Yahweh not only received her, but He declared her more righteous than even many of the grandsons of Abraham because of her desire to know Yahweh (Gen. 38:26). 7 all state the Canaanites will be in the kingdom of Yahweh), so that they might escape this judgment shows the love and mercy of Yahweh. How did the Nephilim survive the Flood? 3:21-26). Consider the bloodlust and violence of the Canaanite deity Anath, the patroness of both war and sex. This is seen in the fact that only the main cities are listed as being defeated in the book of Joshua. The completely negative connotations of "genocide" make it hard to look at the biblical events without a jaundiced eye. According to Genesis 9:20-27, Noah became drunk and afterward cursed Canaan.This is the Curse of Canaan, called the "Curse of Ham" since Classical antiquity because of the interpretation that Canaan was punished for his father Ham's sins. Leviticus 18:16, ( 8 ] They were having sex with their neighbor's wife.. Leviticus 18:20, (9) They were having homosexual sex. There were laws against bestiality but only for certain animals. 11:30-40; 2 Kgs. During the Exodus and wilderness period, they also serve as a threat to the religious purity of the Israelites. It is in the death of Yahwehs Son that His mercy and justice are seen together clearly. That is part of what we can learn from this story. [5] Martti Nissinen, Homoeroticism in the Biblical World: A Historical Perspective, trans. startxref 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. What specifically was considered Canaanite territory? Are they in the category of evil raiders, or uneventful settlers? God remained patient with the Canaanite people for centuries. There were no restrictions on the man.[7]. 21:21-35; Josh. Certainly, it is to juxtapose it with that which is expected of Israel, but its also to set the stage for the just judgment of God against their wickedness. They describe their mutilation of people and stacking the peoples heads in a self-glorification of their superiority. Was this the Israelites taking the land of innocent bystanders? They were cut off to prevent Israel and the rest of the world from being corrupted (Deut. The Canaanites were people who lived in the land of Canaan, an area which according to ancient texts may have included parts of modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. 26-27; 2 Cor. But by the fact that He is a loving and just God, He is also long-suffering and merciful. xb```"6vAd`B~'p14:)mPP,dRsV%n=?*4H[K)m;?RYttY7b}K&8j]OEUKe=2IM*]W. In contrast, the Bible gives very little detail of Israels battles, and the killing of the people is stated merely as a fact (Num. Translated by Kirsi Stjerna. The Canaanites are identified in Genesis as descendants of Ham, son of Noah. Why did God command the genocide of the Canaanites? The Canaanites descend from the grandson of Noah, Canaan. Leviticus 18:7, (3) They were having sex with their sisters. Israel had sinned, violated Yahwehs covenant, taken some of the devoted things, stolen, lied, and put things among their own possessions. The Canaanites Were Not Salvageable --- They Had Sunk To The Very Bottom Of The Immorality Scale: Start quote. Why prohibit intermarriage if they were to be completely wiped out? 7:13) and to destroy all the idols (Deut. How did the Canaanites have any time or energy for farming or building? 0000000016 00000 n The way that one proved his worth to lead others in politics or in the military was through dominating rape. The Extermination of the Canaanites But what do we do with this story? Copyright 2002-2023 Got Questions Ministries. Brown, Shelby. El, the father of the gods, was married to Asherah, by whom he had seventy children. We, as the Church, are not called to kill lawbreakers since we are not a government; rather, we are called to dis-fellowship believers who refuse to repent in the hopes that they will want to repent and come back (1 Cor. God is rescuing people from every tribe. As the creator of all things, Yahweh is sovereign over all creation and has the right to execute His justice in any way He sees fit. 6 is devoted to the sacred ceremonial rituals. Asherah or Ishtar, also known as the Queen of Heaven, was a female fertility goddess who was worshiped through sexual acts, including orgies. How Can I Recognize and Understand the Holy Spirit Better? The Hebrew word means "to devote something to total destruction." Law and Lawgiver Non-Christians often point to the Old Testament's erem laws to reject Christianity altogether. The ritual describes the woman not only doing grotesque things with the animal but enjoying it. Gods original blessing on the whole human race would be especially fulfilled in the lives of Abram and his offspring, the NIV Study Bible explains. London: Routledge, 1987. This is the role they play throughout this part of the Old Testament narrative. Who were the Canaanites? 5:13-6:27; 8:1-29; 10-12). After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, "The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. Completely destroy them-the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites-as the LORD your God has commanded you. Yahweh did not command Israel to exterminate the Canaanites because they were a different race. Wright. Thus, at times the Canaanites point to a specific group of people (Joshua 11:3) but also it can refer to any of those who are mentioned in the Genesis 10 table of nations. Walter Elwell helpfully draws the geographical boundaries for us: The first six [of the 11 people groups from Genesis 10] evidently occupied territory at or south of Sidon, whereas the others lived farther north. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.Genesis 12:2-3. We are to live such righteous lives through the power of the Holy Spirit that those around us, like those living around Israel, will want to leave behind their old ways and worldviews and join the fellowship of Christians. Yet the text makes it clear that this second law did not apply to those living in Canaan. If someone wanted to guarantee a victory in battle, they could sacrifice one of their children to ensure the gods fought on their behalf (Judg. 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. __Deuteronomy 20:16-18. . There is language of Canaanite guilt and Gods judgment. Killing the Canaanites: A Response to the New Atheism's "Divine The above quote regarding Anath is from Is God A Moral Monster: Making Sense Of The Old Testament God, by Paul Copan, page 159. It is God who is given credit for the fall of Jericho. The Judgment of God: The Problem of the Canaanites One must understand when we talk about the sin and practices of the Canaanites that we are not talking about a small group of people in these nations; we are talking about everyone. When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations- the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you- and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated the, then you must destroy them totally. Wisdom 12:3-5 Revised Standard Version The Sins of the Canaanites 3 Those who dwelt of old in thy holy land 4 thou didst hate for their detestable practices, their works of sorcery and unholy rites, 5 their merciless slaughter[ a] of children, and their sacrificial feasting on human flesh and blood. 17; Amos 1-2). Leviticus 18:23, (12) Their women were specifically mentioned as having sex with animals. End of story. 18:23, 24, 20:3), the land . Sometimes the Amorites were named in the same way. This is unlike any other records of battles from the nations of the ancient world. I am looking forward to a new dictator whose name is Jesus. A God of love and justice, they say, could never command genocide, and therefore he must not exist. 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. Joshua decided that showing mercy and honoring oaths takes priority over the Mosaic Law to exterminate everything. Jericho should have served as an example of Yahwehs mercy to the rest of the cities, but, unfortunately, it did not. were already out of Egypt. the detestable customs that were practiced before you came" Leviticus 18:30. At such moments there was only one place to look, and that is up, beyond oneself, to the One who could do so much more than we can ask or imagine.. The Canaanites appear most prominently, though, in the story of Numbers and Joshua as the conquest of Israel. Blood-lust, murder, close family member incest, sex with animals. The righteousness of Yahweh and His covenant with the family of Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3; 15) is what led to Tamar leaving her Canaanite culture and joining the family and covenant of Abraham (Gen. 38). Israel's sons and daughters intermarried with the Canaanites and joined the Canaanites in worshiping their false gods. And yet, God gave them a 400 year reprieve while Israel was in Egypt. They have little to no political affiliation, they are just simple people hoping to live out their days in their fields, loving their families, and doing honest work. 7:1-4 does not seem to be focused on the sole extermination of the Canaanites but on the theological principle of separation from the Canaanites and protection of the Israelites from their influence. 4. Most readers can understand the men being killed, but Yahwehs command of the death of the women and children is much harder to understand. Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan. This meant that according to the covenant they had agreed to, they were deserving of death. 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? These sins exist in every culture, then and now, but are forbidden by most governments and are socially condemned by the majority of people in the culture. The LORD had said to Abram, Go from your country, your people and your fathers household to the land I will show you.Genesis 12:1. 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. The Canaanites, by contrast, were destroyed at the direction of God and primarily because of their sin. Leviticus 18:7 (3) They were having sex with their sisters. 3 Forty days were set aside for him, for that is how many days it takes to embalm. Albrecht Goetze, ed. The overriding concern in all the episodes was remaining holy, found in Yahwehs demand for holiness, obedience, and purity of worship. Yahweh showed this same patience with Israel when He warned them in 1406 BC that if they lived like the Canaanites, He would, through another nation, send them into exile (Deut. And it seems that as history trudged along, the Canaanites became increasingly wicked. and wielded influence throughout the Mediterranean. The destruction of the Canaanites is a difficult story within Scripture. . By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from Bible Gateway, a division of The Zondervan Corporation, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA, including commercial communications and messages from partners of Bible Gateway. This is also the mission of God through Jesus Christ. Why Did God Wage War Against the Canaanites? Canaanite Culture But in order to understand why they lived the way they did, one must understand the gods that the people of the ancient Near East worshiped. We would expect these people to be imprisoned or punished for the security of our families. 34:6,7; Ps. God chose a place hostile to the Lord to give to Abraham and His chosen people as an inheritance. 1 Joseph put his face against his father's face, wept over him, and kissed him. Adultery was forbidden by law but only for a married woman. We have no right as sinners, who hurt or destroy others on a regular basis, to accuse Yahweh, a righteous God who has no sin and loves perfectly, that He is unjust, with the very concept and sense of justice He created us to have. Since Canaanite sin was regular and systematicthe entire adult population participated in the idolatrous systemGod judged the entire nation. Under the leadership of Joshua the Israelites were to conquer the Land of Canaan and utterly destroy the inhabitants. During the time of Moses, God gave the reason for the Canaanites' downfall: "The land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants" ( Leviticus 18:25 ). Under her feet were human heads, above her human hands flew like locusts. 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. The human perspective is not always the divine and right perspective. 7-14), and other empires (2 Kgs. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. Even when Israel went into battle they were commanded to consecrate themselves (Josh. The Religion of the Canaanites - Theology 32 makes it clear that the character and actions of Yahweh are complicated, and the fact that Yahweh reveals this part of Himself through Scriptures shows that He refuses to allow humans to put Him in a box. Through My Bible Yr 03 - April 28 - WELS 0000002013 00000 n As a righteous God, Yahweh cannot tolerate such sin and evil in His creation. All rights reserved. The Twelve Spies - Wikipedia Later, Mot, the god of the grave, attacked Baal in order to gain power. Canaan is the place God chose to fulfill His promise to Abraham. Megwrites about everyday life within the love of Christ. do not leave alive anything that breathes. 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. What does it mean that "the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its 7:4, 7-11; 9:4-6; 13:16; 29:16-29; Josh. The women were killed because they participated in the violence, child sacrifices, bestiality, and sexual immorality just as much as the men did. The people of the ancient Near East viewed a sexual act with these priests as sexual union with the goddess herself.[5]. 3:1-11; Rev. {C} Murdered Their Own Children {Molech}.. They took it. 12:24-29; Mark 3:22-27; Luke 11:15-22), so we through the Holy Spirit fight the demonic forces through prayer (which is our spiritual weapon), resisting the evil ideas of the demonic forces (James 4:7), and taking every thought captive (Rom. 16:4-22). 24:20-25:30). ", "For all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you" Leviticus 18:27, ". The Canaanite religion was the group of ancient Semitic religions practiced by the Canaanites living in the ancient Levant from at least the early Bronze Age through the first centuries AD. Jones, Clay. This does not mean that Yahweh has changed His mind on what He considers wickedness or on how to execute justice. I scrolled down and saw that you had beat me to this comment. God and the Canaanites: A Biblical Perspective Canaan, the progenitor of the Canaanites, first appears in the story of Noah as one who did not cover their fathers shame. The Canaanites represented a continuation of the corrupt line that led to the Flood, so it makes perfect sense that God would want that very specific line destroyed, because permitting them to continue on would only result in the earth becoming utterly corrupt again. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. They would often seduce men from other villages so that their men could kill them (Judg. [9] Mark S. Smith, trans., in Ugaritic Narrative Poetry, ed. 0000002574 00000 n Ultimately, though, the Canaanite conquest isnt supposed to make sense. Always active in her community and the local church, Meg also leads Bible study and serves as a leader for teen girls. 7; 2 Kgs. They taxed the Canaanites instead of driving them from the land. Through My Bible - April 28. This was 400 years before the extermination of the Canaanites, meaning He gave them a long time to repent from their idolatry and sins. He is replacing all sin and unbelief with passionate worship of Jesus. The Canaanites were a group of people who lived in ancient Canaan along the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea known today as Israel. The earliest Canaanite laws did prescribe the death penalty for those caught in incest or adultery, but by the fourteenth century BC the penalty had been reduced to a financial fine. ( Genesis 15:18) God kept that promise when he caused the nation of Israel, which descended from Abraham, to occupy the region. This pattern is seen over and over in Scriptureshow little intercession and prayer it takes to move Yahweh to forgiveness. Temple prostitutes were male and female priests who had dedicated their bodies to the gods and were considered holy priests.