The Bible Questions by Seed Hal;

Author:Seed, Hal; [Seed, Hal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2012-07-03T00:00:00+00:00

12

Why Was God So Violent in the Old Testament?

The Father of the heavenly lights . . . does not change like shifting shadows.

The Apostle James, James 1:17

In the spring of approximately 1405 b.c. the nation of Israel conquered the city of Jericho. After circling the city for seven days, the walls miraculously weakened and fell. “When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city” (Joshua 6:20). If that’s all that had happened, few would think twice about this battle. But the next verse reads, “They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.” The Israelites did this because of a direct command from God.

God had told them:

In the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you. (Deuteronomy 20:16-17)

Why was God so violent in the Old Testament? The God of the New Testament seems to be so loving and kind. What happened?

Throughout history some have posited that there are two Gods. The God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament. That’s impossible since there can only be one supreme Creator. Plus, Jesus, Paul, Peter and others clearly equate the God of Abraham with the God they were following.[1]

God’s Full Name

In Exodus 34, God reveals his full name to Moses, saying, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished” (vv. 6-7). How could anyone “abounding in love and faithfulness” order the deaths of every man, woman, boy and girl in the city of Jericho?

God’s command to put the Canaanites to death is found in Deuteronomy 20:17. He explains why they must die in verse 18: “Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.” God was building a community of people who would relate to him by faith and to one another in love. The Canaanites’ worship practices were anything but loving. God did not want their infection to spread to his newly forming community of faith.

Canaan’s Worship Practices

One of Canaan’s gods was named Molech. Molech was the god of the underworld. People worshiped him by “passing their sons and daughters through the fire,” a euphemism for burning their infants alive.

Baal and Ashthoreth were the fertility god and goddess of Canaan. Their worshipers believed that they controlled the harvest. In order to stimulate them to fertilize the land, these two needed to be aroused by viewing humans engaged in sexual activity.

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