"As the sovereign Creator of all people, God is also the final judge of humanity. He alone gives life and he alone can take it. God's order to exterminate the Canaanites was not a command to murder (to take human life without just cause). For God possesses both the prerogative and the moral right to take life, as well as having a good cause in the wicked acts of the Canaanites. Rather, the order to execute the Canaanites constituted a divine judicial command of capital punishment on a grand or national (corporate) scale. It reflected a retributive form of justice, meaning that the punishment matched the crime. God held the Canaanites accountable for their moral condition and deviant deeds and used his agent Israel to carry out his judicial decree. This capital punishment, while violent, is not inconsistent with God's love because execution of the offender gives justice to the victims."1
Courage and Godspeed,
Chad
Footnote:
1. Kenneth Samples, Christianity Cross-Examined, p. 178-179.
For Further Study
Did The Canaanites Really Sacrifice Their Children?
Yahweh War and the Conquest of Canaan – A Biblical Worldview Perspective
Violence in the Bible, Part 1 and Part 2
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Book Preview: Is God a Vindictive Bully? by Paul Copan
Article: Is the Old Testament Reliable? by Chad A. Gross
Ted Wright on the Old Testament and Archaeology
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