This is the second part of a three part response to Burgy's recent =
challenge to those like me who believe that inerrancy is inherent in =
inspiration properly understood. Burgy does not believe that. His view =
(if I understand it correctly) is that the biblical writers were moved =
(inspired) to write down an account of God's dealings with them, but =
that some of them just got God's will wrong. Some of the words =
attributed to God just don't jibe with the character of God as presented =
in the New Testament and/or as intuited by a believer today who is =
indwelt by the Spirit of God. To establish his point in part Burgy =
challenged us to show that the OT Scriptures commanding Israel to wipe =
out every man, woman, and child in certain Canaanite peoples could have =
been utterances of the God and Father of Jesus Christ as he is presented =
in the New Testament.
The OT represents the annihilation of the various Canaanite peoples =
as God's judgment on their sins. The sinfulness of the Canaanites (or =
Amorites) grew over time. Abraham was able to live in their midst and =
even find allies among them, but he was told that the time would come =
when his descendents alone would possess the land. That time would be =
some five hundred years from Abraham's day, "for the sin of the Amorites =
has not yet reached its full measure" (Gen. 15:16). Throughout the OT =
we find God judging various peoples for their sins, Israel not the =
least. And we find him executing that judgment by the hand of other =
sinful peoples, who would suffer their own punishment in due time. This =
is a repeated theme in the OT. As I pointed out in Part 1 of my =
response, reaping what we sow is the fundamental principle of judgment =
in the Bible, NT as well as OT. (To be sure, Jesus reaped what his =
people sowed, but those who are not Christ's bear their own punishment, =
sometimes in part in this world, always in the world to come.)
"But the children!" Burgy may exclaim. "They did nothing worthy of =
judgment. Christ welcomed the little children. And he healed the =
daughter of a Syro-Phoenecian woman, possibly a descendent of those very =
Baal worshipers Israel was supposed to exterminate. I can't believe =
the God of Jesus would order the blanket annihilation of men, women, and =
children." =20
To that I reply with two points. First, an early death was perhaps the =
only way those children could enter heaven (I'm assuming you believe =
those dying in infancy are covered by the blood of Christ.). If they =
grew up idolators, they would certainly go to hell. (Of course, some of =
them would not grow up, since the Canaanites burned their own children =
as sacrifices to the Baals. =20
Second, like it or not, both OT and NT teach that the sins of the =
fathers are visited on the children. As for OT, the wording of the =
second commandment says it all: "I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, =
punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and =
fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand =
generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." The =
principle applies to God's people as well as to those outside: even =
though Josiah was a righteous king, God had already determined to hand =
Judah over to the Babylonians because of the sins of Manasseh (Jer. =
15:4).
But the principle that the sins of the fathers are visited on the =
children is also found in the NT, indeed, on the lips of Jesus himself: =
"And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on =
earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zecharian son of =
Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you =
the truth, all this will come upon this generation." (Matt. 23:35-36). =
Again, in the letter to the church in Thyatira (Rev. 2:18-29), God =
threatens to strike dead the children of "that woman Jezebel, who calls =
herself a prophetess." (Perhaps the "children" in 2:23 are spiritual =
children, but probably not; the false prophetess's devotees are rather =
"those who commit adultery with her.") =20
Of course, it works the other way too. Because of Jehu's obedience to =
God's command to execute judgment on the house of Ahab, God promised =
Jehu that his descendents would sit on the throne of Israel to the =
fourth generation. Again, in some sense the children of a believer are =
holy because of the faith of the parent (1 Cor. 7:14). All in all, both =
blessing and cursing come upon our children as a result of our obedience =
or disobedience. =20
I know one can cite a raft of Scriptures to the effect that an =
individual is judged on the basis of his personal faith and obedience =
and not on the basis of his parents' sins. I don't deny that there is a =
certain tension there, though I believe it can be resolved. But both =
principles-the sins of the fathers being visited on the children and =
being responsible for one's own faith and obedience-are found in both =
testaments, and have to be believed simultaneously. It is the complex =
of passages relating to judgment for the sins of the fathers I would =
draw your attention to as accounting in part for God's commands to =
exterminate whole peoples. The Amorites/Canaanites were an =
exceptionally wicked people.
One final point. The natural inclination of the Israelites was not to =
wipe out the peoples of Canaan, but rather either to subjugate them or =
to intermarry with them and merge the worship of Yahweh with the worship =
of the gods of the land. Even under Moses, while the Israelites were =
still in the wilderness, a large number of them accepted the invitation =
of the Moabites to join in their revelry and worship of the Baal of Peor =
(Num. 25). The problem had begun long before Israel camped on the =
plains of Moab: Amos tells us that the Israelites carried idols with =
them and worshiped them during the wilderness journey (Amos 5:25-27, =
quoted by Stephen in Acts 7: 39-43). After the death of Joshua, when =
there were still lots of Canaanites in the land, the Israelites just =
gave up trying to annihilate them and settled down to live with them, =
sometimes putting them to forced labor and sometimes not (Judges =
1:19-2:5). And, as Moses (Deut. 7:1-6) and God's angel (Judges 2:1-5) =
warned, the Canaanites did become a snare to the Israelites in a way the =
Ammonites and the Moabites never were (at least not subsequent to the =
revel and slaughter at Peor), drawing Israel away from Yahweh to the =
Baals. When the very souls of God's people were at stake, it's not =
surprising that God should order the enemies of their souls wiped out. =
=20
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