RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2021-07-05	Is God Immoral For Killing the Canaanites? (Du.7)
		Deu 7:1  "When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, Deu 7:2  and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Deu 7:3  Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. Deuteronomy 7 gives us instruction for dealing with idolatrous nations. God decreed that these nations should be utterly exterminated and that every trace of idolatry should be destroyed (Du.7:1-2). The sin of the Canaanites was so deep that it could only be purged by the shedding of their blood. God knew that their presence would make it certain His people would fail to maintain the covenant. The Canaanites were sacrificing their own children on the altar of Molech. The people would beat their drums louder so the parents could not hear the baby cry. All idols were to be utterly destroyed lest they become a temptation to Israel (Du.7:25-26). The most serious threat to Israel was not the people of Canaan but their idols and the gross immorality associated with these idols. 1. DESERVED JUDGMENT: From God's view these nations deserved to die (Du.9:4-5). They were considered the most depraved culture on earth at the time. These people were eaten up with venereal disease because of the nature of their idolatry. Had Israel intermarried with them, they would have destroyed the race. God revealed to Abraham (Ge.15:12-21) that his descendants would possess the land promised to them. But that would not happen for 400 years when those people living in the land would become so horrible that God would have to judge them. God had given the Canaanites 400 years to repent, but they did not (Ge.15:16, “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete”). 2. NO REPENTANCE: They persisted in their hatred of God (Du.7:10). Had they repented, God would have spared them as He spared the Ninevites who repented at the preaching of Jonah. 3. GOD IS HOLY: They were a moral cancer for the Israelites (Du.20:17-18; Nu.33:55; Js.23:12-13). God understood that leaving even one child alive would introduce idolatry among Israel (Du.20:17-18). Our culture today has a hard time understanding how fast and easily sin spreads (Je.17:9). The heart is desperately wicked and no man understands how corrupt it really is. Solomon was an example of someone led astray by an idolatrous spouse (1Ki.11:1-8). And of course Israel did become corrupt with idolatry, and were destroyed because of it. The Canaanites were being judged for their wickedness. If the Israelites joined them in wickedness they would also join them in judgment (Du.7:4). 4. THEOCRACY: Israel in the land was to be a theocracy. It was to be unique and temporary. It was not the ideal for all time but the means to a promised new covenant. God wanted to get the promised people into the promised land to bring forth the promised Messiah to bring forth blessing to the whole world. God gives these commands because He loves them. God had chosen Israel to be a people who were separated to Himself. He did not want them to be like the other nations (Du.7:6-11; Ex.23:20-23; 34:11-16). MODERN CRITICS OF THE BIBLE • If there is no God, why is any Old Testament atrocity such as destroying the idolatrous nations deemed wrong? Without God, what moral standard do we use to judge whether an action is wrong? Most would simply use their own opinion for a standard. •  Why complain that God does not stop evil, but then complain when He does? Atheists try to have it both ways. If God does something He is bad. If He does nothing He is bad. The Canaanites' child sacrifice is an example of evil, and God said to go and stop it. • When somebody dies does God murder them? Is God committing murder by ending lives on earth? God does not murder anyone, because He is the Creator of life. So if He takes life, that is up to Him. God has a reason for it. He may or may not tell us the reason. We cannot intellectually talk people into understanding God's ways. After all, His ways are much higher than our ways. But Christians today should learn from this command that they should be as ruthless with sin in their own lives as Israel should have been against the Canaanites. Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

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