did god give the canaanites a chance to repent

You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. (Deut. Moreover, given the evidence of Canaanite sin, it is no stretch to realize that even many young children would have already learned Canaanite ways. God did not order the extermination of these people to be cruel, but to prevent even greater evil from occurring in the . Capital Punishment Reason 4 Dawkins objects that it adds injury to insult that the unfortunate beast is to be killed too.23 But Dawkins doesnt seem to grasp that no one would want to have animals around who were used to having sex with humans.24 Moreover, this might also explain why God used a flood to destroy what Dawkins called the presumably blameless animals in the days of Noah.25 If pre-flood humankind frequently had sex with every imaginable animal, then even though it wasnt the animals fault, it would be harmful to allow these animals to be a part of Gods start-over society. Also, God made it clear in His conversation with Abraham regarding the Canaanite cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that He knows who would or would not repent, and in the case of those cities, not one person would heed the warning and even Lots family had to be forcibly pulled away from the coming destruction. In the conquest of Canaan, three goals were being accomplished. [1] Tremper Longman, The Case for Spiritual Continuity, inShow Them No Mercy: 4 Views on God and Canaanite Genocide, ed. This is why it is so important for us to get our doctrine of humanity right. Imagine the teenage rebellion in those households! The apostle Paul described this spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6:12: Forwe do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but againstthe rulers, against the authorities, againstthe cosmic powers overthis present darkness, againstthe spiritual forces of evilin the heavenly places. The battle may be fierce, but we remain confident that Gods justice will ultimately prevail. In Deuteronomy 9:4-6, God Himself explains the reason for His command to slaughter the Canaanites. 6. What was to stop it? Theeremlaws of the OT were an example of this intrusion. The category scholars use for such events as the battles in the conquest of Canaan is Yahweh war. He gave them the law so that they may know Him and His ways. . 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. For me to do so would be murder. For the Canaanites, it was time for Gods judgment. 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). God promised Canaan to Abraham and his children. Our aim is to share the Word and be true to it. 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? 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. 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. Israel was not allowed to treat other nations as they treated the Canaanite cities. And I say contemporary because children werent regarded as highly in the Ancient Near East as they are today. Thus, the Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 15:16, "the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." wars instituted by and fought with the, My eldest daughter and I have been discussing portions of the Bible with which she is struggling. God was concerned that, if the Canaanites remained in the land, they would draw the Israelites into their evil practices. Real Answers. He points out how Yahweh Wars, i.e. What place should they have in our preaching and practice? Dan. The atheism of today wasnt an option. I consider Jesus the be the perfect example of how to be good, Jesus would never hurt anyone. This clearly shows Gods mercy on sinners, and that He gives them a time of probation that they may repent. The quote is from Gail Patches, The Great Debate: Craig, Hitchens ask Does God Exist? Whittier Daily News, April 5, 2009, A1, A4. Their purity laws pointed to the holiness demanded by God. They had passed the point of redeemability, and were ripe for judgment. 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). 7:1-2). Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. Further, he said that Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35). They reason something along these lines: (1) Christians condemn genocide. They are insisting that God and Christianity are in fact poisonous and must diligently be resisted and defeated. About UsContact UsPrayer RequestsPrivacy Policy, Latest AnswersBible LessonsBibleAsk LIVEOnline Bible. This explains why, in certain cities, Yahweh sentenced to death everything that breathes. He is also a God who takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. God knew it would take the destruction of the nations. 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). Predictably so, their values conflict with what God hates. However, once the biblical doctrines of God and of sin are taken into consideration, the background scenery changes and the picture looks very different. Then they would simply abandon worship of the true God. (LogOut/ 2001 W. Plano Parkway, Suite 2000 What God commanded Israel to do to the Canaanites wasnt genocideit was capital punishment. And how are Christians supposed to apply the erem laws today? There are several aspects of Yahweh war. 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. 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. It also happens to be one of the most frequently heard objections to the Christian faith today. According to the Bible, the Canaanites were so vile that the very land spued them out (Lev. . 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. The Israelites intermarried with them which eventually drew Gods judgment on them as well. Thanks to his obedience unto death, our own sins are forgiven, and we can now stand in Gods favor by faith alone. God knows what is best for humankind, but He allowed free creatures to rebel and find out on their own that He is right. Parents can corrupt their children.29. 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/. The Bible is explicit concerning the sins of the Canaanites: idolatry, incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality. They were corrupt and depraved to the core. He is passionate about understanding the Bible and helping others do the same. Thanks for stopping by! . Moreover, most atheists do not customarily condemn the very practices that God condemns, for example, idolatry, adultery, and homosexuality. 1:16; 8:25). A God of love and justice, they say, could never command genocide, and therefore he must not exist. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. Copyright 2010-2023 Telling Ministries LLC. Heres why. Kerby Anderson provides an overview of some ancient Christian heresies that are still being embraced today: legalism, gnosticism, mysticism, and marcionism. Here we encounter the issue of authority. 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. How could the Israelites intermarry with the Canaanites if they killed them all? Notes 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. For example, God commanded the Israelites, in Deuteronomy 20:10-15, to offer conditions of peace rather than extermination to all others. 1:27-2:5, we read that tribe after tribe of Israelites did not drive out all the inhabitants of the cities they conquered. 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. Will More People Go To Hell Than Go To Heaven? Who is more qualified than the Creator to decide how long one lives? What Do the Four Soils in the Parable of the Sower Represent? This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 44, number 2 (2021). Read them in the archive below. Isnt that a better alternative? 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 people of the land had heard about all that had happened with the Israelites from the time they escaped Egypt. Albrecht Goetze, ed. Cf. 5. M.G. 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. 4:58). 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. Genocide doesn't wait for people to have a change of heart; and certainly not 400 years. . We must keep in mind, also, that Israel did not decide to exterminate the Canaanites, God did. 7:2-3. 18:7-8 ). Probably the ultimate sexual depravity is intercourse with animals. 2:11). He holds a B.A. 13-14), but in nearby cities they were to save nothing alive that breathes (v. 16). The people have rebelled against God and spend 40 years in the desert. In the worship of their gods, the Canaanites committed other evils. God's patience on the Canaanites The skeptics illogical arguments Skeptics have claimed that God was unjust when He ordained Israel to destroy the Canaanites. 20:1618), lest the Israelites learn the Canaanite ways (Exod. Of course Dawkins complains that Gods monumental rage whenever his chosen people flirted with a rival god resembles nothing so much as sexual jealousy of the worst kind.5 But does anyone think that if Dawkinss wife left him for a gingerbread man of her own baking, and then she began to tell everyone that he liked to play with his excrement, that Dawkins would tolerate the characterization of his feelings as no more than sexual jealously of the worst kind? 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. 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. First, the movement of the Israelites into Canaan was the fruition of Gods promise to Abram that He would give that land to his children (Gen. 12:7). God has delivered Israel and set them apart as His people. Why would Jesus die for basically good folk? (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974), 550. William Lane Craig reminds us God is not subject to our judgment of His actions; He has no moral obligations except to Himself. In phase four there was a major change. 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. They are all part of an inherently wicked culture that, if allowed to live, would morally and theologically pollute the people of Israel.[1]. The peoples of the land did not repent, just as the survivors of God's plagues will not repent. Nevertheless, those that choose to reject Gods love will be lost (2 Peter 3:7). God mercifully provides time and opportunity for repentance from idolatry and spiritual fornication with this world ( II Peter 3:9 ). In Deuteronomy 20:16, Moses said the Israelites were to save alive nothing that breathes in the cities in their new land. In his discussion in Moral Monster, Copan refers specifically to Deut. 25). God's character, 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. 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. 12. Thus, they were all without excuse for not worshiping God. 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. ", "How Can a Just God Order the Slaughter of Men, Women and Children? 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. Lets start with the flood. The story of Canaanite incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality flow out of the plot line of idolatry. Yahweh derided these handmade gods that cannot speak and must be carried because they cannot walk (Jer. 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. This was Gods judgment carried out on the people of Canaan using the chosen people of Israel. Bible Verses, Quotes, Christian Answers, Songs and More. C.F. I think God meant it quite literally. 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. Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. 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. A biblical example of this would be Gods treatment of the city of Nineveh. The Spirit of God comes on Jephthah, but the military leader's efforts still end in tragedy. For the story of Baal having sex with Asherah, see: El, Ashertu and the Storm-god, trans. Old Testament scholar Tremper Longman sees five phases of Yahweh war in the Bible. Wouldnt that be a more merciful thing to do? Shedding light on this question will actually show that God is merciful and good. I have two questions: 1. If He does not receive a proper response, He promises great tribulation and martyrdomnot necessarily as punishment, but as an inducement to repent. When God told Abraham He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham pleaded for them, and God agreed in his mercy that if but only ten righteous people were found, He wouldnt do it. If I can find 50 good people will you spare Sodom God says sure. This again reveals that Gods motive isnt genocide, but capital punishment. Kyle Dillon (MDiv, Covenant Theological Seminary) serves as an assistant pastor at Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Tennessee. There is only one true God, and that God deserves all honor and worship. 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. This is an online-exclusive Viewpoint from the Christian Research Journal. Lets look at something God told Abraham before all this started. The victims were not only infants; children as old as four were sacrificed.15 Kleitarchos reported that as the flame burning the child surrounded the body, the limbs would shrivel up and the mouth would appear to grin as if laughing, until it was shrunk enough to slip into the cauldron.16, Homosexuality. The Deut. God Was God just in destroying the Canaanites? Israel was not commanded to deal with all other nations the same way they dealt with the Canaanites. 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. 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). Tugis life was full of dignity and worth. Our enemies are the demonic forces that hold the world in captivity to sin, and our weapons are now prayer, preaching, and evangelism. They could have repented of their evil, followed God, and been spared judgment. 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. Please make sure all fields are filled out. But the section ends with Samson. The Canaanites had not completely sinned away their day of grace. 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. 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). 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. Paul Copan, How Could a Loving God Command Genocide, in Thats Just Your Interpretation (Grand Rapid: Baker, 2001), 165. 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). But what about Deuteronomy 24:16 which says that children shall not be put to death because of their fathers sins? 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. Covenant Theological Seminary) serves as an assistant pastor at Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Tennessee. dark latin words, john margaritis obituary,

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