We Dont Hate Sin So We Dont Understand What Happened to the Canaanites: An Addendum to Divine Genocide Arguments, in Philosophia Christi 11:1 (Spring 2009). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. Canaanite religion was polytheistic and, in some cases, monolatristic.Some gods and goddesses were absorbed into the Yahwist religion of the ancient Israelites, notably El (who later became synonymous with . Leviticus 18:9 (4) They were having sex with their grandchildren. [13] See Day, John. [1] Yahweh was not interested just in punishing sin but in maintaining the righteous purity of His people. 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. The main point is that Yahweh loves humanity so deeply that despite His need to execute justice, He is looking for every excuse to forgive us. In Genesis 10:15-19 we read of 11 groups in the area of Syria and Palestine that descended from Canaan. The Ancient Near East in Pictures: Relating to the Old Testament. So how do we make sense of this story? Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. 3Those who dwelt of old in thy holy land4thou didst hate for their detestable practices,their works of sorcery and unholy rites,5their merciless slaughter[a] of children,and their sacrificial feasting on human flesh and blood.These initiates from the midst of a heathen cult,[b]. Some statements in the Babylonian magical text (pre-seventh-century BC) say: There was also a form of homosexuality that was far more violent and subjugating than what we know today. And even then they were only to drive them back, not destroy them. 3:1-11; Rev. Not only was bestiality practiced and dreams about it seen as good omens, but it was also practiced as a form of worship. Through My Bible Yr 03 - April 28 - WELS Not only did they worship these gods, but they worshiped these gods with acts of sex in the temples and called it holy and righteous. The fact that Jesus Christ was willing to be exterminated (Matt. In other places in Scripture where people did what displeased the Lord, we read of that in the narrative. In Joshua 2, the narrator presents Rahab as a godly woman who wanted to be saved. Canaanite religion - Wikipedia What does it mean that "the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its The Judgment of God: The Problem of the Canaanites 32. 7:4, 7-11; 9:4-6; 29:16-29). Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD . Why did God command the genocide of the Canaanites? End of story. 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. Afterwards Anath was satisfied and washed her hands in human gore before proceeding to other occupations. Translated by Kirsi Stjerna. Severe_Comment_7443 . in light of: The Sins Of The Canaanites: Blood-Lust, Murder, Incest, Sex With Animals. 20). . Day, John. Wright. If you built a house, you were to lay one of your sacrificed children as the cornerstone to the building to ensure that the gods blessed the house and family all of its days. 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. The Canaanites were descendants of Noah. 0000050996 00000 n He used another nation to do it just as He had used Israel to judge the Canaanites (2 Kgs. 13:34-35). all humans are born guilty and corrupt, Kyle Dillon wrote for TGC, This was especially true of the Canaanite societies steeped in abominable practices like child sacrifice and cult prostitution. The Canaanite society serves as a sad reminder of the serious of sin, and the glorious truth we live in to day through the New Covenant, to have the opportunity to turn and repent, confess and be forgiven for wayward sinfulness. New York: Routledge, 1994. The Canaanites Were Not Salvageable --- They Had Sunk To The Very Bottom Of The Immorality Scale: Start quote. 0000002826 00000 n startxref 7:1-6, 17-26 and 20:10-18. Canaan, the progenitor of the Canaanites, first appears in the story of Noah as one who did not cover their fathers shame. When God did give the land over to Israel, he told Israel not to think it was because of their own righteousness. The Canaanites Were Not Salvageable --- They Had Sunk To The Very Bottom On The Immorality Scale: {C} Murdered Their Own Children {Molech}. Why Does God Compare Our Relationship with Him to That of a Bride and Groom? Joshua decided that showing mercy and honoring oaths takes priority over the Mosaic Law to exterminate everything. God told Abraham that the Amorite were a wicked people. But by the fact that He is a loving and just God, He is also long-suffering and merciful. 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. I scrolled down and saw that you had beat me to this comment. Did God order this? And yet, the Israelites encountered the descendants of the Nephilim, among the Canaanites, when they entered the promised land much later on. 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. 2. No one solicited you to play the whore, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different. posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its A God of love and justice, they say, could never command genocide, and therefore he must not exist. In these sources, "Canaan" refers sometimes to an area encompassing all of . 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. All rights reserved. Yahweh gave Israel the land of Canaan as a reward for their obedience to Him but not because He was playing favorites. of Why not just destroy the Canaanites the same way He destroyed Sodom and Gomorah and not involve people killing other men, women and children? 2 Joseph commanded the physicians who served him to embalm his father, so the physicians embalmed Israel. Always active in her community and the local church, Meg also leads Bible study and serves as a leader for teen girls. What specifically was considered Canaanite territory? When Achan stole from Yahweh after the defeat of Jericho (Josh. The Canaanites unwillingness to repent and change even to escape judgment shows how bad they really were (Josh. Homoeroticism in the Biblical World: A Historical Perspective. The main focus of Deut. We are also reminded of the way God uses impossible situations to bring forth His ultimate plan and purposes. 7 But the Israelites [] broke faith concerning the devoted things. In fact, the problem of evil and the injustice of our governments anger all people more than anything else in our lives. Shortly after the flood, Noah cursed his grandson, Canaan (it's a long story), the ancestor of the Canaanites. . 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. The land that was then vacant after the conquest was to be given to Israel as a blessing for their obedience, but if they sinned as Canaan had, then they too would lose the land. Why Did God Wage War Against the Canaanites? It will truly be a time of peace during the earthly millennium then eternity is before us who have heard His voice and follow Him. Baker Books. 30:33; 57:9). There is no other God or being anywhere in history who dies for the sins of others so that they may experience life. Divine judgments do not last forever, for God judges sin in direct proportion to the offence. 0000003109 00000 n Anat, Baals wife and goddess of war and love, fought her way into the grave to rescue her husband. Canaanite Culture Canaanite Culture We know from the Bible and from experience that God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. That is important to notice: these people were not punished because their forefather had done something wrong, but because their behavior was just as wicked as his. {D} Blood-Lust Gory Murder Religious Ceremonies. Never be in a hurry about appointing a church leader. Do not - Reddit 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. Young and elderly, men and women, are working the fields. Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual exemption for fair use of copyrighted works. Killing the Canaanites: A Response to the New Atheism's "Divine Molech required that you sacrifice your firstborn son to him in order to ensure the blessings of the gods. The Bible is full of people groups and societies which we can learn from through the study of Scripture. There were laws against bestiality but only for certain animals. Revised Standard Version (RSV). " Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers. He also said, Praise be to the LORD, the God of Shem! 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. Copyright 2020. Several months ago a FReeper made a comment about Michael Heiser and the Genesis 6 conspiracy. Leviticus 18:14, (6) They were having sex with their daughters-in law. [12] Manniche, Sexual Life in Ancient Egypt, p. 10001. But what kind of people were the Canaanites? [6] Papyrus Chester Beatty III recto (BM10683) from about 1175 BC, quoted in Lise Manniche, Sexual Life in Ancient Egypt, p. 100. This was so prevalent in the Canaanite culture that Lots daughters, after growing up in and being influenced by Sodom, both slept with their father and thought nothing of it (Gen. 19:308). There were only ten nations specifically marked for destruction (Deut. The command of God to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 20:16 "do not leave alive anything that breathes" was applicable only to these 6 tribes that were practicing (1) through (12) listed up-post. The question at the heart of this topic is how an all-loving God could command the extermination of the Canaanites and have Israel carry it out, as recorded in the books of Joshua and Judges. However, in Canaanite culture these sins were pretty much universally practiced and accepted because this is what their gods were like. 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. Yahwehs mercy, poured out despite deserving judgment, was seen in Ex. 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. Who were the Canaanites? | GotQuestions.org do not leave alive anything that breathes. Brown, Shelby. London: Routledge, 1987. The takeaway point in all this below is that the God of the Bible was totally justified in giving His command to Israel to totally destroy the Canaanites. A. Kirk Grayson and Donald Redford, Papyrus and Tablet, p. 152:149. Through Canaan, we are reminded of the danger of having idols and the importance of keeping God genuinely first and foremost in our lives. "However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. When we are addressing the Canaanites, what group do they belong to? The Religion of the Canaanites - Theology At the end of the chapter, the two perspectives are brought together. 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. It was divine judgment. (Wright, 93). Also, it gives a very human face to Rahab the Canaanite as the city of Jericho filled with Canaanites is being destroyed. From the very beginning, Yahweh made it clear that the Canaanites were distinct from all the other nations. Destroying a people is not the main point; rather, remaining loyal to Yahweh and the covenant is the focus. God and the Canaanites: A Biblical Perspective Furthermore, Israel and the Church have purposes that are different from each other. 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 reason Yahweh repeatedly gives for the extermination of the Canaanites is that it is their judgment for their sin and rebellion against Him (Gen. 15:16; 18:20-21; Lev. 3: 26-27). But much of these references is based upon Egyptian and Mari history. The Canaanites: Genocide Or Judgment? | Bible.org They wanted land. 5:13-15; 28:19; Acts 1:8). "The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them." What happened during the conquest of Canaan. A group of settlers are happily farming in their fields. A band of raiders are holding hostage a group of women and children. Leviticus 18:10, (5) They were having sex with their aunts. From this point forward they serve as the backdrop to the promise of Abraham. 9). Ultimately, though, the Canaanite conquest isnt supposed to make sense. The first states that the Canaanites were to be handed over to destruction. Was this the Israelites taking the land of innocent bystanders? PDF The Sins of Canaanites Have Become the Sins of America 3:21-26). 0000001464 00000 n The name Canaanite was also used in a general way to refer to these ten nations. Here is the list of the sins of the Canaanites: (1) They were having sex with their close family members. Yahweh did not command Israel to exterminate the Canaanites because they were a different race. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1991. God is rescuing people from every tribe. How did the Canaanites have any time or energy for farming or building? "The Lord said to Moses, speak to the Israelites and say to them, You must not do as they do in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you. Most readers can understand the men being killed, but Yahwehs command of the death of the women and children is much harder to understand. . And it seems that as history trudged along, the Canaanites became increasingly wicked. And time after time, the prayers of the prophets lead Yahweh to pour out His mercy on Israel. The Killing of the Canaanites - Genocide or Capital Punishment? - Part 6:10-12). The Canaanite people were an extremely violent people involved in and promoting idolatry, gang rape, bestiality, child sacrifice, and many other evil and grotesque practices.[2]. 0000009533 00000 n Yahweh wanted the lives of His people and their worship to remain completely pure. [10] Hoffner, Incest, Sodomy and Bestiality in the Ancient Near East, p. 82. 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. Yahweh did not punish Israel (the northern kingdom) until 722 BC with the Assyrians (2 Kgs. During which time they only grew worse. The Canaanites next appear in the table of nations. The northerners mostly settled on the edge of the coastal plain; in the south, settlement spread eastward to the upland areas. 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.. Asherah or Ishtar, also known as the Queen of Heaven, was a female fertility goddess who was worshiped through sexual acts, including orgies. . This idea continues in the book of Judges with the many different foreign nations, including the Canaanites, that Yahweh allowed to oppress Israel for their sins of idolatry and social injustice. Some 400 years earlier, God had promised the faithful man Abraham that his descendants would possess the land of Canaan. Why did God command the genocide of the Canaanites? They were not to go out to the other nations but were to live so righteously within their own borders that they would become a better and more blessed nation; in doing so, the people from the other nations would be so attracted to this difference that they would want to leave their old lives behind and join Israel. Leviticus 18:6 (2) They were having sex with their mothers. %PDF-1.4 % 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. 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. 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). 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. This is reinforced in the historical texts, with additional notes about social oppression and violence (1 Kings 14:24; 21:26; 2 Kings 16:3; 17:8; 21:2). 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. Leviticus 18:21. First it must be understood that the extermination of the Canaanites had nothing to do with race, religion, or land. These are the gods that the Canaanites worship, which means that the people thought and behaved as the gods did. The way that one proved his worth to lead others in politics or in the military was through dominating rape. . Many of the Canaanite sins such as incest, adultery, bestiality, and child sacrifice were death penalty sins in the Old Testament and since Israel was a theocracy God could enact the death penalty back then for these sins. He was cursed because of his sin against Noah (Genesis 9:20-25). There is never a glorification of the battle, only a record of its accomplishment. Canaanite religion, beliefs and practices prevalent in ancient Palestine and Syria during the 2nd and 1st millennia bc, centring primarily on the deities El, Baal, and Anath ( qq.v. God chose a place hostile to the Lord to give to Abraham and His chosen people as an inheritance. 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. because they were not salvageable. [3] One of Baals wives was his daughter Pidray. Manniche, Lise. 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). 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. And yet, God gave them a 400 year reprieve while Israel was in Egypt. Sometimes the Amorites were named in the same way. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3114473/jewish/Memoirs-of-Og-the-Not-So-Gentle-Giant.htm. Just as fantasies of incest were seen as good omens, so was homosexuality. 5). The overriding concern in all the episodes was remaining holy, found in Yahwehs demand for holiness, obedience, and purity of worship. Simon B. Parker, p. 148. 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. God and the Canaanities | Bible.org From my memory, I think the following reasons can be gleaned from scripture: (1) to test his people's love for Him via testing their trust and obedience to him and (2) to glorify His name such that the other nations would fear the God of Israel. [11] Leick, Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature, p. 205. ***totally justified in giving His command to Israel to totally destroy the Canaanites.***. This is what makes Him good, for no human is satisfied with a God who can look at the evil committed in the world and be all right with or apathetic to it, never exacting justice. It seems from Gods promise to Abraham that they were wicked and idolatrous people. Is this more like the story of the rescue from raiders or bombing a people group who were minding their own business? 18:7-8). Adultery was forbidden by law but only for a married woman. Yahweh was extremely patient, waiting for hundreds of years for them to reach a certain point of immorality before He judged them, for Yahweh is slow to anger (Ex. Likewise, Yahweh did not choose Israel alone to execute justice in every case throughout history. Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: A Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths. The basic principles of divine intervention in conflict situations were stated by G.E. Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. Temple prostitutes were male and female priests who had dedicated their bodies to the gods and were considered holy priests. Here is the list of the sins of the Canaanites: (1) They were having sex with their close family members. The ritual describes the woman not only doing grotesque things with the animal but enjoying it. 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. Leviticus 18:7, (3) They were having sex with their sisters. The Canaanites are identified in Genesis as descendants of Ham, son of Noah. 24:20-25:30). 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.