By Brendon Thomas (B.Th.)
I often question why a good God commanded the Israelites to destroy the Canaanite nations (Read Deuteronomy 20:16-17). It is particularly alarming since the Israelites were instructed to kill everything that had breath when they conquered Jericho (Read Joshua 6:20-21, 25). However, the treatment of Rahab and her family dispelled any doubts I had about the goodness of God. Read about it in Joshua chapters 2 and 6 where the tremendous patience of God is visibly demonstrated.
Rahab lived in a society rife with depravity and immorality; a society ripe for destruction. God had been patient with the Canaanites and had put up with their transgressions for a very long time. In Genesis 15:16, in reference to Abraham’s descendants in the land of Canaan, God states “But in the fourth generation they shall come here again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”
God spoke to Abraham at a time when the Canaanites were living a life not pleasing in His sight and engaging in practices expressly forbidden by God, as recorded in Leviticus Chapter 18: 2-3. Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘I am the LORD your God. According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances.” During this time, practices such as Incest, adultery, bestiality, homosexuality, idolatry, and infanticide were prevalent and entrenched in Canaanite society.
Hundreds of years later, the Canaanites had heard “how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for Israel when they went out of Egypt; and how they had completely destroyed the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og.” It was at that time the Canaanites became convinced that the LORD, the God of Israel, was the God in heaven above and on the earth beneath (Joshua 2:10-11). Although the Canaanites were aware of what God had done for the Israelites during their time in the desert, they continued in their evil practices. engage in wrongdoings. Eventually God stopped talking and began to act.
Focus on God’s Extreme Patience
Although men’s thoughts were evil before the flood, God still granted them an additional 120 years to make a choice for good; a choice for Him (Genesis 6:3). Genesis 15:16 states, that prior to the final manifestation of Divine justice, God gave the Canaanites hundreds of years of probation (Genesis 15:16). Then in Daniel 9:24 we are told that after 490 years of probation, the Jewish people were rejected as God’s chosen ambassadors.
When we examine society today, it appears as though the devil has gained complete control of the earth and destruction is but a matter of time. But praise the Lord for His patience which has prevented Him from punishing earth’s evil inhabitants! As 2 Peter 3:9 tells us, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering towards us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
God is calling every one of us to repentance. In Isaiah 55:7, he implores the wicked to forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and exhorts him to turn to the Lord, who will have mercy on him, and to God, who will pardon abundantly.
It is evident that God is exceedingly patient, but eventually He will withhold His patience. Revelation 22:11–12 tells us that at the close of probation the Lord decrees, “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.”
Scriptural references quoted from the New King James version of the Holy Bible
