Not Exactly Innocent

Q: In the book of Exodus Moses leads the Israelites to Canaan which we know as the promised land. I understand that Canaan was already occupied by other people who I would suspect had a rightful claim to the land. Did the Israelites wage war on the people of Canaan? I do not think God would want innocent people killed. Can you help?

A: In the book of Genesis you will find the Lord speaking to Abram (Abraham) about the land of the Canaanites. "At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land (Genesis 12:6-7)." It is here that you can see God promising the land of the Canaanites to Abram. In human terms you could make an argument that the Canaanites had a rightful claim to the land since they already occupied it. However, God is the creator of the planet the land is on. Therefore, He is the rightful owner of it and can give it to whom He desires to give it to. Furthermore, the Canaanites may not have been as innocent as you may believe them to be. They were a cursed people from the beginning.

In Genesis 9, Noah became drunk and fell asleep in the nude. His Son Ham, the father of Canaan, discovered that Noah was asleep and, rather than covering Noah up, he told his brothers Shem and Japheth about it. Shem and Japheth did the honorable thing and covered their father up without laying eyes on his nakedness. Noah was angered at Ham for what he did and said, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers (Genesis 9:25)." Because of this the descendants of Canaan, the Canaanites, were a cursed people. An example of this is that at one point the land occupied by the Canaanites contained the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. These cities, apart from Jerusalem, might be the two most recognized cities in the Bible. As you may recall, God destroyed these two cities in Genesis 19 because of the level of sin and immorality the people were involved in. The Canaanites were a wicked and adulterous people. They were not so innocent in the eyes of God.

It is because the Canaanites were wicked and the land they inhabited was the promised land that Moses was directed to go there when he led the Israelites out of Egypt. "Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants (Exodus 33:1)." You see here were God reminded Moses of the promise He made to Abraham back in Genesis 12. And because the land the Israelites were going to was similar to the land they had left, Egypt, God did not want them associating with the Canaanites. "You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices (Leviticus 18:3)." In many ways this is God saying to the Israelites, as He later says to Christians, to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

And God did command the Israelites to go to war and destroy the Canaanites and their gods in order to punish them for their wickedness and to prevent their wickedness from influencing the Israelites. If you read through Deuteronomy 7:1-6 you will see the description of who God was driving out of the lands so the Israelites could occupy them. The Canaanites are listed among the seven nations stronger then the Israelites that God desired to be eliminated (Deuteronomy 7:1). He instructs the Israelites to destroy them totally and to show them no mercy (Deuteronomy 7:2), not to intermarry with them (Deuteronomy 7:3) so they would not be turned to false gods (Deuteronomy 7:4). The Israelites are instructed to "Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire (Deuteronomy 7:5)." He tells them to do all this because the Israelites "are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession (Deuteronomy 7:6)."

The way in which God deals with the Israelites and the Canaanites is a picture of our salvation as Christians. In God's eyes there are only two types of people on the earth, born again Christians and unbelievers. That is not unlike the way He saw the Israelites and all other nations in the Old Testament, including the Canaanites. Christians are God's chosen people and those who do not come to faith in Jesus Christ will face an eternal punishment not unlike that which befell the Canaanites and many other nations that stood against the nation of Israel. Christians, because of our faith in Jesus Christ are set apart from the world around us. The biggest difference now is in the fact that God isn't so much dealing with nations any longer, but with individuals. Christians are not recognized as a nation like the Israelites. We are His Church made up of individuals all over the world. Our charge is not to drive out nations before us in order to occupy their land. Our charge is to be a witness to the world of the promised salvation awaiting them in Jesus Christ. Be blessed.