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. There is no other God or being anywhere in history who dies for the sins of others so that they may experience life. In the midst of idol worship, God would establish His promises to Abraham. Nissinen, Marti. All of this must also be put in light of Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection for the sins of all people of all nations (John 3:16-17). The reason for the offer of peace was that these nations living at a distance from the Canaanites were morally salvageable and they were accordingly shown mercy if they would agree to make peace with the Israelites. The first states that the Canaanites were to be handed over to destruction. Wright says it well: On the contrary, the refusal of the exodus generation to go ahead and do it (in the great rebellion of Kadesh Barnea in Numbers 14), and the failureof the following generations to complete the task properly, are condemned as disobedience to Gods will (Ps. 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. 0000001192 00000 n 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. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 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. Why prohibit intermarriage if they were to be completely wiped out? Genesis 6:9. 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. Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning. "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. What specifically was considered Canaanite territory? They wanted land. 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. It was directly proportional to the 40 days that the spies had spied out the land. The story of the Canaanites is a difficult one to reckon with. He was cursed because of his sin against Noah (Genesis 9:20-25). The overriding concern in all the episodes was remaining holy, found in Yahwehs demand for holiness, obedience, and purity of worship. 17:7-23; 24:20-25:30). [4] See W. F. Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: A Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths, p. 145. in light of: The Sins Of The Canaanites: Blood-Lust, Murder, Incest, Sex With Animals. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 1 Joseph put his face against his father's face, wept over him, and kissed him. But why did this happen? https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3114473/jewish/Memoirs-of-Og-the-Not-So-Gentle-Giant.htm. It does not seem to fit with the narrative of God aiming to bless the nations through Abraham genocide doesnt seem to fit that storyline. 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. How did the Nephilim survive the Flood? 0000050996 00000 n End quote. SourcesElwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. Molech: A God of Human Sacrifice in the Old Testament, p. 62. 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 Canaanites didn't sink to the bottom on the immorality scale, they were at the bottom from their very beginning. 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. Rather, Yahweh made it clear that the Canaanite people were being destroyed for their sin. do not leave alive anything that breathes. 0000003109 00000 n 50 0 obj <> endobj If you have any questions, please review our Privacy Policy or email us at privacy@biblegateway.com. Canaan, the progenitor of the Canaanites, first appears in the story of Noah as one who did not cover their fathers shame. The sovereignty and justice of Yahweh gave Him every right and demanded that Israel be punished for their sin. Word of their plight comes to an elite team of special op soldiers. 3. The sin in question is debated, ranging from literal voyeurism, castration or . Today our true enemy is the demonic beings that were behind the moral corruption of the Canaanites (Eph. No one solicited you to play the whore, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different. This is why many scholars today consider the Canaanites more of an ethnic unit than a nation, per se. Likewise, the Gibeonites (a Canaanite culture) deceived Joshua into making a treaty with them, which spared them from being exterminated (Josh. Its original pre-Israelite inhabitants were called Canaanites. In fact, temple prostitution was a large part of worship in the Canaanite culture. The ritual describes the woman not only doing grotesque things with the animal but enjoying it. 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. [11] Leick, Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature, p. 205. Genesis 6:4. What happened during the conquest of Canaan. When a people starts to burn their children in honor of their gods (Lev. Just as fantasies of incest were seen as good omens, so was homosexuality. Why did God command the genocide of the Canaanites? and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad." Now these were the cursed line of Ham's son Canaan and Canaan's offspring. London: Routledge, 1987. A contributing writer for Salem Media since 2016, Meg is now thrilled to be a part of the editorial team. Cursed be Canaan! 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. The Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Jebusites, Hivites, Perizzites, and Girgashites. 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. Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: A Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths. His very nature demands that He punish and deal with sin. They were descendants of Ham, who was a son of Noah, whom Noah had cursed. See Deuteronomy 20:11 and Deuteronomy 20:15 on the offer of peace to be made to the nations living at a distance from the Canaanites. They took it. 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). And its not a far stretch to see Genesis 15 even as a warning or a call to repentance for the Israelite neighbors. That was the very first thought that came to me. 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). Salem Media Group. Was this the Israelites taking the land of innocent bystanders? 0000006466 00000 n New York: Routledge, 1994. And even though He is a merciful and longsuffering God, there is a point where, for the sake of His holiness and the good of others in His creation, He must punish evil. The Bible tells us that again and again. 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. Yahwehs mercy, poured out despite deserving judgment, was seen in Ex. . . Copyright 2002-2023 Got Questions Ministries. 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. 13:34-35). Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because they had become so evil that even the other Canaanites were complaining about how evil they were (Gen. 18:20). (Rom. The commands about how Israel was to conduct themselves in war with the surrounding nations appear in two major passagesDeut. Copyright 2020. trailer May Canaan be the slave of Shem. Genesis 9:25-26, Ham had four sons, but only one of them was cursed. God told Abraham that the Amorite were a wicked people. The Canaanites Were Not Salvageable --- They Had Sunk To The Very Bottom On The Immorality Scale: {C} Murdered Their Own Children {Molech}. 50 20 0000002574 00000 n The Canaanites were defeated and eliminated. %%EOF Isn't this the same God that listed Thou shalt not kill? in the Ten Commandments?" In fact, he made it clear that Israel, too, would be judged and would lose the land if they committed the same sins (Deut. Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites as the LORD your God has commanded you. 7:1). The only problem with this out is that it is not the way the Bible reads. Disclaimer: During the Exodus and wilderness period, they also serve as a threat to the religious purity of the Israelites. Anat, Baals wife and goddess of war and love, fought her way into the grave to rescue her husband. The LORD appeared to Abram and said, To your offspring I will give this land. So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.Genesis 12:6-7. When we wrestle with stories like this, we must come to the conclusion that the judge of the earth will do what is right. Yes, this means that conquest of evil is necessary. The Canaanites, by contrast, were destroyed at the direction of God and primarily because of their sin. Canaanite religion - Wikipedia The Bible says Noah, was righteous and blameless, but Genesis 6:12 says "all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth." Why then were the Canaanites singled out for such severe treatment? The basic principles of divine intervention in conflict situations were stated by G.E. God is rescuing people from every tribe. However, there are interpretations that Canaan was the sole sinner himself. [11], The Egyptian dream book also describes which animals bring good omens when you have a dream about having sex with them. 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. This is a sure and certain promise. Consider the bloodlust and violence of the Canaanite deity Anath, the patroness of both war and sex. However, Israel failed to do this and so became like all the other nations and was judged by Yahweh for their sins. More insights from your Bible study - Get Started with Logos Bible Software for Free! Though on the surface Yahwehs command to exterminate the Canaanites may leave us emotionally uncomfortable, we must realize that we really do want a God who hates sin and punishes evil justly. So in light of all the above up-post, the following seems very reasonable . The 7 Nations of Canaan - Bible History 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. The point of this discussion is not to provide a complete and satisfactory answer, for there is so much we do not understand about this time period, and it is genuinely an emotionally difficult concept to reconcile. 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. Even here in the story of the Canaanites, we can see Gods intention to bless the nations through the seed of Abraham. John H. Walton in his excellent book The Lost World of Israelite Conquestgives twenty-one propositions to the make the argument that herem (what God ordered) was not so much an order to kill everyone by the sword but instead is more about rooting out ethnic identityit was about taking away their godless community. [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. 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. Why did God command the Israelites to completely destroy the Midianites in Numbers 31:17? 20). To the south, Canaanite territory stretched to the Negeb desert area, with no clear boundaries. But by the fact that He is a loving and just God, He is also long-suffering and merciful. [9] Mark S. Smith, trans., in Ugaritic Narrative Poetry, ed. This is also the mission of God through Jesus Christ. There, Israel had sinned against the covenant they made with Yahweh, when they worshipped the golden calves. Leviticus 18:7 (3) They were having sex with their sisters. He will rule with truth and justice. What is presumably Canaanite DNA lives on in ME Arab and Jewish populations. 18:20-30; Deut. 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. Leviticus 18:16, ( 8 ] They were having sex with their neighbor's wife.. Leviticus 18:20, (9) They were having homosexual sex. 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. 7:1-6, 17-26 and 20:10-18. 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. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the Joshua 7 LEB;KJV;NKJV - The Sin of Achan - BibleGateway This was 400 years before the extermination of the Canaanites, meaning He gave them a long time to repent from their idolatry and sins. Or to use our illustration previously, this would be akin to destroying a band of raiders in order to rescue others. In the second, the law states that Israel was to attack other nations outside the land of Canaan only if they were attacked first. The Sins Of The Canaanites: Blood-Lust, Murder, Incest, Sex With 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. 17:7-23; 24:20-25:30). 3:21-26). Do not follow their practices." 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). The names of God, part 12, Jehovah-Nakaw Young and elderly, men and women, are working the fields. Did God order this? Likewise, Yahweh did not choose Israel alone to execute justice in every case throughout history. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1991. The Lord wanted his chosen people to trust him, and the promised land was a land that fostered faith. Thats the point. The death of Yamm and Mot involved cutting them in half, grinding them up, and sifting them in the wind. Leviticus 18:9, (4) They were having sex with their grandchildren. 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. What Deut. 5:13-15; 28:19; Acts 1:8). 0000002826 00000 n It seems from Gods promise to Abraham that they were wicked and idolatrous people. All will be required to bend the knees to Him. 20:16-18). 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.