Eternal Insecurity Once I Was Saved, But Now Am Lost? 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. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against . Killing of the Canaanites, Robert Driskell received a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Pastoral Ministries and Biblical Studies from Mid-America Christian University in 1995. The evidence says no. Parents can corrupt their children.29. In our pluralistic age, its easy to forget what an offense that is to the true God. [emailprotected] 4:28 NIV). Molech was a Canaanite underworld deity14 represented as an upright, bullheaded idol with a human body in whose belly a fire was stoked and in whose outstretched arms a child was placed that would be burned to death. What Do the Four Soils in the Parable of the Sower Represent? 2001 W. Plano Parkway, Suite 2000 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. In phase two, God fought against Israel when it broke its side of its covenant with God (cf. Who is more qualified than the Creator to decide how long one lives? In Genesis 15:16 the LORD made reference to the Canaanites when he said, "the sin of the Amorites (Canaanites) has not yet reached its full measure." God was waiting to fulfill his justice against this people. God would hardly have chosen a Baal-worshipper to be a type, prophetically previewing his Son (Hebrews 7:3). After all, he spoke approvingly of the destruction of Sodom, a pagan city that also included men, women, and children (Luke 17:28-29). The people have rebelled against God and spend 40 years in the desert. Similarly, the southern tribes (usually referred to as Judah) were deported when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem beginning in 586 BC. God did not order the extermination of these people to be cruel, but to prevent even greater evil from occurring in the . Second, if the Canaanite children were allowed to live and remain in the land, they could very well act to avenge their parents when they grew up, or at least to pick up again the practices of their parents. OT scholar Tremper Longman summarizes this point well: We must point out that the Bible does not understand the destruction of the men, women, and children of these cities as a slaughter of innocents. 7:2-3. Genesis 15:13-16 God tells Abraham that his descendants will be enslaved for 400 years. 7. Also, this wasnt the entire destruction of a race as God didnt order that every Canaanite be killed but only those who lived within specific geographical boundaries (Josh. To understand what God was doing in Canaan, one must see it within the larger context of redemptive history. Gods first inclination is to save Canaan rather than destroy it. (Judges 2:1-3; 1 Kings 11:5; 14:24; 2 Kings 16:3-4). God had warned them against that ( Deut. 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). 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. In Deuteronomy 9:4-6, God Himself explains the reason for His command to slaughter the Canaanites. You cannot have moral laws without a moral Lawgiver. Not even the children are considered innocent. The completely negative connotations of genocide make it hard to look at the biblical events without a jaundiced eye. God says its going to be a while before you all enter the promised land, because the Canaanites arent beyond saving.. A biblical example of this would be Gods treatment of the city of Nineveh. And how else would God have said it if He did mean that? God destroys Sodom. / He lies with her seventy times seven / Mounts eighty times eight / [She conceiv]es and bears a boy.20. A God of love and justice, they say, could never command genocide, and therefore he must not exist. 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). Just as God had demonstrated his knowledge of who would repent in the Canaanite cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, before he destroyed Jerusalem He told Jeremiah that if He could find even one righteous person He would spare the entire city (Jer. This document is the sole property of Probe Ministries. Thus, the Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 15:16, "the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." Read them in the archive below. Of course not. The term genocide means a major action committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. {3} Some twentieth-century examples are the extermination of six million Jews by the Nazis and the slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis by the Hutus in Rwanda in 1994. Another observation is that the instruction is frequently to dispossess the Canaanites or move them out rather than to destroy them. At first, the Israelites tried to compromise and worship God the way the Canaanites worshiped their gods. Other ungodly acts routinely engaged in by the Canaanites included adultery, bestiality, and homosexuality (Leviticus 18:20-30). Glenn M. Miller, How could a God of Love order the massacre/annihilation of the Canaanites? on the web site A Christian Thinktank, 7:22). First, the movement of the Israelites into Canaan was the fruition of Gods promise to Abram that He would give that land to his children (Gen. 12:7). 10 Biblical Steps Towards Restoration After Sexual Sin, Baptism Quotes: 27 Inspirational Christian Sayings, 25 Encouraging Bible Verses About Strength, Words of Encouragement: 30 Uplifting Quotes. Moses instructions to the Israelites as they were about to move into Canaan included this: In the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded (Deut. The fertility of the land was believed to be directly connected to the sexual relations of the gods and goddesses. Skeptics say if God is a God of love why did He bring destruction on certain nations of the world? The Canaanites had hundreds of years to either repent and follow God or to reject Him and follow idols and false Gods. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. The ESV and NIV give a fuller understanding of the term by translating it devote to destruction (the NASB renders it set apart). Rick Wade provides an expanded discussion of the issues around the Israelites battles against the Canaanites. Israel had a unique calling as Gods chosen covenant people. The first fact A Clear Christian Perspective, The Apologetics of Jesus: A Defense of His Deity, Bridging to Common Ground: Communicating Christ Across the Cultural Divide, How I Know Christianity Is True A Defense of the Gospel, Yahweh War and the Conquest of Canaan A Biblical Worldview Perspective, Personal Development/Relationships Emails, Trusting God on the Other Side of Bizarre, Cohfessions of a Missionary Addicted to Porn. And how are Christians supposed to apply the erem laws today? Craig writes, For example, I have no right to take an innocent life. In Jdg. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); IGRG: Did God Give The Canaanites aChance. Theeremlaws of the OT were an example of this intrusion. The "new atheists" call God's commands to kill the Canaanites "genocide," but a closer look at the horror of the Canaanites' sinfulness, exhibited in rampant idolatry, incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality, reveals that God's reason for commanding their death was not genocide but capital punishment. Gods character is such that He gives nations an appropriate amount of time to repent. The Canaanites were descendants of Noah. Thus, Longman says, The war against the Canaanites was simply an earlier phase of the battle that comes to its climax on the cross and its completion at the final judgment.{5}. They had passed the point of redeemability, and were ripe for judgment. If He wanted to strike me dead right now, thats His prerogative (Reasonable Faith . It seems from God's promise to Abraham that they were wicked and idolatrous people. If you feel an answer is not 100% Bible based, then leave a comment, and we'll be sure to review it. We're not around right now. What is right and moral is known to all (Romans 1:18-23), but was rejected by the Canaanites to such an extent that they cut pregnant women open and burned their children as sacrifices to their pagan gods (Leviticus 18:21, 24, 25, 27-30). 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. If I can find 50 good people will you spare Sodom God says sure. After all, the Old Testament unequivocally commands that those who do any one of these things deserves to die. 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. This document may not be repackaged in any form for sale or resale. Notes But He said to Abraham that the promise would take a long time to be fulfilled for the iniquity of the Amorites, or the people of Canaan, is not yet full (v. 16). Can these be put together? But God has no such prohibition. Probe VP Steve Cable examines some of the findings of the Probe Survey 2020: The Changing Face of Christianity in America. Probably the ultimate sexual depravity is intercourse with animals. . The passages that record Gods command to slaughter the Canaanite cities have even caused many Christians some confusion. They were corrupt and depraved to the core. 1:16; 8:25). Dr. Michael Gleghorn draws on the book 'Body, Soul and Life Everlasting' to provide an overview of what the NT teaches about the body-soul connection. The most disturbing part of the conquest of Canaan for most people is the killing of children. 18 records briefly the moral degradation of the Canaanites. Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, in his " ", posits that one of the reasons that Sodom was not given the chance to repent was that even their children were wicked. And then these same skeptics turn around and say if there is a God of justice, why does He permit the wicked to rule the world and bring sorrow and suffering on the innocent? If they had sex with just about every living thing they could get their hands on, and they did, then all had to die. Doesnt the new atheists complaint ring hollow, since they are often at the forefront of defending a womans right to suction, dismember, or scald to death her unborn baby at any time and for any reason? In both Testaments we see that God hates sin and will punish it. It has been suggested that such obliteration language was hyperbolic.{10} Commands to destroy everyone are sometimes followed by commands not to intermarry, such as in Deut. Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. So lets not kid ourselves: at the end of the day no amount of explanation will cause todays illuminati (or brights, as some new atheists like to be called) to consider Gods commands justified.36 But our job as Christians is to proclaim unambiguously, especially to strongholds set up against knowledge of God, that humankind is sinful, that the wages of sin is death, and that by trusting Christs sacrifice we can be saved from the wrath of God and enjoy resurrection life in and with Him forever. If a man has intercourse with a horse or a mule, there is no punishment.18 As with incest, the penalty for having sex with animals decreased about the fourteenth century BC.19, There should be no surprise that bestiality would occur among the Canaanites, since their gods practiced it. 16:9; cf. 2:34; 3:3, 6). God mercifully provides time and opportunity for repentance from idolatry and spiritual fornication with this world ( II Peter 3:9 ). 33:56; Lev. Here are a few factors to take into consideration: First, the sins of parents, just like their successes, have an impact on their children. After the defeats of both Heshbon and Bashan, Moses noted that they had devoted to destruction every city, men, women, and children (Deut. James B. Pritchard, Harry A. Hoffner, Jr., Incest, Sodomy and Bestiality in the Ancient Near East, in. Of course Dawkins complains that Gods monumental rage whenever his chosen people flirted with a rival god resembles nothing so much as sexual jealousy of the worst kind.5 But does anyone think that if Dawkinss wife left him for a gingerbread man of her own baking, and then she began to tell everyone that he liked to play with his excrement, that Dawkins would tolerate the characterization of his feelings as no more than sexual jealously of the worst kind? Longman writes: The war against the Canaanites was simply an earlier phase of the battle that comes to its climax on the cross and its completion at the final judgment. In phase one, God fought the flesh-and-blood enemies of Israel. There is only one true God, and that God deserves all honor and worship. Thanks to his obedience unto death, our own sins are forgiven, and we can now stand in Gods favor by faith alone. What are the major signs of the last days? The law given in Deuteronomy provided regulations for the people of Israel. They are insisting that God and Christianity are in fact poisonous and must diligently be resisted and defeated. God didnt. Their task was to prepare the way for the arrival of the Messiah. The Canaanites had not completely sinned away their day of grace. They say they refuse to believe in any being that could be so cruel and heartless. Dr. Michael Gleghorn draws on a work by Dr. Gail R. O'Day, "Jesus as Friend in the Gospel of John," to explore the perspective of Jesus Christ as a Friend. The category scholars use for such events as the battles in the conquest of Canaan is Yahweh war. If you like what you're reading, you can get free daily updates through the RSS feed here. Jesus then warned, What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? However, if we properly understand the whole picture we will be able to view Gods actions as full of mercy and fairness in His dealings with His children. The classic example is Rahab, the prostitute who helped the Israelite spies in Jericho and swore allegiance to the Lord (Jos. genocidal . Why did some rules from the Old Testament cease to exist? These nations were cut off to prevent the corruption of Israel and the rest of the world (Deuteronomy 20:16-18). Herem literally means ban or banned. It means to ban from human use and to give over completely to God. At first, the Israelites tried to compromise and worship God the way the Canaanites worshiped their gods. God's character, Para ms informacin o para http://www.equip.org/christian-research-journal/, Overcoming the Enemy of Education: A Review of Pete Hegseth with David Goodwin, Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation., Who Was Adam? Christian Answers, But you can send us an email and we'll get back to you, asap. 44:18). They are dated to somewhere between 2000 and 1500 BC, between the time of Abraham and the Exodus.{7}. Skeptics often complain that children were killed in Sodom and Gomorrahs destruction. They are all part of an inherently wicked culture that, if allowed to live, would morally and theologically pollute the people of Israel.[1]. This is an online articlefrom theChristian Research Journal. The story of Canaanite incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality flow out of the plot line of idolatry. And I say contemporary because children werent regarded as highly in the Ancient Near East as they are today. God loves each of us as if there were only one of us"- Augustine. God Was God just in destroying the Canaanites? Their authority is based on the current societal perception of morality. Every forecast of prophecy of doom came with an implied unless attached to it: If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 6. If the Israelites started to get a little slack in their obligations to Yahweh, they would turn to other gods. For God does not show favoritism. As soon as we heard it, Rahab of Jericho said, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath (Josh. The Amorites' sin had not escaped God's notice. (2) Yahwehs command to kill the Canaanites was an act of divine genocide. it was an act of the judicial holiness of God manifesting itself in righteousness and judgment.{6}. Likewise, Gods government cannot successfully continue unless there is a plan that will ultimately, if not immediately, punish evil (Isaiah 61:8; Deut. Would a governor of a state who refuses to pardon a criminal and instead hands him over to the justice system be considered a heartless cruel man? Bring biblical wisdom to the confusing issues across the world by making a gift to our international work. Did the Canaanites Have a Chance? Consequently, we love what He hates, and we hate what He loves. The part that concerns us herethe real culmination of Yahweh waris called herem. Furthermore, justice must respond to the moral failure of sin. Sue Bohlin processes how she is handling the crisis of tongue cancer by trusting Gods goodness. This explains why, in certain cities, Yahweh sentenced to death everything that breathes. 1 (2009): 73-92; www.epsociety.org/library/articles.asp?pid=63. 2). Under the sanctuary in the ancient city of Gezer, urns containing the burnt bones of children have been found. . Permission is granted to use in digital or printed form so long as it is circulated without charge, and in its entirety. First, the Lord's command to enact erem was preceded by a long period of divine patience and longsuffering in the face of Canaanite wickedness (gross forms of idolatry, immorality, and injustice, including the sacrifice of children). They had male shrine prostitutes (1 Kings 14:22), committed acts of lewdness, adultery, and incest (Jer. This is one of the most morally troubling passages in all of Scripture. This article first appeared in the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL, volume 33, number 04 (2010). As a result, they eventually received the same judgment the Canaanites experienced ( Deut. As a result, they eventually received the same judgment the Canaanites experienced (Deut. What it Means to Become a New Creation in Christ. 7:1-2). This was especially true of the Canaanite societies steeped in abominable practices like child sacrifice and cult prostitution. Much of what follows is horrific, but if we refuse to look, will we really understand the reasons for Gods judgment? Minor judges Izban, Elon, and Abdon get brief mentions. 7 passage provides better support for his position. in communications (radio broadcasting) from Moody Bible Institute, an M.A. Isnt that a better alternative? They engaged in temple prostitution which was thought to be a re-enactment of the sexual unions of the gods and goddesses. And their laws concerningeremwarfare pointed to Gods just judgment against sin. . However, the verses that follow, namely verses 16-18, disallowed the same offer to be given to Canaan. See also Leupold (1942, 463). They made a religion of lust. 18:7-8 ). Hittite Laws: 199 states, If anyone has intercourse with a pig or a dog, he shall die. Paul Copan, How Could a Loving God Command Genocide, in Thats Just Your Interpretation (Grand Rapid: Baker, 2001), 165. In Ezekiel 18:23 we read, Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? (see also Ezek. Seems a bit harsh right? Third, if one holds that there is an age of accountability for children, and that those younger than that are received into heaven with God at their death, although the means of death were frightful and harsh, the Canaanite childrens experience after death would be better than if theyd continued to live among such a sinful people. But no one repented so all but Noah and His family were destroyed. For example, God commanded the Israelites, in Deuteronomy 20:10-15, to offer conditions of peace rather than extermination to all others. (Deut. He is convinced that the hope of the world lies in men and women having a saving relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. . the people of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, the entire populace from every end[of the city]. Rick's interests focus on apologetics, Christianity and culture, and the changing currents in Western thought. To answer these questions, we must understand the place of the erem laws in the history of redemption.
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