One major issue that people often struggle with in the Bible is how God carried out acts of judgment against His enemies through His people, resulting in the deaths of both adults and children. I admit that this was something that always bothered me too; that is, until God opened my eyes to the truth. Therefore I can certainly see how this has the potential to cause people to question the integrity of God’s love. But when we seek to look at life through the scope of faith, understanding that God can see each detail better than we can—knowing the end from the beginning, it is not difficult to believe that God was always just and never executed judgment against the wicked in a careless manner. For when God commanded His people to do something it was not without good reason; for God always seeks to protect and to preserve the identity of His people on every level. Hence every command that God gave to His people should be seen as an act of love in that it was for their ultimate good that He ordered such things to come to pass, even when death was involved.
God Gives Good Reason for It
With that said, the reason why God gave the command to His people to drive out their enemies from the land is as follows:
“And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it. And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man’s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit. But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.” – Numbers 33:50-56 KJV)
The people that were to be driven out from the land did not want to make peace with God and His people. After all, they were His enemies; and they proved this time and time again when they harassed His people and sought to make war with them. Of course, they also did things that were detestable to God. For example, they relished sexual immorality and even sacrificed humans to false deities, among other heinous acts. Indeed they were wicked! And if they were able to, they would have completely destroyed God’s people, or at the very least they would have made slaves out of them.
And let’s not forget that they were essentially under the influence of Satan who was so ruthless that he even sought to influence Herod to send forth an order to put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, to try to destroy Jesus (Matthew 2:16). If anyone should be frowned upon it is Satan; for he sought to cut off our source of life–Jesus Christ. So I think that it is safe to say that because God’s enemies were under the influence of Satan that means they did not want to make peace with His people.
Corruption without Correction Reaps More Corruption
If the Israelites had not done what God had commanded of them they would have been corrupted by the sinful practices of their enemies. Moreover, they would have lost their identity, and eventually would have been completely consumed by them. Evidence of such corruption can be found in Numbers 25. Hence it was for their protection that God commanded them to purge the land in this way by driving out their enemies; it had nothing to do with pride or prejudice.
By the way, keep in mind that the land was given to them by God; it was His gift to them. Thus it was to be their possession, and was therefore meant to be used for a holy purpose as God expected His people to be holy. For God’s people to have looked upon the presence of evil lightly and to have allowed it to remain in the land with impunity would have been to defile the gift of God and to mischaracterize His Holy name.
Perhaps it is easier to look at it this way: Sin is like cancer. If you don’t deal with it in a timely manner and cut it out it will spread throughout the body. If left unchecked it will eventually destroy the person who has been infected by it. In the case of the Israelites, the people would have suffered the same fate spiritually if they had compromised the land to their enemies and did not follow God’s instructions to purge it by driving them out from it.
God is Merciful
Another thing to keep in mind is that God is merciful even to His enemies. Do you remember reading about Rahab? She was a harlot who lived in the city of Jericho. When God’s people were sent to Jericho to spy out the city she sought to protect them from those who would likely have killed them. As a result of this she, along with her family, were spared when God’s people overthrew the city. For she essentially chose to exercise faith in God by looking out for the best interests of His people in this way.
This ought to be encouraging to us because it tells us that God will not turn anyone away who earnestly seeks to preserve and to protect that which belongs to Him. Indeed, Rahab’s experience clearly demonstrated that God’s enemies had every opportunity to turn to Him in repentance and accept His ways. Unfortunately, they did not, but chose to hate Him and His people instead. As a result of this they not only hurt themselves; they also hurt their children. Thus they were essentially responsible for their own outcome because they chose to hate God and plotted to make war with His people (see numbers 22-24 for an example of this). Hence the children fell victim to the prideful nature of their parents and suffered the same end–death.
From the Focal Point of the Cross
I’m sure that after reading this explanation some will still question these things, and may even have more questions as a result of what I have shared here. I don’t claim to have all of the answers; nor am I going to pretend that I do. However, I will say this; while it is true that there are some disturbing things in the Old Testament which tend to leave people with questions of doubt, there is one thing that we need to keep in mind at all times when reading about these things:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” – John 3:16-17 KJV
The cross forever answers the questions of whether God is just and righteous and merciful and loving. For “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13 KJV). Jesus did this for us and much more; in fact because He died for us while we were yet sinners and enemies of God He surely disclosed that God is Love.
When we begin to see things from the focal point of the cross there will be no room left in sight to doubt that God truly desires to do what is best for us all. After all, this is what faith is all about. That is, it’s about casting our cares on Him, knowing that He will always do what is best for His children, no matter how ugly things might appear to be.
With that said, instead of being angry with God or doubting His love because there are things in the Bible that may not sit well with your emotions, why not take what has been given to you in faith, believing that God never commanded His people to do anything without good reason. And know that because He knows the end from the beginning He will always do what is best for you. In other words, be still and know that He is God!
