Dear Church of the Open Bible,
“How can I worship a God who commands Israel to completely destroy cities and groups of people?” This is a question that must come up for anyone aware of Israel’s history in the Old Testament. There are a variety of ways to quickly dismiss it (e.g., the God of the OT is different than the God of the NT) but it takes more patience to produce an informed response. This is the benefit of having our Adult Sunday School class following our sermon passages as we go through Deuteronomy (9:30-10:15 am).
This past week we looked at how Scripture provides answers to this difficult question. Here are a few that we looked at together last week. This command (Deut 20:16-18) shows:
God’s Judgement - Evil must be addressed and so this war is a just response to the wickedness of the nations around Israel (Deut 9:4). Wickedness that includes child sacrifices and other pagan worship (Deut 18:9-10).
God’s Patience - Over four hundred years earlier, God was aware of the wickedness of the people in Canaan but was waiting for it to reach its completion (Gen 15:16). Even though evil must be addressed, God is patient to administer it.
God’s Protection - Israel would have a tendency to fall into the same wicked patterns as the people of the land. So we see God’s future protection in clearing away possible temptations for His people to sin against Him (Deut 20:18).
God’s Mercy - While the reality of this judgment is comprehensive, there was still opportunity for the people of the land to repent, trust in the Lord, and be spared. We see this most prominently in the testimony of Rahab and her family in Jericho (Josh 2:8-11).
God’s Love - While each of these characteristics above demonstrate God’s love, the most powerful example of it is in that God Himself enters this story. It’s not just the Canaanites who receive this sentence. All who rebel and continue to rebel against God will find themselves under judgment (2 Pet 3:7). But Jesus Christ, God the Son, takes our judgment upon Himself, so that we might be made right with God (2 Cor 5:21)
While I’m grateful that this is a unique, time-specific command, the devastating reality of sin is made crystal clear throughout Scripture. But so too is the perfect love of God. May you be encouraged to trust in Him today, and join us as we study together at 9:30am this Sunday.