Israel and Genocide

God's command in Numbers 31:14-18 is explicit, and this is nothing less than divinely sanctioned genocide.

Numbers 31:15-16 records what happened under the leadership of Balaam. Numbers 25:3-5 warns demonic idolatry is contagious. 1 Corinthians 10:20 warns us "the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons," and cultic prostitution was part of their worship as can be seen in Deuteronomy 23:17-18. People believed they were having intercourse with gods. This coupling led to 24,000 Israelite deaths (Numbers 25:9).

We are warned in Romans 9:20, "But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?"

The law, morals, and ethics are an expression of God's own character. God's character is refracted as a prism in his laws. Without God, there is no such thing as right or wrong, as can be demonstrated throughout history by tyrannical regimes, such as those led by Mao, Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot.

While such a practice is barbaric by the standards of Christianity, it was necessary in order to prevent people from rising up and destroying Israel in the future: (Numbers 33:55; Cf. Joshua 23:13; Judges 2:3; 2 Timothy 2:26). Supernatural evil pulls people down to hell.

Lastly, ancient Israel was the only nation ever commissioned to commit genocide. God had promised Abraham the land, but only after the inhabitants had completed their sinfulness to the point there would be no mercy: "The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full" (Genesis 15:16).

Such a genocidal annihilation under divine authority will not take place again until the return of Christ (Revelation 19:1-3). The conquest of wicked Canaan is a type and foreshadowing of God's final judgment.