Why did God command the Canaanites' extermination?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

God commanded the extermination of the Canaanites because their sinfulness had reached its full measure, as foretold in Genesis 15:16. Their practices, including idolatry and child sacrifice, made them deserving of judgment (2 Kings 17:17–18). By removing the Canaanites, God sought to establish a society reflecting His holiness and justice, as seen in Deuteronomy 7:1–2. This command also aimed to protect the Israelites from being led astray by the Canaanites' influence, as warned in Deuteronomy 7:3–4. Ultimately, God's judgment was a response to the Canaanites' evil and a safeguard for His people (Exodus 34:6–7). Yet, God’s judgment also came with mercy available to those who would repent, as God gave them 400 years to turn and live for Him. The extermination of the Canaanites warns us about the dangers of disobedience, complacency, and putting off turning to God and living for Him. Instead, we are called to wholeheartedly surrender our lives to the One who is both good and just.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• In Deuteronomy 7:1–2, the Bible teaches, "When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction."
• Second Kings 17:6–20 explains why God was allowing (or commanding) the destruction of the Canaanites. Israel and Judah (as nations) had become as evil as the nations before them. They served other gods and built high places where they made offerings to them. They even engaged in child sacrifice. In Genesis 15, God told Abraham that his descendants would "be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve… And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete" (Genesis 15:13–14, 16). The destruction of the Canaanites was a judgment of the Canaanites' sin.
• When the Israelites left Egypt, God was preparing a people to follow Him and to establish a society based upon justice and mercy (Micah 6:8). In order to set the nation apart, it needed to be purified and freed from ungodly influence.
• God had given the Canaanites over 400 years to repent (Genesis 15:13–16). God is patient and slow to anger (Exodus 34:6), but He is also just. His judgment is sure.
• With this backdrop, we can look further into Deuteronomy 7 for the rationale for God's seemingly violent command: "You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly" (Deuteronomy 7:3–4). Three clear reasons are offered.
• First, the Lord commanded the Israelites to worship Him and no other (Exodus 20:3). Allowing their enemies to live would lead to intermarriage, resulting in families that worshiped other gods. The Lord chose to prevent this sin by fully removing the people who served other gods in this land. Note, however, that this was specific to the land of Israel, not to other lands.
• Second, Deuteronomy 7 teaches that if Israel's enemies survived, they would have led them to worship other gods, and the anger of the Lord would be kindled against them. If they kindled His anger, He would not bless them in the land, as He had promised, but would judge them.
• Third, Deuteronomy 7 predicts God would destroy the Israelites if they allowed their enemies to live in the land of Israel. The Canaanites and other enemies in Israel's land had worshiped other gods for more than the previous 400 years. God was using Israel as part of His judgment against Israel's enemies. However, if Israel refused to obey God and remove these enemies, His judgment would come upon them as well.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• The New Testament does not directly address the Canaanite extermination, as described in the Old Testament.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

God's command to the Israelites to remove the Canaanites from the land was rooted in His desire for His people to live in a way that reflected His holiness, justice, and mercy. Today, this teaches us the importance of pursuing a life that is wholly devoted to God, free from the influences that can lead us astray. Just as God was patient with the Canaanites, giving them over 400 years to turn from their wickedness, He is patient with us, desiring that we turn away from anything that pulls us away from Him. However, His patience is not to be taken for granted, as His judgment is inevitable for those who persist in sin and continue to reject Him. This calls us to live with a sense of urgency in aligning our lives with His will, knowing that God's desire is for our good, to set us apart as a people who reflect His character in a world full of distractions and temptations.

While God's patience is an opportunity for repentance, it should never be used as a license for complacency. There is a difference between contentment and complacency. Contentment reveals a gratitude for what you have and where you are in life. Complacency takes for granted God’s goodness and grace. Complacency is dangerous because it creates a false sense of security, leading us to believe that everything is fine, even when we are drifting away from God's will. It dulls our spiritual awareness, making us less sensitive to the Holy Spirit's guidance and less responsive to God's call for growth and transformation. Over time, complacency can result in a hardened heart, where sin is tolerated or ignored, and our relationship with God becomes stagnant. This lack of vigilance opens the door to spiritual decay, where we gradually conform to the world's values, rather than God's standards. Ultimately, complacency puts us at risk of missing out on the fullness of life that God desires for us and can lead to His discipline or judgment if we continue to ignore His promptings. Instead, we are called to live wholeheartedly for the Lord. Living in a godly way requires us to remove influences that could lead us away from Him. Knowing that His judgment is just and certain should cause us to take seriously the way we live and to trust in the One who is both patient and just.

UNDERSTAND

• The Canaanites' sinfulness, including idolatry and child sacrifice, had reached its full measure, making them deserving of God's judgment.
• God commanded the removal of the Canaanites to protect the Israelites from being led astray by their ungodly practices.
• By removing the Canaanites, God sought to establish a society in Israel that reflected His holiness and justice.

REFLECT

• How can understanding the reasons behind the Canaanite extermination deepen your appreciation for God's justice and mercy?
• What does the command to exterminate the Canaanites teach you about the seriousness of following God's directives in your own life?
• How can you apply the lesson of removing harmful influences from your life to ensure you are living according to God's will?

ENGAGE

• The Canaanite genocide, as many call it, is a difficult topic for many people. However, we need to remember that this was a specific command in the context of warring nations as part of God's promise to bring Israel into its Promised Land. Though it represents a graphic destruction of many people, the alternatives were to live with people who would lead the Israelites to serve other gods and bring judgment upon them, or even Israel being defeated by these enemies, which would result in violent deaths of a similar nature among the Israelites. God does not call us to do this today. This was a specific instruction to a specific group of people at a specific time for a specific reason about a specific group of people who were warned and given time to repent.
• What does the command to exterminate the Canaanites reveal about God's standards for holiness and justice?
• How can we reconcile the seemingly harsh nature of the Canaanite extermination with the character of God as loving and merciful?