Genocide… or Divine Justice? The Truth about the Canaanite Conquest
With the title of his 2007 best-selling book, atheist Christopher Hitchens asserted that God Is Not Great [1]. Biologist Richards Dawkins is on record declaring that, in his opinion, 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 bully” [2]. Given how the Bible repeatedly testifies to the goodness, love, and mercy of God, what would make people draw such negative conclusions?
One reason unbelievers attack the God of the Bible concerns his command for Israel to wipe out the Canaanites. Consider what we read in Deuteronomy 20:16-17:
“… in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded.”
Joshua 6:21 then records how Israel carried out these instructions at Jericho:
“Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.”
The comrehensiveness of the language can be admittedly unsettling. It seems to call for the total annihilation of specific people groups based on their ethnicity. The command along with its execution also suggests the killing of non-combatants – women, children, and the elderly (plus animals). I’m not aware of any modern “just war” theory that endorses such actions [3]. Then the Israelites proceed to populate the land. In contemplating these features of the conquest, Tim Keller admits: “While we would consider it legitimate for people to engage in warfare in order to defend their homeland, most people today would not see it as legitimate to go to war to confiscate someone else’s homeland … When we kill people who have not attacked us and take their land, that is always considered theft and murder” [4].
Critics are quick to charge Moses and Joshua with engaging in an unpardonable campaign of “ethnic cleansing” on par with modern atrocities like the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda. Making matters even worse, these actions aren’t merely permitted or tolerated by God but, according to the biblical account, he positively commands them.
When we see it in it’s broader context and in the wider sweep of the biblical story, far from casting dispersion on God’s character, the Canaanite conquest testifies to God’s holiness, justice, and righteousness, as well to his mercy and grace.
Christians need to face such features of the conquest campaign honestly. But does the Canaanite conquest call into question God’s goodness, righteousness, justice, or moral integrity? Do these commands actually reveal a cruel, tyrannical deity? I believe the answer is no. In fact, when we see it in it’s broader context and in the wider sweep of the biblical story, far from casting dispersion on God’s character, the Canaanite conquest testifies to God’s holiness, justice, and righteousness, as well to his mercy and grace.
When reflecting on this part of the Bible, we should keep the following eight truths in mind.
MISLABELING
First, the conquest of Canaan is mislabeled when it’s called genocide. Genocide refers to eradicating a population based on ethnicity. But the Bible is clear that the inhabitants of the land were wiped out not for their ethnicity but for their sin and wickedness [5]. They were put to the sword because of immorality not because of nationality. This was explained to the Israelites in Leviticus 18:24-28:
“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.”
We also read in Deuteronomy 12:31:
“… every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods” [6].
UNIQUENESS
“The Canaanites were put to the sword because of immorality not because of nationality”
Second, while the severity of the conquest cannot and should not be denied, it is worth pointing out that this is the only instance in which Israel was commanded to engage in this kind of military activity. God never instructed his people to dispossess or eradicate the neighboring Edomites, Ammonites, or Moabites from their lands in an effort to expand their own territory [7]. Israel was only to conquer the land God was giving to them [8]. While the conquest campaign figures prominently in the Bible’s story because the promise of land is a significant aspect of God’s covenant, it should never be seen as a standard method of geographical expansion employed by God’s people in the Old Testament. To do so would be a highly irresponsible misreading of Scripture. The conquest was uniquely applied to the people groups within the land God was giving his people.
SPIRITUAL PROTECTION
Third, eradicating the Canaanites wasn’t only a judgment on the inhabitants of the land for their wickedness – it also served as spiritual protection for God’s people. Israel was to eliminate the people of the land lest they fall into idolatry. God instructs them in Deuteronomy 7:16:
“And you shall consume all the peoples that the Lord your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.”
This echoes God’s earlier words from Exodus 23:31-33:
“I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
Failure to completely remove the inhabitants from the land did, in fact, prove to be a snare to Israel as they worshipped false gods and adopted the customs of the Canaanites. This eventually led to their own exile from the land as a form of divine judgment [9].
POSSIBLE DELIVERANCE
Fourth, God’s mercy was not unavailable to the Canaanites. The account of Rahab is an obvious example. Rahab was a Canaanite justly marked for death who was saved, along with her family, as a result of turning to the true God in faith [10]. The sparing of Canaanites is also evidenced in the covenant the Gibeonites secured with Israel albeit through deceptive tactics [11]. These episodes clearly demonstrate that repentant Canaanites who aligned with Israel’s God would be delivered from destruction [12].
RHETORICAL LANGUAGE
Fifth, the comprehensive nature of the Canaanite conquest, where “both men and women, young and old” are devoted to destruction [13], may be an example of intentionally exaggerated language found in what we might call “annihilationist literature.” Various scholars have discovered Canaanite and Egyptian military texts from the same period as the conquest campaign under Joshua that use virtually identical language. This suggests the language of “total destruction” may have served as a common ancient Near East rhetorical device signifying decisive military victory rather than a literal description of universal slaughter [14]. Interpreting the language this way explains why we continue to read about Canaanite people in the land well after the time of Joshua – into the period of the judges and beyond.
TYPOLOGY
Sixth, even as a possible rhetorical device the language of annihiliation is fitting since the Promised Land typified a renewed Eden and the new creation at the end of the age. In other words, the removal of the wicked during the conquest campaign anticipates the final removal of the wicked from God’s kingdom. This complete eradication of unrighteous and unbelieving idolaters from the new heavens and the new earth is asserted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10:
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
It is stated again in Revelation 21:7:
“But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.”
GREATER JUDGMENT
Seventh, the coming removal of the wicked from the new heavens and new earth should remind us that the Canaanite conquest is hardly the only, nor is it the most severe, instance of God’s judgment mentioned in Scripture. Consider the flood. God explained to Noah in Genesis 6:17:
“I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth – not just those in the land of Canaan – shall die.”
In addition, there is also the last judgment, of which the flood serves as a type [15]. Like the flood, the last judgment is broader in scope and more severe than the Canaanite conquest, not to mention decisively final. This closing scene is vividly described in Revelation 19:17-21:
“Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, ‘Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.’ And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.”
Even if one resolves whatever uneasiness surfaces in light of Joshua’s campaigns, the Canaanite conquest pales in comparison to some other more sweeping instances of divine judgment we encounter in Scripture.
THEOLOGICAL MISCONCEPTIONS
Eighth, we need to realize that many of the problems critics have with the Canaanite conquest are the product of certain theological misconceptions. These include the ideas that physical death is the worst thing that can happen to people (it’s not), human wickedness isn’t so bad to deserve such a thing (it is), and God isn’t so holy that he would hate sinfulness so much (he is). In light of these truths, the question is not so much, “Why did this happen to the Canaanites?” but rather, “Why doesn’t God wipe out everyone like this?” Michael Kruger arrives at a similar conclusion: “every human on the planet deserves God’s judgment – not just the Canaanites … At any moment, God could take the life of any human as judgment for their sins. And he would be totally justified in doing so. Rather than being surprised God will finally judge people for their sins (even in great numbers), perhaps we should be shocked that he waits so long to do it” [16].
The reason God restrains his judgment and doesn’t destroy us all in an instant by the breath of his mouth is actually something worth celebrating: the reason is grace.
CONCLUSION
The question is not so much, “Why did this happen to the Canaanites?” but rather, “Why doesn’t God wipe out everyone like this?” The reason is grace.
The Canaanite conquest is not an act of genocide targeting specific ethnic groups on the basis of their national identity. Rather, it is an act of just judgment upon wicked and sinful people. More specifically, it is a particular instance of divine judgment executed through human agents at a unique moment in the context of redemptive history [17]. Framed this way, God isn’t the one who needs justification for his orders to wipe out the Canaanites – he is righteous in all his ways [18]. It is we who need justification before God if we’re going to escape a more severe and deserved judgment at the end of the age – a justification offered in the gospel: an alien righteousness received by grace through faith in Jesus.
One final word is in order: any direct application of the conquest model to Christian conduct today is seriously misguided and unacceptable. Not only is the church given no such command as was given to Joshua, the New Testament consistently and clearly teaches that the weapons of Christian warfare are not physical but spiritual. The contemporary application of the conquest commands in the books of Joshua and Judges is the mortification of sin from our own hearts and lives [19], as well as pushing back the spiritual darkness around us. This is accomplished not with earthly military weapons but with the light of Jesus in the proclamation of the gospel and with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God [20].
[1] Christopher Hitchens, God Is Not Great (New York, NY: Twelve, 2007).
[2] Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion (New York, NY: Mariner Books, 2006).
[3] For a summary of the tenets of modern just war theory, see Wayne Grudem, Politics According to the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 389-390.
[4] Timothy Keller, Judges for You (Purcellville, VA: The Good Book Company, 2013), 211-212.
[5] To be accurate, the conquest campaign targeted a number of different people groups. Seven are often (though not always) mentioned: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites (see Deuteromony 7:1-2).
[6] Other passages in the Old Testament detail the sinful practices of the Canaanites that called for divine judgment. For example, Deuteronomy 18:9-14: “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this.”
[7] In addition to granting land to Israel, God also allotted to other peoples their specific territories (see Deuteronomy 2:5, 9, 19).
[8] I would argue that David’s sin in taking the census in 2 Samuel 24 (cf. 1 Chronicles 21) had to do with numbering the fighting men in order to go to war. In other words, the census was a preliminary step for expanding Israel’s territory beyond its allotted bounds, and thus was severely judged by God.
[9] See 2Kings 17:7-8: “And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.”
[10] So much attention is devoted to debating Rahab’s deception in Joshua 2:4-6 that we miss the wonder of her profession of faith in vv. 8-11: “the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” The deliverance of Rahab and her family recorded in Joshua 6:25 is ample proof of God’s mercy toward any Canaanite who would turn to him in faith.
[11] See Joshua 9.
[12] It should also be noted that God showed great patience toward the people dwelling in the land. The Lord revealed to Abraham in Genesis 15 that his descendents would be afflicted in a foreign land for 400 years, during which time the inhabitants had ample opportunity to repent of their abominations and detestable practices. Instead, “the iniquity of the Amorites” filled up and was “complete” when Joshua led Israel in the conquest campaign.
[13] Being “devoted to destruction” translates the Hebrew word חָרַם. In the book of Joshua, the word carries with it the idea of people or things being placed under a ban to be completely destroyed. See Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 356.
[14] Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan, Did God Really Command Genocide? (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2014).
[15] In the Bible, final judgment is often described using imagery from earlier judgments like Sodom and Gomorrah or the flood. See Matthew 25:38-39 where the coming of Jesus at the final judgment is likened to the flood in the days of Noah. Meredith Kline uses the concept of “intrusion ethics” to describe instances in which the final eschatological judgment (and also future eschatological blessings) sometimes break into the present “ahead of time.” The flood, Sodom and Gomorah, and the slaughtering of the prophets of Baal by Elijah are examples of intrustion ethics that bring judgment. According to Kline, the Canaanite conquest also belongs in this category. The healing miracles of Jesus are examples of the blessings of the eschatological kingdom breaking in. See Meredith G. Kline, The Structure of Biblical Authority (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 1997).
[16] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/god-guilty-genocide/
[17] The Canaanite conquest is one of several instances of God using nations and human armies to bring about his judgment in the course of human history. He raised up Israel to judge Moab (Numbers 31); he raised up Assyria to judge Israel (2 Kings 17; Isaiah 10:5-19); and he raised up Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians to judge Judah (2 Kings 24-25; Jeremiah 25, 27; Habakkuk 1:6), as well as Tyre (Ezekiel 26-28) and Egypt (Ezekiel 29-32).
[18] See Psalm 145:17.
[19] See Matthew 5:29-30; Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5.
[20] See Ephesians 6:10-17; cf. 2 Corinthians 10:4.