Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. All reproductions of this document must contain the copyright notice (i.e., Copyright 2023 Probe Ministries) and this Copyright/Limitations notice. If Ananias and Sapphira were new Christians/immature Christians then we might have asked why they did Not have a chance to repent( i.e., some kind of gracious period of time to repent). Then they would simply abandon worship of the true God. Rahab was later held up as an example of faithful obedience in the New Testament (Heb. Since the land wasnt empty, this could only be accomplished by driving the Canaanites out. God had given the Canaanites more than four hundred years of probation, during which He sent prophets and warnings. Had there been repentance, there would have been no need to execute wrath on evildoers. 32:4; Colossians 3:25; etc.). These nations were cut off to prevent the corruption of Israel and the rest of the world (Deuteronomy 20:16-18). document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); IGRG: Did God Give The Canaanites aChance. God didnt. Lev. Then He says something very Interesting your descendants will come back in the fourth generation, because the sins of the Amorites hasnt been fulfilled. The Amorites in this case are the Canaanites. For example, God commanded the Israelites, in Deuteronomy 20:10-15, to offer conditions of peace rather than extermination to all others. Moreover, given the evidence of Canaanite sin, it is no stretch to realize that even many young children would have already learned Canaanite ways. Speaking with Abraham, God predicted that the Canaanites would eventually become so evil that He 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. How could the Israelites intermarry with the Canaanites if they killed them all? The people of the land had heard about all that had happened with the Israelites from the time they escaped Egypt. . 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. Moreover, most atheists do not customarily condemn the very practices that God condemns, for example, idolatry, adultery, and homosexuality. Are We Held Accountable for the Sins of Our Forefathers? They were corrupt and depraved to the core. 7:22). What place should they have in our preaching and practice? God was concerned that, if the Canaanites remained in the land, they would draw the Israelites into their evil practices. 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. Genesis 15:13-16 God tells Abraham that his descendants will be enslaved for 400 years. But what about Deuteronomy 24:16 which says that children shall not be put to death because of their fathers sins? And how else would God have said it if He did mean that? When Joshua led the people across the Jordan River into Canaan, he was fulfilling this promise. Canaan, because of its sin, was to be heremdevoted to destruction. God is love (1 John 4:16) and He is also just (Psalm 25:8). The first fact If a man has intercourse with a horse or a mule, there is no punishment.18 As with incest, the penalty for having sex with animals decreased about the fourteenth century BC.19, There should be no surprise that bestiality would occur among the Canaanites, since their gods practiced it. A God of love and justice, they say, could never command genocide, and therefore he must not exist. If I can find 50 good people will you spare Sodom God says sure. They had passed the point of redeemability, and were ripe for judgment. So for those of us who confess the authority of both the Old and New Testaments, we are faced with a number of challenging questions: How do we reconcile the erem laws with the rest of Scriptures teachings on justice and compassion? Another observation is that the instruction is frequently to dispossess the Canaanites or move them out rather than to destroy them. Not even 10 righteous people could be found. Tremper Longman III, The Case for Spiritual Continuity, in C. S. Cowles, Eugene H. Merrill, Daniel L. Gard, and Tremper Longman III, Show Them No Mercy: Four Views on God and Canaanite Genocide (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), 185. Why Did God Command the Israelites to Destroy the Nations in the Land Their purity laws pointed to the holiness demanded by God. . In phase three, when Israel and Judah were in exile, God promised to come in the future as a warrior to rescue them from their oppressors (cf. Copan, Yahweh Wars and the Canaanites. In Ezekiel 18:23 we read, Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? (see also Ezek. Likewise, Gods government cannot successfully continue unless there is a plan that will ultimately, if not immediately, punish evil (Isaiah 61:8; Deut. As a result, they eventually received the same judgment the Canaanites experienced ( Deut. The full text of this article in PDF format can be obtained by clicking here. Inanna/Ishtar, also known as the Queen of Heaven, became the woman among the gods, patron of eroticism and sensuality, of conjugal love as well as adultery, of brides and prostitutes, transvestites and pederasts.10 As University of Helsinki professor Martti Nissinen writes, Sexual contact with a person whose whole life was devoted to the goddess was tantamount to union with the goddess herself.11, The Canaanites even remake the God of the Bible, El, after their own image and portray Him ceremonially as having sex with two women (or goddesses). He is passionate about understanding the Bible and helping others do the same. 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. According to the Bible, the Canaanites were so vile that the very land spued them out (Lev. 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). The Bible calls Noah a preacher of righteousness thats because before the flood Noah tried to save others by preaching repentance! 22:1011; Amos 2:7), and even Solomon set up an altar to Molech (1 Kings 11:5, 78). For the most part, they chose to rebel against God. . 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 regard to the Canaanites, God commanded, "In the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Kerby Anderson provides an overview of wokeness, critical race theory, and their effect on the Christian church. And so for 400 years more, the Amorites were allowed to live and do as they pleased. Would a governor of a state who refuses to pardon a criminal and instead hands him over to the justice system be considered a heartless cruel man? The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics helps Christians show unbelievers the truth, goodness, and beauty of the gospel as the only hope that fulfills our deepest longings. God allowed Israel to become slaves in Egypt (more on this in a moment). The peoples of the land did not repent, just as the survivors of God's plagues will not repent. What was to stop it? 2:34; 3:3, 6). Now after all of this God gives marching orders. Can these be put together? Accessed 5 November 2008. Even though the Ruler of the universe displays mercy and gives to men time to repent, there ultimately must be a day of judgement. Their task was to prepare the way for the arrival of the Messiah. Robert is happily married and lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 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. This was Gods judgment carried out on the people of Canaan using the chosen people of Israel. Or better yet why didnt God give Canaan a chance to repent? 18:28). 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 . In his article Yahweh Wars which was written after Is Yahweh a Moral Monster?, Copan presents two scenarios, one in which everyone was put to death, and the other in which the targets were military leaders and soldiers. Why doesn't God offer Sodom and Gemorrah the same chance to repent He 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. This wasnt merely punishment, however. Sue Bohlin processes how she is handling the crisis of tongue cancer by trusting Gods goodness. Israel was warned not to let the Canaanites live in their land, but to completely destroy them (Exod. 33:56; Lev. Why did God command the genocide of the Canaanites? - GotQuestions.org ", Jesus Resurrection: Fact or Fiction? Baal has sex with his mother Asherah,6 his sister Anat, and his daughter Pidray,7 and none of this is presented pejoratively. Hittite Laws: 199 states, If anyone has intercourse with a pig or a dog, he shall die. Killing of the Canaanites: What Does This Say About God? However, the verses that follow, namely verses 16-18, disallowed the same offer to be given to Canaan. 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. Abraham asked the Lord this exact question in Genesis 18 regarding the coming destruction of two Canaanite citiesSodom and Gomorrah: Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Far be it from you! 13-14), but in nearby cities they were to save nothing alive that breathes (v. 16). You cannot have moral laws without a moral Lawgiver. God was patient with the Canaanites The Killing of the Canaanites - Genocide or Capital Punishment? - Part 2. Canaanite religion, like that of all of the ANE, was a fertility religion that involved temple sex. 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. Isnt there an inconsistency here? After the defeats of both Heshbon and Bashan, Moses noted that they had devoted to destruction every city, men, women, and children (Deut. 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. The Canaanites are identified in Genesis as descendants of Ham, son of Noah. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974), 550. He is convinced that the hope of the world lies in men and women having a saving relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Why didnt God just tell Israel; move in, settle down and coexist? Probably the ultimate sexual depravity is intercourse with animals. Not only have some people rejected Christianity over this, but it has even spurred some Christians to leave the faith. Probe fulfills this mission through our Mind Games conferences for youth and adults, our 3-minute daily radio program, and our extensive Web site at www.probe.org. 1:5). This is one of the most morally troubling passages in all of Scripture. There is no denying that God, in the Old Testament, commanded the nation of Israel, His chosen people, to exterminate many nations of people. 18:17 and 25:28. 20:16-17). The Canaanites: Genocide Or Judgment? | Bible.org In Deuteronomy 20:16, Moses said the Israelites were to save alive nothing that breathes in the cities in their new land. God had promised this land to their ancestor Abraham around 500 years earlier (Gen. 15:18-21), but it would be their responsibility, under the leadership of Joshua, to clear out the local inhabitants and take possession of the land. The classic example is Rahab, the prostitute who helped the Israelite spies in Jericho and swore allegiance to the Lord (Jos. 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. 5. If God is so merciful and loving, why didnt God just assimilate Israel into Canaan instead of driving them out? Kerby Anderson provides an overview of some ancient Christian heresies that are still being embraced today: legalism, gnosticism, mysticism, and marcionism. 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. 22 Christian Quotes and Sayings About God. For the Canaanites, it was time for Gods judgment. There had been a patient waiting from Abrahams time for the sin of the Amorites[to reach] its full measure (Toward Old Testament Ethics, Walter Kaiser, Jr., p, 267,Zondervan, 1983). Gods first inclination is to save Canaan rather than destroy it. Capital Punishment Reason 4 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. 2:25) and even included in the genealogy of Jesus (Matt. Nevertheless, those that choose to reject Gods love will be lost (2 Peter 3:7). 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. Ironically, the unbelievers moral criticisms presuppose a transcendent source of morality. Heres why. To understand what God was doing in Canaan, one must see it within the larger context of redemptive history. As a result, they eventually received the same judgment the Canaanites experienced (Deut. 2001 W. Plano Parkway, Suite 2000 These ideas may provide little consolation. 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. As soon as we heard it, Rahab of Jericho said, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath (Josh. God mercifully provides time and opportunity for repentance from idolatry and spiritual fornication with this world ( II Peter 3:9 ). 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. For further information or to subscribe to the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL go to: http://www.equip.org/christian-research-journal/. The problem with new atheist divine genocide claims is rather simple: God hates sin, but the new atheists do not.35 Consequently, they complain of divine genocide in the face of Canaanite sin! Israel was not commanded to deal with all other nations the same way they dealt with the Canaanites. In our pluralistic age, its easy to forget what an offense that is to the true God. . PDF What Do We Do with the Canaanites? 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. This is an online articlefrom the Christian Research Journal. Instead, the Israelites worshiped the Canaanites gods and did evil (Judg. 6. This article first appeared in the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL, volume 33, number 04 (2010). He blogs at Allkirk Network. I have two questions: 1. They had male shrine prostitutes (1 Kings 14:22), committed acts of lewdness, adultery, and incest (Jer. God's character, He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. Then, in AD 70, forty years after Jesus was crucified, the Roman emperor Titus destroyed Jerusalem. What it Means to Become a New Creation in Christ. 10. Israel had a unique calling as Gods chosen covenant people. What does it mean that "the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its 25). Minor judges Izban, Elon, and Abdon get brief mentions. Every forecast of prophecy of doom came with an implied unless attached to it: If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. Sue Bohlin reflects on how God has led her to trust Him through the trial of tongue cancer surgery. God would hardly have chosen a Baal-worshipper to be a type, prophetically previewing his Son (Hebrews 7:3). That being said, I do not think God had the Israelites comb the land to find and destroy every person; they were to devote to destruction the people who remained in the cities when they attacked.
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