GENOCIDE OR JUDGMENT?

Deuteronomy 9:1-5
1 Hear, O Israel. You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities
that have walls up to the sky. 2 The people are strong and tall--Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: "Who can stand up against the Anakites?" 3 But be assured today that the Lord your God is the One who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; He will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you. 4 After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, "The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness." No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. 5 It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Deuteronomy 9:1-5 often brings up one of the most difficult questions Christians are asked: "How can God be just, loving, and merciful, and yet command Israel to annihilate the Canaanite population--men, women, and children?"

Answering that question requires both wisdom and humility. We know that justice requires judgment--because sin and evil unchecked by the reality of eventual judgment will ultimately lead people to self-centered, soul-killing cruelty. God in love and mercy has always provided a way for people to avoid pending judgment. He's written His law on every human heart (Romans 2) and has declared His law in specific Scriptures (Exodus 20). The ultimate way out of eternal judgment is repentance for transgressing the law and acceptance of the blood of Jesus as "payment" for that transgression.

Every person by nature knows what is good and what is evil. Refusing to do good and pursuing evil will bring about God's eventual judgment. The world's first civilization became so evil that God destroyed it with a flood (Genesis 6), Sodom and Gomorrah were judged by fire from the sky, and in Deuteronomy 2 we read that the hopelessly depraved Canaanites were judged by the sword of Israel.

They were all judged by God for refusing to do what they knew was good and right. In these judgments God saw to it that they were warned or were given knowledge of the right path prior to His act of judgment.

What about the humility part? That's our confessing that we don't understand all of our Creator's ways and will not act as His judge.
We take comfort, however, in the confirmation of the prophet Ezekiel: "'As surely as I live,' declares the Sovereign Lord, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live'" (Ezekiel 33:11). --Dean Ohlman

DESTINATION POINTS

* How does my faith in God include trusting Him to be fair in His dealings with everyone else?
* How could God be good if He never judged evil?
* How responsible would I be if I were never called to account for my actions?

bottom line: If there is no judgment, there is no justice.

soul journey