Why a Good God Commanded the Israelites to Destroy the Canaanites

When I was an atheist, I loved causing Christians to doubt God. It was fun for me. One of my favorite tactics was to get them to question God’s goodness. I thought that if I could cause them to doubt God’s goodness, I could eventually get them to doubt God’s existence.

To drive a wedge between God and goodness, I’d point to God’s command to the Israelites to “utterly destroy” every person living in the Canaanite cities God was giving them. They were instructed to “not leave alive anything that breathes”—to kill every man, woman, child, and animal (Deut. 20:16–17 ). Why would a good God have the Israelites exterminate entire groups of people, including women, children, and animals? Here are four principles to remember the next time you encounter this issue.

God’s Patience

First, God was patient. He didn’t capriciously command the Israelites to destroy an entire people group. In fact, God had patiently granted 400 years of grace to the Canaanites (Gen. 15:13–16 ). They had heard of God’s awesome power (Josh. 2:10–11 ; 9:9 ). This should have prompted their repentance, but the Canaanites continued in their debauchery. They had ample time to turn from their wicked ways.

God’s Judgment

Second, the destruction of the Canaanites was God’s judgment on them for their grotesque abominations. The Canaanites weren’t kind, humble, indigenous people guilty of minor offenses like cyberbullying. They were a horrible society—so horrible, in fact, that if they existed today, our culture would cry out for the government to intervene by any means necessary.

Leviticus 18 describes them as a culture of adultery, incest, homosexuality, and bestiality. They worshipped Molech by sacrificing their children on the outstretched arms of an idol as a roaring fire consumed them alive. The sins of the Canaanites were so severe that even the land they lived on was defiled. As judgment for their sins, God instructed the Israelites,

Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled. For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants. (Lev. 18:24–25 )

God was enacting a form of capital punishment on a people that had committed capital crimes for centuries. Keep in mind, God could have used any means to destroy them. For example, God used a miracle of nature to judge the world with the flood in Genesis. Here he chose the Israelites as his instrument of judgment. There’s a reason God used the Israelites, which brings us to our third principle.

God’s Protection

Third, God was protecting his people. Notice, in Leviticus 18, God points to the sins of the Canaanites and says, “Do not do these things.” God uses the Canaanites as an example of how not to live and as a warning of what will happen to the Israelites if they do the same (vv.?26–28 ). Directly following the command to “utterly destroy” the Canaanites living in the Promised Land, God gives his reason for wanting to wipe them out: “so that they may not teach you to do according to all their detestable things which they have done for their gods, so that you would sin against the Lord your God” (Deut. 20:18 ).

Even so, the Israelites failed to follow God’s command. They did not drive the Canaanites out of the land but instead followed their example, falling into immorality and idolatry (Josh. 16:10 ; Judg. 1:29 , 2:1–3 ; 2 Kings 16:2–4 ). God’s command was not only a judgment on the Canaanites but also a measure meant to protect his people and their relationship with him.

God’s Goodness

Finally, God’s judgment of the Canaanites reminds us of God’s goodness. No one is innocent before a holy and just God. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all deserve the same judgment that fell on the Canaanites. But because of God’s great love for you and me, he has offered mercy instead of judgment. Just as he was patient with the Canaanites, God is patient with us, waiting and wanting every one of us to turn to him and accept the rescue offered only through Jesus Christ. Even in his judgment, God is good.