No Post This Week

I apologize for the lack of a post this week. Too many things are happening at once, and blogger is, sadly, first to go

War and Genocide

Before going any further into Judges, I want to try and tackle the issues of War and Genocide that this book brings up. In tackling these issues, I will not make a definitive case, and will probably raise more questions and answer none, but a look at this issues must be made.

So I start with the following propositions:

1. God is holy other.
2. God is righteous.
3. What God commands is good/right
4. War is wrong and Genocide is evil
5. God commands Israelites to go to war
6. God commands Israelite to wipe out at least some of the Canaanites.

Given this scenario, either statement 3 or statement 4 is wrong. If statement three is wrong then it is possible that statements one and two might be called into question. Since I don't believe statement three to be incorrect in this situation, it would be fruitless to discuss whether or not God could be holy and righteous and yet command something evil/wrong.

If asked, most people on the streets (or in the Church) would probably agree with statement four. They may make allowances for a just war and say that war isn't necessarily evil, but I think most everyone would agree that genocide is wrong/sinful/evil.

There is another alternative. Maybe statements five and six are wrong. Could the leaders of Israel have been wrong about God's commands? Or were the leaders using religion as a means to justify their political ends? How do we know that these wars were really ordained by God and that the Crusades were not? Maybe the Crusades were God ordained? (Did the religious leaders claim that God commanded the Crusades? Or just that it would be a good thing?)

As a Christian who believes that the Bible is the Word of God, one must hold to God commanding the israelites to wipe out the Canaanites and take the promise land. One must then conclude that the war was just and that so was the command to wipe out the Canaanites.

In fact, the Amorites, at least, were not innocent. in Genesis 15:16, God is telling Abraham what will happen to his descendants and he tells them that his descendants will come back to the promised land, but the sin of the Amorites had not yet reached "its full measure."

Some questions my discussion has raised: By what standard is something called just? Our own personal standard? Is it intrinsically good or evil? If so, how do we recognize it as such? Is there a standard of truth that is outside and above ourselves? Etc....

Judges 1:1-2:5

The LORD tells them that Judah has been chosen to take care of the Canaanites,
and the tribe of Judah asks the tribe of Simeon to help them and in return Simeon
will receive aid from Judah when they take their inheritance. There are successes
and there are failures in this passage.

First, let's look at the successes and why they were successful:

Judah was successful 1:19: "The LORD was with the men of Judah"
Joseph was successful: 1:22 "...and the LORD was with them"

Out of the tribes that this passage mentions, only these two (three, if you count Simeon as assumed because of the Judah/Simeon alliance) tribes are singled out to say that the LORD was with them. A big key to success: The LORD must be with you.

Okay, that seems like a no-brainer, but how is it that the LORD was with some and not with others when the entire nation was going about the work of conquering the promised land? Did not God promise them the land? Are they not in His will when they are going forth to conquer? Well, let us look at the reasons given for failure

Reasons given for the failures:
(In the order they are mentioned)

1. The Canaanites posses superior weapons.
1:19b "but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because
they had iron chariots."

2. The Canaanites were determined to live in the land.
1:27 "for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land"
1:35 "And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres"

3.Israelites disobeyed God
2:2 "'and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their alters.' Yet you have disobeyed me."

I believe number three to be the over-arching reason Israel failed to drive
the Canaanites completely from the promised land. God can overcome the first
two, and there are places in the Bible where it is recorded that He did. But
because the Israelites disobeyed, God was not with them to give them the victory.
When you go without God and you are left to fight a battle in your own strength,
it is hard to defeat an enemy who possesses better weapons and is determined
to win.