did god give the canaanites a chance to repent

2001 W. Plano Parkway, Suite 2000 Then they would simply abandon worship of the true God. The part that concerns us herethe real culmination of Yahweh waris called herem. 18:17 and 25:28. / 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. As a result, they eventually received the same judgment the Canaanites experienced ( Deut. No ANE text condemns homosexuality. Why Did God Command the Israelites to Destroy the Nations in the Land genocidal . Robert is happily married and lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 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. Phase five of Yahweh war will be the final battle of history when Jesus returns and will once again be military in nature. 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). 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. In phase three, when Israel and Judah were in exile, God promised to come in the future as a warrior to rescue them from their oppressors (cf. Herem literally means ban or banned. It means to ban from human use and to give over completely to God. 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). In phase four there was a major change. Had there been repentance, there would have been no need to execute wrath on evildoers. 13. After the defeats of both Heshbon and Bashan, Moses noted that they had devoted to destruction every city, men, women, and children (Deut. 7:22). Christians believe that all authority belongs to God (Matthew 28:18, Romans 13:1, Colossians 2:10). Copan, Yahweh Wars and the Canaanites. I consider Jesus the be the perfect example of how to be good, Jesus would never hurt anyone. That atheists are incapable of judging spiritual matters leads some Christians to wonder why we even need to answer them at all, especially if they lack any objective, moral, or epistemological foundation for their claims. 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. For one thing, the Canaanites worshipped other gods. 2). Therefore, Israels own mission foreshadowed Jesuss mission in a number of ways. 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. {8} In addition, the Israelites would be tempted to imitate Canaanite religious rituals because of their close connection to agricultural rhythms. 6:23), and ultimately every unrepentant sinner will have to face Gods judgment. (Judges 2:1-3; 1 Kings 11:5; 14:24; 2 Kings 16:3-4). Spoiler alert: God did give Canaan a chance to repent. Then they would simply abandon worship of the true God. The most disturbing part of the conquest of Canaan for most people is the killing of children. . (The Answer May Surprise You), It was merciful for God to protect the Israelites from idolatry. Paul Copan, How Could a Loving God Command Genocide, in Thats Just Your Interpretation (Grand Rapid: Baker, 2001), 165. Far be it from you! The story of Canaanite incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality flow out of the plot line of idolatry. What does it mean that "the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its Although these laws express Gods judgment, they also show us Gods mercy in several important ways: Now that Christ has come, the way in which we understand and apply theeremlaws has radically transformed. For further information or to subscribe to the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL go to: http://www.equip.org/christian-research-journal/. C.F. So theeremlaws still apply, but in a spiritual sense rather than a physical sense. God promised Canaan to Abraham and his children. Furthermore, justice must respond to the moral failure of sin. This article first appeared in the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL, volume 33, number 04 (2010). 22:1011; Amos 2:7), and even Solomon set up an altar to Molech (1 Kings 11:5, 78). . The people have rebelled against God and spend 40 years in the desert. The new atheists immaculately exemplify what the Bible has proclaimed all along: sin corrupts our authority to judge rightly; what we think is justified prosecution against God Almighty turns out to be, on further illumination, a raucous rant full of the noxious fumes of the sinful heart. In short, Israel was Canaanized. Looking a four outcomes of the resurrection, Dr. Zukeran shows us that the greatest defense of the deity of Jesus was made by Jesus Himself. {14} The only test we can put to God is consistency with His own nature and word. Concerning the destruction of the Canaanites, atheists especially like to exploit the Christian condemnation of genocide. The question has been raised whether God really intended the Israelites to kill all the people. 7). 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. In our pluralistic age, its easy to forget what an offense that is to the true God. Old Testament Mass Killings - bethinking.org And how else would God have said it if He did mean that? Memory,. See Paul Copan, Yahweh Wars and the Canaanites, Philosophia Christi 11, no. 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. The peoples of the world at His return will be doing the same things that the Canaanites were doing when God gave it to Israel (Revelation 9:20). 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. When God told Abraham He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham pleaded for them, and God agreed in his mercy that if but only ten righteous people were found, He wouldnt do it. 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. 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. For one thing, the Israelites would intermarry with them, and their spouses would bring their gods into the marriage with all that entailed. 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. What place should they have in our preaching and practice? 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. A biblical example of this would be Gods treatment of the city of Nineveh. 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. The answer is: absolutely not! Skeptics often complain that children were killed in Sodom and Gomorrahs destruction. Here are a few factors to take into consideration: First, the sins of parents, just like their successes, have an impact on their children. He sent Moses to Pharaoh, and gave him 9 chances to repent. Paul Rutherford explains the lies he believed and tow which he was in bondage about pornography, until Jesus helped him achieve sexual sobriety. Revelation 2:21-23. 4:58). www.probe.org. They could have repented of their evil, followed God, and been spared judgment. 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. If they did not destroy them, the land would vomit them out just as it had vomited out the Canaanites (Num. 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. Probably the ultimate sexual depravity is intercourse with animals. Wouldnt that be a more merciful thing to do? Shedding light on this question will actually show that God is merciful and good. Gods first inclination is to save Canaan rather than destroy it. PDF What Do We Do with the Canaanites? For the story of Baal having sex with Asherah, see: El, Ashertu and the Storm-god, trans. Probe Ministries is a non-profit ministry whose mission is to assist the church in renewing the minds of believers with a Christian worldview and to equip the church to engage the world for Christ. Maybe this was just an example of Ancient Near Eastern military language.{11}. To answer these questions, we must understand the place of the erem laws in the history of redemption. Old Testament scholars Keil and Delitsch write that there can be no doubt that the idea which lay at the foundation of the ban was that of a compulsory dedication of something which resisted or impeded sanctification; . 33:11). He gave them the law so that they may know Him and His ways. 20:16-17). God allowed Israel to become slaves in Egypt (more on this in a moment). For the Canaanites, it was time for Gods judgment. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974), 550. The evidence says no. He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. Then, in AD 70, forty years after Jesus was crucified, the Roman emperor Titus destroyed Jerusalem. Can these be put together? 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). In Leviticus 18 and elsewhere, for example, the Bible reveals that God punished the Canaanites for specific grievous evils. Later Lots own daughters get him drunk to have sex with him and so even Dawkins, in a surprising moment of moral clarity, writes, If this dysfunctional family was the best Sodom had to offer by way of morals, some might begin to feel a certain sympathy with God and his judicial brimstone.28. It doesnt stop there. At first, the Israelites tried to compromise and worship God the way the Canaanites worshiped their gods. A more detailed version is also available on our Web site with the title Yahweh War and the Conquest of Canaan. Ones background theological beliefs make a big difference in how one sees this. They are dated to somewhere between 2000 and 1500 BC, between the time of Abraham and the Exodus.{7}. the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (6:12). Jesus then warned, What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? However, the verses that follow, namely verses 16-18, disallowed the same offer to be given to Canaan. Only when one views life through the lens of the Bible can one arrive at a worldview based on truth. 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). And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it (Jeremiah 18:7-10 ESV). Killing the Canaanites: A Response to the New Atheism's "Divine Killing of the Canaanites: What Does This Say About God? What are the major signs of the last days? Going by this definition alone, the destruction of the Canaanites would seem to have been genocide. In all of these respects, Israels laws were signposts to the spiritual realities behind Christs redemptive work for us. Bestiality. But this sort of response does not fit with Jesuss own view of the Old Testament. . 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. The atheism of today wasnt an option. Their sacrificial laws pointed to our need for atonement. Thus, the Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 15:16, "the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." Skeptics have claimed that God was unjust when He ordained Israel to destroy the Canaanites. He gave them the law so that they may know Him and His ways. 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? 32:4; Colossians 3:25; etc.). 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. 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. Israel was not commanded to deal with all other nations the same way they dealt with the Canaanites. it was an act of the judicial holiness of God manifesting itself in righteousness and judgment.{6}. 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."

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