The Canaanites had hundreds of years to either repent and follow God or to reject Him and follow idols and false Gods. Heres why. They are insisting that God and Christianity are in fact poisonous and must diligently be resisted and defeated. The ESV and NIV give a fuller understanding of the term by translating it devote to destruction (the NASB renders it set apart). 7 passage provides better support for his position. 7:2-3. Israel had a unique calling as Gods chosen covenant people. Gods first inclination is to save Canaan rather than destroy it. Killing the Canaanites: A Response to the New Atheism's "Divine God says its going to be a while before you all enter the promised land, because the Canaanites arent beyond saving.. Why doesn't God offer Sodom and Gemorrah the same chance to repent He Just as God had demonstrated his knowledge of who would repent in the Canaanite cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, before he destroyed Jerusalem He told Jeremiah that if He could find even one righteous person He would spare the entire city (Jer. Why Did God Command the Israelites to Destroy the Nations in the Land Then they would simply abandon worship of the true God. However, according to Kline, sometimes we get snapshots of Gods final judgment intruding into the flow of history, foreshadowing the reality to come. Third, God gave the Canaanites ample time to repent. Other ungodly acts routinely engaged in by the Canaanites included adultery, bestiality, and homosexuality (Leviticus 18:20-30). . Kerby Anderson provides an overview of some ancient Christian heresies that are still being embraced today: legalism, gnosticism, mysticism, and marcionism. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Curiously, this simply relates back to the entire dialogue of God with Abraham. Lets look at something God told Abraham before all this started. 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. 13. For one thing, the Israelites would intermarry with them, and their spouses would bring their gods into the marriage with all that entailed. 11. Are We Held Accountable for the Sins of Our Forefathers? Rahab spoke of having heard about Israels great God and His mighty miracles. The Canaanites were descendants of Noah. He holds a B.A. Isnt that a better alternative? 5. 1 Chronicles 16:11 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! God is a God of . Longman writes: 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. The tragedy of this story is that not only is idolatry an offense to Yahweh, but it fails to supply a happy ending for human communities as well. In phase four there was a major change. If Jesus had died to redeem humankind prior to humankinds comprehending the depth of their sin, then people would question the need for Jesus death. 12:4, 30, 31). In phase one, God fought the flesh-and-blood enemies of Israel. God had warned them against that (Deut. 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). 18:28; Deut 4:2329, 8:1920). And then these same skeptics turn around and say if there is a God of justice, why does He permit the wicked to rule the world and bring sorrow and suffering on the innocent? This is an online Viewpoint articlefrom theChristian Research Journal. 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. 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). And He said to Abraham, you and your children to the fourth generation must be patient too. Genocide and the God of the Old Testament | CrossExamined.org 1: The Pentateuch (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, n.d.), 484-485. At first, the Israelites tried to compromise and worship God the way the Canaanites worshiped their gods. Why Your Church Needs Vacation Bible School, Gods Amazing Conversions Through Dreams and Visions Part Three, Gods Amazing Conversions Through Dreams and Visions Part Two, Ice Dragon: Legend of the Blue Daisies Movie Review, Phoenix Wilder And The Great Elephant Adventure Movie Review, The Boxcar Children: Surprise Island Movie Review. 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. 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? Paul Copan, How Could a Loving God Command Genocide, in Thats Just Your Interpretation (Grand Rapid: Baker, 2001), 165. In phase two, God fought against Israel when it broke its side of its covenant with God (cf. Capital Punishment Reason 4 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. And so for 400 years more, the Amorites were allowed to live and do as they pleased. God had given the Canaanites more than four hundred years of probation, during which He sent prophets and warnings. The story of Canaanite incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality flow out of the plot line of idolatry. He points out 2023 Probe Ministries | Designed and Managed by Adquest Creative. Slaughter of the Canaanites | Reasonable Faith 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. Likewise, Gods government cannot successfully continue unless there is a plan that will ultimately, if not immediately, punish evil (Isaiah 61:8; Deut. In Deuteronomy 9:4-6, God Himself explains the reason for His command to slaughter the Canaanites. He points out how Yahweh Wars, i.e. Emphasis added. What does it mean that "the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its Although early Canaanite laws proscribed either death or banishment for most forms of incest, after the fourteenth century BC, the penalties were reduced to no more than the payment of a fine.8 In the larger ANE context, it is helpful to consider that in an Egyptian dream book dreams of having sex with your mother or your sister were considered good omens.9, Adultery. 18:17 and 25:28. Staff. 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; . In Deuteronomy 20:16, Moses said the Israelites were to save alive nothing that breathes in the cities in their new land. Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, in his " ", posits that one of the reasons that Sodom was not given the chance to repent was that even their children were wicked. The full text of this article in PDF format can be obtained by clicking here. An obvious objection to the idea that God was judging the Canaanites is that it would be unfair for Him to do so if they had no opportunity to repent and be saved. Who Were the Canaanites in the Bible - History and Importance If He does not receive a proper response, He promises great tribulation and martyrdomnot necessarily as punishment, but as an inducement to repent. 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. 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. 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. If God was not behind the conquest of Canaan, then the Israelites were no different than the Nazis and the Hutus. Even though the Ruler of the universe displays mercy and gives to men time to repent, there ultimately must be a day of judgement. I want to look at some Biblical stories about God destroying nations. Glenn M. Miller, How could a God of Love order the massacre/annihilation of the Canaanites? on the web site A Christian Thinktank, 8. The Canaanites took seriously the testimony of the Old Testament witness of Yahweh and His revelation, if for no other reason than intentionally to transform the scriptural depiction of Yahweh into a castrated weakling who likes to play with His own excrement and urine.4. In both Testaments we see that God hates sin and will punish it. God gave us life, and He has the right to take it away. Skeptics have claimed that God was unjust when He ordained Israel to destroy the Canaanites. The evidence says no. 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 Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Isnt there an inconsistency here? Second, if the Canaanite children were allowed to live and remain in the land, they could very well act to avenge their parents when they grew up, or at least to pick up again the practices of their parents. Going by this definition alone, the destruction of the Canaanites would seem to have been genocide. God has delivered Israel and set them apart as His people. 33:56; Lev. 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. As a result, they eventually received the same judgment the Canaanites experienced (Deut. But there is a major difference. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); IGRG: Did God Give The Canaanites aChance. Although prophets warned the northern kingdom (usually referred to as Israel or Samaria) of impending doom, they didnt repent, and in 722 BC the king of Assyria killed or deported most of them, and filled the land with conquered peoples from other nations. Why did God judge the Canaanites as wicked despite never appearing to
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