wars instituted by and fought with the, My eldest daughter and I have been discussing portions of the Bible with which she is struggling. The Canaanites worshiped other gods, which the Old Testament frequently denounced as no more than sticks or pottery made by human hands that could not see or hear or eat or smell (Deut. The ESV and NIV give a fuller understanding of the term by translating it devote to destruction (the NASB renders it set apart). 1 (2008): 7-37; www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=45. The Gospel Coalition supports the church by providing resources that are trusted and timely, winsome and wise, and centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Copyright 2023 The Gospel Coalition, INC. All Rights Reserved. Para ms informacin o para http://www.equip.org/christian-research-journal/, Overcoming the Enemy of Education: A Review of Pete Hegseth with David Goodwin, Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation., Who Was Adam? Baal has sex with his mother Asherah,6 his sister Anat, and his daughter Pidray,7 and none of this is presented pejoratively. Therefore, Israels own mission foreshadowed Jesuss mission in a number of ways. The debate between Craig and Hitchens occurred on April 4, 2009 at Biola University. (2) Yahwehs command to kill the Canaanites was an act of divine genocide. Another biblical story that is similar to the story of Ananias and Sapphira is the story of Elisha's servant, Gehazi greedily wanting money for Naaman's healing . Let us also remember that the problem with the Canaanite city of Sodom wasnt just sex among consenting adults: the men of Sodom, both young and old, tried to rape the visitors (Gen. 19:5). I probably will not answer every question in this short article, and even some of the answers I give will not satisfy everyone, but I do hope to present a solid biblical argument for the goodness, holiness, love, and justice of our Creator God. He holds a B.A. We dont live in a theocracy anymore and, as Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:45, we dont fight with the weapons of the world, but we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God (NIV). Probe Ministries is a non-profit ministry whose mission is to assist the church in renewing the minds of believers with a Christian worldview and to equip the church to engage the world for Christ. Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. The question has been raised whether God really intended the Israelites to kill all the people. And He will ultimately save righteous and also punish the unrighteous He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him (John 3:36). Who is more qualified than the Creator to decide how long one lives? In the worship of their gods, the Canaanites committed other evils. 3. Canaanite tribes (especially the Hittites) greatly exceeded the boundaries that Israel was told to conquer. Used by permission. Yahweh derided these handmade gods that cannot speak and must be carried because they cannot walk (Jer. For example, God commanded the Israelites, in Deuteronomy 20:10-15, to offer conditions of peace rather than extermination to all others. Thanks for stopping by! Did the Canaanites Have a Chance? 6. No matter what explanation of the death of children is given, no one except the most cold hearted will find joy in it. However, it is crucial to note that in the same passage, God declares the Israelites no less wicked than the Canaanites, deserving the same fate: Thus, Longman says, The war against the Canaanites was simply an earlier phase of the battle that comes to its climax on the cross and its completion at the final judgment.{5}. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. (Deut. Consequently, we love what He hates, and we hate what He loves. 2). But no one repented so all but Noah and His family were destroyed. Skeptics often complain that children were killed in Sodom and Gomorrahs destruction. The completely negative connotations of genocide make it hard to look at the biblical events without a jaundiced eye. God did not just decide to command the Israelites to destroy all the inhabitants of Canaan simply because he promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit it; he commanded them to do it because the Canaanites were wicked, evil, sinful people. Change). If the Israelites started to get a little slack in their obligations to Yahweh, they would turn to other gods. God gives nations a chance to choose that which is right and to mend their ways but if they refuse godliness and adopt immorality, idolatry, covetousness, sexual impurity, etc., then God has no alternative but to let them reap the consequences of their own wickedness. This is an online articlefrom theChristian Research Journal. Why didnt God just tell Israel; move in, settle down and coexist? The Israelites intermarried with them which eventually drew Gods judgment on them as well. 1 Chronicles 16:11 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! In Genesis 15:16, God told Abraham that his descendants would have to remain slaves in Egypt for 400 years before taking possession of Canaan, "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." As a result, they eventually received the same judgment the Canaanites experienced (Deut. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); IGRG: Did God Give The Canaanites aChance. Wouldnt that be a more merciful thing to do? Shedding light on this question will actually show that God is merciful and good. 1:5). Further, he said that Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35). So the Lord said that Israel became like Sodom to me (Jer. God was concerned that, if the Canaanites remained in the land, they would draw the Israelites into their evil practices. Why would Jesus die for basically good folk? 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. The full text of this article in PDF format can be obtained by clicking here. Could there have been any righteous Canaanites, especially in view of the pervasive, seductive, and corrosive nature of Canaanite sin? 7. In Leviticus 18 and elsewhere, for example, the Bible reveals that God punished the Canaanites for specific grievous evils. All reproductions of this document must contain the copyright notice (i.e., Copyright 2023 Probe Ministries) and this Copyright/Limitations notice. God has delivered Israel and set them apart as His people. And I say contemporary because children werent regarded as highly in the Ancient Near East as they are today. He gave them the law so that they may know Him and His ways. Why did God judge the Canaanites as wicked despite never appearing to them or giving them law? Probably the ultimate sexual depravity is intercourse with animals. 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. 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. Lev. Even so, many who acknowledge Gods existence still have trouble accepting the morality of Scripture. in communications (radio broadcasting) from Moody Bible Institute, an M.A. God sent Jonah to Nineveh, and spared the nation because of their repentance towards God. Predictably so, their values conflict with what God hates. In other words, we now wage war in prayer and in the realm of ideas. This document is the sole property of Probe Ministries. In short, Israel was Canaanized. Much of what follows is horrific, but if we refuse to look, will we really understand the reasons for Gods judgment? Kyle Dillon (MDiv, Covenant Theological Seminary) serves as an assistant pastor at Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Tennessee. Glenn M. Miller, How could a God of Love order the massacre/annihilation of the Canaanites? on the web site A Christian Thinktank, Yahweh wars are battles recorded in Scripture that are prompted by God for His purposes and won by His power.{4}. What Does It Mean for the Saints to Judge Angels? Concerning the destruction of the Canaanites, atheists especially like to exploit the Christian condemnation of genocide. 2:25) and even included in the genealogy of Jesus (Matt. Bernhard Anderson, Understanding the Old Testament (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1957), 93-94; 96-103. Robert has written 111 articles on What Christians Want To Know! Abraham starts bargaining with God. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10). God had decided to judge Nineveh because they were evil (Jonah 1:2). Emphasis added. 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. God has delivered Israel and set them apart as His people. That we commit similar sins today renders us incapable of appropriate moral outrage against these sins and thus we accuse God of genocide to justify our own sinfulness. The quote is from Gail Patches, The Great Debate: Craig, Hitchens ask Does God Exist? Whittier Daily News, April 5, 2009, A1, A4. In Genesis 15:16, God told Abraham that his descendants would have to remain slaves in Egypt for 400 years before taking possession of Canaan, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. So God was patient in dealing with the Canaanite nations, waiting until they reached the point of no return. What about these people prompted such a harsh judgment? However, according to Kline, sometimes we get snapshots of Gods final judgment intruding into the flow of history, foreshadowing the reality to come. He is also a God who takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. An obvious objection to the idea that God was judging the Canaanites is that it would be unfair for Him to do so if they had no opportunity to repent and be saved. What is right and moral is known to all (Romans 1:18-23), but was rejected by the Canaanites to such an extent that they cut pregnant women open and burned their children as sacrifices to their pagan gods (Leviticus 18:21, 24, 25, 27-30). After all, the Old Testament unequivocally commands that those who do any one of these things deserves to die. However recently an atheist friend told me God was cruel and unloving and used examples from the old testament to prove it. 4:1314; Ezek. 11. 8. 16:9; cf. This was especially true of the Canaanite societies steeped in abominable practices like child sacrifice and cult prostitution. Bible scholars call thiseremwarfare. {13} How persuasive this thought is will depend on how seriously we take biblical teaching about our future after the grave. However, if we properly understand the whole picture we will be able to view God 's actions as full of mercy and fairness in His dealings with His children. 2. Thus, the Israelites could possibly have married people who werent in the cities when they were attacked. Maybe this was just an example of Ancient Near Eastern military language.{11}. Idolatry perverts our ability to love what Yahweh loves. God allowed Israel to become slaves in Egypt (more on this in a moment). Further, in Deuteronomy 20, Moses said they were only to kill the adult males in far away cities (vv. Wouldnt even infants, as they grew, begin to ask, What practices did my parents do which resulted in your killing them? As sad as this is, it also points to the horror of sin. Clay Jones is assistant professor in the Master of Arts in Christian Apologetics program at Biola University and specializes in issues related to why God allows evil. Tugis life was full of dignity and worth. The atheism of today wasnt an option. 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). God had warned them against that (Deut. God had given the Canaanites more than four hundred years of probation, during which He sent prophets and warnings. This was Gods judgment carried out on the people of Canaan using the chosen people of Israel. Bestiality. In Jdg. Dt. 12. The third goal of the conquest was the protection of Israel. Dr. Michael Gleghorn draws on a work by Dr. Gail R. O'Day, "Jesus as Friend in the Gospel of John," to explore the perspective of Jesus Christ as a Friend. Richard Dawkins and other new atheists herald Gods ordering of the destruction of Canaanite cities to be divine ethnic cleansing and genocides.1 With righteous indignation, Dawkins opines that the God of the Old Testament is the most unpleasant character in all of fiction.2 But was the killing of the Canaanites an example of divine genocide? When we look at the Canaanites we must realize that God gave them 400 years to repent. in Christian Thought (theology/philosophy of religion) from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a Master of Humanities (emphasis in philosophy) from the University of Dallas. Not only have some people rejected Christianity over this, but it has even spurred some Christians to leave the faith. Canaan, because of its sin, was to be heremdevoted to destruction. And so for 400 years more, the Amorites were allowed to live and do as they pleased. note: please see Probes article Do Babies Go to Hell? by Probes founder Jimmy Williams.]. The victims were not only infants; children as old as four were sacrificed.15 Kleitarchos reported that as the flame burning the child surrounded the body, the limbs would shrivel up and the mouth would appear to grin as if laughing, until it was shrunk enough to slip into the cauldron.16, Homosexuality. 22:1011; Amos 2:7), and even Solomon set up an altar to Molech (1 Kings 11:5, 78). In fact, He waited almost 400 years, and until their society had become completely depraved, before He instituted His command of capital punishment. 5. The ceremony ends with directions: To be repeated five times by the company and the singers of the assembly.12 About this John Gray comments, We may well suppose that this activity of El was sacramentally experienced by the community in the sexual orgies of the fertility cult which the Hebrew prophets so vehemently denounced.13, Child sacrifice. According to the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament), when God called forth his people out of slavery in Egypt and back to the land of their forefathers, he directed them to kill all the Canaanite clans who were living in the land (Deut. But there is a major difference. When Jesus came, He shifted the battle to the spiritual realm; He fought spiritual powers and authorities. Rusty Wright presents a compelling case for the historicity of Jesus resurrection. 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). 18 records briefly the moral degradation of the Canaanites. He looks at all things from a infinite perspective than man can. But this is precisely the thing that the unbeliever loses in denying the existence of God. 4:58). The "new atheists" call God's commands to kill the Canaanites "genocide," but a closer look at the horror of the Canaanites' sinfulness, exhibited in rampant idolatry, incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality, reveals that God's reason for commanding their death was not genocide but capital punishment. . In phase two, God fought against Israel when it broke its side of its covenant with God (cf. The category scholars use for such events as the battles in the conquest of Canaan is Yahweh war. . He begins with the Christian worldview and Rick Wade explores the meaning of the word defense in 1 Peter 3:15, suggesting that all Christians can do Rick Wade provides an expanded discussion of the issues around the Israelites battles against the Canaanites. 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. Was God just in destroying the Canaanites? However, once the biblical doctrines of God and of sin are taken into consideration, the background scenery changes and the picture looks very different. At first, the Israelites tried to compromise and worship God the way the Canaanites worshiped their gods. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 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 LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. In Genesis 15:16 the LORD made reference to the Canaanites when he said, "the sin of the Amorites (Canaanites) has not yet reached its full measure." God was waiting to fulfill his justice against this people. For one thing, the Canaanites worshipped other gods. We're not around right now. But why should we take seriously the skeptics advocacy for Canaanite children? [emailprotected] In both Testaments we see that God hates sin and will punish it. There is only one true God, and that God deserves all honor and worship. 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. Covenant Theological Seminary) serves as an assistant pastor at Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Tennessee. God promised Abraham (Genesis 15), that his seed would inherit the land of Canaan. Hittite Laws: 199 states, If anyone has intercourse with a pig or a dog, he shall die. Now after all of this God gives marching orders. For the most part, they chose to rebel against God. God sought to reveal His standards of righteousness to a thoroughly corrupted humankind, and He chose Israel out of the nations to exhibit the requirements for relationship with Him (Deut. Their sacrificial laws pointed to our need for atonement. Gods character is such that He gives nations an appropriate amount of time to repent. C.F. The Hebrew word means to devote something to total destruction.. The law given in Deuteronomy provided regulations for the people of Israel. James B. Pritchard, Harry A. Hoffner, Jr., Incest, Sodomy and Bestiality in the Ancient Near East, in. To understand what God was doing in Canaan, one must see it within the larger context of redemptive history. Yahweh is a God of justice as well as mercy. 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. And their laws concerningeremwarfare pointed to Gods just judgment against sin. It seems from God's promise to Abraham that they were wicked and idolatrous people. Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. The answer is: absolutely not! If I can find 50 good people will you spare Sodom God says sure. 44:18). A common attack today on Christianity has to do with the character of the God of the Old Testament{1}. 1 (2009): 73-92; www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=63. If God was not behind the conquest of Canaan, then the Israelites were no different than the Nazis and the Hutus. Yahweh has made it clear that He is willing to relent in His judgment if a nation repents of its sins and changes its ways ( Jer. Convention on the Punishment and Prevention of the Crime of Genocide, Article II, University of the West of England, at: www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/. Because of this, I think the term should be avoided. These people were not clueless about their responsibility to God; rather, they openly mocked His lordship and committed horrible acts that even the most hardened of us would deem worthy of judgment. However, if we properly understand the whole picture we will be able to view Gods actions as full of mercy and fairness in His dealings with His children. 2:34; 3:3, 6). {14} The only test we can put to God is consistency with His own nature and word. Skeptics say if God is a God of love why did He bring destruction on certain nations of the world? The judgment that they foreshadowed was demonstrated decisively on the cross of Christ, who received the full measure of Gods wrath for the sins of his people. Paul Rutherford explains the lies he believed and tow which he was in bondage about pornography, until Jesus helped him achieve sexual sobriety. There is no denying that God, in the Old Testament, commanded the nation of Israel, His chosen people, to exterminate many nations of people. God gave us life, and He has the right to take it away. The evidence says no. Real Questions. Josephus records that the Jews in Jerusalem were first whipped, and then tormented with all sorts of tortures, before they died, and were then crucified before the wall of the city.So the soldiers, out of the wrath and hatred they bore the Jews, nailed those they caught, one after one way, and another after another, to the crosses, by way of jest, when their multitude was so great, that room was wanting for the crosses, and crosses wanting for the bodies.26 Titus then renamed the region Palestine and for almost 1,900 years one couldnt find Israel on the map. When a nation starts burning children as a gift to the gods (Leviticus 18:21) and practices sodomy, bestiality and all sorts of loathsome vices (Leviticus 18:25, 27-30), they, are storing up wrath for [themselves] on the day of wrath when Gods righteous judgment will be revealed (Romans 2:5 ESV). Robert is happily married and lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 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. Spoiler alert: God did give Canaan a chance to repent. 18:28). 7:22). This is why it is so important for us to get our doctrine of humanity right. They are insisting that God and Christianity are in fact poisonous and must diligently be resisted and defeated. Dawkins, 338. 9. [a] capriciously malevolent bully.{2}. Old Testament scholars Keil and Delitsch write that there can be no doubt that the idea which lay at the foundation of the ban was that of a compulsory dedication of something which resisted or impeded sanctification; . Speaking with Abraham, God predicted that the Canaanites would eventually become so evil that He Was John the Baptist the only person that understood Christs mission. Staff. Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. 12:4, 30, 31 ). Will More People Go To Hell Than Go To Heaven? God allowed Israel to become slaves in Egypt (more on this in a moment). 13. 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. THE CANAANITES- God's Justness in Perspective It's clear from history, God gave them ample time to repent, but they refused (Gen. 15:16; Deut. If God is so merciful and loving, why didnt God just assimilate Israel into Canaan instead of driving them out? And how else would God have said it if He did mean that? These ideas may provide little consolation. In his discussion in Moral Monster, Copan refers specifically to Deut. Jesus power was shown in His healings and exorcisms and preeminently in His victory in the heavenlies by His death and resurrection (see Col. 2:13-15). The Canaanites were descendants of Noah. 7). On an individual basis, when a father sinned, his son wasnt to be punished for it. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. A more detailed version is also available on our Web site with the title Yahweh War and the Conquest of Canaan. If you feel an answer is not 100% Bible based, then leave a comment, and we'll be sure to review it. A miracle child heralded by divine announcement, he grows up to become a one-man army against Israel's enemies. Accessed 5 November 2008. In Leviticus 18 God then warns Israel that if they commit similar sins that the land would similarly vomit them out. The new atheists call Gods commands to kill the Canaanites genocide, but a closer look at the horror of the Canaanites sinfulness, exhibited in rampant idolatry, incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality, reveals that Gods reason for commanding their death was not genocide but capital punishment. It also happens to be one of the most frequently heard objections to the Christian faith today.