God is love (1 John 4:16) and He is also just (Psalm 25:8). 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. In both Testaments we see that God hates sin and will punish it. Staff. For the Canaanites, it was time for Gods judgment. For one thing, the Israelites would intermarry with them, and their spouses would bring their gods into the marriage with all that entailed. 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. 20:1618), lest the Israelites learn the Canaanite ways (Exod. Thus, the Israelites could possibly have married people who werent in the cities when they were attacked. 33:11). Help train Christians to boldly share the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that clearly communicates to this secular age. The Bible calls Noah a preacher of righteousness thats because before the flood Noah tried to save others by preaching repentance! Yahweh wars are battles recorded in Scripture that are prompted by God for His purposes and won by His power.{4}. Robert has written 111 articles on What Christians Want To Know! 16:9; cf. God sought to reveal His standards of righteousness to a thoroughly corrupted humankind, and He chose Israel out of the nations to exhibit the requirements for relationship with Him (Deut. God, as judge, used Israel to carry out His judgment on these people. What God commanded Israel to do to the Canaanites wasnt genocideit was capital punishment. Incest. The Canaanites are identified in Genesis as descendants of Ham, son of Noah. Eternal Insecurity Once I Was Saved, But Now Am Lost? For the story of Baal having sex with Asherah, see: El, Ashertu and the Storm-god, trans. As a result, they eventually received the same judgment the Canaanites experienced (Deut. Copyright 2023 The Gospel Coalition, INC. All Rights Reserved. Concerning the destruction of the Canaanites, atheists especially like to exploit the Christian condemnation of genocide. Third, God gave the Canaanites ample time to repent. The second goal of the conquest was the judgment of the Canaanites. Rick Wade provides an expanded discussion of the issues around the Israelites battles against the Canaanites. Speaking with Abraham, God predicted that the Canaanites would eventually become so evil that He 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. 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). They were corrupt and depraved to the core. 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. Rick's interests focus on apologetics, Christianity and culture, and the changing currents in Western thought. 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. He is passionate about understanding the Bible and helping others do the same. The Bible is explicit concerning the sins of the Canaanites: idolatry, incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality. 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). Minor judges Izban, Elon, and Abdon get brief mentions. Now after all of this God gives marching orders. 1 (2008): 7-37; www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=45. Plano TX 75075 The passages that record Gods command to slaughter the Canaanite cities have even caused many Christians some confusion. And He said to Abraham, you and your children to the fourth generation must be patient too. Sue Bohlin reflects on how God has led her to trust Him through the trial of tongue cancer surgery. 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. They say they refuse to believe in any being that could be so cruel and heartless. 8. God didnt. God says its going to be a while before you all enter the promised land, because the Canaanites arent beyond saving.. Israel had a unique calling as Gods chosen covenant people. God promised Canaan to Abraham and his children. In Jdg. No worldly government can exist unless it uses every necessary means to punish law breaking. After the defeats of both Heshbon and Bashan, Moses noted that they had devoted to destruction every city, men, women, and children (Deut. The debate between Craig and Hitchens occurred on April 4, 2009 at Biola University. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Generation after generation of Canaanites continued in the same evil practices. This clearly shows Gods mercy on sinners, and that He gives them a time of probation that they may repent. 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. They reason something along these lines: (1) Christians condemn genocide. Kerby Anderson provides an overview of wokeness, critical race theory, and their effect on the Christian church. Before He redeemed humankind, He needed to unambiguously demonstrate what exactly He was redeeming them from: a blatant and unrestrained evil that resulted in a worthless, nasty, and cruel existence. Bring biblical wisdom to the confusing issues across the world by making a gift to our international work. William Lane Craig reminds us God is not subject to our judgment of His actions; He has no moral obligations except to Himself. He blogs at Allkirk Network. Skeptics often complain that children were killed in Sodom and Gomorrahs destruction. Our aim is to share the Word and be true to it. 7:1-2). Imagine the teenage rebellion in those households! It was merciful for God to bring an end to the. it was an act of the judicial holiness of God manifesting itself in righteousness and judgment.{6}. 1:16; 8:25). The Hebrew word means to devote something to total destruction.. They could have repented of their evil, followed God, and been spared judgment. 1:5). In Leviticus 18 God then warns Israel that if they commit similar sins that the land would similarly vomit them out. Another observation is that the instruction is frequently to dispossess the Canaanites or move them out rather than to destroy them. Therefore, Israels own mission foreshadowed Jesuss mission in a number of ways. Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. As a result, they eventually received the same judgment the Canaanites experienced (Deut. This is an online-exclusive Viewpoint from the Christian Research Journal. 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. In other words, we now wage war in prayer and in the realm of ideas. If you like what you're reading, you can get free daily updates through the RSS feed here. in communications (radio broadcasting) from Moody Bible Institute, an M.A. 14. Tremper Longman III, The Case for Spiritual Continuity, in C. S. Cowles, Eugene H. Merrill, Daniel L. Gard, and Tremper Longman III, Show Them No Mercy: Four Views on God and Canaanite Genocide (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), 185. 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. Parents can corrupt their children.29. 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. But you can send us an email and we'll get back to you, asap. 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). For further information Este artculo es una exclusiva en lnea de Christian Research Journal. 1:27-2:5, we read that tribe after tribe of Israelites did not drive out all the inhabitants of the cities they conquered. Like all Ancient Near East (ANE) pantheons, the Canaanite pantheon was incestuous. 5:1). What was to stop it? 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. 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. The strategic location where the Canaanites were settled carries great. 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). 11. Ironically, the unbelievers moral criticisms presuppose a transcendent source of morality. Genesis 15:13-16 God tells Abraham that his descendants will be enslaved for 400 years. . Consider one basic example of how new atheist rationalizations echo the propensities of Canaanite sin, and indeed, echo the rationalizations of the human heart. A biblical example of this would be Gods treatment of the city of Nineveh. . He looks at all things from a infinite perspective than man can. So the Lord said that Israel became like Sodom to me (Jer. After all, he spoke approvingly of the destruction of Sodom, a pagan city that also included men, women, and children (Luke 17:28-29). In his discussion in Moral Monster, Copan refers specifically to Deut. Then they would simply abandon worship of the true God. Thus, the Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 15:16, "the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." 1 (2009): 73-92; www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=63. Kerby Anderson provides an overview of some ancient Christian heresies that are still being embraced today: legalism, gnosticism, mysticism, and marcionism. 2:25) and even included in the genealogy of Jesus (Matt. The story of Canaanite incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality flow out of the plot line of idolatry. James B. Pritchard, Harry A. Hoffner, Jr., Incest, Sodomy and Bestiality in the Ancient Near East, in. Bible Verses, Quotes, Christian Answers, Songs and More. What Do the Four Soils in the Parable of the Sower Represent? 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. Likewise, Gods government cannot successfully continue unless there is a plan that will ultimately, if not immediately, punish evil (Isaiah 61:8; Deut. If we see humans as being basically good or innocent, then of course we will react with indignation to the Bibleseremlaws. The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics helps Christians show unbelievers the truth, goodness, and beauty of the gospel as the only hope that fulfills our deepest longings. And how else would God have said it if He did mean that? It seems from God's promise to Abraham that they were wicked and idolatrous people. God was patient with the Canaanites Christians today are engaged in warfare on this level. Thus, they were all without excuse for not worshiping God. The peoples of the land did not repent, just as the survivors of God's plagues will not repent. Can these be put together? If a man has intercourse with a horse or a mule, there is no punishment.18 As with incest, the penalty for having sex with animals decreased about the fourteenth century BC.19, There should be no surprise that bestiality would occur among the Canaanites, since their gods practiced it. The people of the land had heard about all that had happened with the Israelites from the time they escaped Egypt. Israels response to Canaanite sin is a parable of how their own sinfulness empowered them to ape the sin of the Canaanites and thereby procure Gods judgment on them. [1] Tremper Longman, The Case for Spiritual Continuity, inShow Them No Mercy: 4 Views on God and Canaanite Genocide, ed. Women were no less guilty than men, and in many cases they were the principal instigators. When a nation starts burning children as a gift to the gods (Leviticus 18:21) and practices sodomy, bestiality and all sorts of loathsome vices (Leviticus 18:25, 27-30), they, are storing up wrath for [themselves] on the day of wrath when Gods righteous judgment will be revealed (Romans 2:5 ESV). 12:4, 30, 31 ). Abraham decides to bargain again okay, okay but what about if Im 5 people short? Further information about Probe's materials and ministry may be obtained by contacting us at: Probe Ministries A Clear Christian Perspective, The Apologetics of Jesus: A Defense of His Deity, Bridging to Common Ground: Communicating Christ Across the Cultural Divide, How I Know Christianity Is True A Defense of the Gospel, Yahweh War and the Conquest of Canaan A Biblical Worldview Perspective, Personal Development/Relationships Emails, Trusting God on the Other Side of Bizarre, Cohfessions of a Missionary Addicted to Porn. 34:1516). 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. At first, the Israelites tried to compromise and worship God the way the Canaanites worshiped their gods. 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. / He lies with her seventy times seven / Mounts eighty times eight / [She conceiv]es and bears a boy.20. What it Means to Become a New Creation in Christ. In phase one, God fought the flesh-and-blood enemies of Israel. What Does It Mean for the Saints to Judge Angels? God waited to redeem humankind until they had the chance to be, as 2 Live Crew once put it, as nasty as they wanna be.. 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. At first, the Israelites tried to compromise and worship God the way the Canaanites worshiped their gods. The non-believer has no objective authority. For one thing, the Canaanites worshipped other gods. All Rights Reserved. What place should they have in our preaching and practice? 4:1314; Ezek. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. 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. God was concerned that, if the Canaanites remained in the land, they would draw the Israelites into their evil practices. God allowed Israel to become slaves in Egypt (more on this in a moment). But this is precisely the thing that the unbeliever loses in denying the existence of God. God's character, How could the Israelites intermarry with the Canaanites if they killed them all? Leviticus 27:29 says very plainly that every person devoted to destruction was to be killed. To understand what God was doing in Canaan, one must see it within the larger context of redemptive history. Presumably, the Canaanites could have done the same thing. Hittite Laws: 199 states, If anyone has intercourse with a pig or a dog, he shall die. God had decided to judge Nineveh because they were evil (Jonah 1:2). 7 passage provides better support for his position. However recently an atheist friend told me God was cruel and unloving and used examples from the old testament to prove it. 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). This is an online articlefrom the Christian Research Journal. Bereishit 19:4:. 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. Permission is granted to use in digital or printed form so long as it is circulated without charge, and in its entirety. 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). There are several aspects of Yahweh war. God loves each of us as if there were only one of us"- Augustine. Dr. Ray Bohlin reviews a second science critique of Theistic Evolution, asking if universal common descent is real. Can the actions of the Israelites legitimately be called genocide? 1 Chronicles 16:11 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! He blogs at, How J. K. Rowling Played, then Lost, the Polarization Game, GAFCON IV: Lessons from a Communion in Birth Pains, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Christian Nationalism, What to Do When Your Child Is Addicted to Video Games, Radical Christian Gentleness in an Era of Addictive Outrage, The FAQs: Anglican Group Calls on Church of Englands Leader to Repent, Whats the Earliest Evidence for Christianity? According to the Bible, the Canaanites were so vile that the very land spued them out (Lev. He points out 2023 Probe Ministries | Designed and Managed by Adquest Creative. Part of the goal of this essay is to offer evidence to show that God had good reason to command Israel to kill the Canaanites. Used by permission. God would hardly have chosen a Baal-worshipper to be a type, prophetically previewing his Son (Hebrews 7:3). God Was God just in destroying the Canaanites? They are dated to somewhere between 2000 and 1500 BC, between the time of Abraham and the Exodus.{7}.

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