Our finite minds are incapable of understanding every dimension of such a dilemma. As we read through Joshua and Judges this appears to be born out, as the extermination of the Canaanites is never fully implemented. The average population of each walled city at the time was probably around 1000-3000, with many cities having no more than around 700 people. But he didn't ask anybody else to do that. Recording an action even an action of an otherwise upstanding "hero" of the biblical narrative is not in itself a commendation of that action. So then why did God send His only Son to the cross? Why does God command so much killing in the Old Testament? Does God This full measure of sin was attained by the Canaanites in the generation leading to the Jewish conquest. "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" ( Job 1:21 ). Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. Some people struggle with how He could have used sinful people to judge other sinful people and with how he could have expected people to be able to carry out an act of brutality, especially against innocent children. Check out our current needs on the volunteer page. Throughout the New Testament epistles this perfect unity of justice and love in the character of God is consistently seen, so that John could say in his first epistle that God is both light (meaning truth) and love (see 1 John 1:5 and 4:16). So to answer your question, yes. [1] James C. Denison, Ph.D., Denison Forum, ( jews-to-kill-the-canaanites). Why Was God So Harsh In the Old Testament but More Forgiving In the New? In that chapter God makes it absolutely clear that the Israelites are not being used because they are better than the Canaanites or morally superior, but simply as agents of His judgement. "Dad, why does Deuteronomy 20 talk about killing the boys and girls?" Is God a murderer? Reading for fun reaches record low in US amid decline test scores: report, Iranian pastor sent to prison over 1,000 miles from his home, David Jeremiah shares how Christians should prepare for the End Times (part 2), At least 400 acts of violence committed against Christians in India in first half of 2023: report, Why smaller churches must be better at hospitality than larger churches, Timothy Plans proactive approach to combat human trafficking, There should be no argument: No one has the right to harm any child. By Norton Herbst, PhD In the Bible, God often commands the Israelites to murder and destroy. But the sin of idolatry is one act that God has shown little patience withas if the other sins the Canaanites committed werent bad enough and He judges it. Didnt the Old Testament punish blasphemy with death? Why would God demand the Israelites to kill entire groups of people? In Deuteronomy 20:18, the Lord told Israel that one of the primary reasons that its army was to destroy the many nations before them was so that they may not teach them to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods and cause them to sin against the Lord. But when examining the Biblical meta-narrative, we see God working in history to cause the fulfillment of the coming Messiah. Joshua's Conquest: Was It Justified? - Apologetics How did God respond to our wickedness? For example, people no longer bow down to golden calves, but indirectly, some certainly do! s put this scenario in a modern context. Man only has until the end of his life on earth to come out from under God's wrath by repenting of his sin and trusting Jesus to forgive him. Thousands of years from now, without understanding the historical context, what will people think of this act? What does Psalm 137:9 mean when it says, Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks? the Bible clearly says that we ALL have sinned He will take 50,000 lives today. Your IP: That is because Jesus Christ died on the 2010 Paul B Coulter This article is reproduced here by the kind permission of the author. But the sin of idolatry is one act that God has shown little patience withas if the other sins the Canaanites committed weren. Therefore the word we have from the Lord today is, Love your enemy. This lecture examines some of the issues we need to consider. It simply wouldn't happen. Yes, Scripture records acts of polygamy and concubinage among Old Testament saints. In the meantime we can bring our discomfort to God and confess that we cannot lay it to rest, confident that He does not reject our questions so long as they are motivated by a genuine desire to know Him more fully (again Habakkuk serves as a helpful example). Why does the Bible allow slave owners to beat their slaves? 2023 UCCF: The Christian Unions, Registered Charity number 306137 (England & Wales) and SC038499 (Scotland). Therefore I believe the government has a right to take a rapist and a murderer and to put him in jail. s standard is holiness, and we need to understand the Old Testament in light of what that means. There is an overarching theme happening in Old Testament events that helped usher in the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Why did God condone such terrible violence in the Old Testament He is author of. The part that makes it harder is that he commands people to do it. So I think there is an intention that the Old Testament look bleak, sin look horrible, God look just, and that there be much less mercy, proportionate to what you see in the three years of the ministry of Jesus. Are you age 13 or older. All views expressed by those associated with this ministry or on our platforms do not necessarily represent the opinions of Women in Apologetics, Inc. or its individual team members. (Acts 16:31). Those two approaches seem like polar opposites. Deuteronomy 12:31 says: You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshipping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. God is not beholden to us at all. Thankfully, He sent His only Son to take our place on the cross. I couldn't do it, and I wouldn't do it. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. Time to repent they are all preceded by long periods of opportunity to repent. We must repent of our stubbornness and pride and call out to God for mercy. I want you to decide the punishment for every criminal," I would not sentence most criminals to eternal suffering. As we pointed out in lesson 2 of this series, Matthew refers to the Old Testament Scriptures four times in chapter 2. claim Jesus Christ as their Saviorthose who do not receive Jesus free How can we rest easy in our confidence in Gods salvation while others have never heard of Christ? We dont like to hear that because we minimize sin today. A decision was made to end the madness by bombing civilian population centers, including the devastating nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Jesus suffered the pain and punishment you and I deserve to pay. Without understanding that God must judge sin we cannot understand the wonder of Gods forgiveness and grace or the amazing truth of the cross, where Christ endured the wrath of God for our sin. Abraham correctly understood that the key issue in judgement is the character of God, and his question expressed confidence in Gods righteousness. Why Did God Kill Innocent People in the Old Testament? Sign up to our monthly email to get the latest resources to help you grow as a thinking Christian delivered straight to your inbox. Only one of these references can be viewed as a direct prophecy which is fulfilled by the events surrounding our Lord's birth. (John 3:17). You don't have to worry about everyone getting their "fair shake" when all is said and done. no individual or church today has the right to condemn an entire culture. Why did God at times approve of genocide? And that's intentional. Only God can make this kind of judgement, since He alone possesses all knowledge and wisdom. How can that ever be right? But that may not be the most helpful thing to say. Studying Romantic Literature with Clyde Kilby stimulated the poetic side of his nature and today he regularly writes poems to celebrate special family occasions as well as composing story-poems (based on the life of a Biblical character) for his congregation during the four weeks of Advent each year. The choice is yours. Three further questions arise: Why did God use people as the agent of His judgement? At Wheaton John also met Noel Henry whom he married 1968. It is hard to comprehend why idolatry was detested by God because this sin has been lost on us today; idolatry is much more subtle. What Made It Okay for God to Kill Women and Children In the Old Testament? And it is hard to consider that everyone perished. If you appreciate the resources brought to you by bethinking.org, please consider a gift to help keep this website running. If God allowed the children to live, it is highly likely that those children would carry on the generational sin of their Canaanite parents because of a common ancient practice called blood retribution. This tribal culture believed that as long as one member of a family remained, that person was bound by cultural law to attempt retribution. Does God command genocide in the book of Joshua? - The Christian Century We are, however, still left with the unavoidable fact that according to the Old Testament texts the God of Israel ordered the annihilation of a whole culture. It's right for God to slaughter women and children anytime he pleases. God decides when your last heartbeat will be, and whether it ends through cancer or a bullet wound. This is why it was so vital to God that Israel start off their life in the Land without the influence of false religions that would lead them away from Him. Deuteronomy 9:1-4; Psalm 14:2-3; 2 Peter 3:7; Romans 10:13. Sadly, she is the only Canaanite we read of coming to faith in God, although surely others had the opportunity. The question is whether Old Testament violence is justifiable and condoned by God. In particular, the question is asked how a God of love could allow or even command such brutality. The Biblical accounts are quite different. And what he reads, he reads and he stops at a certain point in Isaiah, just before he gets to the day of judgment and of wrath. Therefore the word we have from the Lord today is, "Love your enemy. All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. We recoil in horror at the idea of bears mauling a . How he takes away is his call. One thing that is vital in understanding why God supported killing in the Old Testament is that, at first, Israel was a theocracya nation ruled directly by God. Why Did God Murder So Many People? | Explore God Article All rights reserved. Gods judgement was not based on the ethnicity of the Canaanites, but on their religious practices and the extent to which sin pervaded their culture. What about Abraham in Genesis chapter 22? Some of these clearly speak of extermination, but others speak of driving them out (see Deuteronomy 7). For example, the 9th Century BC Moabite Stone records King Mesha's boast that he had destroyed all the inhabitants of Ataroth as a sacrifice to his god. Does God condone violence? 4. God commanded people to kill in the Old testament, does he still Dan Delzell is the pastor of Wellspring Church in Papillion, Neb. The mass killing of the Canaanites is the first of two cases in which the text claims that Gods people, the nation of Israel, were commanded by Him to attack other nations. The Amalekites annihilated by Saul (1 Samuel 15). against a holy and just God. Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God." He will take 50,000 lives today. One way in which biblical scholars have attempted to resolve the problem of the mass killing of the Canaanites is to suggest that God never commanded it. The importance of the third day is a theme throughout the old testament. Perhaps we think this harsh punishment should have only been directed to the parents for not considering the result of their actions. As it was stated, it doesnt feel hard to me, because God was stated as the actor. If I were to drop dead right now, or a suicide bomber downstairs were to blow this building up and I were blown into smithereens, God would have done me no wrong. Divine judgement they are all judgements of God against extreme sin. My basic answer is that the Old and New Testaments present God as the one who has total rights over my life and over my death. Yet, the Lord had predicted that Abrahams descendants would claim the land when the sin of the Amorites (Canaanites were their direct descendants) reached its full measure (see Gen. 15:16b). Don't kill in order to spread the gospel, but die to spread it.". So we're in a window right now. You've got human beings killing humans, and therefore a moral question of what is right to do. Why? Even for people who are convinced that the Bible is true and represents Gods revelation of Himself these accounts can be deeply troubling, especially when one thinks about the death of innocent children. Why Did God Kill People in the Old Testament? - EternalAnswers Subscribe to the CompellingTruth.org Newsletter: Why does God command so much killing in the Old Testament? Does God's killing people make Him a murderer? In other words, if someone wrongs you in the sight of the law, justice needs to be served and consequences often occur. s lineage, and if the Canaanites continued in their immoral practices, it is a high probability that they would have raised up generations of Canaanites to conquer and eventually exterminate (some through syncretistic worship, which is combining different beliefs by blending practices of various schools of thought) the nation of Israelprotector of the seed. Copyright 2002-2023 Got Questions Ministries. During World War II, Winston Churchill declared that the war was for the survival of Christian civilization. The very way of life was being threatened globally. Did God Command Genocide in the Bible? - Logos Bible Study Platform When God supported killing in those ancient days, its better to view it as capital punishment for crimes committed against Him and for the protection of Israel. How is the Islamic idea of jihad different from violence in the Bible. Why did God at times approve of genocide? So, its law was much different than our modern-day governing. Because it was the only way that God's love for us as well as His judgment against sin could both be satisfied. Dont kill in order to spread the gospel, but die to spread it.. God owes us nothing. Performance & security by Cloudflare.