This is an online articlefrom theChristian Research Journal. And as a consequence, God used Israel to bring judgement upon them. What the Bible says about Why did God Command Israel to Go to War Like all Ancient Near East (ANE) pantheons, the Canaanite pantheon was incestuous. Copyright 2010-2023 Telling Ministries LLC. 1:27-2:5, we read that tribe after tribe of Israelites did not drive out all the inhabitants of the cities they conquered. This article is a slightly adapted version of the program that aired on the Probe radio program. Rahab was later held up as an example of faithful obedience in the New Testament (Heb. 22:1011; Amos 2:7), and even Solomon set up an altar to Molech (1 Kings 11:5, 78). The people have rebelled against God and spend 40 years in the desert. 1. It is reasonable to believe that other people had heard what Rahab (and Jericho) had heard, thus giving them the opportunity to repent and be spared. An even more detestable practice was that of child sacrifice. 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. 23:12-13 where Joshua also warns the people against intermarrying. There are many nations and peoples called wicked or evil and then destroyed in the Bible including Canaan, Hittites, Giggahites, Amorites, Pharaoh and his people, Sodom and Gommorah. He holds a B.A. 1 Chronicles 16:11 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! Dan. The story of Canaanite incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality flow out of the plot line of idolatry. Thus, if God wanted to rid the world of their wickedness, then He couldnt have them grow up wanting to imitate their birth parents with whom they bonded. Moreover, given the evidence of Canaanite sin, it is no stretch to realize that even many young children would have already learned Canaanite ways. 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. God knows what is best for humankind, but He allowed free creatures to rebel and find out on their own that He is right. It was merciful for God to allow the Canaanites to remain in the land as long as they did. 7. Women were no less guilty than men, and in many cases they were the principal instigators. For the story of Baal having sex with Asherah, see: El, Ashertu and the Storm-god, trans. Thanks to his obedience unto death, our own sins are forgiven, and we can now stand in Gods favor by faith alone. Phase five of Yahweh war will be the final battle of history when Jesus returns and will once again be military in nature. And if all children are saved, then a Canaanite child would benefit by being alive in a better place. Paul Rutherford explains the lies he believed and tow which he was in bondage about pornography, until Jesus helped him achieve sexual sobriety. Cf. Kerby Anderson provides an overview of some ancient Christian heresies that are still being embraced today: legalism, gnosticism, mysticism, and marcionism. 6:23), and ultimately every unrepentant sinner will have to face Gods judgment. Predictably so, their values conflict with what God hates. I want to look at some Biblical stories about God destroying nations. 1:4). Herem literally means ban or banned. It means to ban from human use and to give over completely to God. Parents can corrupt their children.29. 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." If I can find 50 good people will you spare Sodom God says sure. 20:16-17). Staff. The classic example is Rahab, the prostitute who helped the Israelite spies in Jericho and swore allegiance to the Lord (Jos. The peoples of the world at His return will be doing the same things that the Canaanites were doing when God gave it to Israel (Revelation 9:20). It was merciful for God to bring an end to the. (The Answer May Surprise You), It was merciful for God to protect the Israelites from idolatry. The full text of this article in PDF format can be obtained by clicking here. They could have repented of their evil, followed God, and been spared judgment. Tagged as: document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); IGRG: Did God Give The Canaanites aChance. 16:9; cf. And I say contemporary because children werent regarded as highly in the Ancient Near East as they are today. It also happens to be one of the most frequently heard objections to the Christian faith today. Skeptics often complain that children were killed in Sodom and Gomorrahs destruction. In the conquest of Canaan, three goals were being accomplished. Even so, many who acknowledge Gods existence still have trouble accepting the morality of Scripture. No matter what God does, all of His actions are guided by His sovereign will and the fact that He, so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 ESV). In Leviticus 18 and elsewhere, for example, the Bible reveals that God punished the Canaanites for specific grievous evils. {14} The only test we can put to God is consistency with His own nature and word. The peoples of the land did not repent, just as the survivors of God's plagues will not repent. 7 passage provides better support for his position. Although no Scripture is definitive that all children will be saved, many Christians point out that it is possible (based on verses like Matthew 19:14). If the Israelites started to get a little slack in their obligations to Yahweh, they would turn to other gods. 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. Christians today are engaged in warfare on this level. But this is precisely the thing that the unbeliever loses in denying the existence of God. This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 44, number 2 (2021). You cannot have moral laws without a moral Lawgiver. 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. When Joshua led the people across the Jordan River into Canaan, he was fulfilling this promise. Although Abraham was Gods friend and the Lord wanted to give to him the land of Canaan for an inheritance. Why Did God Command the Israelites to Destroy the Nations in the Land In a recent debate with William Lane Craig, Hitchens exhorted the Christians in the audience, Emancipate yourself from the idea of a celestial dictatorship and youve taken the first step toward becoming free.32, Although Dawkins nowhere endorses sex with animals, he does endorse Princeton atheist and ethicist Peter Singer as an eloquent advocate for our need to become postspeciesist.33 According to Singer, to claim that one species is better than another is to invoke grave implications because, after all, We are animals.This does not make sex across the species barrier normal, or natural, whatever those much-misused words may mean, but it does imply that it ceases to be an offence to our status and dignity as human beings.34. 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 is love (1 John 4:16) and He is also just (Psalm 25:8). The question has been raised whether God really intended the Israelites to kill all the people. 18 records briefly the moral degradation of the Canaanites. What Happened to the Canaanites? - Biblical Archaeology Society What place should they have in our preaching and practice? 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). This was Gods judgment carried out on the people of Canaan using the chosen people of Israel. Their sacrificial laws pointed to our need for atonement. This is why it is so important for us to get our doctrine of humanity right. I consider Jesus the be the perfect example of how to be good, Jesus would never hurt anyone. Covenant Theological Seminary) serves as an assistant pastor at Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Tennessee. Divine Judgment and the Canaanite Conquest: A Theological Exploration Who Were the Canaanites, and Why Did God Order Their Destruction? Doesnt the new atheists complaint ring hollow, since they are often at the forefront of defending a womans right to suction, dismember, or scald to death her unborn baby at any time and for any reason? Non-Christians often point to the Old Testaments erem laws to reject Christianity altogether.
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