"You're not so Pure!"

Well, duuuh! BUT, I’ve often been troubled by the level of violence in the Old Testament involved with God's "Chosen People." How about you? Quite often Christian critics have pointed out to me the destruction of “indigenous people” by the Israelites as murder by a cruel God, original racism, etc. True, the Promised Land is being violently purged of the existing nations as Moses delivers his swan song to his people camped on the eastern banks of the Jordan River. Total annihilation occurs for many unlucky enough to be in the way. The Amorites east of the Jordan got it first, to be followed by other Amorites as well as Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites that God said He would drive out on the Promised Land (west of the Jordan) before the Israelites. The accusation of racism is unfounded as all these nations were related to the Israelites. Distant cousins all the way back to Noah and his sons. The Israelites were the descendants of Shem (ancestor to “Father” Abraham himself) while those nations to be driven out were descendants of Shem’s brother Ham and his son Canaan. Noah cursed Canaan after Ham dishonored Noah, his father. Canaan and his descendants were nothing but trouble ever since.

But what was so special about the Israelites versus the other descendants of Noah? We’ve already discovered in Leviticus these were not nice people. God was ready to wipe out these barbarians many times in the course of instilling discipline on them. Moses explains it in Deuteronomy 9:4-6:

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. 5 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. 6 Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.

Ouch. So okay, it’s not because we’re so damn righteous but rather because we suck the least! Not exactly a glowing recommendation. Holy Wind-Out-of-the-Sails Batman! BUT, God does remember his promises is the other moral to this particular story. So how bad were the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, Jebusites and other nations? Well, that question is answered here:

29 The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, 30 and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same." 31 You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. Deu 12:29-31

And here:

9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in [a] the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 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. 13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God. Deu 18:9-13

Okay, these people were pretty nasty so I’m not feeling so bad for them anymore. Remember what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah? This ruthless weeding by God of really detestable people is nothing new in the Old Testament. The story of Noah another case in point. Vile, wicked people in the Old Testament met a violent end they worked hard for. The other side to this is God knew the Israelites weren’t so grand themselves, and exposure to wicked people like this would eventually ruin their undisciplined selves and His Plan for their (ours) eventual salvation. More gotta be cruel to be kind sometimes.

With the adjunct of Christ, these types of people today (just look around you – they exist!) will meet the same end unless they acknowledge their sin and accept Christ’ forgiveness and salvation.