A Series on the Book of Judges - Part 2

Part 2 - God, the Canaanites and the Problem of Suffering

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.

A Series on the Book of Judges - Background

There have been many forms of government in history – such as democracies, oligarchies, monarchies and dictatorships.  But a fairly unusual type, a judicial model headed by a judge, once operated in Israel. 

It is best known from the period covered by the Bible book of Judges but not limited to then.  Moses was a judge leader and in Exodus 18, we learn that (as is often the case today) his court was swamped with cases; delays and exhaustion were the result.  Many more judges were appointed to help out the chief judge and each had to adhere to certain standards of integrity and impartiality.  Even when the judge was replaced by the king as the figurehead of the nation and the chief dispenser of civil justice (see David in 2 Samuel 15:2), judges remained a vital part of Israelite life (see Ezra 7:25, 2 Chronicles 19:5).

Perhaps the first thing you might think of in relation to a judge is dealing with criminals.  You’ll recall the famous case of Solomon, the baby and the sword? It typifies the kind of civil law justice that would have been their main focus – the resolving of disputes.  There were certain important administrative functions to be performed which also oiled the wheels of social life; an example of which is the recognition of the lifelong binding of a slave to his master (Exodus 21:5-6).  At times, the worked in tandem with the priests (see Deuteronomy 17:8-10) and logically the latter would have been the primary experts on ceremonial law.   But it would also seem that guilt in the context of criminal law was established not by the judges but by witness testimony of the community (see Deuteronomy 17:6 for example).

In Judges, the judges were pressed into emergency service - rescuing the people from raiding marauders (Judges 2:16).   The name of one of the famous judges, Joshua, means Saviour – relevant of course to his role and also a pointer to the future Saviour of the same name.

Did this model work?  The judges themselves were of varying calibers and there was a general dearth of strong leadership role models across the nation which meant that the moral and spiritual environment was poor.  As a result the period was very volatile and instability was never far away.   

How long God would have persisted with the model is a matter of speculation, but it was the people themselves that called for a change.  Their motives were largely selfish but they were given an excuse by the unethical behavior of Samuel’s sons (see 1 Samuel 8).   Behind that, the people wanted a more visual and dynamic leader which would make them like everyone else.  

God took this very personally – he somewhat surprisingly told Samuel that the people were actually rejecting him.  God knew full well what they were letting themselves in for but his warnings fell on deaf ears.  Key differences in the monarchical model would cause issues over time.  The main difference was that kingship was hereditary (and not raised up directly by God like the judges) and this was to cause trouble:

·         many sons proved to be unsuitable candidates

·         often undue influence of family members or family battles for succession

·         potential for inexperienced kings and unstable government

·         focus on self-aggrandizement and passing on of wealth

·         increase in political and military maneuvering  for own gain

Ironically, these issues often resulted in less justice for the people. Despite these drawbacks, at least the highlights of the reign of David are a foreshadowing of the great King that was, and is, to come.   Today, we often rightly complain about the apparent unfairness of life, the social inequalities that exist and a sense that justice is not being done.  We can look forward to a future day, in the Millennium, where the Lord will reign on earth as King/Judge and we will really see what good civil government looks like:

“In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it— one from the house of David— one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness." (Isaiah 16:5).

Mark Driscoll on "Marriage and Women"

Lots of traffic on the site looking at what Mark has to say on Twilight!  Here is a longer piece on the subject of "marriage and women".  I will post the video on "Marriage and Men" shortly and they really both need to be viewed in order to get a good overview on how marriage partners can really work together.

With Christian marriages under threat, and all mariages being more than capable of being made better than  they currently are, I recommend you take a look at these.  The world's wisdom would scoff at what Mark has to say - but it works.  Very biblical, very powerful and very humbling stuff..

Where is God's House Today? Part 2

Part 1 one of the series was posted yesterday and has generated quite a lot of site traffic so I thought I should not keep you waiting for the second part in the series!

The opening video was a general introduction to the subject.  Part 2 goes right back to the early part of God's dealings with the human race.  It seems that God has always wanted a collective people for himself.  In the Old Testament, that people was Israel, who entered a special covenant with God and became a redeemed and obedient group - they were to be obedient to the law of God and also obedient to the pattern of worship that God laid out in immense detail in connection with the Tabernacle.

Later parts of the series will trace the collective aspects laid here throughout the Old Testament and show how it changed dramatically when we get to the New Testament - a change which is still with us today - but the importance of which seems to have been overlooked by the majority of Christians.

This is a short 8 minute clip.

Simply Jesus by N.T Wright

N.T. Wright is one of the foremost theologians in England, in addition to holding a senior position as a Bishop in the Church of England.  Although he has a brillian intellect he us quite easy to listen to, especially in the more informal Q&A session which comes midway through this video.  Quite a portion of this is taken up with the subject of the ressurection.  Fascinating stuff!

Is the Bible reliable?

This is effectively the question that Daniel Wallace is attempting to answer in this video hich lasts about 27 minutes (Part 1):

Tim Tebow's Prison Ministry

Tim Tebow must be one of the most well known faces in American sport after his last season of exploits.  The fact that he is a Christian and very active in sharing his faith is just great.  Here is a video of him talking about his faith and how he has a ministry in prisons, even talking to death row prisoners.