Saturday, September 22, 2007
Is God for peace or for war?
yesterday at cell, our new friend bonnie asked a question: is God a God of peace or a God of war? if He is a God of peace, why then did He command Joshua to go to war with the canaanites? shouldn't there be a better, more peaceful way to get the promised land?i thought about it for a long time last night(cos i couldn't sleep again), and i believe God showed me some of the reasons
firstly, God made a covenant with Abraham that He will give his descendants this land. He did not promise anyone else this piece of land, nor did He say it will be shared in any way and God is a God who keeps His promises.
second, it is to show His power.the twelve spies who went into the land said that the Israelites are like grasshoppers compared to the canaanite men. God used the weak to shame the strong, in this case used the grasshoppers 2 conquer the men.
third, the canaanites are a people that indulge in sexual immorality, idolatry, child sacrifices and other evil practices. Deut chapter 9 explains that it is not by the Israelite's righteousness that they may have the promised land, but it is the canaanites' evil that God wants them destroyed.
Fourth, if God had not destroyed them, the canaanites would not leave the land. face it, who would want to leave a land that is 'flowing with milk and honey'? and if they continued to stay, they will start to corrupt the Israelites with their sinful practices and intermarriages with the israelites. thus God is reducing the number of factors leading the Israelites astray.
last but not least, God's way is not our way. meaning that what God does and his reasons for doing so is not possible for us to fathom. we may see this command of destroying the canaanites as strange and violent way of solving the problem, but God in His infinite wisdom knows what He is doing and it is really not up to us to question the morality of it. in fact, if God were to give us just 1% of his knowledge and wisdom, we would surely go crazy, because we are just not meant to possess them and will never be able to make sense of them.
for there reasons, and maybe a lot more only known to Him, He ordered Joshua to destroy the canaanites, but He is no less righteous, loving, peaceful and just for doing so.
- joseph
1:46 PM
cell group, out!
cell group, out!