Dt. Emphasis added. Since the land wasnt empty, this could only be accomplished by driving the Canaanites out. Keil and F. Delitzsch, trans., James Martin, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. God is a God of . 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. Moreover, given the evidence of Canaanite sin, it is no stretch to realize that even many young children would have already learned Canaanite ways. 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? The debate between Craig and Hitchens occurred on April 4, 2009 at Biola University. Further, in Deuteronomy 20, Moses said they were only to kill the adult males in far away cities (vv. The law given in Deuteronomy provided regulations for the people of Israel. 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. A miracle child heralded by divine announcement, he grows up to become a one-man army against Israel's enemies. I want to look at some Biblical stories about God destroying nations. (Deut. [a] capriciously malevolent bully.{2}. However, the verses that follow, namely verses 16-18, disallowed the same offer to be given to Canaan. 2001 W. Plano Parkway, Suite 2000 Why Did God Tell Joshua To Kill The Canaanites? 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. 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. God was patient. 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. 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. Hittite Laws: 199 states, If anyone has intercourse with a pig or a dog, he shall die. The Deut. 2:25) and even included in the genealogy of Jesus (Matt. If you feel an answer is not 100% Bible based, then leave a comment, and we'll be sure to review it. 1:27-2:5, we read that tribe after tribe of Israelites did not drive out all the inhabitants of the cities they conquered. Skeptics say if God is a God of love why did He bring destruction on certain nations of the world? The third goal of the conquest was the protection of Israel. How could the Israelites intermarry with the Canaanites if they killed them all? Tagged as: 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. The passages that record Gods command to slaughter the Canaanite cities have even caused many Christians some confusion. They are dated to somewhere between 2000 and 1500 BC, between the time of Abraham and the Exodus.{7}. 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. it was an act of the judicial holiness of God manifesting itself in righteousness and judgment.{6}. Such arguments are clearly illogical. 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. Here we encounter the issue of authority. 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 category scholars use for such events as the battles in the conquest of Canaan is Yahweh war. He points out 2023 Probe Ministries | Designed and Managed by Adquest Creative. James B. Pritchard, Harry A. Hoffner, Jr., Incest, Sodomy and Bestiality in the Ancient Near East, in. The Canaanites were an evil, depraved people who had to be judged to fulfill the demands of justice. Thus, the Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 15:16, "the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." So theeremlaws still apply, but in a spiritual sense rather than a physical sense. 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. 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. What place should they have in our preaching and practice? But God has no such prohibition. Because of that advance warning, it is possible that some people abandoned their cities. 23:33; Deut. God had warned them against that (Deut. wars instituted by and fought with the, My eldest daughter and I have been discussing portions of the Bible with which she is struggling. 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. God promised Abraham (Genesis 15), that his seed would inherit the land of Canaan. Probe VP Steve Cable examines some of the findings of the Probe Survey 2020: The Changing Face of Christianity in America. Will More People Go To Hell Than Go To Heaven? 9. 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.
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