This document may not be repackaged in any form for sale or resale. 18 records briefly the moral degradation of the Canaanites. {8} In addition, the Israelites would be tempted to imitate Canaanite religious rituals because of their close connection to agricultural rhythms. So theeremlaws still apply, but in a spiritual sense rather than a physical sense. 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). 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). It was merciful for God to allow the Canaanites to remain in the land as long as they did. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. (Deut. 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. Then they would simply abandon worship of the true God. For example, God commanded the Israelites, in Deuteronomy 20:10-15, to offer conditions of peace rather than extermination to all others. God had given the Midianites, Amalekites and other Canaanites 400 years to repent of their unbelievably evil practices (sacrificing children on red-hot idols being one of them), and they hadn't (Genesis 15:13-16). In Deuteronomy 20:16, Moses said the Israelites were to save alive nothing that breathes in the cities in their new land. I consider Jesus the be the perfect example of how to be good, Jesus would never hurt anyone. Ironically, the unbelievers moral criticisms presuppose a transcendent source of morality. Bereishit 19:4:. It was merciful for God to allow individual Canaanites to repent and join the people of God. When Joshua led the people across the Jordan River into Canaan, he was fulfilling this promise. Longman goes on to cite OT scholar Meredith Kline, who proposes a theory of intrusion ethics. Scripture tells us that the punishment for all sin is death (Gen. 2:17; Rom. There is no denying that God, in the Old Testament, commanded the nation of Israel, His chosen people, to exterminate many nations of people. 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 has done everything in His power to save the sinner through the plan of redemption (John 3:16). 5:1). Although these laws express Gods judgment, they also show us Gods mercy in several important ways: Now that Christ has come, the way in which we understand and apply theeremlaws has radically transformed. Third, God gave the Canaanites ample time to repent. 1 (2008): 7-37; www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=45. The third goal of the conquest was the protection of Israel. Further information about Probe's materials and ministry may be obtained by contacting us at: Probe Ministries
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. If you feel an answer is not 100% Bible based, then leave a comment, and we'll be sure to review it. 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! They say they refuse to believe in any being that could be so cruel and heartless. Another observation is that the instruction is frequently to dispossess the Canaanites or move them out rather than to destroy them. Maybe this was just an example of Ancient Near Eastern military language.{11}. 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. This article first appeared in the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL, volume 33, number 04 (2010). But God has no such prohibition. I think God meant it quite literally. Even though the Ruler of the universe displays mercy and gives to men time to repent, there ultimately must be a day of judgement. 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. Molech was a Canaanite underworld deity14 represented as an upright, bullheaded idol with a human body in whose belly a fire was stoked and in whose outstretched arms a child was placed that would be burned to death. 1. 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). Yahweh derided these handmade gods that cannot speak and must be carried because they cannot walk (Jer. Women were no less guilty than men, and in many cases they were the principal instigators. Much of what follows is horrific, but if we refuse to look, will we really understand the reasons for Gods judgment? wars instituted by and fought with the, My eldest daughter and I have been discussing portions of the Bible with which she is struggling. 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? They were corrupt and depraved to the core. But what about Deuteronomy 24:16 which says that children shall not be put to death because of their fathers sins? 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. With Miller, I think they can. (Deut. God and the Canaanites: A Biblical Perspective, www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=45, www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=63, Yahweh War and the Conquest of Canaan - A Biblical Worldview Perspective, "How Could a Compassionate God Order the Genocide of the Canaanites? ", "How Can a Just God Order the Slaughter of Men, Women and Children? 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. Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. Kyle Dillon (MDiv, Covenant Theological Seminary) serves as an assistant pastor at Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Tennessee. Tagged as: 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. it was an act of the judicial holiness of God manifesting itself in righteousness and judgment.{6}. He is also a God who takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Skeptics say if God is a God of love why did He bring destruction on certain nations of the world? Since the land wasnt empty, this could only be accomplished by driving the Canaanites out. A biblical example of this would be Gods treatment of the city of Nineveh. The story of Canaanite incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality flow out of the plot line of idolatry. Read them in the archive below. But the section ends with Samson. They are all part of an inherently wicked culture that, if allowed to live, would morally and theologically pollute the people of Israel.[1]. Memory,. Baal has sex with his mother Asherah,6 his sister Anat, and his daughter Pidray,7 and none of this is presented pejoratively. 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. 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. One of the problem passages she asked about is "Why does God order, I am a Christian and spend time talking with others often about God, but I have been speechless when they bring up the issue, for example, in I Samuel 15:1-3, Rick Wade served as a Probe research associate for 17 years. Third, if one holds that there is an age of accountability for children, and that those younger than that are received into heaven with God at their death, although the means of death were frightful and harsh, the Canaanite childrens experience after death would be better than if theyd continued to live among such a sinful people. The Canaanites were the only people God commanded the Israelites to destroy Israel was not allowed to treat other nations as they treated the Canaanite cities. 18:28). They had male shrine prostitutes (1 Kings 14:22), committed acts of lewdness, adultery, and incest (Jer. Bernhard Anderson, Understanding the Old Testament (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1957), 93-94; 96-103. In Deuteronomy 9:4-6, God Himself explains the reason for His command to slaughter the Canaanites. Cf. Accessed 5 November 2008. What Do the Four Soils in the Parable of the Sower Represent? 5. . 20:1618), lest the Israelites learn the Canaanite ways (Exod. If He wanted to strike me dead right now, thats His prerogative (Reasonable Faith . Or better yet why didnt God give Canaan a chance to repent? A book review of In Quest of the Historical Adam: A Biblical and Scientific Exploration by William Lane Craig (Eerdmans, 2021), Let Faith Oust Fact: A Review of The Whale, No Mindful Matter: The Explanatory Failure of Scientific Materialism, Una pregunta que los mormones no pueden responder, Connect with the Christian Research Institute. He looks at all things from a infinite perspective than man can. Then they would simply abandon worship of the true God. The modernistic notion that Melchizedek was merely the "high god" priest of the Canaanites (e.g., Baal), worshipped in pre-Israelite Jerusalem, is absurd (Hicks 1962, 343). 7.1-2; 20.16-18). They reason something along these lines: (1) Christians condemn genocide. 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. 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). Why did some rules from the Old Testament cease to exist? Little of the Canaanites' textual records remain, perhaps because they used papyrus instead of the more durable clay for writing. Here we encounter the issue of authority. 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). Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?27 Ultimately the Lord then agrees to spare both cities if only ten righteous people were found. 32:4; Colossians 3:25; etc.). Humans do not have the right to do whatever we want. And they even sent their own children into the fires of the god Molech as living sacrifices. The people of the land had heard about all that had happened with the Israelites from the time they escaped Egypt. This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 44, number 2 (2021). Then theres Sodom, God tells Abraham that because of the wickedness of Sodom He will destroy it. Since Canaanite sin was regular and systematicthe entire adult population participated in the idolatrous systemGod judged the entire nation. 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. Can these be put together? All reproductions of this document must contain the copyright notice (i.e., Copyright 2023 Probe Ministries) and this Copyright/Limitations notice. In fact, He waited almost 400 years, and until their society had become completely depraved, before He instituted His command of capital punishment. 1:27-2:5, we read that tribe after tribe of Israelites did not drive out all the inhabitants of the cities they conquered. God had warned them against that ( Deut. Here are a few factors to take into consideration: First, the sins of parents, just like their successes, have an impact on their children. Only when one views life through the lens of the Bible can one arrive at a worldview based on truth. This is an online Viewpoint articlefrom theChristian Research Journal. 16:9; cf. They are insisting that God and Christianity are in fact poisonous and must diligently be resisted and defeated. Tugis life was full of dignity and worth. 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. www.probe.org. How could the Canaanites have that much influence over the Israelites? No matter what explanation of the death of children is given, no one except the most cold hearted will find joy in it. 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; . 23:12-13 where Joshua also warns the people against intermarrying. Killing of the Canaanites, Robert Driskell received a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Pastoral Ministries and Biblical Studies from Mid-America Christian University in 1995. Kerby Anderson provides an overview of wokeness, critical race theory, and their effect on the Christian church. Although Abraham was Gods friend and the Lord wanted to give to him the land of Canaan for an inheritance. And so for 400 years more, the Amorites were allowed to live and do as they pleased. 4:1314; Ezek. Skeptics have claimed that God was unjust when He ordained Israel to destroy the Canaanites. The Hebrew word means to devote something to total destruction.. 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. 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. If God is so merciful and loving, why didnt God just assimilate Israel into Canaan instead of driving them out? Likewise, Gods government cannot successfully continue unless there is a plan that will ultimately, if not immediately, punish evil (Isaiah 61:8; Deut. Other ungodly acts routinely engaged in by the Canaanites included adultery, bestiality, and homosexuality (Leviticus 18:20-30). They had passed the point of redeemability, and were ripe for judgment. 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. From the Canaanite epic poem The Baal Cycle we learn: Mightiest Baal hears / He makes love with a heifer in the outback / A cow in the field of Deaths Realm. God had given the Canaanites more than four hundred years of probation, during which He sent prophets and warnings. This was especially true of the Canaanite societies steeped in abominable practices like child sacrifice and cult prostitution. In Luke 20 Jesus told the Jews the parable of the tenants and the vineyard. Copyright 2023 The Gospel Coalition, INC. All Rights Reserved. Even so, many who acknowledge Gods existence still have trouble accepting the morality of Scripture. Thus, the Israelites could possibly have married people who werent in the cities when they were attacked. Sue Bohlin processes how she is handling the crisis of tongue cancer by trusting Gods goodness. Furthermore, justice must respond to the moral failure of sin. Non-Christians often point to the Old Testaments erem laws to reject Christianity altogether. The full text of this article in PDF format can be obtained by clicking here. 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). 34:1516). In both Testaments we see that God hates sin and will punish it. See Paul Copan, Yahweh Wars and the Canaanites, Philosophia Christi 11, no. God was patient. Rick Wade provides an expanded discussion of the issues around the Israelites battles against the Canaanites. 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? That atheists are incapable of judging spiritual matters leads some Christians to wonder why we even need to answer them at all, especially if they lack any objective, moral, or epistemological foundation for their claims. And if all children are saved, then a Canaanite child would benefit by being alive in a better place. God destroys Sodom. (LogOut/ Paul wrote to the Ephesians, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against . Idolatry. If He does not receive a proper response, He promises great tribulation and martyrdomnot necessarily as punishment, but as an inducement to repent. Isnt that a better alternative? God did not order the extermination of these people to be cruel, but to prevent even greater evil from occurring in the . Israel was not commanded to deal with all other nations the same way they dealt with the Canaanites. God was concerned that, if the Canaanites remained in the land, they would draw the Israelites into their evil practices. Our enemies are the demonic forces that hold the world in captivity to sin, and our weapons are now prayer, preaching, and evangelism. He holds a B.A. 2. Such arguments are clearly illogical. It makes no sense to say that the erem laws are unjust unless there is an objective standard of justice to which they must conform. The situation with Canaan was different. God sent Jonah to Nineveh, and spared the nation because of their repentance towards God. Before joining Probe Ministries, Rick worked in the ship repair industry in Norfolk, VA. 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. 12:4, 30, 31). God didnt. The Amorites had a chance to repent and be saved, just as the Assyrians in Nineveh did during in the time of Jonah. 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. For further information Este artculo es una exclusiva en lnea de Christian Research Journal. Because of such things, biologist and prominent atheist Richard Dawkins describes God as a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser . First, the Lord's command to enact erem was preceded by a long period of divine patience and longsuffering in the face of Canaanite wickedness (gross forms of idolatry, immorality, and injustice, including the sacrifice of children). Why didnt God just tell Israel; move in, settle down and coexist? warren spahn cause of death, charles grodin political views, if you invested $10,000 in tesla in 2010,
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