9.00am and 10.30am Sunday 13 June 2004
Rev Des Botting
Readings: Deuteronomy 2:19, 13-19, 24-37; Philippians 3:10-16
A question thats often asked about a passage such as weve just had read to us from Deuteronomy, where we are told that the Israelites captured and destroyed every town in King Sihons kingdom, killing everyone,[1] is how could God do such a thing? Isnt he a God of love? And it leads on to a further question, is the God of the New Testament revealed in Jesus Christ the same God as that of the Old Testament?
Sometimes we find it difficult to understand some of the things that God asked his people to do in the Bible, that is, until we see the bigger picture. Its true that God gave very specific instructions to Israel to destroy all the Canaanites who lived in the land of Palestine when they entered there. The first of those were the Amorites of whom we read this morning in Deuteronomy 2. Why was this so?
Notice, first, in this case that Moses didnt pick a fight with King Sihon. He gave him every opportunity to allow the nation of Israel to pass through his land peacefully. Listen again to what happened. (cf verses 26-29) This wasnt war-mongering talk, but was an offering for both nations to live together in peace. Further when it says that they killed everyone in Sihons kingdom, obviously that wasnt all the Amorites as we still read of them living in the land when Samuel the prophet was leading Israel. It says in 1 Samuel, Israel was also at peace with the Amorites.[2]
So why did God command Israel to destroy these nations? How could a God of love do such a thing?
The Bible teaches that God is both loving and just, and that whatever he does is right.[3] Its when we take a look at the history and customs of these nations, and the evidence that archaeologists have unearthed that verify this, that the reasons become very clear.
The Amorites were a tribe descended from Canaan, the fourth son of Ham, the younger son of Noah. Theyre first mentioned in Genesis 10:16. They were one of the many tribes who occupied Palestine when Abraham first came there. In Genesis 15, when God promised Abraham that he would give them this land, he said, I solemnly promise that your descendants will live as foreigners in a land that doesnt belong to them. They will be forced into slavery and abused for 400 years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and they will leave with many possessions.
(Note that Abraham is told this even before Ishmael and Isaac were born.) Four generations later, your descendants will return here and take this land, because only then will the people who live here be so sinful that they deserve to be punished.[4] What was it that was so sinful about these people, that they deserved such harsh punishment?
Halleys Bible Handbook provides some background to the religion of the Canaanites of which the Amorites were representative. He writes:
Baal was their principal god; Ashteroth, Baals wife, their principal goddess. She was the personification of the reproductive principle in nature. Temples of Baal and Ashteroth were usually together. Priestesses were temple prostitutes and Sodomites were male temple prostitutes. The worship of Baal, Ashteroth, and other Canaanite gods consisted in the most extravagant orgies; their temples were the centres of vice.[5]
Halley goes on to mention what has been unearthed through archaeological excavations. (Picture of remains of an infant) Under the debris in the ruins of one of their High Places Macalister of the Palestine Exploration Fund (1904-1909) found great numbers of jars containing the remains of children who had been sacrificed to Baal. The whole area proved to be a cemetery for newborn babies. This was the kind of worship that Ahab, Israels worst king, followed. The Bible says of Ahab, No one was more determined than Ahab to disobey the Lord. And Jezebel encouraged him. Worst of all, he had worshipped idols, just as the Amorites had done before the Lord forced them out of the land and gave it to Israel. [6] Remember how Elijah killed all the prophets of Baal and Ashteroth after their great contest on Mt Carmel. These prophets were the official murderers of little children. Can you imagine that being tolerated today, and yet when we look at our abortion statistics today, are we any better?
Another horrible practice was what they called foundation sacrifices. When a house was to be built, a child would be sacrificed, and its body built into the wall, to bring good luck to the rest of the family. In this same High Place Macalister found enormous quantities of images and plaques of Ashteroth with rudely exaggerated sex organs, designed to foster sensual feelings. So, Canaanites worshipped by immoral indulgence, as a religious rite, in the presence of their gods; and then, by murdering their first-born children, as a sacrifice to these same gods. Halley concludes,
Do we wonder why God commanded Israel to exterminate the Canaanites? Did a civilization of such abominable filth and brutality have the right to exist any longer? It is one of historys examples of the Wrath of God against the Wickedness of Nations. Archaeologists who dig in the ruins of Canaanite cities wonder that God did not destroy them sooner than he did.[7]
There is always good reason for what God does. Abrahams statement, You are the judge of all the earth, and you do what is right,[8] is exactly right. God is holy and good. He cannot tolerate evil, and his judgment is inevitable on all who do wrong. Gods love shines through in that he has provided a way out. This is what the Good News is all about. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.[9] And as Peter says, God is patient, because he wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost.[10] If you think that the God of the New Testament is different to the God in the Old Testament listen to these words from Ezekiel: say to the house of Israel As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?[11]
Another reason why God had Israel exterminate these nations was to keep them from following their practices. God knew that if he allowed these nations to continue they would prove to be a stumbling block to Israel. They would not fulfil his purpose for them to be a blessing to the world. Israels later history showed how true this was.
God wants us to be just as watchful about the things that can trip us up. That is why the writer of the Hebrews, picking up the imagery of the Christian life as being like a race says, We must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially the sin that just wont let go. And we must be determined to run the race ahead of us. We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who leads us and makes our faith complete. Then you wont get discouraged and give up.[12]
In our reading from Deuteronomy, God is telling his people it was time to get moving and enter their inheritance. God wants us to progress in our discipleship, too. Like Israel we must be careful to follow Gods instructions. There are things we must do, and others we must avoid. We need to realise that there will be battles to be fought, but with God on our side they will be won. And, like Paul, we must move forward with determination and tenacity keeping our focus on the ultimate goal, the prize of being called to heaven.[13]
[1] Deuteronomy 2:34
[2] 1 Samuel 7:14 (All Bible references are from the Contemporary English Version unless otherwise stated.)
[3] cf Genesis 18:25b
[4] Genesis 15:13-16
[5] Halley, Henry H., Bible Handbook, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 24th Ed.1965 (1st Published 1927), p. 166.
[6] 1 Kings 21:26
[7] Halley, Bible Handbook, op. cit. p. 167.
[8] Genesis 18:25b
[9] John 3:16 NIV
[10] 2 Peter 3:9
[11] Exekiel 33:10-11 NRSV
[12] Hebrews 12:1-2a, 3b
[13] Philippians