Holy War??  Holy Sh*t!!!

Did God really command the ancient Israelites to attack their enemies, destroy and burn their cities and towns, kill every single person- man and woman, young and old, and even kill the babies?  Did God really command his people to take their enemies' land, and plunder their livestock, gold and silver, other possessions, and even keep their women and children as war spoils?  Were Yahweh's people really commanded to devote/sacrifice to Yahweh their enemies by "killing everything that breathed"? (a practice called, "the Ban")

Skeptics say no, its just a case of ancient, primitive, barbaric people trying to justify their own selfish and barbaric actions by claiming divine sanction. Believers say yes, that it really was commanded by God.  Let's take a look at the Biblical passages:

When Sihon and all his army came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz, the Lord our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army. At that time we took all his towns and completely destroyed* them-men, women and children. We left no survivors. But the livestock and the plunder from the towns we had captured we carried off for ourselves.  Deuteronomy 2: 32-35

* NIV footnote says "The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the LORD, often by totally destroying them."

At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them-the whole region of Argob, Og's kingdom in Bashan. All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages. We completely destroyed* them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying* every city-men, women and children. But all the livestock and the plunder from their cities we carried off for ourselves. Deuternomy 3:4-7

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.
Joshua 6:21

When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the desert where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. Twelve thousand men and women fell that day-all the people of Ai. For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed^* all who lived in Ai. But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.  So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. He hung the king of Ai on a tree and left him there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take his body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.  Joshua 8:24-29

When they had brought these kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had come with him, "Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings." So they came forward and placed their feet on their necks.  Joshua said to them, "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight."  Then Joshua struck and killed the kings and hung them on five trees, and they were left hanging on the trees until evening.  At sunset Joshua gave the order and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had been hiding. At the mouth of the cave they placed large rocks, which are there to this day.  That day Joshua took Makkedah. He put the city and its king to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it. He left no survivors. And he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.  Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it. The Lord also gave that city and its king into Israel's hand. The city and everyone in it Joshua put to the sword. He left no survivors there. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.  Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish; he took up positions against it and attacked it. The Lord handed Lachish over to Israel, and Joshua took it on the second day. The city and everyone in it he put to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah. Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army-until no survivors were left.  Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Lachish to Eglon; they took up positions against it and attacked it. They captured it that same day and put it to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it, just as they had done to Lachish.  Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it. They took the city and put it to the sword, together with its king, its villages and everyone in it. They left no survivors. Just as at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it.  Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned around and attacked Debir. They took the city, its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron.  So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord , the God of Israel, had commanded.  Joshua 10:24-40

The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.  Judges 1:8 

Now the house of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them. ²³ When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz), the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, "Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well." So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family.  Judges 1:22-25

All this was done according to the marching orders given by Yahweh to his people:

When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations-the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you- and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally.*  Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.  Deuteronomy 7:1-2

For cities at a distance they were to make a peace offer- that is the men of the city could surrender themselves, their wives, and children into slavery.  If they actually had the gall to refuse such a kind and generous offer, then they too would be killed and their wives and children taken as plunder by God's chosen people!

When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you. If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. When the Lord your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it. As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the Lord your God gives you from your enemies. This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.  However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.  Deuteronomy 20:10-16

Even in later times after the land was captured from the Canaanites, God's people treated their enemies no differently:

Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)  Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.  1 Samuel 27:8-9

Sometimes they treated their fellow Hebrews the same way: 

For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there.  So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children. "This is what you are to do," they said. "Kill every male and every woman who is not a virgin." They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan.  Judges 21:9-12

In the largest single slaughter of the entire Bible, God and the men of Judah slay one million Ethiopians (and  of course plunder the cities):

Now Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and he came to Mareshah....  So the LORD routed the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.  Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that they could not recover, for they were shattered before the LORD and before His army. And they carried away very much plunder.  They destroyed all the cities around Gerar, for the dread of the LORD had fallen on them; and they despoiled all the cities, for there was much plunder in them.  They also struck down those who owned livestock, and they carried away large numbers of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 14:9, 12-15 NASB

Three Especially Appalling Cases 

There are three particular cases that are especially appalling.  The first is the slaughter of the Midianites from Numbers Chapter 31, in which Moses told the Israelites they could keep the virgin girls for themselves:

Case #1: The Midianites

Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man. Numbers 31:17-18

The plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys  and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man.  Numbers 31:32-35

Use of the virgins seems to have been allowed:

As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the LORD your God gives you from your enemies.  Deuteronomy 20:14

Now its possible it may not have been outright rape, but at the very least the girls  seem to have been taken as war brides:

When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives, if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife.....After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.   Deuteronomy 21:10-14

Case #2: The Amalekites

The second case is the massacre of the Amalekites from  1 Samuel Chapter 15.  What makes this one so disturbing is the reason given for the slaughter: because the Amalekites attacked the stragglers of the Israelites during the exodus as they were going through the Amalekite's territory.  But that happened some 450 YEARS PRIOR!  The Amelkites were killed for something done by their distant ancestors!  Also, it is specifically mentioned to kill the children and infants!  Imagine someone killing you and your family for something YOUR ancestors did way back in the 1500s!

This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy* everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'   1 Samuel 15: 2-3

The reason had been given before in Deuteronomy:

Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and cut off all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. When the LORD your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget! Deuteronomy 25:17-19

Case #3: The "peaceful" people of Laish

The third especially appalling case is the slaughter of the people of Laish.  Here in the Bible's own words, it is admitted that the people of Laish were peaceful and unsuspecting, and were killed because they had good land!

When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them, "How did you find things?" They answered, "Come on, let's attack them! We have seen that the land is very good. Aren't you going to do something? Don't hesitate to go there and take it over. When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever." Judges 18:8-10

Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a peaceful and unsuspecting people. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.  The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there.  Judges 18:27-28

The Apologist's Defense:

Wow!  That seems like some serious stuff!  Do the believers have any good answers?  Their defense generally claims the following:

• God, as the giver of life, has the right to take it.  Who are we to question his motives?
• The Canaanites were so wicked that they had to be destroyed, as they did "detestable" things like human sacrifice.  The Israelites were only exercising God's judgment on  a wicked people. (Destroying the Canaanites was like a surgeon removing a cancer instead of allowing it to remain and spread). 
• If allowed to remain, the Canaanites would end up corrupting the Israelites by enticing them to worship their false gods, they would become "a thorn in the side" of Yahweh's people.  
• Its not that the Israelites were particularly good, its that the inhabitants of the promised land were that evil.
• The Canaanite were unduly aggressive and a threat to the Israelites, and if allowed to remain would have continually attacked them.
• God had to fulfill the promise made to Abraham Isaac, and Jacob when he promised the land to their seed.
• Killing the children and babies is justified, because if allowed to live they would grow up evil like their parents- Besides, killing them before the "age of accountability meant they would go to heaven instead of hell, which is where they would have gone had they lived.

So the believers stake their defense on Biblical passages such as these:

Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.  Leviticus 18:24-25

You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.  Leviticus 20:23

and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. ^* Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord 's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.  Deuteronomy 7:2-4

After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, "The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness." No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Deuteronomy 9:4-5

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord , and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.  Deuteronomy 18:9-12

Completely destroy* them-the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites-as the Lord your God has commanded you. 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.  Deuteronomy 20:17-18

Defense of Case #1

In the case of the Midianites from Numbers 31, the believers say that the virgin girls/women weren't raped, taken for sexual purposes, or even taken for war brides.  They say they were taken as an act of mercy, TO BE ADOPTED.  They couldn't take a chance on sparing/adopting any of the boys because the boys would be more of a threat as they grew older, and would want to take vengeance for their people being killed.  The reason only virgin females were shown this mercy was because the non-virgin females were the ones who "seduced" the Israelite men in an attempt to bring about Israel's downfall by causing them to sin against Yahweh.  So the virgins would have been innocent (but yet the text ways it was the Moabite women, not Midianite women, who engaged in sex with the Israelites, but apparently the Midianites were involved also):

While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD's anger burned against them.  The LORD said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the LORD , so that the LORD's fierce anger may turn away from Israel."  So Moses said to Israel's judges, "Each of you must put to death those of your men who have joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor."  Then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.  When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear through both of them-through the Israelite and into the woman's body. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000. Numbers 25:1-9 .....The LORD said to Moses, "Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them, because they treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the affair of Peor and their sister Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of Peor." Numbers 25: 16-18....The LORD said to Moses, "Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people." Numbers 31:1-2 "Have you allowed all the women to live?" he asked them. "They were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the LORD's people. Numbers 31:15-16

Defense of Case #2

For the case of the Amelekite slaughter from 1 Samuel 15, the believers say that the 450 period was actually an act of grace from God, in that he gave them 450 years to "clean-up their act", and only destroyed them when the persisted in evil.  They point to the following verse as some kind of parallel, in which God allows the sin of the Amorites to reach full measure:

In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.  Genesis 15:16

Defense of Case #3

For the case of Laish, the apologists point out that there was some kind of idol worship involved, so in this case the Israelites were acting on their own without divine authority.  Some will also say that just because the people of Laish were peaceful and unsuspecting doesn't mean they weren't evil!

My take on it:

There seems to be a big disconnect here between the believers/apologists and skeptics.  The believers seem to think that the skeptics do accept that these stories are indeed true and the word of God, but they only take issue with God's judgment, with God's right to command that these people be killed.  The believers don't seem to get that it is these claims made in the Bible about God that are (part of) the very reason for rejecting the Bible as the word of God.  Its kind of like the guy down the street, that claims God speaks to him.  You might not really believe him, but you really wouldn't know for sure.  But if the guy claims that God told him to attack and kill his neighbor, steal his neighbor's stuff, and take his neighbor's daughters for wives, well then that would tell you right there that the guy is definitely full of crap!. Well its the same with these stories.  All we have is a book written by men that makes claims that God commanded these killings, and lots of people in the world believe it.  But I don't know it to be true.  So all I can do is consider whether God would really say such a thing.  If ANYONE else, in times past or present, were to claim that the God of the universe told them that he gave them someone else's land, told them to attack the land's inhabitants, kill everyone, burn their towns, take all their stuff as plunder, including their women, and take as slaves anyone else they didn't kill- would they not be LAUGHED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH?

Believers will scoff at the notion that Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, was angry that Israel had oppressed Moab, and so commanded Moab to attack Israel, put them to the ban, and destroy the sacred objects of Yahweh, as claimed in the The Moabite Stone.  But they see no problem with accepting exactly the same claims from the Moabite's rivals/enemies, the Israelites?

For the case of the Midianites, the believers try to deny that the virgin girls were kept for any kind of sexual reason, and claim that the Israelites took them in to adopt them as an act of kindness.  Oh come on!  What about Deuteronomy 20:14 and 21:10-14?  They were allowed to USE them, and could always let them go later if they tired of USING them!  And this defense is SHATTERED by the following: 

Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a girl or two for each man... Judges 5:30

For the case of the Amalekites, the believers conveniently ignore that it is stated not once, but twice, that the reason for the slaughter was for revenge and punishment for what the Amalekite's ANCESTORS did!

In the case of the peaceful, unsuspecting, and secure people of Laish who were slaughtered, this IMO shatters the apologist's attempts to paint ALL the people of Canaan with the same brush and claim they were ALL so despicable, evil, and aggressive to the Israelites.  The apologists also ignore that these Israelites who attacked Laish WERE acting under the marching orders given in Deuteronomy 20:15-16.  Since Laish was later renamed to Dan which was part of Israel, it would have been part of the land given as an inheritance so this would have applied.  So according to the Bible, the Israelites were given divine sanction for destroying these peaceful, unsuspecting people and taking their land!    

So in closing, here are a few points to ponder, just a few things that make me go "hmm........"

• If you're going to use the old "God's ways are higher than your ways" argument, don't you first have to show that this really was God's way? Until then, isn't it just the claims of men claiming to speak for God?
• Don't the claims of the Israelite that the Canaanites were driven out/destroyed because of their wickedness sound the least bit like self-justification? 
• The Canaanites were so evil because they practiced human sacrifice, but what exactly were the Israelites doing in practicing "the ban"?  Killing everyone as a devotion to your god, is that not human sacrifice?  Yes it is an evil thing to sacrifice your own child, but its okay to sacrifice other people's children?
• Aren't the claims of the Israelites tainted at all when you consider that after killing their enemies they  plundered their possessions??... and then claim "oh its because they were evil"?
• Isn't if funny that of all the people living in the world, across Europe, Africa, Asia, throughout the Mediterranean, in India, China, Japan, and the Americas, the ONLY people evil enough to be destroyed were the ones who happen to live in the land claimed by the Israelites?
• Isn't it funny how God didn't tell anyone else in the world but the Israelites/Hebrews/Jews that he gave them that land?  Wouldn't a little INDEPENDENT CORROBORATION from a NEUTRAL source be nice?
• God didn't tell anyone else in the world that he used the Israelites to exercise his judgment on the Canaanites, leaving everyone else to try to ascertain when people really are telling the truth when they CLAIM divine command to kill their enemies and steal their enemy's stuff?
• Just why was it such a problem that the Israelites could so easily and so often be enticed to worship the false gods of the Canaanites?  If the Israelites had the REAL god then why wasn't the influence the other way around?
• I'm glad that God took it so seriously that he had to keep the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because he loved them so much, but isn't that showing some MAJOR favoritism to exterminate whole nations in order to fulfill your promise to three men?  Didn't he have any love for the Canaanites?  Oh yeah, that's right, its because they were so evil.....
• If it was so important to keep his promise to give the land to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's "seed", couldn't he have kept the land uninhabited until the Israelites were ready to settle it?  He knew when he made the promise that keeping it would entail exterminating whole nations, didn't he?   
• If it was okay to kill the babies because they went to heaven, then wouldn't it ALWAYS to okay to kill babies?  I mean, probably less than half the children born, even in a Christian nation like the U.S., will become REAL Christians and make it to heaven.  So if you kill them as babies they will ALL go! That's why Andrea Yates killed her five children, because she thought them unrighteous and killed them to save them from hell!  Isn't what she did the most caring and unselfish act of kindness that a mother could do?  

But hey, that's just MY take on it.  What do I know?

POINT/COUNTER-POINT

Essays generally on the subject of the massacre of the Canaanites.  

Note: these Bible verses (unless otherwise noted) are from the New International Version

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

 
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