18:20-30; Deut. Does God killing people make Him a murderer? Leviticus 18:1-3, "Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways {listed in Leviticus 18:6-23} because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. They were a people who worshipped many gods and had many detestable practices. 0000000016 00000 n Today He is still judging people by many means we do not always recognize because we do not have divine revelation. There is a concept known as generational sin, wherein a child will become like his parents not only because he was raised under their instruction and example, but also because he came genetically from those parents. From the very beginning, Yahweh made it clear that the Canaanites were distinct from all the other nations. They were cut off to prevent Israel and the rest of the world from being corrupted (Deut. 0000001112 00000 n The Canaanites, as a whole culture, committed sins of idolatry, holy temple prostitution, adultery, homosexuality, incest, murder, bestiality, gang rape, and child sacrifice (see The Nature of the Canaanites Sin excursus on page 8). The overriding concern in all the episodes was remaining holy, found in Yahwehs demand for holiness, obedience, and purity of worship. Copyright 2004-2023 Knowing the Bible LLC, Yahwehs Patience and Desire for Repentance, The Nature of the Canaanites Sin Excursus. Divine judgments do not last forever, for God judges sin in direct proportion to the offence. Consider the bloodlust and violence of the Canaanite deity Anath, the patroness of both war and sex. They taxed the Canaanites instead of driving them from the land. Yahweh also showed his willingness to forgive and restore with His dealings with Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire (Jonah 3:4-10). 5). Anyone who has ever studied the mythology or religions of ancient people knows that their gods were not moral beings, according to anyones standard in the modern world. Here is the list of the sins of the Canaanites: (1) They were having sex with their close family members. 0000006653 00000 n Did God order this? It includes the sexual promiscuity and perversion particularly associated with fertility cults as well as the callousness of child sacrifice. A fitting illustration might be to say it could be compared to the Ally invasion of Nazi Germany (I am indebted to The Bible Project for this illustration). 69 0 obj<>stream But why did this happen? Genesis 15:18-21: "On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.", Genesis 9:25-27: "He said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers. He also said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. management. Infants and children as old as four were offered up to him. 0000003109 00000 n 0000001192 00000 n What is presumably Canaanite DNA lives on in ME Arab and Jewish populations. A God of love and justice, they say, could never command genocide, and therefore he must not exist. Sorted by: 4. Late Carthaginian Child Sacrifice and Sacrificial Monuments in their Mediterranean Context. 1 Joseph put his face against his father's face, wept over him, and kissed him. %%EOF How so? To that point, Yahweh commanded the Israelites to not intermarry with the Canaanites, which seems odd if they were all supposed to be destroyed. A group of settlers are happily farming in their fields. Israel was called to be a distinct and holy nation with their own government and to remain separate from the rest of the nations. Molech: A God of Human Sacrifice in the Old Testament. This was 400 years before the extermination of the Canaanites, meaning He gave them a long time to repent from their idolatry and sins. were already out of Egypt. From time to time it subverted the essential monotheism of the Israelites after they occupied Canaan, the Promised Land of the Old Testament. The Canaanites descend from the grandson of Noah, Canaan. The women would often fight in battles and participate with the men in the cutting off of their enemies heads and hands. of This fact makes it very clear that the extermination of the Canaanites had everything to do with the righteous justice of Yahweh and nothing else. 0000001464 00000 n 12:2; 2 Cor. __Deuteronomy 20:16-18. . And just as He desires that sin be removed from Israel, so should we desire that sin be removed from the Church. 9). The extermination of the Canaanites had to do with removing all influence of the idolatry of immoral gods and practices that would corrupt the lives of the Israelites and lead to perverted and dysfunctional culture. One attempt to rescue God from the story of the Canaanites is to say that Israel did this all on their own. Rather, for the same reason that only ten nations were marked for destruction and the others (even though they were unbelievers) were left alone in the First Testament, so today, in a post-Second Testament world, not every nation or people group is marked for destruction, though they are unbelievers as well. The point, instead, is to give insight that is never discussed by those who attack Christianity over this issue. End quote. OT references specifically placed the Canaanites in western Palestines valleys and coastal areas; the upland country was occupied by Amorites and other peoples.. 1. Not only did they declare these acts as righteous morality, but they also participated in these acts in the worship of their gods as a means of gaining the gods approval. Also, this language of killing everyone may have been hyperbolic and reserved for the main political and military cities in which, by nature, all the women and children there would be more corrupt simply because of where they lived. And all the wrath of Yahweh could be poured out on Christ as humanitys representative, killing Him and satisfying Yahwehs justice. [1] See Daniel Hawk. There are certainly exceptions, but they are the exceptions. In the midst of idol worship, God would establish His promises to Abraham. First it must be understood that the extermination of the Canaanites had nothing to do with race, religion, or land. No one would want to live and raise their children in a culture like this. Yahweh was willing to show mercy to the Canaanites in the same way He had with Israel previously. Cursed be Canaan! The way that one proved his worth to lead others in politics or in the military was through dominating rape. During the Exodus and wilderness period, they also serve as a threat to the religious purity of the Israelites. There is never a glorification of the battle, only a record of its accomplishment. But Walton is quick to note that this narrative isnt about punishing the Canaanites: we have to stop imagining the purpose of the conquest account is to teach us that Gods ideal of goodness involves us going out and killing Canaanites (or whomever they represent today) and then either adopting that idea or rationalizing it away by embellishing the text so that killing Canaanites seems good according to our own logic. (Walton, 29). Yet the majority of Canaanites, in their hardness of hearts, refused to receive His mercy and so fell under his judgment, as had the 3,000 Israelites who were executed in Ex. The sin in question is debated, ranging from literal voyeurism, castration or . It is the land where the Canaanites dwell that God promises to give to Abraham. 0000031384 00000 n When Joshua led the people across the Jordan River into Canaan, he was fulfilling this promise. 19:23-25; Zech. Wright as follows: (a) God works in this world mediately through chosen agents, whether they know it or not: (b) the divine use of an agent confers no special righteousness or merit on the agent. so eager for sin that you have not even demanded payment. The Hittite law states: There were even ritualistic practices involving animals tied to the bed of a woman in order to bring some kind of blessing. Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan. Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD . Yahweh did not command Israel to exterminate the Canaanites because they were a different race. 6 is devoted to the sacred ceremonial rituals. 16:3; 21:6; 23:10; 2 Chr. Leviticus 18:21. Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan, p. 21112. This site is a proud member of the Salem Web Network, a subsidiary of, Copyright 2023, Crosswalk.com. 2 Joseph commanded the physicians who served him to embalm his father, so the physicians embalmed Israel. Genesis 6:9. THE SINS OF CANAAN HAVE BECOME THE SINS OF AMERICA Pastor Del Wray One of the question Ive been asked, "How could a good loving God command the Israelites to slaughter every man, woman, child, and even animal in the cities of the Canaanite nations? Whether your view is closer to Walton or Wright the point is clearthe conquest was about establishing Gods kingdom and driving out sin and unbelief. First, the movement of the Israelites into Canaan was the fruition of God's promise to Abram that He would give that land to his children (Gen. 12:7). Ex. Joshua in 3D: A Commentary on Biblical Conquest and Manifest Destiny. He also used the flood to judge the world, the plagues and the Red Sea to judge Egypt, fire to judge Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Assyrians and Babylonians to judge Israel. the detestable customs that were practiced before you came" Leviticus 18:30. What made them distinct was the extent of their sin, their cultural approval of their sin and rebellion, and their unwillingness to relent or repent of their evil. Canaan is here singled out from Hams descendants as the object of Noahs curse, NIV Study Bible explains, Israel would experience firsthand the depth of Canaanite sin and the harshness of Gods judgment on it.. The closest thing to this that exists today is when a group of prisoners corner a newcomer in the showers and the alpha male rapes him in order to put him in his place (Gen. 19:4-9; Judg. She is described as killing so many that she was wading through their blood. Some 400 years earlier, God had promised the faithful man Abraham that his descendants would possess the land of Canaan. They describe their conquests in great detail and brag about how they subjugated and destroyed other people groups. A band of raiders are holding hostage a group of women and children. Genesis 6:4. The Canaanites were a group of people who lived in ancient Canaan along the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea known today as Israel. Afterwards Anath was satisfied and washed her hands in human gore before proceeding to other occupations. 3 Forty days were set aside for him, for that is how many days it takes to embalm. The people of the ancient Near East viewed a sexual act with these priests as sexual union with the goddess herself.[5]. The Scriptures point out the evil of Canaanite society for a reason. Yahweh is both a just and a merciful God. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. His violent death will eventually put an end to all violent deaths. It was directly proportional to the 40 days that the spies had spied out the land. They were to enter the land of Canaan, wipe out those ten nations, deal with sin in a just way within their own borders, establish a godly nation under Yahweh, and receive His blessings and protection. 7:1-6 teaches us is how much Yahweh hates sin and thus so should we. Blood-lust, murder, close family member incest, sex with animals. And yet, the Israelites encountered the descendants of the Nephilim, among the Canaanites, when they entered the promised land much later on. The Canaanites unwillingness to repent and change even to escape judgment shows how bad they really were (Josh. Furthermore, Israel and the Church have purposes that are different from each other. If He had not created us with His sense of justice, then we would not have a sense that what He was doing was unjust. God remained patient with the Canaanite people for centuries. Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: A Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths. This mercy shows that strict application of the command to exterminate the Canaanites is superseded by mercy to a repentant Canaanite woman. [5] Martti Nissinen, Homoeroticism in the Biblical World: A Historical Perspective, trans. The First Testament also teaches that just as Israel failed to do this because they did not have Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, we, too, will fail if we do not submit to the will of Jesus Christ and depend on the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Some believe the Nephilim were directly responsible for the earth being so corrupt that God ultimately sent the Flood, destroying all life, except for Noah with his wife, his three sons and their wives, and the animals on the ark. 20). He forces the reader to deal with the tension between a wicked city that must be destroyed in obedience to Yahwehs commands and a city of humans, the children of God, some who are willing to come to Yahweh in faith. 0000003183 00000 n God's purpose was to get rid of all that up there and replace it with the religion of the nation of Israel which prohibited all such vile sins. This is the role they play throughout this part of the Old Testament narrative. From this point forward they serve as the backdrop to the promise of Abraham. They describe their mutilation of people and stacking the peoples heads in a self-glorification of their superiority. 3: 26-27). Shortly after the flood, Noah cursed his grandson, Canaan (it's a long story), the ancestor of the Canaanites. Most of Josh. The Canaanites appear most prominently, though, in the story of Numbers and Joshua as the conquest of Israel. 1, p. 406). 24:20-25:30). There were not distinct just because they worshiped other gods or were sinful, for that was true of all the nations, including the Israelites at times. Gwendolyn, Leck. This kind of ritual cleansing before battle is not seen in the surrounding cultures. She is also the author of Friends with Everyone, Friendship within the Love of Christ,Surface, Unlocking the Gift of Sensitivity,andGlory Up, The Everyday Pursuit of Praise,andHome, Finding Our Identity in Christ.She earned a Marketing/PR degree from Ashland University, but stepped out of the business world to stay home and raise her two daughters which led her to pursue her writing passion. Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning. Even when Israel went into battle they were commanded to consecrate themselves (Josh. 7:13) and to destroy all the idols (Deut. But Jesus conquers through the cross. We see the Canaanites play a prominent role in the early pages of the Bible. (Rom. Leviticus 18:22, (10) They were giving their children to be murdered in sacrifice to Molech. Sexual Life in Ancient Egypt. pastor | 184 views, 5 likes, 4 loves, 12 comments, 2 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Balfour Baptist Church: Sunday Evening service with Pastor Mark. But Moses interceded on Israels behalf, and Yahweh forgave them of their sin and stayed their judgment of death, contrary to the punishment decreed by the covenant. Because of this, I think the term should be avoided. I dont think there are any Canaanites today. It had everything to do with the judgment of a people for their sins. The commands about how Israel was to conduct themselves in war with the surrounding nations appear in two major passagesDeut. in order that they might repent- God is merciful and patient- yet there does come a point where there is no redemption possible for the wicked- But God gave them the chance at redemption had they wanted it- they clearly didnt- like the old saying goes- Dont say I never offered. In fact, the Canaanite people were Semitic just like the Israelites. Sometimes the Amorites were named in the same way. Why not just destroy the Canaanites the same way He destroyed Sodom and Gomorah and not involve people killing other men, women and children? buddy's rent to own lawn mowers, 7 pillars of compassionate inquiry, custom gait lacrosse stick,
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