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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: Why did God command the extermination of the Canaanites, women and children included? Why did God command the extermination of the Canaanites, women and children included? Question: "Why did God command the extermination of the Canaanites, women and children included?" Answer: In 1 Samuel 15:2-3, God commanded Saul and the Israelites, “This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'" God ordered similar things when the Israelites were invading the promised land (Deuteronomy 2:34; 3:6; 20:16-18). Why would God have the Israelites exterminate an entire group of people, women and children included? This is honestly a very difficult issue. We do not fully understand why God would command such a thing, but at the same time we trust God that He is just – and recognize that we are incapable of fully understanding a sovereign, infinite, and eternal God. As we look at difficult issues such as this one, we have to remember that God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9; Romans 11:33-36). We have to be willing to trust God and have faith in Him even when we do not understand His ways. Unlike us, God knows the future. God knew what the results would be if Israel did not completely eradicate the Amalekites. If Israel did not carry out God’s orders, the Amalekites would come back to “haunt” the Israelites again and again. Saul claimed to have killed everyone but the Amalekite king Agag (1 Samuel 15:20). Obviously Saul was lying…just a couple of decades later there were enough Amalekites to take David and his men’s families captive (1 Samuel 30:1-2). After David and his men attacked the Amalekites and rescued their families, 400 Amalekites escaped. If Saul had fulfilled what God had commanded him, this never would have occurred. Several hundred years later, a descendant of Agag, Haman, tried to have the entire Jewish people exterminated (see the book of Esther). So, Saul’s incomplete obedience almost resulted in Israel’s destruction. God knew this would occur, so He ordered the extermination of the Amalekites ahead of time. In regard to the Canaanites, God commanded, “However, 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 — the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites — as the LORD your God has commanded you. Otherwise, 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 20:16-18). The Israelites failed in this mission as well, and exactly what God said would happen occurred (Judges 2:1-3; 1 Kings 11:5; 14:24; 2 Kings 16:3-4). God did not order the extermination of these people to be cruel, but rather to prevent even greater evil from occurring in the future. Probably the most difficult part of these commands from God is that God ordered the death of children and infants as well. Why would God order the death of innocent children? (1) Children are not innocent (Psalm 51:5; 58:3). (2) These children would have likely grown up as adherents to the evil religions and practices of their parents. (3) By ending their lives as children, God enabled them to have entrance into Heaven. We strongly believe that all children who die are accepted into Heaven by the grace and mercy of God (2 Samuel 12:22-23; Mark 10:14-15; Matthew 18:2-4). Again, this answer does not completely deal with all the issues. Our focus should be on trusting God even when we do not understand His ways. We also have to remember that God looks at things from an eternal perspective, and that His ways are higher than our ways. God is just, righteous, holy, loving, merciful, and gracious. How His attributes work together can be a mystery to us – but that does not mean that He is not who the Bible proclaims Him to be. Recommended Resource: Show Them No Mercy: 4 Views on God and Canaanite Genocide. Related Topics: Why is God so different in the Old Testament than He is in the New Testament? How do I get the image of God as imposing and angry out of my mind? Did God create evil? Why is God a jealous God? Is it wrong to question God? poster comment: Deu 7:1 — When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, 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 thou; http://www.blueletterbible.org/s...k.cfm?b=Deu&c=7&v=1&t=KJV Deuteronomy 7:1-26 Deu 7:2 And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, [and] utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Deu 7:3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. Deu 7:4 **** For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly........ http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Deu&c=7&v=1 ...Jos 23:12 Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, [even] these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: Jos 23:13 Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out [any of] these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. Jdg 3:2 Now these [are] the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, [even] as many [of Israel] as had not known all the wars of Canaan; Jdg 3:2 Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof; Jdg 3:3 [Namely], five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath. Jdg 3:4 And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. Jdg 3:5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: Jdg 3:6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. Jdg 3:7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves...... 1Ki 11:2 Of the nations [concerning] which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: [for] surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. Ezr 9:1 Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, [doing] according to their abominations, [even] of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. Ezr 9:2 For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of [those] lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass......... http://www.blueletterbible.org/s...k.cfm?b=Deu&c=7&v=3&t=KJV 1Ki 11:1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, [and] Hittites; 1Ki 11:2 Of the nations [concerning] which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: [for] surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. 1Ki 11:3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. 1Ki 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, [that] his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as [was] the heart of David his father. 1Ki 11:5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites...... Eze 16:3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity [is] of the land of Canaan; thy father [was] an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. http://www.blueletterbible.org/s...k.cfm?b=Jdg&c=3&v=6&t=KJV Jer 11:10 They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers....... Jer 11:13 For [according to] the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and [according to] the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to [that] shameful thing, [even] altars to burn incense unto Baal. http://www.blueletterbible.org/B...?b=Jer&c=11&v=10&t=KJV#10 http://www.blueletterbible.org/s...cfm?b=Jer&c=11&v=10&t=KJV
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#14. To: AllTheKings'HorsesWontDoIt (#0)
It is not hard at all. They were evil. Just like the people of today who don't want to hearken to Gods word. They will perish eternally.
Let me get this straight. The Israelites that were "ordered" to murder all the children including infants, along with all of the men and women of an entire civilization were the "good guys" and their victims are the "evil ones", eh? The more I read here the more I realize that if there IS an entity such as a devil, it is THAT entity that "spoke" to the prophets if they indeed "saw" or "heard" what they claim. In reality the "prophets" were probably either imaginary or existed solely to "prophesize" what the kings wanted the people to THINK came from "God". There is no other explanation for a "God" that incites hate, intolerance, and ultimately murder. Isn't one of the commandants "THOU SHALL NOT KILL"? There seems to be a MAJOR contradiction between the words of the commandants in relation to the words of the prophets. In fact, say that there IS a God that "spoke" to prophets, do you think that God would order a mass genocide of largely innocent people, where actual people would be doing the butchering, rather than him simply sending an epidemic or a natural disaster to kill those people? I'd say it is those who have chosen the path of evil, hate, and destruction who should be in fear for their eternal soul, not those who have chosen the path of love and peace.
God knows their hearts. God knows the world from end to beginning. They were obviously a threat to the christ who was to come.
Look retard. God ordered the killing including the women and children and it was your jooish friends that not only was a threat to Jesus, but the very ones who put him to death. I don't know what is more evil, your words or your love for hateful joos. Tell us professor dork! Or should that be professor schmuck?
Are you upset that Jesus was crucified?
It doesn't matter what I think. My thoughts won't change a thing. I do know that old friend is about as far from being a christian as michael jackson and ted bundy. It pretends to know so much about the bible and says so many unchristian things and so much hatred spews from its mouth. This creep has proven over and over that it is in love with the joos and is constantly calling for the irridication of the Palis who this sorry twit proclaims are sub human. A real lesson in christianity. Constantly shames itself and christianity with such ugly vulgar hatred. This moron claims he/she is also aka as stone. Lucifer is more like it! Truly despicable.
Just curious. One just needs to remember that it wasn't the Jews or the Romans who determined that He would be crucified. I makes no sense to say Jews did it or Romans did it. Matthew 26: 48 Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. 49 And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. 50 And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus and took him. 51 And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear. 52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. ******************************************************************************** 53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? 55 In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. ******************************************************************************** 56 But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.
Of course you are correct Jesus gave himself willingly. I was just referencing that the Romans in fact did the deed, not the Jews.
Talk about dopey ideas.
Oh come on Jethro, your a good guy. Think back to your childhood and rediscover that faith i'm sure you used to have. Don't let the actions of men and us sinners take away from the actions and words of christ.
The faith of a good Christian that tells his adversaries to consider suicide and write posts that tell us "Hitler was right!"
You can't read can you. Show me anything that I WROTE where I said Hitler was right? Go on do it you illiterate.
Your "Hitler was right" was uber sarcasm I thought ?
Go back and read that thread. There is neither irony nor sarcasm in it. I may be wrong, and if I am, please drop me a note. I thought it was deadly serious. Couldn't believe ir when I saw it.
#81. To: randge (#79)
A lot of people sincerely agree with Hitler right down to the ovens.
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