did god give the canaanites a chance to repent

Then they would simply abandon worship of the true God. Bereishit 19:4:. 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. Concerning sexual desire, Dawkins questions why evangelical Christians are so obsessed with private sexual inclinations.30 The apparently not obsessed Christopher Hitchens considers dangerous sexual repression so serious that he calls it one of the four irreducible objections to religious faith.31 Dawkins and Hitchens are not just encouraging a sort of sexual libertarianism per se. Skeptics often complain that children were killed in Sodom and Gomorrahs destruction. The Canaanites are identified in Genesis as descendants of Ham, son of Noah. Humans do not have the right to do whatever we want. (972) 941-4565 However, if we properly understand the whole picture we will be able to view God 's actions as full of mercy and fairness in His dealings with His children. All reproductions of this document must contain the copyright notice (i.e., Copyright 2023 Probe Ministries) and this Copyright/Limitations notice. Israel had a unique calling as Gods chosen covenant people. 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. 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). The Israelites intermarried with them which eventually drew Gods judgment on them as well. Rick Wade provides a biblically informed perspective of these Old Testament events, looking back at them with a Christian view of history and its significance. Heres why. If you like what you're reading, you can get free daily updates through the RSS feed here. He is passionate about understanding the Bible and helping others do the same. However, the city repented, turned to God, and God did not judge them. With Miller, I think they can. At first, the Israelites tried to compromise and worship God the way the Canaanites worshiped their gods. 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. 14. Moreover, most atheists do not customarily condemn the very practices that God condemns, for example, idolatry, adultery, and homosexuality. They reason something along these lines: (1) Christians condemn genocide. Bible Based.We believe in solo-scriptura. He gave them the law so that they may know Him and His ways. Why doesn't God offer Sodom and Gemorrah the same chance to repent He 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). 25). About UsContact UsPrayer RequestsPrivacy Policy, Latest AnswersBible LessonsBibleAsk LIVEOnline Bible. 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. The strategic location where the Canaanites were settled carries great. 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. On an individual basis, when a father sinned, his son wasnt to be punished for it. . In all of these respects, Israels laws were signposts to the spiritual realities behind Christs redemptive work for us. 18:7-8 ). And since, as we will see, He punished Israel when they committed the same sins, what happened to the Canaanites was not genocide, but capital punishment. How could the Israelites intermarry with the Canaanites if they killed them all? Minor judges Izban, Elon, and Abdon get brief mentions. So the Lord said that Israel became like Sodom to me (Jer. This explains why, in certain cities, Yahweh sentenced to death everything that breathes. The Canaanites, by contrast, were destroyed at the direction of God and primarily because of their sin. Skeptics say if God is a God of love why did He bring destruction on certain nations of the world? Lets look at something God told Abraham before all this started. There are many nations and peoples called wicked or evil and then destroyed in the Bible including Canaan, Hittites, Giggahites, Amorites, Pharaoh and his people, Sodom and Gommorah. The third goal of the conquest was the protection of Israel. In both Testaments we see that God hates sin and will punish it. Also, this wasnt the entire destruction of a race as God didnt order that every Canaanite be killed but only those who lived within specific geographical boundaries (Josh. What it Means to Become a New Creation in Christ. 1 (2009): 73-92; www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=63. But this is precisely the thing that the unbeliever loses in denying the existence of God. Conclusion: What does this tell us about God? According to the Bible, the Canaanites were so vile that the very land spued them out (Lev. 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. Here we encounter the issue of authority. After all, the Old Testament unequivocally commands that those who do any one of these things deserves to die. God didnt. The peoples of the land did not repent, just as the survivors of God's plagues will not repent. Was John the Baptist the only person that understood Christs mission. They made a religion of lust. Baal has sex with his mother Asherah,6 his sister Anat, and his daughter Pidray,7 and none of this is presented pejoratively. 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. Of course not. Phase five of Yahweh war will be the final battle of history when Jesus returns and will once again be military in nature. 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 (2 Corinthians 5:10). I probably will not answer every question in this short article, and even some of the answers I give will not satisfy everyone, but I do hope to present a solid biblical argument for the goodness, holiness, love, and justice of our Creator God. 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. Further, in Deuteronomy 20, Moses said they were only to kill the adult males in far away cities (vv. The Deut. 33:56; Lev. The term genocide means a major action committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. {3} Some twentieth-century examples are the extermination of six million Jews by the Nazis and the slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis by the Hutus in Rwanda in 1994. Even so, many who acknowledge Gods existence still have trouble accepting the morality of Scripture. 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). 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. Idolatry perverts our ability to love what Yahweh loves. This is an online-exclusive Viewpoint from the Christian Research Journal. genocidal . The second goal of the conquest was the judgment of the Canaanites. Eternal Insecurity Once I Was Saved, But Now Am Lost? He can be reached at [emailprotected]. The Bible is explicit concerning the sins of the Canaanites: idolatry, incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality. God sent Jonah to Nineveh, and spared the nation because of their repentance towards God. If God didnt mean to kill everyone in nearby cities, then what distinction was being made? Yahweh wars are battles recorded in Scripture that are prompted by God for His purposes and won by His power.{4}. 2:34; 3:3, 6). In Genesis 15:16 the LORD made reference to the Canaanites when he said, "the sin of the Amorites (Canaanites) has not yet reached its full measure." God was waiting to fulfill his justice against this people. 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. 44:18). The classic example is Rahab, the prostitute who helped the Israelite spies in Jericho and swore allegiance to the Lord (Jos. William Lane Craig reminds us God is not subject to our judgment of His actions; He has no moral obligations except to Himself. A more detailed version is also available on our Web site with the title Yahweh War and the Conquest of Canaan. The Canaanites worshiped other gods, which the Old Testament frequently denounced as no more than sticks or pottery made by human hands that could not see or hear or eat or smell (Deut. This is an online articlefrom theChristian Research Journal. Moreover, given the evidence of Canaanite sin, it is no stretch to realize that even many young children would have already learned Canaanite ways. [a] capriciously malevolent bully.{2}. 7:22). All rights reserved. For one thing, the Canaanites worshipped other gods. What Does It Mean for the Saints to Judge Angels? Thus, if God wanted to rid the world of their wickedness, then He couldnt have them grow up wanting to imitate their birth parents with whom they bonded. If I can find 50 good people will you spare Sodom God says sure. Some Christians have responded by driving a wedge between the Old Testament and the New, claiming that Jesuss ethics improved upon the brutal practices of ancient Israel. 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. 1 (2008): 7-37; www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=45. God says its going to be a while before you all enter the promised land, because the Canaanites arent beyond saving.. 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. 1:5). Before joining Probe Ministries, Rick worked in the ship repair industry in Norfolk, VA. 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). God knows what is best for humankind, but He allowed free creatures to rebel and find out on their own that He is right. A common attack today on Christianity has to do with the character of the God of the Old Testament{1}. What are the major signs of the last days? 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. Emphasis added. Rusty Wright presents a compelling case for the historicity of Jesus resurrection. He teaches theology at Westminster Academy in Memphis, Tennessee. 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. But instead of repenting when things went badly, they concluded that their misfortune was because they stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven, Inanna/Ishtar (Jer. However, the verses that follow, namely verses 16-18, disallowed the same offer to be given to Canaan. God promised Canaan to Abraham and his children. 2. Idolatry. {8} In addition, the Israelites would be tempted to imitate Canaanite religious rituals because of their close connection to agricultural rhythms. We must keep in mind, also, that Israel did not decide to exterminate the Canaanites, God did. The Canaanites had not completely sinned away their day of grace. God and the Canaanites: A Biblical Perspective - Probe Ministries Concerning the destruction of the Canaanites, atheists especially like to exploit the Christian condemnation of genocide. 15:5). 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. it was an act of the judicial holiness of God manifesting itself in righteousness and judgment.{6}. Ironically, the unbelievers moral criticisms presuppose a transcendent source of morality. In Genesis 15:16, God told Abraham that his descendants would have to remain slaves in Egypt for 400 years before taking possession of Canaan, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. So God was patient in dealing with the Canaanite nations, waiting until they reached the point of no return. 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. This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 44, number 2 (2021). Christian Answers, [emailprotected] Thus, they were all without excuse for not worshiping God. the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (6:12). God had warned them against that (Deut. Even though the Ruler of the universe displays mercy and gives to men time to repent, there ultimately must be a day of judgement. But there is a major difference. There were absolutely no prohibitions against bestiality in the rest of the ANE.21 In fact, in an Egyptian dream book it was a bad omen for a woman to dream about embracing her husband, but good things would happen if she dreamed of intercourse with a baboon, wolf, or he-goat.22 In short, their sexual fantasies involved everything that breathes. We're not around right now. God promised Canaan to Abraham and his children. 7 passage provides better support for his position. 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). This document is the sole property of Probe Ministries. 7:1-2). Presumably, the Canaanites could have done the same thing. As a result, they eventually received the same judgment the Canaanites experienced (Deut. 18 records briefly the moral degradation of the Canaanites. What the Israelites are told to do to the Amalekites is exactly what the Amalekites had been doing to Israel. Capital Punishment Reason 4 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. I have two questions: 1. God mercifully provides time and opportunity for repentance from idolatry and spiritual fornication with this world ( II Peter 3:9 ). 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. For the Canaanites, it was time for Gods judgment. However, if we take the Bible on its own terms, we will recognize that all humans are born guilty and corrupt. C.F. Going by this definition alone, the destruction of the Canaanites would seem to have been genocide. In other words, we now wage war in prayer and in the realm of ideas. Divine Judgment and the Canaanite Conquest: A Theological Exploration Many people take issue with the idea that God commanded the Jewish nation to initiate war against the Canaanites, ordering them to wipe them out and take their land for their own. 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. The category scholars use for such events as the battles in the conquest of Canaan is Yahweh war. In our pluralistic age, its easy to forget what an offense that is to the true God. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Previous post: 10 Biblical Steps Towards Restoration After Sexual Sin, Next post: Baptism Quotes: 27 Inspirational Christian Sayings. Another observation is that the instruction is frequently to dispossess the Canaanites or move them out rather than to destroy them. God loves each of us as if there were only one of us"- Augustine. 16:9; cf. 23:14). Real Questions. When a community sins, there are consequences for every member of the population, even children. Would 45 be ok? Abraham continues to bargain down to 10 righteous people. 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. Why did God wipe out the Canaanites? : r/TrueChristian Our enemies are the demonic forces that hold the world in captivity to sin, and our weapons are now prayer, preaching, and evangelism. Here are a few factors to take into consideration: First, the sins of parents, just like their successes, have an impact on their children. They were corrupt and depraved to the core. 6. 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? Isnt there an inconsistency here? The Hebrew word means to devote something to total destruction.. God gave us life, and He has the right to take it away. 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]. This news had terrified the city of Jericho and Rahab had put her faith in God (Joshua 2:10-14). After all, he spoke approvingly of the destruction of Sodom, a pagan city that also included men, women, and children (Luke 17:28-29). Copyright 2010-2023 Telling Ministries LLC. 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. Bernhard Anderson, Understanding the Old Testament (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1957), 93-94; 96-103. 1:16; 8:25). Furthermore, justice must respond to the moral failure of sin. Ones background theological beliefs make a big difference in how one sees this. Hittite Laws: 199 states, If anyone has intercourse with a pig or a dog, he shall die. For the story of Baal having sex with Asherah, see: El, Ashertu and the Storm-god, trans. 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. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription. If He wanted to strike me dead right now, thats His prerogative (Reasonable Faith . 2). You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. This clearly shows Gods mercy on sinners, and that He gives them a time of probation that they may repent. He points out how Yahweh Wars, i.e. 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/. 1: The Pentateuch (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, n.d.), 484-485. 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}. This is an online Viewpoint articlefrom theChristian Research Journal. Abraham asked the Lord this exact question in Genesis 18 regarding the coming destruction of two Canaanite citiesSodom and Gomorrah: Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Who Were the Canaanites in the Bible - History and Importance 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). The answer is: absolutely not! Stanley Gundry (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), 173-74. The second premise is false, however. Claiming Have you ever felt like an alien in your own culture? 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. But the section ends with Samson. 6:23), and ultimately every unrepentant sinner will have to face Gods judgment. And He said to Abraham, you and your children to the fourth generation must be patient too. This article first appeared in the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL, volume 33, number 04 (2010). In short, Israel was Canaanized. They could have repented of their evil, followed God, and been spared judgment. [1] Tremper Longman, The Case for Spiritual Continuity, inShow Them No Mercy: 4 Views on God and Canaanite Genocide, ed. In the Hebrew Bible, the Canaanites are described as inhabitants of Canaan before the arrival of the Israelites (e.g., Genesis 15:18-21, Exodus 13:11). Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. 9. / He lies with her seventy times seven / Mounts eighty times eight / [She conceiv]es and bears a boy.20. 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. 7:2-3. (3) Therefore, Christians should condemn Yahweh for commanding genocide. Although Abraham was Gods friend and the Lord wanted to give to him the land of Canaan for an inheritance. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. 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). 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. Skeptics have claimed that God was unjust when He ordained Israel to destroy the Canaanites. I consider Jesus the be the perfect example of how to be good, Jesus would never hurt anyone. If they had sex with just about every living thing they could get their hands on, and they did, then all had to die. God had given the Canaanites more than four hundred years of probation, during which He sent prophets and warnings. 3. Jesus then warned, What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? There is no denying that God, in the Old Testament, commanded the nation of Israel, His chosen people, to exterminate many nations of people. Para ms informacin o para http://www.equip.org/christian-research-journal/, Overcoming the Enemy of Education: A Review of Pete Hegseth with David Goodwin, Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation., Who Was Adam? He gets no pleasure in the death of anyone. This article is a slightly adapted version of the program that aired on the Probe radio program. Abraham starts bargaining with God. Then theres Sodom, God tells Abraham that because of the wickedness of Sodom He will destroy it. 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). 4. A God of love and justice, they say, could never command genocide, and therefore he must not exist. (LogOut/ If God was not behind the conquest of Canaan, then the Israelites were no different than the Nazis and the Hutus. 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. ", Jesus Resurrection: Fact or Fiction? 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. In fact, He waited almost 400 years, and until their society had become completely depraved, before He instituted His command of capital punishment. However, what is good and right or what is bad and wrong changes with societys opinions. . Later when Israel disobeys God and allows the Canaanites to continue to live among them, the corruptive and seductive power of Canaanite sin results in the Canaanization of Israel.
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did god give the canaanites a chance to repent 2023