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Yahweh was willing to show mercy to the Canaanites in the same way He had with Israel previously. Late Carthaginian Child Sacrifice and Sacrificial Monuments in their Mediterranean Context. Leviticus 18:7, (3) They were having sex with their sisters. The handing over reinforces the command that the Israelites were to make no treaties, show no mercy, and not intermarry with the Canaanites. That is why the Israelites were not sentenced to eternal punishment but for only 40 years. 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. 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. The Egyptian Dream book has a section for men that begins with: Remember, the gods themselves were involved in incestuous relationships. When we wrestle with stories like this, we must come to the conclusion that the judge of the earth will do what is right. exemption for fair use of copyrighted works. trailer War isnt part of the Garden of Eden. The Canaanites next appear in the table of nations. Additional Sources:NIV Study Bible, Copyright 1985, 1995, 2002, 2008, 2011 by Zondervan.Beck, John A. Do not follow their practices." It is in the death of Yahwehs Son that His mercy and justice are seen together clearly. 18:21), practice sodomy, bestiality, and all sorts of loathsome vice (Lev. Get the answers your looking for and save with code SPRINGSTUDY15! 3: 26-27). 0000003183 00000 n The overriding concern in all the episodes was remaining holy, found in Yahwehs demand for holiness, obedience, and purity of worship. The main focus of Deut. The Lord wanted his story to be distributed globally, John A Beck explains, The promised land was the transportation hub between three continents.. 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. Yahweh also placed Abraham and his family in the land of Canaan in order to witness to the Canaanites, as Noah had previously. Much of. Likewise, the Gibeonites (a Canaanite culture) deceived Joshua into making a treaty with them, which spared them from being exterminated (Josh. Repeat . In fact, the problem of evil and the injustice of our governments anger all people more than anything else in our lives. Israel was called to be a distinct and holy nation with their own government and to remain separate from the rest of the nations. They have been abusing them for days and there is no end in sight. Thus, that destruction served as a warning to the rest of the Canaanites that if they did not change, they would be judged as well. [2] For a discussion of how the Roman Empire by the Second Testament was just as bad as the Canaanites, see Sarah Ruden, Paul Among the People: The Apostle Reinterpreted and Reimagined in His Own Time, 2010. The ancient Sifra commentary on Lev. Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: A Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths. Cursed be Canaan! Leviticus 18:23. Because of this, I think the term should be avoided. 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. There is no other God or being anywhere in history who dies for the sins of others so that they may experience life. Posted on 06/27/2020 9:30:48 AM PDT by JAG 5000. 17:7-23; 24:20-25:30). Incest and adultery were also part of the gods lives. The Canaanites unwillingness to repent and change even to escape judgment shows how bad they really were (Josh. ", "For all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you" Leviticus 18:27, ". 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. Joshua in 3D: A Commentary on Biblical Conquest and Manifest Destiny. Leviticus 18:6 (2) They were having sex with their mothers. What specifically was considered Canaanite territory? We are to live so righteously and love each other in such a unique way that the world cannot help but want to be a part of the Church. The women would often fight in battles and participate with the men in the cutting off of their enemies heads and hands. 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). These are the gods that the Canaanites worship, which means that the people thought and behaved as the gods did. In the second, the law states that Israel was to attack other nations outside the land of Canaan only if they were attacked first. Israel was never commanded in the Bible to kill the Canaanites merely to take control of the land. Completely destroy them-the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites-as the LORD your God has commanded you. 7:3-4; 9:4-5). Though other cultures also participated in some of these practices, it was the widespread involvement and acceptance of these sins that brought the Canaanites under Yahwehs judgment. <<395D2D047C712C4997B87D5B811ED3E2>]>> 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. Sin is serious and carries with it consequence. But much of these references is based upon Egyptian and Mari history. It seems from Gods promise to Abraham that they were wicked and idolatrous people. As with unbelievers, this principle requires that we are living such righteous and blessed lives that those outside the fellowship will recognize what they are missing (Jn. 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. End quote. The Canaanites are identified in Genesis as descendants of Ham, son of Noah. [4] See W. F. Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: A Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths, p. 145. In fact, he made it clear that Israel, too, would be judged and would lose the land if they committed the same sins (Deut. In Joshua 6:1 we read that they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.. Leviticus 18:7 (3) They were having sex with their sisters. The Scriptures point out the evil of Canaanite society for a reason. I wasn't familiar with either, but I was curious, so I started doing a little research and it all ties into this thread pretty neatly. 7:1-6, 17-26 and 20:10-18. 12:3). What Deut. 50 0 obj <> endobj 33:6; Ezk. 7:1). For whatever reason, Yahweh chose to use Israel as His tool of judgment in the same way He had used the flood (Gen. 6), plagues (Ex. In The God I Dont Understand,Christopher J.H. 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. The Canaanites were, in a sense, squatters in a land that did not belong to them. Rahab and her family repented, and they not only escaped the judgment but also became a part of Israel. To that point, Yahweh commanded the Israelites to not intermarry with the Canaanites, which seems odd if they were all supposed to be destroyed. 0000003109 00000 n 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). And even then they were only to drive them back, not destroy them. Yahweh wanted the lives of His people and their worship to remain completely pure. He is rescuing and redeeming all that is broken and putting in its place peace. But what do we do with this story? {C} Murdered Their Own Children {Molech}.. 50 20 30:33; 57:9). Why did God command the genocide of the Canaanites? Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. I scrolled down and saw that you had beat me to this comment. "However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. Because we have the Holy Spirit, we have been called to go into the world and be a righteous light among the nations, making disciples of all people (Matt. But Jesus conquers through the cross. 2:25). ( Genesis 15:18) God kept that promise when he caused the nation of Israel, which descended from Abraham, to occupy the region. 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. 1989. Josh 7:11 shows the seriousness of the situation. [11] Leick, Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature, p. 205. 21:21-35; Josh. The Lord wanted his chosen people to trust him, and the promised land was a land that fostered faith. There is never a glorification of the battle, only a record of its accomplishment. Here is the list of the sins of the Canaanites: (1) They were having sex with their close family members. We see the Canaanites play a prominent role in the early pages of the Bible. In Joshua 2, the narrator presents Rahab as a godly woman who wanted to be saved. [7] Godfrey Rolles Driver and John C. Miles, The Assyrian Laws, p. 38. This was 400 years before the extermination of the Canaanites, meaning He gave them a long time to repent from their idolatry and sins. God uses people as they are. They were cut off to prevent Israel and the rest of the world from being corrupted (Deut. Gwendolyn, Leck. BTW, the term Canaanite in the Bible sometimes is a generic term for trader. do not leave alive anything that breathes. Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD . posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its [15] Shelby Brown. 20:16-18). Several months ago a FReeper made a comment about Michael Heiser and the Genesis 6 conspiracy. . What happened during the conquest of Canaan. 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. 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. Yahweh did not command Israel to exterminate the Canaanites because they were a different race. 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. 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. 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. Since the land wasn't empty, this could only be accomplished by driving the Canaanites out. Word of their plight comes to an elite team of special op soldiers. "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." But as a merciful and loving God, He also desired to forgive them. SourcesElwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. 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). Under her feet were human heads, above her human hands flew like locusts. Simon B. Parker, p. 148. 0000002540 00000 n Yahweh did not take pleasure in the extermination of the Canaanites. He loves us so much that He does not want to punish us to the full extent that justice would require. Jericho should have served as an example of Yahwehs mercy to the rest of the cities, but, unfortunately, it did not. 2. Disclaimer: 0000006864 00000 n 0000006193 00000 n 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]. 17:7-23) and Judah (the southern kingdom) in 586 BC with the Babylonians (2 Kgs. 3:21-26). He is replacing all sin and unbelief with passionate worship of Jesus. %%EOF Canaan, Canaanites. . That list is so hard to read. The Canaanites were destined to be the servant of . 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 story of the Canaanites is a difficult one to reckon with. {D} Blood-Lust Gory Murder Religious Ceremonies. Their polytheism and godless living held out a temptation to the devotion to the God of Israel. There is language of Canaanite guilt and Gods judgment. 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. 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. As much as it might help our comfort, we cannot remove God from the story of the destruction of the Canaanites. 6:17-21), and even the things the people were allowed to keep were to be cleansed first with fire or water in the tabernacle. 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. [] Achan son of Carmi son of Zabdi son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took from the devoted things; [] and Yahweh's anger was kindled [] against the Israelites[2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven, east of Bethel, and he said to them, "Go up and spy out Ai." 3. Leviticus 18:23, (12) Their women were specifically mentioned as having sex with animals. Sometimes the Amorites were named in the same way. Yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in the Valley of Jezreel.. 0000009533 00000 n The blood was so deep that she waded in it up to her knees -- nay, up to her neck. Save 15% on BibleGateway+ for a limited time! Who were the Canaanites? (11) The Canaanites were having sex with animals. 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. 7; 2 Kgs. The Canaanites were a group of people who lived in ancient Canaan along the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea known today as Israel. 18:20-30; Deut. Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan, p. 21112. It was not uncommon for a man who wanted to demonstrate his authority and power to rape another man. He gave it into their hands. 7:31; 19:5; 32:35; Isa. 0000005664 00000 n Shortly after the flood, Noah cursed his grandson, Canaan (it's a long story), the ancestor of the Canaanites. Under the leadership of Joshua the Israelites were to conquer the Land of Canaan and utterly destroy the inhabitants. 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. . So you were different from other women in your whorings. 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. 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. Eugene: Cascade Books, 2010. The sin in question is debated, ranging from literal voyeurism, castration or . . Deuteronomy 20:16-18. At the time of the flood, Yahweh told the world that they would be judged, and Noah preached to them for 120 years to bring them to repentance before Yahweh judged them (Gen. 6:3, 5-8; 1 Pet. Sign up now for the latest news and deals from Bible Gateway! Just as Israel was not to judge the sins of the surrounding nations, we are not called to judge the sin of the unbelievers around us. Copyright 2002-2023 Got Questions Ministries. The name Canaanite was also used in a general way to refer to these ten nations. 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. . Albrecht Goetze, ed. Women were no less guilty than men, and in many cases they were the principal instigators. The Canaanites Were Not Salvageable --- They Had Sunk To The Very Bottom On The Immorality Scale: {C} Murdered Their Own Children {Molech}. The Canaanites were said to be cursed. and their sacrificial feasting on human flesh and blood. Wright. In Genesis 10:15-19 we read of 11 groups in the area of Syria and Palestine that descended from Canaan. God told Abraham that the Amorite were a wicked people. CONCLUSION: The God of the Bible was totally justified in giving His command to the nation of Israel to totally destroy the Canaanite tribes. From the very beginning, Yahweh made it clear that the Canaanites were distinct from all the other nations. 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. His plan to redeem humanity included a promise to Abraham concerning the land he would inherit and the generations that would follow the One True God. 10 Things You Need to Know about the Number 666, 10 Books of the Bible You Should Read Again and Again, 10 Most Encouraging Bible Verses That Will Uplift Your Heart and Soul, 5 Things That Hurt Relationships with Grandkids, 30 Morning Prayers to Start Each Day with God, How to Have Joy in Your Golden Years Despite These 10 Life Losses, 4 Things You Should Know about Big George Foreman, 8 Ways You Are Belittling Your Husband and What God Says about It, Maybe Money Can Buy Happiness, but Not Joy. But why did this happen? 0000002013 00000 n 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. But Yahweh is also a merciful God who loves us. 18:23, 24, 20:3), the land . 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. This is the role they play throughout this part of the Old Testament narrative. How did the Canaanites have any time or energy for farming or building? It seems reasonable that if all flesh was corrupt, except for Noah, then someone else on the ark must have been the source for the post-Flood appearance of the Nephilim. 11:19-20). The first states that the Canaanites were to be handed over to destruction. It was divine judgment. (Wright, 93). 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. The strategic location where the Canaanites were settled carries great significance as we zoom out on the providential plan of God. How to Have Joy in Your Golden Years Despite These 10 Life Garrett Kell explains in an article for TGC, California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Later, Mot, the god of the grave, attacked Baal in order to gain power. This mercy shows that strict application of the command to exterminate the Canaanites is superseded by mercy to a repentant Canaanite woman. In her sensuous delight she decorated herself with suspended (human) heads while she attached (human) hands to her girdle. Megwrites about everyday life within the love of Christ. Get our Question of the Week delivered right to your inbox! Later Israel did commit the same sins as the Canaanites, and Yahweh took them into exile as judgment, as He said He would. These are the people of the land and the ones that it will require Gods strength to conquer. Leviticus 18:9, (4) They were having sex with their grandchildren. [4] These are just a few examples, and none of these behaviors of the gods are portrayed with contempt in the texts of their religions. Most of Josh. The Twelve Spies, as recorded in the Book of Numbers, were a group of Israelite chieftains, one from each of the Twelve Tribes, who were dispatched by Moses to scout out the Land of Canaan for 40 days as a future home for the Israelite people, during the time when the Israelites were in the wilderness following their Exodus from Ancient Egypt.The account is found in Numbers 13:1-33, and is . Yahweh made it clear that Israel was not allowed to attack any of the other nations unless the other nation attacked first (Deut. Manniche, Lise. The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty, ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent Asherah or Ishtar, also known as the Queen of Heaven, was a female fertility goddess who was worshiped through sexual acts, including orgies. 24:20-25:30). The point, instead, is to give insight that is never discussed by those who attack Christianity over this issue. [10] Hoffner, Incest, Sodomy and Bestiality in the Ancient Near East, p. 82. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. This is why many scholars today consider the Canaanites more of an ethnic unit than a nation, per se. They had crossed the Red Sea and were in the wilderness. But what kind of people were the Canaanites? Translated by Kirsi Stjerna. [1] Yahweh was not interested just in punishing sin but in maintaining the righteous purity of His people. They were a people who worshipped many gods and had many detestable practices. The Bible tells us that again and again. Now The Canaanites Had Sunk To Bestiality. If you have any questions, please review our Privacy Policy or email us at privacy@biblegateway.com. %PDF-1.4 % This pattern is seen over and over in Scriptureshow little intercession and prayer it takes to move Yahweh to forgiveness. The sovereignty and justice of Yahweh gave Him every right and demanded that Israel be punished for their sin. They knew, therefore, what would happen if they continued in the path of Sodom and Gomorrah.