The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (around 2100 BC) came 600 years before Israel destroyed the Canaanite nation. Little of the Canaanites' textual records remain, perhaps because they used papyrus instead of the more durable clay for writing. In the old testament God tells Joshua to kill all the Canaanites, including women and children. Kerby Anderson explains how cohabitation (living together outside of marriage) not only violates biblical commands about premarital sex, but it also puts the couple and their future marriage at risk. Our enemies are the demonic forces that hold the world in captivity to sin, and our weapons are now prayer, preaching, and evangelism. However, according to Kline, sometimes we get snapshots of Gods final judgment intruding into the flow of history, foreshadowing the reality to come. There is only one true God, and that God deserves all honor and worship. 6:23), and ultimately every unrepentant sinner will have to face Gods 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. Their task was to prepare the way for the arrival of the Messiah. Thus, the Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 15:16, "the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." God was patient with the Canaanites But He said to Abraham that the promise would take a long time to be fulfilled for the iniquity of the Amorites, or the people of Canaan, is not yet full (v. 16). This document may not be repackaged in any form for sale or resale. James B. Pritchard, Harry A. Hoffner, Jr., Incest, Sodomy and Bestiality in the Ancient Near East, in. 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 explains why, in certain cities, Yahweh sentenced to death everything that breathes. In phase four there was a major change. 12. Even though the Ruler of the universe displays mercy and gives to men time to repent, there ultimately must be a day of judgement. Additionally, some ANE manuscripts talk about party-boys and festival people who changed their masculinity into femininity to make the people of Ishtar revere her.17. Lets look at something God told Abraham before all this started. genocidal . But this sort of response does not fit with Jesuss own view of the Old Testament. 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. 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. However recently an atheist friend told me God was cruel and unloving and used examples from the old testament to prove it. In Leviticus 18 and elsewhere, for example, the Bible reveals that God punished the Canaanites for specific grievous evils. com; Question and Answer Archive, Question #16). Atheists use this fact to condemn the character of God. Yahweh derided these handmade gods that cannot speak and must be carried because they cannot walk (Jer. 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. Keil and F. Delitzsch, trans., James Martin, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. In phase one, God fought the flesh-and-blood enemies of Israel. We're not around right now. 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; . They made a religion of lust. 25). He blogs at, How J. K. Rowling Played, then Lost, the Polarization Game, GAFCON IV: Lessons from a Communion in Birth Pains, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Christian Nationalism, What to Do When Your Child Is Addicted to Video Games, Radical Christian Gentleness in an Era of Addictive Outrage, The FAQs: Anglican Group Calls on Church of Englands Leader to Repent, Whats the Earliest Evidence for Christianity? All reproductions of this document must contain the copyright notice (i.e., Copyright 2023 Probe Ministries) and this Copyright/Limitations notice. God knows who will or will not repent of his or her sin and if He concludes that all the children would have been similarly corrupted, then He is perfectly right to institute capital punishment. After the defeats of both Heshbon and Bashan, Moses noted that they had devoted to destruction every city, men, women, and children (Deut. This document is the sole property of Probe Ministries. 23:14). What if there are fifty righteous people in the city?Far be it from you to do such a thingto kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Dawkins, 338. Then they would simply abandon worship of the true God. 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. 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 . This article is a slightly adapted version of the program that aired on the Probe radio program. 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. God was concerned that, if the Canaanites remained in the land, they would draw the Israelites into their evil practices. Yahweh is a God of justice as well as mercy. And how else would God have said it if He did mean that? 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. the people of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, the entire populace from every end[of the city]. 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/. 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: It doesnt stop there. Probably the ultimate sexual depravity is intercourse with animals. Thus, they were all without excuse for not worshiping God. Why did some rules from the Old Testament cease to exist? ", Jesus Resurrection: Fact or Fiction? They were corrupt and depraved to the core. 2). This is one of the most morally troubling passages in all of Scripture. 34:1516). Gods character is such that He gives nations an appropriate amount of time to repent. Other ungodly acts routinely engaged in by the Canaanites included adultery, bestiality, and homosexuality (Leviticus 18:20-30). Non-Christians often point to the Old Testaments erem laws to reject Christianity altogether. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it (Jeremiah 18:7-10 ESV). 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}. What place should they have in our preaching and practice? Of course not. Bestiality. Likewise, Gods government cannot successfully continue unless there is a plan that will ultimately, if not immediately, punish evil (Isaiah 61:8; Deut. But we must keep in mind that God is not subject to our contemporary sensibilities. The category scholars use for such events as the battles in the conquest of Canaan is Yahweh war. 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. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. 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. The phrase the Lords battles or battles of the Lord are found in 1 Sam. However, the verses that follow, namely verses 16-18, disallowed the same offer to be given to Canaan. God's character, Going by this definition alone, the destruction of the Canaanites would seem to have been genocide. 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. 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. . Concerning the destruction of the Canaanites, atheists especially like to exploit the Christian condemnation of genocide. Ones background theological beliefs make a big difference in how one sees this. 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. In Luke 20 Jesus told the Jews the parable of the tenants and the vineyard. Before joining Probe Ministries, Rick worked in the ship repair industry in Norfolk, VA. The Bible calls Noah a preacher of righteousness thats because before the flood Noah tried to save others by preaching repentance! 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. 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. A miracle child heralded by divine announcement, he grows up to become a one-man army against Israel's enemies. Eternal Insecurity Once I Was Saved, But Now Am Lost? God didnt. 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. Abraham decides to bargain again okay, okay but what about if Im 5 people short? What Does It Mean for the Saints to Judge Angels? The Amorites' sin had not escaped God's notice. And they even sent their own children into the fires of the god Molech as living sacrifices. 33:11). God did not order the extermination of these people to be cruel, but to prevent even greater evil from occurring in the . Canaan, because of its sin, was to be heremdevoted to destruction. You cannot have moral laws without a moral Lawgiver. 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. (The Answer May Surprise You), It was merciful for God to protect the Israelites from idolatry. About UsContact UsPrayer RequestsPrivacy Policy, Latest AnswersBible LessonsBibleAsk LIVEOnline Bible. What about these people prompted such a harsh judgment? This is why it is so important for us to get our doctrine of humanity right. Sue Bohlin processes how she is handling the crisis of tongue cancer by trusting Gods goodness. 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. God had warned them against that (Deut. 7:2-3. 10. 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). Recently I asked some of the mamas of littles in our church, What God questions are your kids asking? Dr. Michael Gleghorn provides good reasons to believe that the stories about Jesus were reliably preserved by his followers Dr. Zukeran presents five major reasons to believe Christianity is the truth. 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. The object of warfare moves from the Canaanites, who are the object of Gods wrath for their sin, to the spiritual powers and principalities, and then finally to the utter destruction of all evil, human and spiritual.[2]. 15:5). The question has been raised whether God really intended the Israelites to kill all the people. {14} The only test we can put to God is consistency with His own nature and word. Under the sanctuary in the ancient city of Gezer, urns containing the burnt bones of children have been found. Generation after generation of Canaanites continued in the same evil practices. The atheism of today wasnt an option. 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). Kyle Dillon (MDiv, Covenant Theological Seminary) serves as an assistant pastor at Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Tennessee. 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? 2. Kerby Anderson provides an overview of some ancient Christian heresies that are still being embraced today: legalism, gnosticism, mysticism, and marcionism. He is passionate about understanding the Bible and helping others do the same. God destroys Sodom. 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. This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 44, number 2 (2021). In other words, we now wage war in prayer and in the realm of ideas. 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). 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. For one thing, the Israelites would intermarry with them, and their spouses would bring their gods into the marriage with all that entailed. . 23:33; Deut. Thus, the Israelites could possibly have married people who werent in the cities when they were attacked. 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 people of the land had heard about all that had happened with the Israelites from the time they escaped Egypt. What was to stop it? These twentieth-century examples were basically people killing people simply because they hated them and/or wanted their land. Phase five of Yahweh war will be the final battle of history when Jesus returns and will once again be military in nature. The most disturbing part of the conquest of Canaan for most people is the killing of children. The classic example is Rahab, the prostitute who helped the Israelite spies in Jericho and swore allegiance to the Lord (Jos. A Clear Christian Perspective, The Apologetics of Jesus: A Defense of His Deity, Bridging to Common Ground: Communicating Christ Across the Cultural Divide, How I Know Christianity Is True A Defense of the Gospel, Yahweh War and the Conquest of Canaan A Biblical Worldview Perspective, Personal Development/Relationships Emails, Trusting God on the Other Side of Bizarre, Cohfessions of a Missionary Addicted to Porn. [1] Tremper Longman, The Case for Spiritual Continuity, inShow Them No Mercy: 4 Views on God and Canaanite Genocide, ed. Like all Ancient Near East (ANE) pantheons, the Canaanite pantheon was incestuous. William Lane Craig reminds us God is not subject to our judgment of His actions; He has no moral obligations except to Himself. 7). 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? Servants were sent to the tenants of the vineyard, but had been mistreated, and so the owner of the vineyard sent his son, but the tenants killed the son.
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