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. 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. 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. [Ed. The Bible calls Noah a preacher of righteousness thats because before the flood Noah tried to save others by preaching repentance! 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). Here are a few factors to take into consideration: First, the sins of parents, just like their successes, have an impact on their children. It was merciful for God to allow the Canaanites to remain in the land as long as they did. When Jesus came, He shifted the battle to the spiritual realm; He fought spiritual powers and authorities. The peoples of the land did not repent, just as the survivors of God's plagues will not repent. God had warned them against that (Deut. Dan. In phase two, God fought against Israel when it broke its side of its covenant with God (cf. God is a God of . 18:7-8 ). If He wanted to strike me dead right now, thats His prerogative (Reasonable Faith . However, the city repented, turned to God, and God did not judge them. Not only have some people rejected Christianity over this, but it has even spurred some Christians to leave the faith. Skeptics often complain that children were killed in Sodom and Gomorrahs destruction. 12. Instead, the Israelites worshiped the Canaanites gods and did evil (Judg. Read them in the archive below. All rights reserved. A common attack today on Christianity has to do with the character of the God of the Old Testament{1}. This is an online-exclusive Viewpoint from the Christian Research Journal. Hittite Laws: 199 states, If anyone has intercourse with a pig or a dog, he shall die. THE CANAANITES- God's Justness in Perspective It's clear from history, God gave them ample time to repent, but they refused (Gen. 15:16; Deut. 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. Before joining Probe Ministries, Rick worked in the ship repair industry in Norfolk, VA. After all, he spoke approvingly of the destruction of Sodom, a pagan city that also included men, women, and children (Luke 17:28-29). 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. 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. According to the Bible, the Canaanites were so vile that the very land spued them out (Lev. Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. The situation with Canaan was different. There had been a patient waiting from Abrahams time for the sin of the Amorites[to reach] its full measure (Toward Old Testament Ethics, Walter Kaiser, Jr., p, 267,Zondervan, 1983). 34:1516). Copyright 2023 The Gospel Coalition, INC. All Rights Reserved. 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. God allowed Israel to become slaves in Egypt (more on this in a moment). 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. com; Question and Answer Archive, Question #16). 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? When angels arrive, however, the men of the city try to rape them and not only does Lot not find anyone who will repent, Lot himself tarries so long that the angels take Lot and his family by the arms and all but drag them out of the city. What the Bible says about Why did God Command Israel to Go to War God promised Canaan to Abraham and his children. 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. As soon as we heard it, Rahab of Jericho said, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath (Josh. If you feel an answer is not 100% Bible based, then leave a comment, and we'll be sure to review it. Revelation 2:21-23. / He lies with her seventy times seven / Mounts eighty times eight / [She conceiv]es and bears a boy.20. 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. God's character, . 33:11). PDF What Do We Do with the Canaanites? 7:2-3. Even though the Ruler of the universe displays mercy and gives to men time to repent, there ultimately must be a day of judgement. 2:34; 3:3, 6). Kyle, Canaan, in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, James Orr, ed. (LogOut/ 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. 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. A more obvious reason for the possibility of intermarriage is the fact that the Israelites didnt fully obey Gods commands. But what about Deuteronomy 24:16 which says that children shall not be put to death because of their fathers sins? In a recent debate with William Lane Craig, Hitchens exhorted the Christians in the audience, Emancipate yourself from the idea of a celestial dictatorship and youve taken the first step toward becoming free.32, Although Dawkins nowhere endorses sex with animals, he does endorse Princeton atheist and ethicist Peter Singer as an eloquent advocate for our need to become postspeciesist.33 According to Singer, to claim that one species is better than another is to invoke grave implications because, after all, We are animals.This does not make sex across the species barrier normal, or natural, whatever those much-misused words may mean, but it does imply that it ceases to be an offence to our status and dignity as human beings.34. The people believed that re-enacting these unions themselves played a part in the fertility of the land.{9}. (The Answer May Surprise You), It was merciful for God to protect the Israelites from idolatry. For the most part, they chose to rebel against God. What was to stop it? 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. in communications (radio broadcasting) from Moody Bible Institute, an M.A. 8. These nations were cut off to prevent the corruption of Israel and the rest of the world (Deuteronomy 20:16-18). Now after all of this God gives marching orders. The Israelites intermarried with them which eventually drew Gods judgment on them as well. 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]. He sent Moses to Pharaoh, and gave him 9 chances to repent. 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. Much of what follows is horrific, but if we refuse to look, will we really understand the reasons for Gods judgment? The Deut. God, as judge, used Israel to carry out His judgment on these people. You cannot have moral laws without a moral Lawgiver. 11:31; Jas. 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. In phase one, God fought the flesh-and-blood enemies of Israel. It was merciful for God to allow the Canaanites to remain in the land as long as they did. Accessed 5 November 2008. Inanna/Ishtar, also known as the Queen of Heaven, became the woman among the gods, patron of eroticism and sensuality, of conjugal love as well as adultery, of brides and prostitutes, transvestites and pederasts.10 As University of Helsinki professor Martti Nissinen writes, Sexual contact with a person whose whole life was devoted to the goddess was tantamount to union with the goddess herself.11, The Canaanites even remake the God of the Bible, El, after their own image and portray Him ceremonially as having sex with two women (or goddesses). If God was not behind the conquest of Canaan, then the Israelites were no different than the Nazis and the Hutus. God would hardly have chosen a Baal-worshipper to be a type, prophetically previewing his Son (Hebrews 7:3). 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. Can these be put together? The ceremony ends with directions: To be repeated five times by the company and the singers of the assembly.12 About this John Gray comments, We may well suppose that this activity of El was sacramentally experienced by the community in the sexual orgies of the fertility cult which the Hebrew prophets so vehemently denounced.13, Child sacrifice. 18:28). 7.1-2; 20.16-18). This again reveals that Gods motive isnt genocide, but capital punishment. But no one repented so all but Noah and His family were destroyed. See Paul Copan, Yahweh Wars and the Canaanites, Philosophia Christi 11, no. If you think the Canaanites deserved to die because of their own wickedness, Dawkins will zealously compare you to acting like the Taliban.3 A closer look at several key facts will help explain Gods reason for the destruction of the Canaanites and reveal how our own sinfulness demonstrates our incapacity to judge rightly. 13-14), but in nearby cities they were to save nothing alive that breathes (v. 16). 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. And how else would God have said it if He did mean that? Bible scholars call thiseremwarfare. God loves each of us as if there were only one of us"- Augustine. C.F. As a result, they eventually received the same judgment the Canaanites experienced ( Deut. God has done everything in His power to save the sinner through the plan of redemption (John 3:16). Copyright 2010-2023 Telling Ministries LLC. Likewise, Gods government cannot successfully continue unless there is a plan that will ultimately, if not immediately, punish evil (Isaiah 61:8; Deut. Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. In Leviticus 18 and elsewhere, for example, the Bible reveals that God punished the Canaanites for specific grievous evils. Conclusion: What does this tell us about God? Paul Copan, Is Yahweh a Moral Monster?, Philosophia Christi 10, no. 22:1011; Amos 2:7), and even Solomon set up an altar to Molech (1 Kings 11:5, 78). 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. God and the Canaanites: A Biblical Perspective, www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=45, www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=63, Yahweh War and the Conquest of Canaan - A Biblical Worldview Perspective, "How Could a Compassionate God Order the Genocide of the Canaanites? Probably the ultimate sexual depravity is intercourse with animals. 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. Scholar Glen Miller points out that dispossession words are used by a three-to-one margin over destruction words.{12}. Why did God wait 400 years to give the Israelites the land of Canaan? Please make sure all fields are filled out. But this sort of response does not fit with Jesuss own view of the Old Testament. Their purity laws pointed to the holiness demanded by God. (3) Therefore, Christians should condemn Yahweh for commanding genocide. Their task was to prepare the way for the arrival of the Messiah. Permission is granted to use in digital or printed form so long as it is circulated without charge, and in its entirety. Bible Verses, Quotes, Christian Answers, Songs and More. wars instituted by and fought with the, My eldest daughter and I have been discussing portions of the Bible with which she is struggling. Such arguments are clearly illogical. 1:5). In Deuteronomy 9:4-6, God Himself explains the reason for His command to slaughter the Canaanites. 1 (2008): 7-37; www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=45. . They had male shrine prostitutes (1 Kings 14:22), committed acts of lewdness, adultery, and incest (Jer. He looks at all things from a infinite perspective than man can. Eternal Insecurity Once I Was Saved, But Now Am Lost? Paul Copan, How Could a Loving God Command Genocide, in Thats Just Your Interpretation (Grand Rapid: Baker, 2001), 165. Stanley Gundry (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), 173-74. {14} The only test we can put to God is consistency with His own nature and word. What Do the Four Soils in the Parable of the Sower Represent? They had passed the point of redeemability, and were ripe for judgment. Concerning the destruction of the Canaanites, atheists especially like to exploit the Christian condemnation of genocide. Staff. all, and God plays fair with all peoples at all times, giving them equal chances for repentance and reformation. Dawkins, 338. They could have repented of their evil, followed God, and been spared judgment. Old Testament scholar Tremper Longman sees five phases of Yahweh war in the Bible. Heres why. 20:16-17). Why were Ananias and Sapphira not given a chance to repent? Acts 5:1-11 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. 23:12-13 where Joshua also warns the people against intermarrying. Rusty Wright presents a compelling case for the historicity of Jesus resurrection. Keil and F. Delitzsch, trans., James Martin, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 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. He begins with the Christian worldview and Rick Wade explores the meaning of the word defense in 1 Peter 3:15, suggesting that all Christians can do Rick Wade provides an expanded discussion of the issues around the Israelites battles against the Canaanites. He was keeping track of the measure of their sins, and, during Abraham's time, it was not yet "full." So the Amorites were warned that judgment was coming. The Canaanites were grossly sinful people who were given plenty of time by God to change their ways. It also happens to be one of the most frequently heard objections to the Christian faith today. 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/. A God of love and justice, they say, could never command genocide, and therefore he must not exist. We dont live in a theocracy anymore and, as Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:45, we dont fight with the weapons of the world, but we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God (NIV). It makes no sense to say that the erem laws are unjust unless there is an objective standard of justice to which they must conform. 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. But there is a major difference. Why doesn't God offer Sodom and Gemorrah the same chance to repent He However, once the biblical doctrines of God and of sin are taken into consideration, the background scenery changes and the picture looks very different. Similarly, the southern tribes (usually referred to as Judah) were deported when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem beginning in 586 BC. A biblical example of this would be Gods treatment of the city of Nineveh. . Then they would simply abandon worship of the true God. This is why it is so important for us to get our doctrine of humanity right. A miracle child heralded by divine announcement, he grows up to become a one-man army against Israel's enemies. God had warned them against that (Deut. God did not order the extermination of these people to be cruel, but to prevent even greater evil from occurring in the . Women were no less guilty than men, and in many cases they were the principal instigators. 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). Used by permission. 4:1314; Ezek. And they even sent their own children into the fires of the god Molech as living sacrifices. The new atheists call Gods commands to kill the Canaanites genocide, but a closer look at the horror of the Canaanites sinfulness, exhibited in rampant idolatry, incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality, reveals that Gods reason for commanding their death was not genocide but capital punishment. All Rights Reserved. Curiously, this simply relates back to the entire dialogue of God with Abraham. 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. 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. The answer is: absolutely not! 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. If God didnt mean to kill everyone in nearby cities, then what distinction was being made? God was patient with the Canaanites 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). 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). You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. Their authority is based on the current societal perception of morality. Another observation is that the instruction is frequently to dispossess the Canaanites or move them out rather than to destroy them. Sue Bohlin processes how she is handling the crisis of tongue cancer by trusting Gods goodness. And as a consequence, God used Israel to bring judgement upon 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. Then theres Sodom, God tells Abraham that because of the wickedness of Sodom He will destroy it. Going by this definition alone, the destruction of the Canaanites would seem to have been genocide. The Canaanites were an evil, depraved people who had to be judged to fulfill the demands of justice. God has delivered Israel and set them apart as His people. [1] Tremper Longman, The Case for Spiritual Continuity, inShow Them No Mercy: 4 Views on God and Canaanite Genocide, ed. When we look at the Canaanites we must realize that God gave them 400 years to repent. However, what is good and right or what is bad and wrong changes with societys opinions. No ANE text condemns homosexuality. 1:4). The Bible is explicit concerning the sins of the Canaanites: idolatry, incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality. 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 . You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. (Deut. Copan, Yahweh Wars and the Canaanites. 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? Was God just in destroying the Canaanites? - BibleAsk God and the Canaanities | Bible.org Covenant Theological Seminary) serves as an assistant pastor at Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Tennessee. This clearly shows Gods mercy on sinners, and that He gives them a time of probation that they may repent. Clay Jones is assistant professor in the Master of Arts in Christian Apologetics program at Biola University and specializes in issues related to why God allows evil. 18:17 and 25:28. 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. 18 records briefly the moral degradation of the Canaanites. Kerby Anderson provides an overview of wokeness, critical race theory, and their effect on the Christian church. In both Testaments we see that God hates sin and will punish it. Generation after generation of Canaanites continued in the same evil practices. 4:58). As a result, they eventually received the same judgment the Canaanites experienced (Deut. Why did God wipe out the Canaanites? : r/TrueChristian 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. And if all children are saved, then a Canaanite child would benefit by being alive in a better place. Plano TX 75075 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. Parents can corrupt their children.29. Of course not. An even more detestable practice was that of child sacrifice. Israel was not commanded to deal with all other nations the same way they dealt with the Canaanites. Spoiler alert: God did give Canaan a chance to repent. Incest. ", "How Can a Just God Order the Slaughter of Men, Women and Children? (Judges 2:1-3; 1 Kings 11:5; 14:24; 2 Kings 16:3-4). 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. Who is more qualified than the Creator to decide how long one lives? Isnt that a better alternative? This explains why, in certain cities, Yahweh sentenced to death everything that breathes.
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