My Mom refused to read the Old Testament. She was appalled by the violence and
especially by the directive from God to the Jews to kill all the Canaanites and
take their lands. It’s a hard thing to
understand and I’m sure it’s a stumbling block for a lot of people when reading
the Bible. This story offends our sense
of moral righteousness to kill non-combatants and even innocent children. How do we explain this? This is probably one of the most difficult things I have ever written about.
In Ezekiel God tells us “I have no pleasure in the death of
the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” Yet God determines our life span as the
creator. He has the authority to
terminate us at will. He made us and he
can take us out. Man, on the other hand
has no such authority. In fact the
Bible clearly establishes throughout that mankind is to follow the rule of
proportionality in all actions. Eye for
an eye was not set up to show cruelness, but more likely to establish
punishment that was NOT excessive. So,
simply put, God has the right to make the judgment of whether the Canaanites
should live or not. When he transmits
the directions to the Jews to carry it out he has granted them that authority
in this one instance to kill everyone in Canaan.
Recognize first that the Canaanites were an evil, cruel and
violent lot. I suspect we can’t even
begin to imagine their depravity. They
practiced temple prostitution and child sacrifice that we know of, at the very
least. They were not a nice bunch. God decided to judge them using the
Jews. Life was violent and cruel in
ancient times, and we need to recognize that it is the very Bible we are
questioning that brought us the high moral values we operate from today. Not committing wanton murder, not stealing,
loving your neighbor. The common thread
of the Old and New Testaments overwhelmingly supports this merciful approach
but for the instance of wiping out the Canaanites (and Judging Sodom and
Gomorrah for their sins -- even then God told Abraham he wouldn’t wipe them out
if even ten righteous persons were in those cities.)
What about the children?
They are innocent, right?
Perhaps. But to me, they are
outside the age of moral responsibility and got a better deal than living as a
Canaanite when they got promoted directly to Heaven. At least that is my position on it. I believe grace is extended to those below an age of
accountability. (Still, I wish they hadn't been killed...although I fully recognize from a practical social standpoint they would likely become an enemy of the Jews when they reached independent adulthood and perhaps seek to revolt and revert back to what they had known.)
Now, how does that compare with the Islam of today? The radical Muslims use their Koran to
justify killing of anyone who doesn’t believe as they do. They believe, not as Christians do -- that
God loves everyone…they believe God only loves Muslims. They freely kill women and children, even of
their own faith as propaganda and fear-mongering tactics. They kill their own children if they get
involved with people outside their faith and appear to abandon Islam. To me, this is not the God of the Bible. Again, I am only speaking of the Radical element of Islam.
I agree, all this is a difficult issue to examine. I offer my thoughts only as my thoughts and
know you may have many other feelings and questions about it that perhaps only
God can answer someday.
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