Deuteronomy 20 v 16-17 is evidence that has, as C.S. Lewis might
describe it, “put God in the dock”: “In the cities of the
nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive
anything that breathes. Completely destroy them…..as the LORD your God has
commanded...”
Of course, God doesn’t require anyone to defend him; but let’s explore
what was behind this statement, which at first glance appears to be instructing
ethnic cleansing that we condemned in Yugoslavia and Rwanda.The killing was not primarily to vacate the land for new incoming tenants, although that was a by-product. There was a moral imperative here - this was a judgment on the Canaanites, similar to the Flood or destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
But “everything that breathes” includes babies and young children. What was going on in Canaan that was so bad that God ordered even the children killed? (Sinful Egypt, Edom, Moab and Ammon were not completely destroyed, so the Canaanite sin must surely have been more serious). Was there no alternative; could God not have given them another chance?
Our final article in the series will expand further on the Caananite religion, which was the root of the problem. But to illustrate: when a new house was built, a child would be sacrificed and its body built into the wall to bring the family luck. The firstborn were often sacrificed to Molech, a giant hollow bronze image in which a fire was built. Parents would place their children in its red hot hands and the babies would roll down into the fire. The sacrifice was invalid if the mother showed grief; she was supposed to dance and sing. This is sickening and warped stuff.
The Canaanites saw Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed completely - a warning that God would judge wickedness. But God didn’t hurry to judge the Canaanites. God told Abraham: In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” Genesis 15:16. God gave the Canaanites 400 years while Israel was in Egypt and after Israel passed through the Red Sea, He waited 40 more years while Israel wandered in the wilderness.
The people knew Israel was coming, and that God had given the land to them, as the Canaanite Rahab testified: “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us…." Joshua 2:9. Families could well have migrated out of the land and settled in nearby areas. God gave no instructions to hunt down and kill Canaanites who left the land peacefully. Jericho had six additional days to repent while Israel did laps around it and even on the seventh day of judgement, Israel marched around the city seven times to provide a further opportunity.
There is a pattern here - God
judges swiftly when He finally acts, but He patiently warns and waits
for repentance.
The point of God’s command was to destroy the evil
Canaanite culture rather than the individual Canaanite people. Otherwise, as God said “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.” Deuteronomy 20:18.
Later in the Bible, Canaanite individuals like Uriah
the Hittite show up as righteous characters. Rahab herself was a Canaanite
harlot who repented before Jericho was destroyed and even became an ancestor of
Jesus Himself. So God’s judgment was not
based on racism or favoritism.
God is never arbitrary or unjust, despite how some
events might appear when viewed from a human, limited perspective. Those of us
who know Him trust that His justice is perfect and His patience and forgiveness
are immense. He waits for repentance and gives everyone the opportunity to
choose between salvation and judgment. This
is true today – He wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the
truth. But the clock of judgement is
ticking and one day, maybe soon, time will be up, and there will be no more opportunity
for repentance. That is why today really is the day of salvation.
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