christian@topaz.UUCP (04/15/87)
Hi, Subject: Re:Joshua and the conquest of Canaan John Ockerbloom writes about the slaughter of the Canaanites and others, and asks >... I can't fathom the morality behind this. I don't see how the loving God >of Christianity (or pre-Christianity) could order what I have to call >genocide. Does anyone on the net have any thoughts or explanations? ... You're not alone in wondering about this and many other examples of what we today would consider atrocities. For me, since I cannot make a reasoned answer that satisfies me, I finally come to two things. First, in faith I believe God dealt with the people and situations in the ways that were best, regardless of how they appear on the surface. Maybe God knew how our world would be today if the Isrealites had intermarried with the Canaanites, so what was done was done for the best of those who chose then and choose today to follow Him. Maybe the world would not exist today had certain peoples been allowed to continue. Maybe God gave them the chances to change and they didn't take them, so to protect those who do choose to follow Him, and to keep His promises of protection, He destroyed those who would destroy His. Lots of `maybes' - each `maybe' is an attempt to reason the answer, and each reason leaves kind of an emptiness as far as seeing a loving God. That is one reason why I come to the point were I choose to believe in faith that God did what was best for all. I want to believe it, if I don't then His promises of love for me and you don't fit. When I do believe this, then I find myself looking at God's hand at work even this moment, working all for our best. Second, I look at Jesus. Jesus said if you've seen Him, you've seen the Father. I never see Jesus hate any person --- only the sin we get involved in. Even when He drove the money changers out of the temple, He was angry. But there was no hate involved for even those He drove out. How do I know - look at what He did and why. The Jewish temples had an inner and outer circle. The Jewish men were allowed in the inner circle. Jewish women and those who were not born Jews but followed the Jewish faith had to pray in the outer circle. [Side note - this is why St. Paul tells women to be silent in church - for them to be heard by the men in church in those days, they'd have to shout over the wall. Today the intent of St. Paul's words still applies - don't disturb others in church, whether you're a man or woman.] This outer circle was also the area used by the money changers and animal sellers; the noise must have been fierce. As Jesus referred to the Scriptures, God's temple was being misused. So I see God (Jesus) concerned for everyone. If any of the money changers and animal sellers wanted to come back to pray and use the temple as a temple, I doubt Jesus would have thrown them out again. He was making the temple a place in which they could pray, too, without interruptions and distractions. For me, this points to his love for the sinner and anger with the sin. So putting these two things together, I rest on faith to tell me God does what He knows is best for all, and He does it out of love for us. I know, it still leaves an empty feeling about a loving God - but faith looks at what we hope for, an eternity with God and our loved ones, and looks past what we cannot explain or reason. Remember one more thing, Jesus said he brought us a new covenant: no longer are we called to take an eye for an eye, but to turn the other cheek. Maybe God figured we'd grown up some and were ready for the next step? Ah - more reasoning. God Bless, Mike Andrews (PTL)