In yesterday’s devotion we began to explore why God’s command to kill the Canaanites was an act of divine capital punishment. In today’s devotion I would like to share four reasons why the killing of the Canaanites was not genocide but capital punishment.
While I understand that there are many today, including some Christians, who disagree with the death penalty, the Scriptures are clear that in both the Old and New Testaments there were certain circumstances that warranted it. Both Testaments clearly still condone the death penalty for murder and severe prison sentences for many of the Canaanite atrocities. And as we shared in yesterday’s devotion God’s justice is always fair and we must remember as Creator, God knows when it is equitable to take the life of a person or nation.
Capital Punishment Reason 1
First, the Lord tells us that He ordered the Canaanite destruction because of their sinfulness. 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. I am not advocating for the death penalty today for these sins except for child sacrifice, but back in the theocracy, God was in sovereign control. And since these sins were rampant in Canaanite society God concluded that death was the punishment that He prescribed.
Capital Punishment Reason 2
Second, God didn’t show any favoritism toward the people of Israel. When they subsequently committed many of the same sins as the Canaanites they too suffered the death penalty for their sinfulness. The Old Testament clearly details that because Israel chose to intermarry with the Canaanites they also adopted many of their evil practices. They worshiped their gods, committed adultery and incest, and even sacrificed their sons and daughters to the Canaanite god Molech. And since they chose not to repent of their sinfulness God used the king of Assyria to kill many of the northern Israelite tribes and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to kill many of the inhabitants of the southern tribes. Genocide targets a particular race, ethnicity or nation but here we see God punishing all who sin.
Capital Punishment Reason 3
Third, God gave the Canaanites ample time to repent. In fact, He waited almost 400 years, and until their society had become completely depraved, before He instituted His command of capital punishment. Genocide doesn’t wait for people to have a change of heart; and certainly not 400 years.
Capital Punishment Reason 4
Fourth, since God limited the Canaanite destruction to within certain boundaries it, therefore, wasn’t genocide. God only destroyed those Canaanites that lived within the boundaries of the territory that Israel was told they could conquer. Those Canaanite tribes that were beyond these boundaries were not affected.
Despite these arguments in favor of capital punishment over genocide many still charge God with unfairness because they say weren’t there any righteous adults and what about the innocent children? I will briefly comment on these two groups.
I believe that those adult Canaanites who were possibly not as evil as their tribe had ample opportunity to flee from God’s coming destruction but most chose to remain. And then there is the lesson we learn from the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. If you remember Abraham was able to convince God to spare these cites of total destruction if there were ten righteous people living there. Sadly, God couldn’t find any righteous and chose to just rescue his nephew Lot and his wife and their two daughters before completely destroying these two wicked cities. The parallels between the Canaanites and the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah are striking. Both were completely depraved. Both had no righteous adults living among them. And if God would have found even a few righteous adults he would have spared the entire tribe of the Canaanites; I believe. The conclusion I reach, that like Sodom and Gomorrah, there were only wicked and depraved adult among the Canaanites.
As far as the children go I would like to state that it is my firm belief that all who die (including Canaanite children) before the age of accountability will be saved and go to heaven. For a good Scriptural presentation on this topic please refer to the following two articles in the footnotes.1
In conclusion the Canaanites were given more than enough time to change their wicked and sinful ways. In addition, their depravity was indeed great. I believe that the story of the Canaanites is one that shows us the long suffering nature of the Lord who is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But we must also remember that God is a God of justice and no one can deny that the Canaanites deserved to be judged for their total depravity. God’s choice of capital punishment after 400 years of depravity to me demonstrates justice not genocide.
1 What Happens to Infants and Children Who Die? Do Babies Go To Heaven? (godandscience.org)
Do babies and children go to heaven when they die? | GotQuestions.org