“Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle. For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the Lord commanded Moses” (Josh 11:18-20).
Warfare as described in Deuteronomy and Joshua is not merely war, it is Holy War (not Islamic jihad), and as such, it is lifted above the human plane, and takes on an altogether divine aspect. The effects are the same – death and destruction; but the origin of it is from God, both at his direction and command, and under his leadership and control. It is God’s war; men are only the spear in God’s hand to punish the wicked. It is an enterprise in which God brings himself and his covenant people together.
However, this idea of Holy War (herem) can appear at first glance to be contrary to the Christian concept of God, and of the principles of the New Testament. Most people, even many Christians, question God and wonder how a holy, just, and loving God have could have commanded such harsh actions, such seemingly barbaric action which borders on genocide. Even in ancient times, the Gnostics had such an idea of God and couldn’t comprehend the disconnect, regarding him as an evil entity, while the God of the New Testament was much kinder and approachable.
In order to explain this apparent paradox, modern critics have placed the authorship of Deuteronomy centuries after the events recorded in it. For example, Von Rad, speaking of the proposed annihilation of the Canaanite nations, says “Deuteronomy, being late, has, as a result of its theological viewpoint, a much more radical attitude on this matter than Israel had in the early days” (Von Rad 1966, 67).
Reasons for the Canaanites’ utter destruction
In Israel, all war was to be conducted under God’s leadership. Deut 20:1-9 gives specific instructions for Israel’s conduct in war. The most important aspect was that they were not to fear, “for the LORD thy God is with thee” (Deut 20:1). There would be neither fear of the enemy nor guilt of atrocity under this command.
The seven nations in Canaan which God had earmarked for destruction had been placed under the ‘herem’, therefore they could not be redeemed (Lev 27:28-29) and were sentenced to utter destruction (Deut 13:16); thus, Israel was required to carry out the judgment with military activity
It is important to understand the distinctions that are made in Deuteronomy 20, between verses 10-15 and 16-18. Verses 10-15 show how Israel is to conduct warfare generally, and importantly, mercy was to be offered to every enemy before engaging in battle. However, in verses 16-18, which relate to Canaan specifically, there was to be no such offer, for all the inhabitants were under the ban, or herem (Deut 7:1-5). The reason given for utter destruction was that these nations would teach Israel to worship their gods (Deut 20:18).
Deut 9:4-5 also explains that Israel was to destroy the Canaanite nations, not because of Israel’s righteousness but because of the Canaanites’ wickedness. These verses show how God is going to fulfil the covenant promise made with Abraham (Gen 15:16) to give the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants, and at the same time, to punish the Canaanite nations for their wickedness. It would appear that “the iniquity of the Amorites” had reached its completion (Gen 15:16) and they were ready for judgment. So, the Canaanites were being judged for their monstrously wicked sins by being cast out of the land. Furthermore, God warned Israel that if they likewise committed the same sins, they, likewise, would be cast out of the land (Lev 18:24-27). Later on in the life of Israel, they did commit the same sins, the wickedness and defilement of which reached their peak while under the reign of King Manasseh (Amos 5:12); and God cast them out of the land (Jer 15:4). So it is with good reason that a holy God brings unrelenting judgment on a wicked people.
Lilley, in discussing accepted forms of Near Eastern treaties, makes a very good observation as to why Jehovah insisted on annihilation, if his idea is true. He says: “Yahweh would not accept a place on a pantheon to deal on equal terms with the gods of other nations; much less would their representatives be allowed in his territory. Therefore, not only is the worship of other gods prohibited, but the idea of treaty with the Canaanites is impossible; for such a treaty would involve reciprocal invocation of each other’s deities” (Lilley 1997, 8).
However, nowhere does the bible say that Israel was to make such a treaty of equality with anyone. Rather, in Deut 20:10-15, Jehovah specifies the terms of any covenant made with the enemies of Israel. The terms were surrender or (for the male population) die, with the women, children, livestock and spoil being taken as booty. If surrender was accepted, then the whole population was to serve Israel at forced labour.
In fact, when the Hivites of the cities of Gibeon deceived the leaders of Israel into making a treaty with them, the treaty was made according to the conditions as specified in Deut 20:13, and the Gibeonites from that day became Israel’s servant (Josh 9:21, 23, 27).
2. Holiness essential for those engaged in holy war
Joshua chapter 1 shows the requirements of all those who fought in the Lord’s army. They were to be faithful to him and the law he had given Israel through Moses: “(For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you….Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein” (Lev 18:27-28, 30).
That Israel should sanctify themselves before they enter Canaan under the leadership of the Lord can be seen in the following examples. They demonstrate the holiness of the undertaking:
- In Josh 3:5, as Israel prepares itself for the coming conquest of Canaan, Jericho being the first enemy they face, Joshua tells the people “Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you”. Then the Ark of the Covenant leads the people across the Jordan River, which God parts so that they can cross.
- In Joshua 5:14-15, a supernatural being appears, who identifies himself as “captain of the host of the LORD”, and Joshua is commanded to “Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy”. This supernatural being was not merely a vision but a theophany – the pre-incarnate Son of God present with them.
- Joshua ch 6 describes the remarkable capture and subsequent destruction of Jericho. The most significant thing is the army being led around the city by the priests carrying the Ark of the Lord. Just prior to this (Josh 5:2-9), every male in Israel had been circumcised, and thus made ready to swerve the Lord, because “All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt….because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD” (5:6). Once this new generation had been circumcised, the Lord said, “This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you” (5:9).
The story of Achan in Joshua ch 7 is most instructive, and shows that God is unbending in his demand for holiness in those who serve him, being no respecter of persons or nations. In 7:11 God accuses Israel of breaking the covenant by taking items which were herem. Even though it was Achan who had sinned, God held all Israel responsible because in Achan they had taken items devoted to destruction “because they were accursed” (7:12)). When Achan was found to be the culprit, both he and his family were destroyed and the sin was removed from Israel because he had violated God’s command and thus effectively becoming a Canaanite himself.
3. The purpose of holy war
In a long list of what things God required of his people Israel, as set out in Deuteronomy ch 12, he concludes it all by making a clear difference between the nations and the people of God. “When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it” (Deut 12:29-32).
Thus, we see the wisdom of a loving God preparing blessing and peace for his people, and through them, for all nations, for this was the goal of the Abrahamic covenant.
How does a Christian respond to this issue?
It’s helpful to understand that God is sovereign, “who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Eph 1:11). It’s also helpful to understand that God is just. Abraham asked God: “That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen 18:25). Therefore, in considering the concept of annihilating the total population of Canaan, we should have this understanding of God, and remember that he himself is the standard of justice and mercy, and he holds himself to his own law.
Another consideration is that the surrounding nations practiced the most abominable sins and crimes, e.g. child sacrifice by placing a living child in the belly of a hideously visaged idol and burning them alive; their worship was highly sexual, which involved ritual prostitution with priests and priestesses, sodomy, bestiality, incest, and other forms of perverted sex (Lev ch 18 and 20). So God gave laws which prohibited these activities, and specified the punishments for each of them, even to the extreme of death, or banishment from the community (Deut 4:25-28). Therefore, it would be more unjust of God if he did not deal with Canaan than that he did. The New Testament repeatedly warns of God’s judgment against sin; and hell (Mk 9:44-48), the “lake of fire and brimstone” (Rev 20:10, 15), is the destiny of all who disobey God.
It is also important to see that history has vindicated God’s warnings about Canaanite religious practices. The Canaanites who remained in the land after the conquest did turn Israel aside from God with their religion, as the book of Judges and the prophets testify, and Israel itself was finally ejected from the land, because they continued the vile practices of the Canaanites. Further, it is interesting to note that the Canaanites of Phoenicia continued the same religion. The great city of Carthage, begun as a North African trading colony founded by Tyre, became a centre of Canaanite religion until it was razed to the ground by Rome after the 3rd Punic War. Thus it was that utter destruction was the only way to deal with such persistent wickedness.
Finally, it should be stressed that “herem” is not enjoined upon Christians. The conquest of Canaan was a unique occurrence because of what God wanted to achieve there for his people. The land of Canaan was intended to be “a rest” for Israel (Heb 3:16-18). Jehovah alone was to be worshipped there. The Canaanites were accursed, and thus devoted to destruction. The land was to be cleansed of every accursed thing; not one thing was to remain. Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 show us that Canaan typified heaven, the eternal rest for the people of God, where “there shall be no more curse” (Rev 22:3).
References:
Lilley, J.P.U. 1997, “The Judgment of God: the problem of the Canaanites”, Themelios, vol. 22, No.2, 3-12
Von Rad, G. 1966, Deuteronomy, Old Testament Library, SCM Press, London, England
All scripture in this article is from the King James Version.