preaching repentance! The Canaanites were descendants of Noah. Subsequently, God sent prophets to warn Israel of their coming destruction, but they didnt repent and God said that they became like Sodom to me and He visited destruction on Israel for committing the same sins. . But you can send us an email and we'll get back to you, asap. Skeptics have claimed that God was unjust when He ordained Israel to destroy the Canaanites. So lets not kid ourselves: at the end of the day no amount of explanation will cause todays illuminati (or brights, as some new atheists like to be called) to consider Gods commands justified.36 But our job as Christians is to proclaim unambiguously, especially to strongholds set up against knowledge of God, that humankind is sinful, that the wages of sin is death, and that by trusting Christs sacrifice we can be saved from the wrath of God and enjoy resurrection life in and with Him forever. The second goal of the conquest was the judgment of the Canaanites. Copyright 2023 The Gospel Coalition, INC. All Rights Reserved. The classic example is Rahab, the prostitute who helped the Israelite spies in Jericho and swore allegiance to the Lord (Jos. This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 44, number 2 (2021). The Canaanites, by contrast, were destroyed at the direction of God and primarily because of their sin. Much of what follows is horrific, but if we refuse to look, will we really understand the reasons for Gods judgment? Resources The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version(ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. In our pluralistic age, its easy to forget what an offense that is to the true God. Who is more qualified than the Creator to decide how long one lives? Keil and F. Delitzsch, trans., James Martin, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 22:1011; Amos 2:7), and even Solomon set up an altar to Molech (1 Kings 11:5, 78). God has done everything in His power to save the sinner through the plan of redemption (John 3:16). God's patience on the Canaanites The skeptics illogical arguments Skeptics have claimed that God was unjust when He ordained Israel to destroy the Canaanites. 12:4, 30, 31). The situation with Canaan was different. Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. Paul Rutherford explains the lies he believed and tow which he was in bondage about pornography, until Jesus helped him achieve sexual sobriety. (972) 941-4565 They had male shrine prostitutes (1 Kings 14:22), committed acts of lewdness, adultery, and incest (Jer. Israel was not commanded to deal with all other nations the same way they dealt with the Canaanites. Canaan, because of its sin, was to be heremdevoted to destruction. In Deuteronomy 20:18, God gave Israel an explicit reason why it was necessary to wipe out the Canaanites: that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the LORD your God., It was merciful for God to limit the scope of the. Peter Singer Heavy Petting: Review of Midas Dekkers, Dearest Pet: On Bestiality (London, 2000), Nerve.com, 2001, http://www.nerve.com/opinions/singer/heavypetting/main.asp. God destroys Sodom. Even though the Ruler of the universe displays mercy and gives to men time to repent, there ultimately must be a day of judgement.
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