what were the sins of the canaanites

The above quote regarding Anath is from Is God A Moral Monster: Making Sense Of The Old Testament God, by Paul Copan, page 159. 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. 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. And it seems that as history trudged along, the Canaanites became increasingly wicked. OT references specifically placed the Canaanites in western Palestines valleys and coastal areas; the upland country was occupied by Amorites and other peoples.. In fact, temple prostitution was a large part of worship in the Canaanite culture. The main focus of 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. Ex. Wright. Here is the list of the sins of the Canaanites: (1) They were having sex with their close family members. And even then they were only to drive them back, not destroy them. [14] John Day. Leviticus 18:23, (12) Their women were specifically mentioned as having sex with animals. What is most interesting is that it goes on and states that if a woman has a dream where she embraces her own husband, she is doomed.[12]. Wright explains it well: The degraded character of Canaanite society and religion is more explicitly described in moral and social terms in Leviticus 18:24-25; 20:22-24 and in Dt 9:5; 12:29-31. The northerners mostly settled on the edge of the coastal plain; in the south, settlement spread eastward to the upland areas. In the second, the law states that Israel was to attack other nations outside the land of Canaan only if they were attacked first. People would go to the temples and have sex with these prostitutes as an act of worship. 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. 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. As sinners, we cannot even begin to have any concept of the magnitude of our sin from the perspective of a holy and righteous God. They were cut off to prevent Israel and the rest of the world from being corrupted (Deut. in order that they might repent- God is merciful and patient- yet there does come a point where there is no redemption possible for the wicked- But God gave them the chance at redemption had they wanted it- they clearly didnt- like the old saying goes- Dont say I never offered. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. 18:7-8). No one wants a God or an authority figure who is not angered by evil and does not execute justice. The Scriptures point out the evil of Canaanite society for a reason. The point, instead, is to give insight that is never discussed by those who attack Christianity over this issue. 19:22). This mercy shows that strict application of the command to exterminate the Canaanites is superseded by mercy to a repentant Canaanite woman. There isnt an easy answer to these questions but as we explore more about the Canaanites, perhaps we can come to a bit more clear of an answer. Why prohibit intermarriage if they were to be completely wiped out? Yahweh was willing to show mercy to the Canaanites in the same way He had with Israel previously. Since Canaanite sin was regular and systematicthe entire adult population participated in the idolatrous systemGod judged the entire nation. And just as He desires that sin be removed from Israel, so should we desire that sin be removed from the Church. Repeat . It had everything to do with the judgment of a people for their sins. 0000009533 00000 n biblehub. Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan, p. 21112. Did God order this? It was centuries between Abrahams arrival and Joshuas entrance into the promised land that was to be for the people of God. 11:30-40; 2 Kgs. 9; Eph. Today the church is not called to execute justice on the wicked in the same way. Yahweh did not punish Israel (the northern kingdom) until 722 BC with the Assyrians (2 Kgs. [12] Manniche, Sexual Life in Ancient Egypt, p. 10001. That was the very first thought that came to me. Proud member [1] See Daniel Hawk. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (around 2100 BC) came 600 years before Israel destroyed the Canaanite nation. Within moments the entire village is razed. xb```"6vAd`B~'p14:)mPP,dRsV%n=?*4H[K)m;?RYttY7b}K&8j]OEUKe=2IM*]W. CONCLUSION: The God of the Bible was totally justified in giving His command to the nation of Israel to totally destroy the Canaanite tribes. Why did God command the genocide of the Canaanites? The way that one proved his worth to lead others in politics or in the military was through dominating rape. So how do we make sense of this story? 106:24-35). You may unsubscribe from Bible Gateways emails at any time. 0000005664 00000 n Its original pre-Israelite inhabitants were called Canaanites. Leviticus 18:7 (3) They were having sex with their sisters. This is unlike any other records of battles from the nations of the ancient world. Nor did Yahweh command Israel to exterminate everyone who did not convert to Judaism. The Lord wanted his story to be distributed globally, John A Beck explains, The promised land was the transportation hub between three continents.. But by the fact that He is a loving and just God, He is also long-suffering and merciful. 4. Proving He is the God who does more than we can ask for or imagine, and always makes a way. It shows that Yahweh did spare Rahab for her faith, and thus this is His true character. So you were different from other women in your whorings. 16:21; 20:31; 23:37; Jer. Later Israel did commit the same sins as the Canaanites, and Yahweh took them into exile as judgment, as He said He would. 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. Because of this, I think the term should be avoided. This shows that Israel themselves were now a thing for destruction. But they would no longer be thus when their sin had been dealt with. Leviticus 18:16, ( 8 ] They were having sex with their neighbor's wife.. Leviticus 18:20, (9) They were having homosexual sex. The Canaanites were descendants of Noah. Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites as the LORD your God has commanded you. Sometimes Scripture will use a dominant tribe's name to include several tribes of the same category. But we would be remiss not to point to Jesus Christ. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3114473/jewish/Memoirs-of-Og-the-Not-So-Gentle-Giant.htm. The Canaanites appear most prominently, though, in the story of Numbers and Joshua as the conquest of Israel. 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. 12:24-29; Mark 3:22-27; Luke 11:15-22), so we through the Holy Spirit fight the demonic forces through prayer (which is our spiritual weapon), resisting the evil ideas of the demonic forces (James 4:7), and taking every thought captive (Rom. Yahweh did not take pleasure in the extermination of the Canaanites. 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. Yet at the same time, Christ dying as our substitute allows humanity to be forgiven and declared truly innocent, satisfying the mercy of Yahweh. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the The blood was so deep that she waded in it up to her knees -- nay, up to her neck. The Amorites and other Canaanites were exceedingly wicked (for a list of some of their sins, see Leviticus 18 ). 0000002826 00000 n Genesis 6:4. In Joshua 2, the narrator presents Rahab as a godly woman who wanted to be saved. So although the Hivites are not named at Gen. 15:19-21, they are part of the equation. Israel's sons and daughters intermarried with the Canaanites and joined the Canaanites in worshiping their false gods. Sin is serious and carries with it consequence. Daniel in 3D, pp. A contributing writer for Salem Media since 2016, Meg is now thrilled to be a part of the editorial team. [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. 0000003183 00000 n When a community sins, there are consequences for every member of the population, even children. 0000003109 00000 n The story of the Canaanites is a difficult one to reckon with. 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. 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. The idolatry and the worship of pagan gods would not seem like a sin to most people other than Jews and Christians. Several months ago a FReeper made a comment about Michael Heiser and the Genesis 6 conspiracy. The ancient Sifra commentary on Lev. Leviticus 18:10 (5) They were having sex with their aunts. End of story. The conquest was not human genocide. Sometimes the Amorites were named in the same way. The Canaanites were people who lived in the land of Canaan, an area which according to ancient texts may have included parts of modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Does God killing people make Him a murderer? [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. startxref Remember, if the gods did it, then certainly the people who worship them would do it. The Bible is full of people groups and societies which we can learn from through the study of Scripture. 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). We are also reminded of the way God uses impossible situations to bring forth His ultimate plan and purposes. 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. So in light of all the above up-post, the following seems very reasonable . They wanted land. Her liver swelled with laughter, her heart was full of joy, the liver of Anath (was full of) exultation. These initiates from the midst of a heathen cult. At the end of the chapter, the two perspectives are brought together. The Canaanites unwillingness to repent and change even to escape judgment shows how bad they really were (Josh. 1, p. 406). The names Canaan and Canaanite occur in cuneiform, Egyptian, and Phoenician writings from about the 15th century bce as well as in the Old Testament. When Joshua led the people across the Jordan River into Canaan, he was fulfilling this promise. This site is a proud member of the Salem Web Network, a subsidiary of, Copyright 2023, Crosswalk.com. These people were so evil that Yahweh commanded their extermination specifically in the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua. As much as it might help our comfort, we cannot remove God from the story of the destruction of the Canaanites. They knew, therefore, what would happen if they continued in the path of Sodom and Gomorrah. However, in Canaanite culture these sins were pretty much universally practiced and accepted because this is what their gods were like. What bothers many many readers of the Old Testament is why God, after commanding Israel not to murder, uses their nation as an instrument of genocide to punish. 12:2; 2 Cor. There are certainly exceptions, but they are the exceptions. management. 3 Forty days were set aside for him, for that is how many days it takes to embalm. However, incestuous fantasies were looked upon with favor and seen as a good omen. Ezra 9:1-4 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful. 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. . When Achan stole from Yahweh after the defeat of Jericho (Josh. Get our Question of the Week delivered right to your inbox! 2. 2 Joseph commanded the physicians who served him to embalm his father, so the physicians embalmed Israel. We have no right as sinners, who hurt or destroy others on a regular basis, to accuse Yahweh, a righteous God who has no sin and loves perfectly, that He is unjust, with the very concept and sense of justice He created us to have. He is ending all sin and unbelief (even in our own hearts) and he is ultimately doing it through the self-sacrifice of His Son. Wright as follows: (a) God works in this world mediately through chosen agents, whether they know it or not: (b) the divine use of an agent confers no special righteousness or merit on the agent. God told Abraham that the Amorite were a wicked people. and their sacrificial feasting on human flesh and blood. There is no other God or being anywhere in history who dies for the sins of others so that they may experience life. [9] Mark S. Smith, trans., in Ugaritic Narrative Poetry, ed. There were laws against bestiality but only for certain animals. Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD . In the midst of idol worship, God would establish His promises to Abraham. 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. The Canaanites, by contrast, were destroyed at the direction of God and primarily because of their sin. Israel had sinned, violated Yahwehs covenant, taken some of the devoted things, stolen, lied, and put things among their own possessions. In fact, the Canaanite people were Semitic just like the Israelites. 3:21-26). Rather, Yahweh made it clear that the Canaanite people were being destroyed for their sin. 18:21), practice sodomy, bestiality, and all sorts of loathsome vice (Lev. 18:20-30; Deut. 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. A God of love and justice, they say, could never command genocide, and therefore he must not exist. Disclaimer: "However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. 5:13-15; 28:19; Acts 1:8). But what do we do with this story? . 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.. The destruction of the Canaanites is a difficult story within Scripture. xref How did the Canaanites have any time or energy for farming or building? We, as the Church, are not called to kill lawbreakers since we are not a government; rather, we are called to dis-fellowship believers who refuse to repent in the hopes that they will want to repent and come back (1 Cor. [3] See El, Ashertu and the Storm-god, trans. Hawk, Daniel. The Canaanites are identified in Genesis as descendants of Ham, son of Noah. 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. We already know that certain people are more genetically predisposed to alcoholism and other addictive tendencies; scientists are even trying to find a gay gene. Ultimately, this question can be answered only when one comes to understand that Yahweh is good and that a God who is willing to die for useven for the Canaanitesis a God who can be trusted with where babies and children go when they die. Joshua in 3D: A Commentary on Biblical Conquest and Manifest Destiny. I am looking forward to a new dictator whose name is Jesus. That list is so hard to read. However, Israel failed to do this and so became like all the other nations and was judged by Yahweh for their sins. . 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. %PDF-1.4 % Salem Media Group. This act of dominance was seen as a sign of power, and other men looked at this with high regard. The ritual describes the woman not only doing grotesque things with the animal but enjoying it. The Canaanites were a people group who inhabited the land promised to Abraham. They also willingly offered their own children as a burnt sacrifice. 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. 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. Sign up now for the latest news and deals from Bible Gateway! pastor | 184 views, 5 likes, 4 loves, 12 comments, 2 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Balfour Baptist Church: Sunday Evening service with Pastor Mark. "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." [1] Yahweh was not interested just in punishing sin but in maintaining the righteous purity of His people. More insights from your Bible study - Get Started with Logos Bible Software for Free! There were only ten nations specifically marked for destruction (Deut. God ordered similar things when the Israelites were invading the promised land (Deuteronomy 2:34; 3:6; 20:16-18). Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature. The desire for justice is foundational to the core of every human. Yahweh also placed Abraham and his family in the land of Canaan in order to witness to the Canaanites, as Noah had previously. Canaan is described in the Bible as extending from Lebanon toward the Brook of Egypt in the south and the Jordan River Valley in the east. 19:23-25; Zech. When Israel first entered the land, Yahweh did not immediately send warriors to kill people; rather, he sent two witnesses to give the people in Jericho a chance to repent and escape the judgment (Josh. Save 15% on BibleGateway+ for a limited time! 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. And all the wrath of Yahweh could be poured out on Christ as humanitys representative, killing Him and satisfying Yahwehs justice. 7:10-15), Yahweh made it clear that all of Israel had sinned, and He punished Israel by allowing them to be defeated by the Canaanites in the same way they were now defeating the Canaanites. The Lord mentioned 7 nations by name who inhabited the land of Canaan in the time of Abraham unto the time of Joshua. Genesis 6:9. God will always be purposeful in all He does and allows. When Abraham arrived at the land promised to him, the Canaanite people inhabited the land. He was cursed because of his sin against Noah (Genesis 9:20-25). He will rule with truth and justice. 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. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. Apparently, they had copied his moral decadence. Yahweh showed this same patience with Israel when He warned them in 1406 BC that if they lived like the Canaanites, He would, through another nation, send them into exile (Deut. 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. 0000006193 00000 n 10:5) so that we may be loyal to our covenant with Yahweh and free of corruption. 34:6,7; Ps. One day Baal reported to his father that his mother had tried to seduce him. Incest and adultery were also part of the gods lives. All the other many tribes and cities that were living at a distance from the Canaanites were to be offered an opportunity to make peace. He is rescuing and redeeming all that is broken and putting in its place peace. . 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. 13:34-35). 5:21) on behalf of all peoples, including the Canaanites (Ps. Divine judgments do not last forever, for God judges sin in direct proportion to the offence. 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. SourcesElwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. 0000006864 00000 n We see in Christ that even stories like the Israelite conquest of the Canaanites is redeemed. The Ancient Near East in Pictures: Relating to the Old Testament. %%EOF 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. This implies that Yahweh waits until nations or people have become wicked enough before He judges them. From time to time it subverted the essential monotheism of the Israelites after they occupied Canaan, the Promised Land of the Old Testament. To the north, Canaan extended to Latakia, just south of Ugarit, and inland to Hamath. Leviticus 18:10, (5) They were having sex with their aunts. Brown, Shelby. Israel was called to be a distinct and holy nation with their own government and to remain separate from the rest of the nations. The Canaanites were a group of people who lived in ancient Canaan along the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea known today as Israel. Joshua decided that showing mercy and honoring oaths takes priority over the Mosaic Law to exterminate everything. . . Leviticus 18:7, (3) They were having sex with their sisters. Later, Mot, the god of the grave, attacked Baal in order to gain power. 5:13-6:27; 8:1-29; 10-12). As a righteous God, Yahweh cannot tolerate such sin and evil in His creation. To the south, Canaanite territory stretched to the Negeb desert area, with no clear boundaries. 50 20 The Canaanites were a group of people who lived in ancient Canaan along the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea known today as Israel. During which time they only grew worse. (1988). All will be required to bend the knees to Him. 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. [3] One of Baals wives was his daughter Pidray. Why Does God Compare Our Relationship with Him to That of a Bride and Groom? The Canaanites abundant wickedness proved the curse was warranted, Garrett Kell explains in an article for TGC, As a result, they were enslaved by a coalition of easter kinds, by the Israelites during the conquest, and by Soloman during his reign as king. Hams other three sons, Cush, Egypt, and Put, were not cursed as Canaan was. Prichard, James B. "But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." (Gen. 15:16, KJV) Before crossing the Jordan, God told Joshua and the people that He was giving the land of Canaan to them because of the promise He made . The fact that Jesus Christ was willing to be exterminated (Matt. God will get his people to the promise land. The Canaanites were said to be cursed. The fact that Rahab was spared just as the spies and Joshua had promised serves two purposes. Now The Canaanites Had Sunk To Bestiality. Though there is much to commend in Waltons work, I lean more towards the explanation of Christopher J.H. The women were killed because they participated in the violence, child sacrifices, bestiality, and sexual immorality just as much as the men did. 0000000016 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). They would often seduce men from other villages so that their men could kill them (Judg. What specifically was considered Canaanite territory? It includes the sexual promiscuity and perversion particularly associated with fertility cults as well as the callousness of child sacrifice. Why not just destroy the Canaanites the same way He destroyed Sodom and Gomorah and not involve people killing other men, women and children? The Canaanites were a Semitic-speaking cultural group that lived in Canaan (comprising Lebanon, southern Syria, Israel and Transjordan) beginning in the second millennium B.C.E. In contrast, the Bible gives very little detail of Israels battles, and the killing of the people is stated merely as a fact (Num. 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). Even here in the story of the Canaanites, we can see Gods intention to bless the nations through the seed of Abraham. Young and elderly, men and women, are working the fields. All rights reserved. Yahweh made it clear that Israel was not allowed to attack any of the other nations unless the other nation attacked first (Deut. Yahweh is both a just and a merciful God. The strategic location where the Canaanites were settled carries. Abram traveled though the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. This meant that according to the covenant they had agreed to, they were deserving of death. These are the gods that the Canaanites worship, which means that the people thought and behaved as the gods did. 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. 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. 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). 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). Used by permission. Is this more like the story of the rescue from raiders or bombing a people group who were minding their own business? They describe their conquests in great detail and brag about how they subjugated and destroyed other people groups. Here is the list of the sins of the Canaanites: (1) They were having sex with their close family members. Day, John. No one solicited you to play the whore, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different. The reality is that this topic is perhaps one of the most difficult issues in the Bible to understand, justify, and digest. 0000001464 00000 n 11:19-20). trailer 2:25). 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.

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