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. James B. Pritchard, Harry A. Hoffner, Jr., Incest, Sodomy and Bestiality in the Ancient Near East, in. Stanley Gundry (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), 173-74. Further information about Probe's materials and ministry may be obtained by contacting us at: Probe Ministries For the most part, they chose to rebel against God. It was merciful for God to allow individual Canaanites to repent and join the people of God. Dr. Michael Gleghorn draws on the book 'Body, Soul and Life Everlasting' to provide an overview of what the NT teaches about the body-soul connection. OT scholar Tremper Longman summarizes this point well: We must point out that the Bible does not understand the destruction of the men, women, and children of these cities as a slaughter of innocents. Yahweh wars are battles recorded in Scripture that are prompted by God for His purposes and won by His power.{4}. It also happens to be one of the most frequently heard objections to the Christian faith today. In fact, He waited almost 400 years, and until their society had become completely depraved, before He instituted His command of capital punishment. God is a God of . Idolatry. The quote is from Gail Patches, The Great Debate: Craig, Hitchens ask Does God Exist? Whittier Daily News, April 5, 2009, A1, A4. 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. C.F. Change). 2:34; 3:3, 6). 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? The non-believer has no objective authority. 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. Memory,. 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. 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). God had decided to judge Nineveh because they were evil (Jonah 1:2). If God didnt mean to kill everyone in nearby cities, then what distinction was being made? In all of these respects, Israels laws were signposts to the spiritual realities behind Christs redemptive work for us. 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. This clearly shows Gods mercy on sinners, and that He gives them a time of probation that they may repent. I think God meant it quite literally. The peoples of the land did not repent, just as the survivors of God's plagues will not repent. No matter what explanation of the death of children is given, no one except the most cold hearted will find joy in it. Israel was not commanded to deal with all other nations the same way they dealt with the Canaanites. Thus, the Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 15:16, "the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." 9. God is love (1 John 4:16) and He is also just (Psalm 25:8). The Canaanites had hundreds of years to either repent and follow God or to reject Him and follow idols and false Gods. If He wanted to strike me dead right now, thats His prerogative (Reasonable Faith . (3) Therefore, Christians should condemn Yahweh for commanding genocide. However, according to Kline, sometimes we get snapshots of Gods final judgment intruding into the flow of history, foreshadowing the reality to come. A common attack today on Christianity has to do with the character of the God of the Old Testament{1}. 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? Rick's interests focus on apologetics, Christianity and culture, and the changing currents in Western thought. These nations were cut off to prevent the corruption of Israel and the rest of the world (Deuteronomy 20:16-18). They were corrupt and depraved to the core. 16:9; cf. If He does not receive a proper response, He promises great tribulation and martyrdomnot necessarily as punishment, but as an inducement to repent. 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). In our pluralistic age, its easy to forget what an offense that is to the true God. The people believed that re-enacting these unions themselves played a part in the fertility of the land.{9}. 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. To understand what God was doing in Canaan, one must see it within the larger context of redemptive history. Wouldnt that be a more merciful thing to do? Shedding light on this question will actually show that God is merciful and good. Jesus then warned, What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 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. All reproductions of this document must contain the copyright notice (i.e., Copyright 2023 Probe Ministries) and this Copyright/Limitations notice. Could there have been any righteous Canaanites, especially in view of the pervasive, seductive, and corrosive nature of Canaanite sin? Because of this, I think the term should be avoided. 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. If they did not destroy them, the land would vomit them out just as it had vomited out the Canaanites (Num. 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. God, as judge, used Israel to carry out His judgment on these people. Since Canaanite sin was regular and systematicthe entire adult population participated in the idolatrous systemGod judged the entire nation. note: please see Probes article Do Babies Go to Hell? by Probes founder Jimmy Williams.]. 7:22). Of course not. Copyright 2023 The Gospel Coalition, INC. All Rights Reserved. Christian Answers, 7:1-2). Copan, Yahweh Wars and the Canaanites. 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. If God is so merciful and loving, why didnt God just assimilate Israel into Canaan instead of driving them out? 4. The evidence says no. Covenant Theological Seminary) serves as an assistant pastor at Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Tennessee. Driving them out wasnt simply a way of making room for Israel. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. 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. The fertility of the land was believed to be directly connected to the sexual relations of the gods and goddesses. H, e teaches theology at Westminster Academy in Memphis, Tennessee. The law given in Deuteronomy provided regulations for the people of Israel. Instead, the Israelites worshiped the Canaanites gods and did evil (Judg. What it Means to Become a New Creation in Christ. But there is a major difference. 15:5). The second goal of the conquest was the judgment of the Canaanites. Atheists use this fact to condemn the character of God. Yahweh is a God of justice as well as mercy. 1 (2008): 7-37; www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=45. Baal has sex with his mother Asherah,6 his sister Anat, and his daughter Pidray,7 and none of this is presented pejoratively. I consider Jesus the be the perfect example of how to be good, Jesus would never hurt anyone. With Miller, I think they can. In short, Israel was Canaanized. Similarly, the southern tribes (usually referred to as Judah) were deported when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem beginning in 586 BC. Did the Canaanites Have a Chance? The Canaanites were grossly sinful people who were given plenty of time by God to change their ways. God promised Abraham (Genesis 15), that his seed would inherit the land of Canaan. Emphasis added. 1 (2009): 73-92; www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=63. After the defeats of both Heshbon and Bashan, Moses noted that they had devoted to destruction every city, men, women, and children (Deut. Craig writes, For example, I have no right to take an innocent life. They made a religion of lust. Before joining Probe Ministries, Rick worked in the ship repair industry in Norfolk, VA. Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. This was especially true of the Canaanite societies steeped in abominable practices like child sacrifice and cult prostitution. 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 phase four there was a major change. There is only one true God, and that God deserves all honor and worship. 2:25) and even included in the genealogy of Jesus (Matt. This was Gods judgment carried out on the people of Canaan using the chosen people of Israel. God had warned them against that (Deut. www.probe.org. 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. 6. They could have repented of their evil, followed God, and been spared judgment. In the old testament God tells Joshua to kill all the Canaanites, including women and children. Idolatry perverts our ability to love what Yahweh loves. 22 Christian Quotes and Sayings About God. This explains why, in certain cities, Yahweh sentenced to death everything that breathes. 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. All Rights Reserved. Had there been repentance, there would have been no need to execute wrath on evildoers. So theeremlaws still apply, but in a spiritual sense rather than a physical sense. Kyle, Canaan, in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, James Orr, ed. However recently an atheist friend told me God was cruel and unloving and used examples from the old testament to prove it. (The Answer May Surprise You), It was merciful for God to protect the Israelites from idolatry. Genocide doesn't wait for people to have a change of heart; and certainly not 400 years.
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